GC 2020
248 results found
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Support Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) auto insurance premiums to reward those who drive little
Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD, also called distance-based and per-mile) pricing means that vehicle insurance premiums and registration fees are based directly on the amount it is driven. PAYD pricing is not a new fee, just a different way to pay existing fees. It can be a
consumer option, so motorists choose the price structure that best meets their needs, similar to telephone and internet rate options. It can provide many benefits including reduction of per capita fuel consumption and pollution emissions.199 votesThe City supports this idea, but implementation requires action outside municipal jurisdiction. The City will continue to advocate to the Province and ICBC for PAYD insurance.
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Energy Retrofit Financing
Provide low-cost financing for building and home owners to retrofit our built environment with energy efficient measures and technologies. Look towards PACE & On-bill structures and incorporate energy management software to database and report the savings to all invovled parties.
44 votesFinancing tools (currently under development) may encourage building owners to improve the performance of their buildings
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2 votes
Currently reviewing how this might work to create green jobs and advance sustainability.
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Local Green Grads Employment Site
One of our challenges is finding good people with green backgrounds to employ. Once people get certified (i.e. to a B-Corp standard) they could post open jobs and internships to a green jobs site run by the city. UBC SFU BCIT and other universities could encourage their graduates to create profiles on this one-stop-shop for green grads.
3 votesC3 committee is considering building a website / database along these lines. This would likely be Provincial or at least wider than just the City.
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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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Expand the Yellow Fish Markers on Storm Drain Sewers Program
Historically, industrial man has been accustomed to using our waterways as a dumping ground for unwanted waste. Sadly this has led to our ocean becoming a toxic soup for animals and plants. Agricultural fertilizer runoff cause algal blooms. Inefficient or excessive garbage has caused many massive garbage (mostly plastic) islands to appear in the oceans and has had an adverse impact on seabirds and sea mammals. Chemicals are dumped down sewers and fish are killed immediately. In Burnaby Byrne Creek has had too many such incidents in the past few years; so many in fact that an initiative called “Stream…
15 votesNot part of the draft Greenest City Action Plan but new storm drains are embossed with an image of a fish.
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Divert sewer runoff into groundwater
Before 1850 when the rain fell on Vancouver, it soaked into the ground, which then fed the over 50 streams which crisscrossed the land. This water which supported a multitude of life then ran to the Burrard Inlet, False Creek and the Fraser River.
Today most of rainwater ends up on asphalt streets and the rooftops of buildings and this water runs into countless sewers which end up in the same surrounding water systems. As the water runs into the sewers, it picks up pollution from cars, residue from asphalt streets and tar roofs and many other small and large…
40 votesIn addition to the ones in place, the Draft Greenest City Action Plan recommends increasing the number of infiltration systems.
This link explains the types of integrated drainage that the City of Vancouver uses: http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/watersewers/sewers/enviro/protect.htm#drainage
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Develop a preprocurement strategy for the City's procurement managers to engage with local industry
Several jurisdictions have developed formal pre- and post-procurement engagement strategies in order to create a dialogue between public procurers and local firms. A pre-procurement consultation process at which procurers broadly outline expected future growth areas gives local firms a focus for research as well as a time horizon for development. The procurer in turn benefits from the most up-to-date information on emerging technologies and best practices. This type of engagement and information exchange can also help with early identification and resolution of issues around permitting or licensing, and can actively engage technology developers and suppliers in meeting the City’s climate…
3 votesThe Draft Greenest City Action Plan suggests recommendations on how this can be done
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15 votes
The draft Greenest City Action Plan includes strategies to make energy efficient new buildings more affordable through fee-bates, code relaxations and financial tools.
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8 votes
This is too detailed, but there is
a recommendation in the Draft Greenest City Action Plan for enhancing source control. -
Build a cooperative economy.
Co-op's are a great tool in building a green economy. They are member driven, and are grounded in local community needs and values. Let's see how many financial, housing, food, transportation, employment, and product needs can be met in our community by cooperatives.
7 votesNeed co-op model in different green sectors.
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Make Vancouver a Mecca for Green Technologies, Innovation and Jobs
Make Vancouver a global destination for companies to develop and demonstrate emerging clean energy technologies, green transportation systems, energy efficiency solutions, water technologies, green building technology etc. by encouraging, facilitating, procuring and enabling projects to happen in Vancouver rather than other cities.
Solving the world's energy problems, curing our addiction to fossil fuels, reducing waste and ensuring access to fresh drinking water are all contributing to the creation of a new green economy is now valued at more than $5.2 Trillion. This is one of the fastest growing markets in the world and cities around the world are scrambling to…
50 votesA strategy in the Draft Greenest City Action Plan is to give economic development priority to green sectors, and develop a green technology centre and network, along with other specific infrastructure and demonstration projects.
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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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A Comprehensive Odour Management Plan
A comprehensive odour management plan is needed for the 'greenest city'
Our neighbourhoods smell of a rendering plant throughout the summer and very little action has occured over the decades. A truly green Vancouver would smell nice on warm days and we would then be able to open our windows and cool our houses with the breeze.
5 votesCity of Vancouver will support Metro Vancouver in its efforts to address this.
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Create a Green Enterprise Zone
Vancouver could establish a green enterprise zone that would serve as a magnet for the development of green business, technology, products and services.
27 votesThis idea will be included in the draft Greenest City Action Plan. A Green Enterprize Zone team is establishing an area and some initial projects including two business incubators, specific infrastructure and demonstration projects.
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Tax meat, milk and eggs & stop subsidizing
United nations, World Watch Institute and numerous high profile climate experts have all agreed that animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the entirety of the transport sector. Yet our government will not stop subsidizing meat, milk and eggs making them "affordable" beyond the capacity of our ecosystem. We need to start taxing these products and stop subsidizing them for the sake of our future.
54 votesEcological footprint impacts of different food choices form part of the data gathering; examining the City’s regulatory and policy tools to encourage lighter footprint living is included as an action.
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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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3 votes
VEDC attracts conferences as part of business attraction program
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Covered bike racks like these from San Francisco (South Park) #bikearc http://ow.ly/i/2AC9
Covered bike racks to keep people's seats dry during the rainy season would increase accessibility and make it more attractive to ride through the winter. This design isn't perfect but it gives you an idea of what we could do.
15 votesThe City supports this idea, and is starting to look at opportunities to implement it.
