The process of creating a Sustainability Checklist is usually led by local government staff. Items on the Sustainability Checklist are based on Official Community Plan (OCP) [1] objectives for sustainable development, and generally include considerations about site layout and location within the community, as well as, building design. A Council/Board resolution generally authorizes the use of a Sustainability Checklist.  

Using a Sustainability Checklist in the Development Application/Approval Process

• Developers complete the Sustainability Checklist as part of their pre-application discussion with staff, or submit it with their development application.  
• Staff and the applicant discuss the proposed development’s score on the Sustainability Checklist, and identify how the proposal could be more sustainable.
• The Council/Board/Staff receives the Sustainability Checklist for review when considering development approval [1].

Opportunities for Climate Change Action

A Sustainability Checklist can help local governments creatively respond to new legislation requiring GHG emissions targets and policies for achieving targets. A Sustainability Checklist can combine land use criteria and buildings criteria.

Land Use Opportunity

• A Sustainability Checklist can be used to implement, at a site level, policy objectives and targets for climate change action that relate to land use and urban design, which are articulated in the OCP and/or Neighbourhood Plans [1].    
• Local governments can fine-tune the incentive tool so that it entices new development to deliver on priorities in specific areas of town, e.g. new catalyst developments in existing neighbourhoods with lower land value, green development features, and/or non-market housing units. 
• The Green Building Council’s pilot LEED ND (Neighbourhood Design) criteria [2] may be a useful resource for evaluating larger development proposals that propose a new development at the neighbourhood scale.

Buildings Opportunity   

• When performance on a Sustainability Checklist is linked to an incentive tool,  local governments can reward developers’ decision to use green building elements and life cycle costing. By giving the developer an up-front financial reward (through whichever applicable means) the local government is helping to offset the slightly higher up-front cost to install green development features (average 2 to 5% premium), which will pay dividends in the longer-term to occupants.  
• Bill 27, (“Green Communities Statutes Ammendment Act”) [3] gives local governments clear authority to establish specific Development Permit Areas (DPAs) [4] in order to promote energy and water conservation, and the reduction of GHG emissions.  The regulation of energy and water conservation and GHG reduction within buildings is under the purview of the recently amended BC Building Code [5].  A Sustainability Checklist is a non-regulatory tool that can encourage building energy efficiency that goes beyond the requirements of the BC Building Code and beyond what can be covered by DPAs, e.g. in the areas of plumbing, appliances, glazing, lighting, heating and cooling systems.
• A Sustainability Checklist can be based on the Canada Green Building Council’s LEED rating system for various types of buildings: commercial and institutional (NC.1), multiple unit residential buildings (‘MURB’s), single family dwellings, and retrofits. The checklists are available on the Green Building Council’s website [2].
• Since permits for new single family dwellings and retrofits follow a different administrative application process, local governments have developed distinct checklists for single family dwelling applications.  The purpose is to encourage homebuilders to construct more energy efficient dwellings that contribute to the local government’s sustainability goals and GHG reduction targets. Local governments would distribute Sustainability Checklists to building permit applicants for voluntary completion and submission.  There is an opportunity to link exceptional ratings on building checklists to local government incentives.

Transportation Opportunity

A Sustainability Checklist can be used to implement, at a development site level, policy objectives and targets for climate change action that relate to transportation, in the Official Community Plan, or Neighbourhood Plan.    

[1] Community Energy Association and Fraser Basin Council, Energy Efficiency and Buildings