Solar

Green Building

Green buildings deliver maximum efficiency and comfort with a lower overall life cycle cost than a conventional building. As a result, green building has emerged as an industry that will strengthen and diversify Vancouver's economy. Our green building program aims to not only educate about green building techniques but to align regulations and bylaws to make it easier to design and construct green buildings.

Twitter

Follow the Green Buildings and Sustainability Program on Twitter

 

Green Building Audio Tours

Green building audio tours are new audio guides to Vancouver’s green buildings. Each three-minute recording takes the listener on a virtual ‘tour’ of the building’s green design features, guided by the architect or member of the design team. The Vancouver Green Building Audio Tours were created through a partnership between City of Vancouver Sustainability Office and the Open Green Building Society.

Solar Hot Water Incentive for New Homes

The City of Vancouver, SolarBC, Terasen Gas and Offsetters are offering an incentive of $3500 - roughly 50 per cent of the cost of a solar hot water system - to people building new homes in Vancouver. It will be available to 50 homes on a first come, first served basis starting in January 2010.

Visit the Solar Homes Pilot webpage to learn the steps you need to take, read our FAQ sheet and find out who are the approved installers.

Proposed Renovation By-law

In January, City of Vancouver staff will be going to Council with a proposed green renovation by-law. Find out more about the by-law:

The opportunity for feedback closed December 15, 2009. Thank you to all who participated in this process.
Please e-mail us if you have any questions.

What is a Green Building?

Traditionally, buildings are hard on the environment. Construction uses natural resources and tends to create waste, significant greenhouse gas emissions are generated from day to day use and maintenance and a huge amount of materials go to waste during deconstruction. Green buildings minimize their impact on the environment because they utilize less resources and are designed with ongoing efficiency in mind. They are built to suit their intended use, the local climate and the natural environment. The healthy indoor environments of a green building can increase well-being of its occupants and make work easier. These buildings are not only designed with its owners and users in mind, but also with an eye to the future.

Passive Design Toolkits

The City has developed and approved two passive design toolkits detailing ways to reduce energy use in new buildings, which are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in Vancouver. The toolkits provide best practices for homes and larger buildings for passive design elements such as layout, orientation, insulation, landscaping and ventilation. They are targeted to City staff and the design and development communities, intended to help us move toward a new, higher standard of energy efficiency without sacrificing thermal comfort. This work is supportive of the City's goal of becoming the greenest city.

Download the Passive Design Toolkits:

 

Green Renovation Guide

Coming soon. Check back in January 2010.

Green Building Construction in Vancouver

A sustainable community is being built in Southeast False Creek (SEFC). It is a large-scale green construction project unlike anything ever undertaken in Vancouver. See a presentation on this project.

Other places to see green buildings are at the University of British Columbia, the City's National Works Yard, B.C. Cancer Agency Research Centre plus expansions to the Vancouver Aquarium and the Vancouver Convention Centre - or check out the Vancouver Economic Development Commission's Green Buildings in Vancouver.

Green Homes Program

The City has a Green Homes Program for one and two family dwellings. On June 26, 2008 City Council unanimously approved changes to the Vancouver Building By-law and how has the greenest building code in North America for new houses. New homeowners now stand to save up to 30% on their energy bills, use less water and generate less GHGs and have healthier places to live.

Water Wise Landscape Guidelines

On July 21, 2009 the City adopted Water Wise Landscape Guidelines which provide developers and homeowners strategies to create ecologically-based urban landscapes that reduce water consumption and protect water quality. As Vancouver grows, impervious surfaces place an increasing strain on local infrastructure and impact natural biodiversity. As well, some landscape designs can increase the need for potable water and chemical fertilizers. These Guidelines respond to these concerns by drawing on proven successes and highlighting promising advances, design principles, strategies, relevant resources, and local plant lists.

Green Building Strategy

The City of Vancouver is implementing a Green Building Strategy (GBS)for all commercial, institutional, mixed-use, and high density residential buildings in the city of Vancouver. The GBS is one of many green building initiatives currently underway to reduce the environmental impacts of buildings and related infrastructure, others include Green Homes, EcoDensity, SEFC, and major rezonings.

The following outlines the status of GBS actions as outlined in that Council report:

Actions Completed

  1. Rainwater Management
  • Require drains in parking garages to connect to sanitary sewers instead of stormwater drains, to reduce overflows of combined rainwater and sewage into surrounding water bodies during periods of heavy rain.
  • Solve issues related to greenroofs specific to Vancouver's climate with Homeowner Protection Office.
  1. In-Building Water Conservation
  • Adopt low flush toilets in nonresidential buildings.
  • Review and analyze cost impacts, benefits, and regulatory barriers to requiring dual flush toilets and Energy Star laundry machines and dishwashers.
  1. Transportation Demand Management
  • Provide additional relaxations for minimum parking requirements to support alternative travel modes.
  • Review the feasibility of unbundling parking requirements.
  • Update requirements for secure bicycle parking and other end-of-trip facilities.
  • Expand transportation demand management requirements for new developments.
  • Develop requirements for accommodating charging of electric vehicles.
  1. Landscape and Ecology
  • Develop guidelines for voluntary urban agricultural installations to contribute to support a sustainable food system.
  • Develop voluntary guidelines for native and low-water use landscaping to reduce use of drinking water for irrigation, particularly during drought periods.

Actions Adopted

  • Improve enforcement of Energy Utilization By-law requirements
  • Adopt ASHRAE 90.1 2004 as new Energy Utilization By-law.
  • Decrease overall building energy use requirements by 12-15% beyond ASHRAE 90.1 2001 to meet Natural Resources Canada Commercial Building Incentive Program requirements.

Actions in Process

  1. Rainwater Management
  • Conduct analysis with recommendations and timeline for a city-wide storm water management plan for development.
  • Develop on-site storm water management requirements for surface parking lots to reduce runoff and improve water quality, including oil separation and infiltration facilities.
  1. Heat Island Effect Mitigation
  • Develop voluntary guidelines for greenroofs and high albedo Energy Star "cool" roof that maximize rain-water management, energy efficiency, habitat and aesthetics. (The albedo is the extent to which an object diffusely reflects light from the sun).
  1. Water Conservation
  • Permit waterless urinals as accepted plumbing fixture based on ANSI standards.
  • Develop requirements for low flow irrigations systems that will decrease water use by 50%.
  1. Energy Efficiency and GHG Reduction
  • Develop energy use targets by building type as an alternative energy compliance path.
  1. Passive Design
  • Evaluate passive design floor space ratio exclusions that were used in SEFC Olympic Village; access desirability and feasibility of extending exclusions more broadly; access compatibility of current design guidelines and regulations with passive design features. Promote solar design, natural ventilation and daylighting through site and building design to enhance indoor occupant comfort and increased energy efficiency.
  1. Waste Diversion
  • Develop mandatory Construction Waste Management Plans for all construction projects to be monitored through the building permit process.
  • Develop recycling targets by analyzing existing building types and Metro Vancouver bans, recycling infrastructure and robustness of markets.
  • Develop zoning guidelines and amendments for the Solid Waste By-law for improved in-building waste reduction facilities (waste, recyclables, organics) to support banned materials such as organic waste.

 

Green Building Council Policy Reports

For more information about the City's Green Building work, contact David Ramslie.