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CITY OF VANCOUVER POLICY REPORT
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Date: |
January 17, 2005 | |
Author: |
I. Smith/ R. Petri | |
Phone No.: |
604.873.7846 | |
RTS No.: |
04774 | |
CC File No.: |
1758 | |
Meeting Date: |
February 1, 2005 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
Southeast False Creek Steering Committee |
SUBJECT: |
Sustainability Indicators, Targets, Stewardship and Monitoring for South East False Creek |
A. That Council adopt the indicators and targets for SEFC included as Appendix A, as a preliminary framework for on-going monitoring of environmental, social, and economic sustainability goals for the SEFC community.
B. That staff report back during the sub-area rezoning stage of SEFC development with updates to the indicators and targets and a detailed monitoring strategy.
C. That the SEFC Stewardship Group continue its role of advising staff on the SEFC process through the Olympic Village and initial Private Lands sub-area rezonings.
The City Manager recommends A, B and C above for Council approval.
· In October 1999, Council approved the Policy Statement for Southeast False Creek. It included a section on new policy for SEFC stewardship and an appendix with a list of performance targets that were not passed as policy.
· In July 2004, Council approved amendments to the Southeast False Creek Policy Statement and recommended that the SEFC ODP include specific goals, indicators and targets with regular monitoring.
The purpose of this report is to propose a preliminary list of indicators and targets for SEFC and a general framework for stewardship and monitoring of the SEFC indicators and targets. Staff are also asked to report back on revised indicators and targets and a detailed monitoring strategy at the sub-area rezoning stage.
Indicators and Targets
In April 1998, as input to the SEFC Policy Statement, the Sheltair Group completed their report entitled Visions, Tools and Targets: Environmentally Sustainable Development Guidelines for Southeast False Creek. In this report, Sheltair proposed a number of environmental Indicators and Targets for SEFC.
In October 1999, Council approved the SEFC Policy Statement. Though the Indicators and Targets proposed by Sheltair were not adopted by Council, they were included in Appendix B of the SEFC Policy Statement with the note that they could be referenced in discussion and during development planning to identify technologically feasible, but generally aggressive levels of performance.
In 2002 and 2003, six environmental reports for SEFC were completed by external consultants. Some of these reports reviewed the indicators and targets that had been proposed by the Sheltair Group in 1998 and offered comments or revisions based on current research.
In July 2004, Council approved the following new policy for SEFC: "THAT the SEFC ODP include specific sustainability goals, targets and indicators and require tracking/monitoring of performance with regular report out - for example, energy consumption and material consumption per capita - and commit necessary funding to do this; cross referenced with the GVRD sustainability model."
Since July 2004, City staff have worked with consultants and the Stewardship Group to develop a preliminary list of indicators and targets for SEFC that could also inform the work on the Public Investment Model. This list focused on indicators and targets that could be used to assess the sustainability of the SEFC Official Development Plan (ODP).
Monitoring and Stewardship
The SEFC Policy Statement also included a section on the objectives of stewardship in SEFC: to ensure that the vision of SEFC as a sustainable community is maintained, and to encourage the education of residents and visitors, as well as the ongoing monitoring and fine-tuning of the SEFC neighbourhood's social, economic and environmental performance after development is complete.
When adopting the SEFC Policy Statement, Council established a Stewardship Group with a range of interests and expertise amongst its members, including those of property owners and businesses, residents from the neighbourhood, and experts in the practical issues of sustainable development. This Stewardship Group makes recommendations to City staff and is intended to become, over time, a neighbourhood association. Furthermore, the Stewardship Group, in conjunction with City staff, was instructed to develop indicators to monitor the neighbourhood's performance after development is complete. The responsibilities of this group were envisioned to include monitoring, evaluating performance and suggesting measures to City staff to achieve optimum levels of performance on sustainability objectives in SEFC.
Indicators and Targets
Indicators and targets are critical tools for promoting sustainability. They help to establish a clear vision of what is to be achieved, provide focus for all involved in the design process, and create a framework for managing performance after the development is complete. Simply defined, an indicator is a component of the community, such as a flow, an action, an activity or built space that is measured over time and can help show changes in a specific condition. Indicators provide a measurement tool to gauge performance and can be used to educate and affect change. Targets refer to the goals set for each indicator.
The preliminary list of indicators and targets for SEFC are included in Appendix A of this report. The number of indicators in this initial list is purposefully small. Indicators have been selected that are as holistic as possible, can be quantified at the ODP stage, and wherever possible will be useful for the long-term monitoring of the community's build-out and its actual performance once inhabited.
For example, in the area of water management, including supply and disposal, residential water consumption (litres/capita/day) was chosen as the indicator. Residential water consumption, as an indicator, covers both water use and sanitary sewage production by building occupants. The target for this indicator has been initially set at 190 litres/capita/day based on projected reductions in water use resulting from the measures of the SEFC Green Building Strategy adopted by Council in July 2004: dual flush toilets, low flow fixtures, drought tolerant landscaping, and high efficiency irrigation systems at the building level.
All efforts have been taken to assign targets to each indicator. The preliminary targets represent the expected performance of SEFC based on the proposed ODP plan and by-law rather than a theoretical goal as they are being used to evaluate the ODP by-law and its policies. The sustainability strategies, which support the targets, are incorporated into the SEFC plan design and ODP by-law and are illustrated conceptually in Appendix B. The current targets are generally determined by the proposed policies for SEFC such as the Green Building Strategy. Where not explicit in the policy, targets are staff's best estimates of performance based on the proposed ODP by-law. However, there are a number of indicators, particularly in the social and economic spheres which are difficult to set targets for and are of a more qualitative nature. In these cases, it is important to remember that "not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts." (Albert Einstein)
This initial list of indicators and targets for SEFC will change over time, as the community is designed in more detail, built out and occupied, as standards of environmental, social, and economic performance change, and as improved data sources for measuring indicators become available. Once the community is inhabited, it is likely that an engaged community will want to track more specific and numerous indicators.
To facilitate regular updates, the list of indicators and targets are being brought forward for adoption by resolution of Council in this Policy Report and not as part of the ODP by-law. Therefore, changes to the list of indicators and targets will occur through adoption by Council and will not involve the time and complexity of a public hearing (as would be required to revise the ODP by-law).
As the first anticipated revision, it is recommended that staff report back at the sub-area rezoning stage with an updated list of indicators and targets. The expectation is that staff will re-visit the list of indicators and targets at each new stage of the community's development: detailed design, construction, occupancy and throughout the ongoing inhabitation of SEFC. A dynamic set of indicators and targets will promote innovation and continuous improvement throughout the development cycle and within the future SEFC community.
Monitoring and Stewardship
Responsibility for achieving targets must rest with individuals or organizations that have the necessary level of control to achieve a target. Similarly, explicit monitoring, reporting and enforcement mechanisms are required to hold those entities accountable. The City will play a key role in achieving certain types of targets through overall site structure and infrastructure design. Land owners and developers will play a role in achieving site- and building- specific performance targets. Future SEFC residents, business owners, employees and visitors will play a critical role in on-going performance of the area. (SEFC Energy Plan, August 2002, Compass Resource Management)
The first monitoring, at the ODP stage, has been undertaken by staff and consultants by way of a public investment model. Eric Vance and Associates along with the Sheltair Group have prepared a report that looks at an enhanced sustainability development approach envisioned in the ODP by-law. The enhanced sustainability approach is based on the preliminary list of indicators and targets for SEFC. The results of this study will be provided to Council prior to the public hearing.
A detailed monitoring strategy for the next stages of SEFC development will be designed and it is proposed that it be presented to Council at the sub-area rezoning stage. The monitoring strategy will include a process for collecting data, a timeline for reporting results, and assign responsibility for the various monitoring tasks.
It is recommended that the SEFC Stewardship Group continue its role of watching over the SEFC process through the Olympic Village and initial Private Lands sub-area rezonings. Consideration should then be given to the role of the Stewardship Group as the process shifts to its development and occupancy phases. The intent would be that the group be structured to evolve into a neighbourhood association, with broad representation of neighbourhood interests and mechanisms in place to ensure this representation continues as the neighbourhood changes. The association should be inclusive of all who live, work and play in SEFC and will create a Council-resident connection. One of the roles of this neighbourhood association would be to provide a feedback mechanism to City staff for on-going monitoring, performance evaluation, and suggestion of measures to improve the neighbourhood.
It is important to realize that in many cases the achievability of the targets once the community is built out and occupied will depend on the level of impact that the educational programs have on changing people's behaviour. While the City and private developers can design a highly sustainable community, it largely depends upon the habits and choices of the residents, business owners, employees and visitors to realize the goals of the community. For example, while each residential and commercial unit may be designed to facilitate the diversion of solid waste from the landfill, unit occupants will have to participate in the process, or the target will not be achieved. (Merge Report, July 2003, Resource Rethinking Building).
Sustainability education will be another role of the Stewardship Group, and the future neighbourhood association as it evolves. Education will also be achieved through demonstration projects in SEFC. Some ideas for proposed demonstration projects include: a community dual energy system using, greywater recycling, blackwater treatment, rainwater re-use, alternative energy opportunities, and a model high performance public facility.
The proposed indicators and targets which are included in Appendix A, represent the combined efforts of staff, the consultants and the stewardship group and at this time are felt to be representative of the policies put forward at the ODP by-law stage. It is anticipated that both the targets and indicators will change over time to reflect improvements in technology and sustainable thinking.
A detailed monitoring strategy is required to ensure the collection of data and the constant monitoring of SEFC performance throughout all phases of SEFC development and inhabitation.
It is proposed that staff report back at the sub-area rezoning stage on updates to the list of indicators and targets and a detailed monitoring strategy.
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Appendix A: Preliminary List of SEFC Sustainability Indicators and Targets
The following section outlines environmental, social and economic indicators and targets for on-going monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the SEFC community. These indicators and targets were developed as a baseline for the SEFC ODP.
ENVIRONMENTAL
1. ENERGY
Indicator - Total annual building energy consumption (residential and commercial), GJ/sq m gross floor area
Target - 0.79 GJ/sq m average for commercial and institutional buildings; 0.44 GJ/sq m for townhouses; 0.31 GJ/sq m for multi unit residential buildings. This is based on the assumption that privately developed residential and commercial buildings achieve LEED Silver performance and all civic buildings achieve LEED Gold performance. All wood frame low rise (4 storey and below) buildings are assumed to be built to R2000 standards and concrete construction, including high rise apartments and commercial buildings are assumed to be built to Commercial Building Incentive Program (CBIP) standards.
2. WATER
Indicator - Water Consumption (residential), litres/capita/day
Target - 190 lpcd based on projected reductions in water use resulting from the measures of the SEFC Green Building Strategy: dual flush toilets, low flow fixtures, drought tolerant landscaping, and high efficiency irrigation systems at the building level.
3. STORMWATER
Indicator - Effective impervious area (EIA), as % of total site area. EIA is the percentage of drainage area that is directly connected to a storm drainage system. It therefore allows for impervious surfaces that are used to collect rainwater for alternate uses such as irrigation, or for biotreatment and infiltration.
Target - 40% EIA based on Keen Engineering's "SEFC Water & Waste Management Plan", Option 1 which assumed underground parking, effective on-street parking to reduce roadway widths, and rainfall capture by green roofs, parks and open spaces.
4. SOLID WASTE & RECYCLING
Indicator - Municipal Solid Waste (residential and commercial), kg/capita/year disposed off-site
Target - 200 kg/cap/yr based on diversion through aggressive recycling, and 3-stream waste separation with limited on-site composting for local gardens. Assumes 90% residential floor space, 10% commercial. This does not include demolition waste.
5. URBAN AGRICULTURE
Indicators - Area of community demonstration garden; inclusion of a farmers market; % of buildings with green roofs
Target - 26,000 sq ft for a community demonstration garden; farmers market included in ODP by-law; % of buildings with green roofs TBD
6. TRANSPORTATION
Indicator - Transportation - by residents % trips non-auto. This is an initial indicator, which captures most sustainable transportation modes, such as walking, cycling, all forms of transit, etc. Although less useful for estimating environmental impacts than specific data such as automobile km/person/yr., mode split data is available for the City and some specific neighbourhoods, whereas auto usage is not.
Target - 60% of all daily trips by non-auto modes based on reduced parking requirements, greater support for car-sharing and co-op vehicles, and increased support for alternative transportation modes such as cycling and public transit.
7. SEFC GREEN BUILDINGS
Indicator - Overall Environmental Performance of Buildings (LEED points). LEED points represent a cumulative total of credits for building performance with regard to site impacts, energy efficiency, transportation & parking management, water management (drinking water & storm water), and indoor air quality.
Target - 33 points per building or better, based on Council's policy direction that all non-Municipal buildings in SEFC should achieve at least LEED Silver. LEED Gold status is required for all civic buildings.
SOCIAL
Basic Needs:
1. APPROPRIATE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING with flexibility to meet changing needs
Indicators - Percentage of units in the City Lands in each of the three (low, middle, and market) income categories and percentage of units for families by income categories.
Targets - Income Mix: 33.3% affordable housing, 33.3% modest market housing with the thirds defined by regional income profiles. This is based on ensuring a balanced community with a broad social mix and access to housing by all income groups. Household Mix: 35% families within the City Lands and 25% families within the Private Lands.
2. APPROPRIATE, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE available in the community
Indicator - number of doctors in SEFC providing local health care services/total population.
Target - TBD
3. LOCALLY PRODUCED, NUTRITIOUS FOOD
see Urban Agriculture indicator and target above
4. SAFE COMMUNITY
Indicator - real and perceived crime rates and activity; vehicle/pedestrian accidents
Target - TBD
5. QUALITY, AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE
Indicator - % of childcare demand, as calculated from City policy.
Target - 100%
Enhancing Human Capacity:
6. LOCAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Indicator (under development) - Examples: % of jobs created in SEFC that are filled by local residents, or conversely, % of residents (in the labour force) who need to commute to their jobs outside the community; % of residents who walk or cycle to work; childcare spaces filled by children whose working parents live in SEFC
7. CREATIVITY AND ARTISTIC EXPRESSION
Indicators: arts and cultural "vibrancy index" based on a number of indicators, to be developed.
8. LIFE LONG LEARNING
Indicators: % of children living in SEFC attending the school; participation rate in local adult learning programs
9. RECREATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL FACILITIES
Indicators: the total area (acres) per capita of public open space and parks; the total area (sq ft) of the community/boat centre facility
Targets: 2.75 acres/1000 people of public open space and parks; 30,000 sq ft community/boat centre facility
Enhancing Social Capacity
10. COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Indicators: % of local businesses created through a CED process
11. COMMUNITY IDENTITY
Indicators: degree of resident agreement on the character/nature of the community they live in
12. INVOLVEMENT IN PUBLIC PROCESSES
Indicators: to be developed
13. SOCIAL INTERACTION
Indicators: the proportion of public open and built space that is amenable to social interactions, and then the # of people actually using these spaces; the number of residents involved in local community garden activities;
14. COMMUNITY NETWORKS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Indicators: the number of residents active in local organizations such as sports teams, business groups, the community centre association, strata councils, the school's Parent Advisory Committee, etc.
ECONOMIC
1. ECONOMIC SECURITY
Indicators: # of jobs - number of jobs per 1,000 sq. ft. of commercial development (e.g. businesses) and community centre, school, childcare facilities; also the number of jobs created for inner-city residents during the construction of the Olympic Village; Affordable housing responding to the need to provide housing for those in service and other low-paying occupations. The provision of quality childcare will make it easier for parents to hold full time employment.
Target - 5-8 jobs per 1000 sq ft of commercial development; 193 jobs as a result of the childcare facilities, community centre and school
2. LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE
Indicator: Complete Community Design - Range of services available in the community to meet daily needs.
3. ECOLOGICAL ECONOMY
Indicator: to be developed
4. ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE
Indicator: to be developed
Appendix B: Sustainability Concept Diagrams
Diagram 1. Built Form Sustainability
Diagram 2. Landscape Sustainability
Diagram 3. Transportation Sustainability
Diagram 4. Landscape Sustainabilitya
