Every community has unique circumstances and aspirations. The four categories of action that are presented in this section are applicable to most communities. The CEA Funding Guide may help your local government find financial support for these actions.
Establishing the right administrative structures will be important in achieving long term success in efforts to reduce municipal emissions, energy use, and sparking economic development.
A model climate leadership group might include the City Manager, the Chief Planner, the Chief Engineer, the Mayor, two Councillors, and several representatives from business, civic, and environmental groups.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has developed a process for climate action planning and implementation.
Partners for Climate Protection is run by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and outlines a series of milestones by which municipalities can plan to reduce emissions. Over 25% of BC local governments have already signed up to the PCP program. The five milestones of the program are to:
Further information about PCP, and about the tools municipalities can use to reduce emissions, can be found at:
http://www.sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca/Capacity_Building/Energy/PCP/.
Setting targets for both corporate operations (operations of the local government) and across the community is a significant step in signalling direction and igniting action.
The targets for a specific local government are influenced by the aspirations of the population, the unique energy situation of the local government and jurisdiction, as well as the cost and economic development potential of actions.
Some examples of targets include:
Planning can take several forms. There are three specific types of plans that a community may wish to engage in.
There is no one right approach for every community. Each community is unique in its current situation, goals, resources, priorities, and interests. Depending on where a specific community is, one of the following four planning approaches may be appropriate.
| Plans | Integrated Community Sustainability Plan | Air Quality Management Plan | Greenhouse Gas Action Plan | Community Energy Plan |
| Typical Scope | Broadest scope. All elements of community sustainability. Can include energy. | All or priority emissions to air. Can include GHG's. Targets for air quality and plans to meet them. | Narrowest scope. Identification of GHG emissions, targets for reductions, plans to meet targets. May not encompass all energy considerations (ie electricity) | Energy use across the community, targets for future energy use and plans to get there. Not as broad as an ICSP, broader than a GHGAP. |
| Output | Provides a complete picture including the inter-relationships between elements | Provides a roadmap to cleaner air. Easy to link to health outcomes. | Provides a roadmap for addressing GHG emission, likely over multiple years. Can be a way to engage the community in energy and climate change. | Provides a full picture of energy in a community, links to other decision-areas such as land-use. Provides a roadmap for the most effective deployment of resources to reduce energy use and/or move to renewables. |
| Notes | Maintaining focus and momentum is key since the large scope could lead to "analysis paralysis" | Many local governments have completed AQMP's and refresh them regularly. | Required for PCP milestone. Potential for inefficient fuel-switching if not careful. | May meet PCP requirements. |
Buildings, both commercial and residential, hold great potential for energy efficiency improvements. An R2000 home will save about 30% compared to a conventional house, while new green commercial buildings can be 30 – 50% more efficient than standard construction practices.
Almost all local governments can benefit from taking action on buildings efficiency, by:
The Community Energy Association delivers the Green Buildings BC (http://www.greenbuildingsbc.com/) which has extensive information, including sample RFPs and contracts and a How-To Guide, on performing comprehensive energy retrofits of buildings. For further information on the program, contact David Sims dsims@communityenergy.bc.ca 604-628-7076.
The Community Action on Energy Efficiency program, funded by the provincial Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources, has taken the lead on buildings energy efficiency for local governments. 29 participating local governments have signed on to the program, and are taking action in a variety of ways, including retrofitting their own buildings, developing policies for new civic buildings, holding workshops for developers, using efficiency checklists for permit applications, and even developing model bylaws requiring efficiency improvements in new buildings.
Establishing LEED standards for municipal buildings is becoming widespread. (http://www.cagbc.org/building_rating_systems/leed_rating_system.php). The GVRD has produced guidelines for municipalities seeking to construct and develop high performance and LEED buildings (http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/Buildsmart/pdfs/gvrdmunicipalleeddesignguide2006.pdf) The City of Kingston, Ontario, is estimated to save $100,000 annually as a result of building to LEED standards.
The Community Energy association can provide additional information on policies and actions that can be taken to promote energy efficient buildings throughout your community.
Municipal fleets can be optimized to reduce energy use, cost, and greenhouse gas emissions. In the 2007 Throne Speech, the Province of BC committed to all new fleet purchases being hybrid-electric vehicles.
One approach to fleet optimization that is gaining momentum with local governments is the E3 Fleet program delivered by the Fraser Basin Council. E3 Fleet helps on-road vehicle fleets reduce smog and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Find out more at http://www.e3fleet.com.
A BC example from 2006, the City of Dawson Creek implemented a Green Municipal Vehicle Purchasing policy, with assistance on design of the policy from the Pembina Institute. Their policy can be found here: http://www.planningforpeople.ca/what_we_are_doing/energy_plan/phase_1/index.asp
The Environment and Plastics Industry Council have produced guidelines on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from residential solid waste: www.cpia.ca/files/files/files_Epicreport-2.pdf.
Signing on to the provincial water conservation guidelines can help save water AND energy. Through other infrastructure optimization such as sewer-heat recovery, additional savings are possible.
One example of energy savings from other infratructure results from replacing traffic lights and street lights with energy efficient lighting. The City of Vancouver saves $247,500 in energy costs, and $110,000 in maintenance costs, as a result of changing the bulbs in 670 traffic lights (http://www.bchydro.com/business/success/story4287.html)
Green procurement policies ensure that along with other priorities such as value for money, climate and energy concerns are not forgotten when the municipal government goes shopping. While some of these choices may involve higher upfront costs, they lead to lower running costs for municipal operations, through lower heating, fuel and electricity bills. A simple green procurement policy would use existing and widely recognised green certification frameworks. A generic tool for developing a green procurement policy is available here: http://www.cec.org/eco-sat/webform/home.aspx?CFID=17796040&CFTOKEN=36711000.
However, carbon offsetting is a relatively new phenomenon, and there are a range of competing quality assurance standards, such as the ‘Voluntary Gold Standard', and ISO 14064. The BC government is currently developing its own offset strategy. Meanwhile, we can help point you in the direction of some guides about current offsetting best practice.
http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/ConsumersGuidetoCarbonOffsets.pdf
Promoting practical alternatives to the private car
A smart growth planning framework will help people live closer to work, shopping and schools. In the short term, municipalities need to help provide alternatives to the wide-spread use of gas-consuming, single occupant vehicles through support for:
Further information
While the efficiency of future buildings will be improved with the forthcoming Provincial ‘green building code', announced in the 2007 Throne Speech, BC's existing buildings are major contributors to provincial emissions, primarily because of the natural gas used for space and water heating. Municipalities can use a number of tools to encourage efficiency and renewable energy in the wider community in both new and existing buildings.
A new three-year, $60 million LiveSmartBC: Efficiency Incentive Program will help British Columbians reduce both their carbon footprint and their energy costs through incentives to make their homes more energy efficient. The LiveSmartBC: Efficiency Incentive Program will give homeowners access to rebates for audits and energy efficiency incentives. More information is available at http://www.gov.bc.ca/empr/popt/livesmart_bc.html
Joining the Community Action on Energy Efficiency (CAEE) program, run by the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, is one way of getting help to improve energy efficiency within your community. The program has produced a website to promote energy efficiency in buildings in BC: http://www.saveenergynow.ca/
As part of the CAEE program, the provincial government commissioned the Sheltair group to identify tools available to municipalities to promote energy efficiency in new buildings:
http://www.em.gov.bc.ca/alternativeenergy/EnergyEfficiency/energyefficiencypdfs/Part%202%20Municipal%20Energy%20May%203%20with%20logos%5B2%5D.pdf. The Canada Green Building Council has produced guidelines for municipalities on promoting green building (http://www.cagbc.org/green_resources/for_municipalities.php), as has West Coast Environmental Law (http://www.wcel.org/wcelpub/2006/14252.pdf).
Energy can sourced from renewable sources where possible, and municipal buildings consider installing renewable energy such as solar hot water or biomass energy systems.
Where renewable energy is not possible in municipal buildings, BC Hydro offers green energy purchase options: http://www.bchydro.com/business/gpcerts/gpcerts22520.html
Local governments are ideally placed to directly engage communities about awareness and action on climate change. The City of Vancouver's "Oneday Vancouver" program is an example of a creative educational and outreach tool to motivate citizens to take action. One way to start engaging the community is through partnerships with local environmental groups that are keen to educate and support climate change initiatives. Your local BC Sustainable Energy Association chapter is a good place to start. The City of Dawson Creek has been working with the Pembina Institute, while concerned residents in Central Saanich have started the Central Saanich Energy Committee.
FCM has developed some ideas for municipalities thinking about how to engage the community during the development of climate ‘local action plans': http://www.sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca/files/PDF/final_CP_eng_layout_2003.pdf
There are many ways to engage the community. Some of which are explained below.
You may not need comprehensive public involvement to initiate efficiency programs in municipal facilities. However, when evaluating alternative plans for community development patterns, neighbourhood design standards or community energy supply systems, effective public involvement will be essential.
Public meetings and open houses are good ways of providing information to the public and getting feedback on development proposals. However, the "inform" and "collect feedback" methods of public involvement are increasingly seen as limiting - by both planners and the public - and more interactive methods are being devised.
The public can be an invaluable source of knowledge, instinct and innovation. Here are some ideas for tapping that resource -
Here are some ideas for more effective communications -
Taking action within your own jurisdiction is important. The benefits of your actions can be multiplied by sharing with other local governments. Sharing successes, challenges, lessons learned, and templates can accelerate change across BC and Canada.
Equally valid is learning from what other local governments have already done, are doing, or are planning to do.
The Community Energy Association is pleased to offer several forums for this sharing of experience to take place
Engaging the groups that represent local governments can also be effective in both learning and in multiplying the benefits of your actions.
Innovation in Canada has a tradition of starting at the local level and working its way up. The Province of BC also provides support to local governments who are taking action on climate and energy.
The Ministry of Community Services, the Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources are particularly active in supporting local governments through a variety of programs.