GC 2020
36 results found
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Mandatory Lighting Controls for Commercial buildings
Why are there so many office lights on in commercial office buildings, when nobody is occupying those areas. Mandate the use of green lighting controls (Daylight Harvesting, Absence/Presence detection etc.)
25 votesThis is addressed in a retrofit pilot program
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rain water toilets
rainwater can be collected from eco-roofs or rain gutters use in toilets.
19 votesHas been approved on project by project basis.
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Cool roofs to combat the "heat island" impact, and save energy and reduce emissions
From July 22 "Science News" (everything old SHOULD be new again...)
Global model confirms: Cool roofs can offset carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate global warming
Light-colored roofs and pavements would help in 2 ways. First, the "urban heat island" effect would be mitigated. Second, by reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space, the whole globe would, on average, become a bit cooler. In terms of CO2 emissions, an offset of two years worth of emissions could be attained. Provided of course, such a huge amount of light-colored stuff can be produced and installed in a carbon-neutral manner.
Can light-colored rooftops…
16 votesCurrently exploring an approach to addressing cool roofs, green roofs & walls.
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Ease the bureaucracy for laneway homes in Van. Dense living where we work, play, shop! Less sprawl!
Laneway homes are beautiful, sustainably designed, detached family or single life dwellings. They fit into areas with houses and neighbourhoods that already exist. They take the place of old poorly used garages or unused back gardens. Less freeway traffic to get to the city; less pressure on our agricultural land reserve; less urban sprawl out into the valley.
51 votesExploring ways to facilitate and remove barriers to achieving our green & density goals
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change building code to allow ventilated service areas
Apartments and condos would have ventilated service areas, where people would be able to hang clothes on clotheslines, instead of using electrical driers all year long for drying any amount of clothing. Also, a tank with tap for manual washing of small loads of clothing will save water and will add up to hygiene.
1 voteWhile not specifically addressed in the draft Greenest City Action Plan, this strategy will be consider as a means of promoting conservation
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City of Vancouver Eco bonds to help home and business owners with green upgrades.
ECO bonds are helping cities throughout the US with renewable energy and efficiency upgrades to their homes and businesses. By leveraging the lower borrowing rates of the city, Vancouver can help citizens get over the high up-front costs of green retrofits by deducting an additional amount from property taxes over a long term - say 20 years - period.
14 votesFinancing tools (currently under development) may encourage building owners to improve the performance of their buildings rather than rebuild
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Home Energy Labeling in BC
Home Energy Labelling at the Time of Sale can have significant economic, social and environmental benefits for the Province of BC.
To date:
The Climate Action Team recommended that BC implement mandatory labelling at time of sale by 2012.
Utilities and the BC government are supporting labelling pilots in several BC communities.When the homeowner decides to sell their home, they request a home energy assessment to be conducted by a Natural Resources Canada Certified Energy Advisor. The energy assessment takes into account the heating and hot-water systems, insulation levels, windows, doors and includes a test to determine overall air…
3 votesBuilding labeling is one of the actions that is listed in the draft Greenest City Action Plan as a means of achieving our 2020 targets.
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Encourage renovation of existing housing stock rather than demo and rebuild.
require new construction to be NET zero and help reduce single family house demolition. The greenest building is one that is already standing.
22 votesFinancing tools (currently under development) may encourage building owners to improve the performance of their buildings rather than rebuild.
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Implement Vancouver Zoom Your Roof Project
Since building heating is one of the biggest uses of natural gas in BC it should be a priority to reduce this footprint. In Belgium communities are implementing a project where residents can easily see how effective their insulation is. This lets people actually see for themselves whether investing in insulation would be worth it for them.
More info on Belgian project:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011446.html
http://infosthetics.com/archives/2010/07/zoom_into_your_roof.html1 voteBuilding labeling and energy audits will help building owners and occupants understand how their buildings are performing and where they are losing heat. While we may not implement the “zoom in” program per se, these other tools included in the draft Greenest City Action Plan address same issue.
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5 votes
This is addressed by the planned green renovation strategy which will require upgrades to all buildings during the time of renovation, and also by the building labeling program which will require mandatory disclosure of energy performance and eventually mandatory performance standards.
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Allow interest free loans for home renos--collect via the property tax over life of home
It is fair, in that, all future homeowners would pay equally for the benefits, rather than asking the current homeowner to carry the burden of paying for 100% of the renos.
13 votesFinancing tools (currently under development) may encourage building owners to improve the performance of their buildings rather than rebuild
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Increase indoor temperature range, to connect people to outside and reduce energy. Sweaters! Shorts!
Change commercial (including offices) buildings operating temperature range, to decrease air conditioning in the summer, and decrease heating energy in the winter. My estimates show that a changing the range from 2°C to 8°C could decrease overall building energy by 10%.
4 votesWhile the City cannot mandate the temperature that people set their thermostats to, this issue is addressed through occupant engagement as well as education and capacity building for building operators.
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Energy efficiency training
Grassroots training in home energy efficiency assessments so community members can learn and support each other in improving home energy efficiency. A few workshops around the city, and you could train a number of neighbourhood efficiency "experts" to do assessments and workshops in their area.
3 votesEducation and training around energy efficiency are an integral part of the draft Greenest City Action Plan. Occupants determine to a large degree the level of energy performance in a building.
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8 votes
The draft Greenest City Action Plan addresses occupant engagement in conservation efforts. This idea will be considered as a way to make it easy for occupants to conserve energy related to plug loads
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Retrofit apartments to have individual control over radiator heating
Many low-rise apartment buildings are heated by radiators connected to a central boiler. In lots of these buildings, individual apartments do not have a thermostat or radiator control. Often the building is overheated in winter, with windows open and the boiler working even harder. Lobbies and hallways are also sweltering.
A City program could install valves on each radiator to give occupants individual control and reduce energy wastage. There would be a hugely beneficial return on investment in terms of reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the city.
10 votesHas been implemented in pilot program.
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Include energy costs in city & province-funded construction projects.
Construction projects get graded based on how cheap they are. But that costing model doesn't include the total environmental impact of a project, such as the carbon released by removing old buildings, the ongoing energy cost of the structures, etc.
The best way to get an environmentally conscious city is to put in economic incentives. Construction is a very high-impact area where the city can exert influence simply by changing the guidelines. A cheap, high-impact proposal.
Other cities are already doing it, and from what I hear UBC is already doing it for their own projects.
7 votesThe draft Greenest City Action Plan addresses ways and means of rewarding projects that are more energy efficient.
