|
CITY OF VANCOUVER ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT |
Date: |
October 1, 2003 | |
Author: |
Dale Mikkelsen | |
Phone No.: |
6168 | |
RTS No.: |
03596 | |
CC File No.: |
8026 | |
Meeting Date: |
October 21, 2003 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
Director of Current Planning in consultation with the General Manager of Engineering Services, the Chief Building Official, and the Manager of the Office of Sustainability. |
SUBJECT: |
UBC Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council support, in principle, the UBC Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability as an initiative that will contribute to the City's understanding of sustainability; and
B. THAT Council endorse staff's participation in this initiative to identify and review City by-laws regulating land use, construction, infrastructure servicing needs, and site issues to better facilitate innovative development technologies.
C. THAT Council ask Community Services staff to report back on a regular basis to provide updates on project progress and new data on sustainability as it becomes available.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Managers of Community Services, Engineering, the Office of Sustainability, and the Chief Building Official RECOMMEND approval of the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
Following several years of work on a wide variety of sustainability initiatives, in April 2002, the City adopted a formal position, definition and principles on sustainability, which states:
· A sustainable Vancouver is a community that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
· It is a place where people live, work and prosper in a vibrant community of communities. In such a community, sustainability is achieved through community participation and the reconciliation of short and long term economic, social and ecological well-being.
· Sustainability is a direction rather than a destination. A sustainable city is one that protects and enhances the immediate and long-term well being of a city and its citizens, while providing the highest quality of life possible.
· Sustainability requires integrated decision-making that takes into account economic, ecological, and social impacts as a whole.
PURPOSE
This report seeks to have Council endorse the continued participation of the City in innovative and exciting sustainability initiatives in the City. This endorsement is sought, knowing that progressive and/or leading edge developments such as the UBC Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) will need a pro-active approach by City staff in order to be successful in exploring new elements of sustainable design. This building will provide many opportunities for City staff in all departments to advance sustainable thinking and continue to explore both viability and feasibility of new approaches in a highly controlled and calculated environment that will provide constant feedback throughout its life-cycle. With Council's endorsement, staff will report back on a regular basis throughout the life of the project.
This report also seeks Council support in allowing staff to have flexibility in aligning the many by-laws regulating land use and construction in the City, infrastructure servicing needs, and site issues with the new and innovative technologies being brought forward in the approval and development of this building. This is an opportunity for the City to begin identifying and addressing the "regulatory challenges" that have been recognised by the Cool Vancouver Initiative, the Green Building work undertaken by staff, and the continued work of the LEED BC Steering Committee, of which the City of Vancouver is an active member. This project will also give staff an opportunity to examine Green House Gas mitigation measures in the context of a new building. Any controversial or difficult challenges encountered will be brought back to Council for advice.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The University of British Columbia is proposing to create the CIRS in response to the global challenge of creating more sustainable societies. In establishing the CIRS, the UBC Sustainable Development Research Institute will work with leading academics from a variety of disciplines, and will build key partnerships and alliances outside the university to continue to build on and expand their cutting edge approach to sustainability research.
The CIRS is proposed to be located in a new building in the False Creek Flats on the site of the new Academic Consortium identified broadly as 555 Great Northern Way (formerly the Finning Lands). The proposed building will be a research and demonstration facility for sustainable building design, systems, and technologies. Through the CIRS, and with support from key regulatory bodies (such as the GVRD and the City of Vancouver), UBC will continue to take a leadership role in creating new forms of research on global sustainability issues.
This project is an opportunity for the City to continue learning about sustainability and promotes the integration of current sustainability policy stemming from the Southeast False Creek community through to the False Creek Flats. With Council support for exciting projects like the CIRS, the development of lands occupied by the Great Northern Way Campus Trust can facilitate this integration between a variety of communities.
During the regular meeting of the GVRD Board of Directors on Friday, July 26, 2002, it was moved and seconded to "support the UBC Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability as an action under the Sustainable Region Initiative and direct staff to provide annual progress reports on the project's contribution to sustainability in Greater Vancouver."
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no financial implications.
PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS
There are no specific staff resources necessary. Staff involved with the many by-laws regulating land use and construction in the City will work through the challenges of such a project as they arise in their usual course of work.
CONCLUSION
Council is asked to continue its endorsement of creative and progressive sustainability strategies that are occurring within the City of Vancouver. The CIRS is a project that seeks not only to be sustainable, but to advance sustainable thinking and research within an academic environment that will document and provide results for future application. Council's support of such a project, in principle and through commitment to allowing flexibility in by-law, infrastructure servicing needs, and site issues, shows continued leadership in innovative sustainable thinking.
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