BC Climate Action Toolkit
Published on BC Climate Action Toolkit (http://www.toolkit.bc.ca)

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Actions for Community Buildings

Sector: 
Community Buildings [1]
Focus: 
Community-wide [2]
Community type: 
Large city [3]
Mid-sized city [4]
Resort community [5]
Rural/Electoral [6]
Small community [7]

Tabs

What

Healthy and Efficient Homes, Businesses and Institutions

The first community in North America to institute a LEED standard for new construction, the District of Ucluelet requires that all new hotels, condos, multi-family and commercial developments meet or exceed the Official LEED “Silver Standard”.Low-carbon buildings use the minimum amount of energy needed to provide comfort and safety, and tap into renewable energy sources for heating, cooling and power. With good planning, and increasingly with green building experience, low carbon residential, commercial and institutional buildings make economic sense, especially viewed over the long term.



On top of reducing energy and emissions of each unit of floor space, green buildings, for example as defined by green building rating systems such as Built Green [8]™ and LEED [9]®, also reduce water and resource impacts, provide healthier, more productive indoor environments, and support alternative transportation. Green buildings are also more energy and resource-efficient to build, reducing emissions associated with materials and construction.



In BC, building energy efficiency is primarily regulated through the BC Building Code. Recent and upcoming changes are increasing the required energy performance of buildings. As of September 5, 2008, new requirements come into effect for residential, industrial, commercial and institutional buildings. Though energy consumption is the key driver of GHG emissions, at this time the Code does not include explicit emissions requirements.



Local governments have influence over the energy efficiency and emissions of buildings and, through building permit approvals and development planning processes, are key players in the building and development process.  Provincial legislation gives local government significant authority with respect to the establishment of development permit areas.  2008 legislative changes expanded local governments' authority to include the ability to mitigate environmental impacts of new developments and rehabilitation projects by establishing development permit areas for the purposes of promoting energy and water conservation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  Local governments also have at their disposal a range of policies and tools to help facilitate the transformation to low greenhouse gas emitting buildings and developments.



Building emissions are linked to the planning and design of our communities.

Low carbon buildings will tend toward forms that support higher efficiency and lower emissions, especially when considered on a per-occupant basis – for example multi-family residential. They will often also be designed to connect with alternative local energy infrastructure such as district energy systems or renewable energy sources.



“Net zero” energy buildings, requiring no external energy input to operate, have been put forward as a longer term goal. Net zero buildings will become more practical as the building industry advances its knowledge.



Building efficiency, nevertheless, cannot be viewed in isolation from land use and transportation. Commuting by office workers accounts for 30% more energy than the building they work in, according to Environmental Building News [1]. For an average new office building built to code, transportation accounts for more than twice as much energy use as building operation. Location is therefore a critical consideration in overall emissions; poor location can potentially negate the emissions reductions due to green building features.

Building Green's High Performance Buildings Database [10] provides case studies of projects ranging from homes and commercial interiors to large buildings and even whole campuses and neighborhoods.

Community Examples

  • In the Township of Langley, recent residential developments include several Built Green communities – such as Yorkson Village, where all homes are constructed to Built Green Gold standards; Envision Credit Union was also one of the first financial institutions to receive LEED certification.
  • Spallumcheen Encourages all new single family residential development to be highly efficient by requiring buildings to exceed an EnerGuide for Houses (EGH) rating of 75 or meet BuiltGreen silver standards as a condition of each building permit. Outlined in OCP here. [11]
  • City of Nelson: EcoSave Energy Retrofits [12] - an energy retrofits program that offers on-bill financing
  • City of North Vancouver:  [13]Energy Efficient Buildings Initiative is guided by the targets adopted through the City’s Official Community Plan and Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP)

  •  [Use the tab above to learn HOW to reduce emissions with this tool.]
[Use the tabs above to learn WHY this sector is important in GHG management and HOW you can reduce emissions in community buildings.]

[1] Green Buildings Inc., The Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings, Sept 2007, Environmental Building News

  • printprint [14]
Why

Green Communities and Local Economic Development

The BC Cancer Agency Research Centre in Vancouver, certified at LEED Gold, was $6 million under budget and completed ahead of schedule. / Ledcor Construction LtdEnergy needed to heat, cool and power residential and commercial buildings accounts for about 12% of emissions in BC communities [1]. Energy costs for building operation are also a significant cost in every sector – residential, commercial, industrial and institutional.



While transforming community building stocks is a longer term task, it will address a major component of overall community emissions, and can be started immediately.



In addition to the potential emission reductions for the community, transitioning to low-carbon buildings has a strong economic rationale. A good community building emissions reduction strategy can also be a good community economic development strategy. Transitioning to local, renewable energy sources, a key element of low-carbon buildings, supports local economic development, countering the large amounts of energy revenues that typically leave communities.

For the development and real estate industry, green buildings make business sense.Ozzie Jurock, real estate advisor

Other potential benefits of green and low-carbon buildings include:

  • Reduced government infrastructure energy consumption, emissions and costs – for example, associated with demands on water supply and sewer systems
  • Reduced exposure of residents and businesses to price fluctuations and generally rising costs in conventional energy supplies
  • Lower operational and life-cycle costs for building owners and tenants
  • Improved employee productivity and therefore business economic performance - a productivity gain of between 2 and 10% when moving from an average building to a green building; for most office buildings, even the 2% gain will be sufficient to more than compensate for extra green building costs [2].

Though local governments do not have direct control over community buildings, private industry has enormous potential for innovation. Local governments are key agents in fostering change and innovation, through working with private industry in the major building sectors.



Green buildings are now being designed and built for minimal to no additional cost. A US 2007 study, The Cost of Green Revisited [15], concluded that there is no significant difference in average costs for green buildings as compared to non-green buildings. Also, market demand for green buildings is now being identified, with associated higher occupancy rates, stronger rents and sale prices according to a USA study by CoStar Group [16].

[Use the tabs above to learn HOW you can reduce emissions in community buildings.]

[1] Province of BC, Climate Action Plan (p.36), 2008

[2] Morrison Hershfield, A Business Case for Green Buildings in Canada (p.26), 2005

  • printprint [17]
How

Transforming Community Buildings

A condo complex of six homes built in the former Koo's auto shop, Koo's Corner incorporates solar water-heating panels on the roof, reclaimed materials on the inside and a heat recovery ventilation system.Despite the regulatory role of the BC Building Code, local governments have at their disposal a wide range of tools that can further facilitate the transition to green, low carbon community buildings, as described in this section.

Land use patterns [18] are a significant factor in community building emissions. While most energy and green building standards measure building performance by unit of floor area, total community emissions will also be determined by the floor area each person or business occupies. For residential buildings, on a per person basis, higher density urban buildings are less energy and GHG intensive [1, 2] than lower density, suburban residential buildings. Compact, mixed use neighbourhoods can also create better business cases for district energy systems that can incorporate renewable energy sources.

At a technical level, low-carbon buildings will need to be addressed through a combination of siting, energy efficiency and renewable, low-emission energy sources. There is no single solution or set of design options that will work in every building or project; in each case, the optimal configuration needs to be determined by the designer or project team. This process can be influenced by the local government in order to bring a stronger awareness of energy and emissions objectives, benefits, and cost-effective solutions, as well as policies and incentives to spur positive change.

Plans

Official Community Plan [19]
The OCP sets out key climate goals and targets for a community, as well as land use patterns that will influence future building emissions.

Regional Growth Strategy [20]
The RGS can shape growth and land use across a region, influencing future building emissions.

Community Energy and Emissions Plan [21]
Provides a full picture of energy in a community including buildings, and develops a roadmap to reduce energy use and/or move to renewables.

Policies

These policies can be used to encourage new low-carbon buildings and development in the community:

  • Development Permit Area Guidelines [22]
  • Rezoning [23]
  • Building Permits
  • Tax Exemptions
  • Density bonusing [24]
  • Fast Tracking [25]
  • Phased Development Agreement
  • Sustainability checklist [26]
  • Development Cost Charges [27]

Projects

Innovative New Building Projects
Work with property developers and green building industry to develop projects such as:

  • Green buildings – e. g. LEED [9]® or Built Green [8]™
  • Sustainability block [28]
  • Net Zero building
  • Solar roofs project
  • Geoexchange heating
  • Solar thermal pool

District Energy System [29]

Work with a property developer and/or private energy utility to implement a district energy system within a development, including alternative, renewable energy sources.

Community Building Retrofit

Facilitate energy efficiency retrofit projects for specific sectors.

Education

Build and promote educational package(s) for residents and businesses, for example to include information on how to reduce emissions from their homes and businesses, and/or provide resources and links in the local government web site.

The Canada Green Building Council provides a searchable database of hundreds of LEED (LEED BC and LEED Canada) projects across Canada [30].

Processes

Third Party Building Incentives [31]
Help residents and businesses take advantage of energy incentives and programs from other governments, agencies and utilities. The District of Saanich contracted the non-profit organization City Green Solutions to act as the community's Energy Manager and offers free 'GreenStart' consultations [32] to introduce home, retail and store owners to the grants and programs relavant to their building type.

Green building operation
Encourage and promote green operations for existing buildings - e.g. BOMA Go Green [33]


[1] Norman et al, March 2006, Comparing High and Low Residential Density: Life Cycle Analysis of Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Journal of Urban Planning & Development

[2] Energy Information Agency, US residential energy intensity by type of housing unit

  • printprint [34]

Source URL: http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/solution/actions-community-buildings#comment-0

Links
[1] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/taxonomy/term/21
[2] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/taxonomy/term/18
[3] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/taxonomy/term/3
[4] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/taxonomy/term/4
[5] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/taxonomy/term/5
[6] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/taxonomy/term/6
[7] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/taxonomy/term/7
[8] http://www.builtgreencanada.ca/
[9] http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=1306
[10] http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/index.cfm
[11] https://spallumcheen.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=9
[12] http://www.nelson.ca/222/EcoSave-Energy-Retrofits-Program
[13] http://www.cnv.org/Property-and-Development/Building-and-Development/Plans-and-Programs/Energy-Efficient-Buildings-Initiative
[14] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/print/172
[15] http://sustainability.ucr.edu/docs/leed-cost-of-green.pdf
[16] http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?id=D968F1E0DCF73712B03A099E0E99C679
[17] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/print/173
[18] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/solution/land-use-solutions
[19] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/official-community-plan
[20] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/regional-growth-strategy
[21] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/Plan-Do/Energy-Planning
[22] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/development-permit-area-guidelines
[23] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/zoning-bylaw
[24] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/density-bonusing
[25] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/fast-tracking
[26] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/sustainability-checklist
[27] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/development-cost-charges
[28] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/sustainability-block
[29] http://toolkit.bc.ca/tool/district-energy-systems
[30] http://www.cagbc.org
[31] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/tool/3rd-party-incentives
[32] http://www.citygreen.ca/community/sustainability.aspx
[33] http://bomacanada.ca/bomabest/aboutbomabest/
[34] http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/print/174