The driving force to incorporate sustainability features into the development of the northeast sector of Coquitlam came from Council in the early 1990s. Over a period of time, both City staff and Council became increasingly interested in "doing something different" with a large parcel of land earmarked for intensive development with challenging features, such as steep terrain, abundant water features and a near-pristine environment.
The City undertook a series of studies to investigate the feasibility of various development strategies, all of which formed the background to the development of the winning Official Community Plan (OCP). Further studies are underway to finalize other high-level requirements for the site, such as master plans for integrated watershed management, alternative road standards, transportation plans etc. Neighbourhoods have been identified, and a phasing strategy for implementation of the plan is under consideration.
These studies will lay the foundation for the development of more detailed neighbourhood plans, initiated by landowners and following the policies defined in the OCP. Their preparation will involve an extensive stakeholder consultation process.
On July 31, 2000, Coquitlam Council made a formal commitment to building more sustainable and energy efficient communities with the adoption of the Northeast Coquitlam OCP. Over the next 20 years, this long range, comprehensive plan will guide development of a livable, transit oriented community of 24,000 people providing opportunities not only for the protection of the area's significant environmental assets but also for a diverse mix of housing types, commercial, retail, and community leisure services offering viable transportation choices for future residents.
The Northeast is a unique area within Coquitlam, and indeed, Greater Vancouver. From a regional planning perspective, the area is recognized as one of the largest rural and undeveloped portions of the region lying west of the Pitt River. As part of the region's Growth Concentration Area, the City, and Northeast Coquitlam in particular, contains a significant land base outside of identified protected and environmentally sensitive areas that can be contemplated for future urban development.
By recognizing both these planning challenges and opportunities, Council realized that an OCP for the area was an important tool to address growth management issues and supported a comprehensive planning process for the area. Along with extensive public involvement, this process included background technical reviews on environmental issues, terrain and watershed management, housing demand, transportation, land use, utility services, and financial feasibility.
At the heart of the planning process and the OCP are the following principles that embody the central elements of sustainability and community energy planning.
- Protect the area's natural features and environmentally sensitive areas;
- Promote efficient use of resources including land, energy and capital;
- Create a complete community in terms of population, housing types, land uses and services;
- Increase transportation choices;
- Address regional and local housing needs by providing a diverse mix of housing types and tenures; and
- Promote community and social well-being, including health and safety and access to safety services.
Linked to each principle was a set of practical strategies that were employed in developing, evaluating and selecting a preferred land use, transportation and servicing concept for the area. The plan operationalizes these principles through a set of comprehensive plan policies and implementation strategies.
Coquitlam Council recognized that land use and transportation planning, site planning, neighbourhood and building design can have profound effects on energy efficiency and energy-related air emissions. Major components of the development concept are consistent with the goals and objectives of encouraging more energy efficient neighbourhoods and buildings. These include:
- one walkable, village centre serving as a focal point for the area's employment, shopping, educational, recreational and social uses and for future direct transit service between Northeast Coquitlam and Coquitlam's Regional Town Centre;
- a mix of transit-supportive land use types and densities within the proposed village centre;
- a concentration of residential land uses within a ten minute walk of the village centre;
- an inter-connected transportation network and grid accommodating the need of cars, transit, bicycles and pedestrians;
- protection of areas of high environmental sensitivity;
- a network of active and passive parks and leisure opportunities
The proposed, intensely urbanized village area of the overall concept seeks to ensure that Northeast Coquitlam develops in a manner that is compact, transit-supportive and ultimately more sustainable and energy efficient. This area becomes the "heart" of a complete community within which amenities are clustered. A variety of residential types and densities within the area ensure that housing opportunities exist for a broad cross section of people in the community. Institutional, commercial, and retail uses, along with their associated range of employment opportunities, are easily accessible to residents.
In many respects, the development concept for Northeast Coquitlam represents a significant departure from conventional approaches to suburban community design. The basic composition of the community, for example, includes a much broader range of closely integrated land uses and more variety in housing types and densities.
To assist the planning process, a Geographic Information System-based evaluation model, INDEX, was used to evaluate potential land use options against a set specific liveability and resource efficiency indicators. These indicators were developed during the planning process, and were useful when evaluating each issue relative to the achievement of the six overall planning principles. Energy consumption, waste generation, capital, operating and maintenance costs of infrastructure, air pollution, auto dependency, housing mix and the proximity to and availability of key community services such as transit, shopping, parks and open space was measured for each land use option. This helped identify the "village concept" as the preferred land use option for Northeast Coquitlam.
For a benchmark comparison, the same indicators or measures were calculated for an existing City community that had developed in a more conventional pattern nearly 20 years ago. For nearly all indicators, the model demonstrated a marked improvement towards sustainability in the village concept over the conventionally planned subdivision.
Some key sustainability benefits of the proposed land use plan for Northeast Coquitlam over the more conventional suburban approach include:
- 30% lower infrastructure capital and operating costs
- 24% lower CO emissions
- 20% less land covered in streets
- 5% reduction in energy consumed for all purposes
- 93% improvement in solar orientation of streets
- 70% less travel distance to shopping
- 20% increase in household proximity to parks and open space
- 250% increase in the number of key community facilities and amenities
- 400% increase in local job opportunities.
The OCP includes specific policies outlining Council's support for planning, design and construction of energy efficient neighbourhoods and buildings along with several strategies related to land use and transportation planning, energy supply options, building design and site planning aimed at reducing energy consumption. Specific energy efficiency and conservation policies are listed below.
This plan provides an opportunity to work towards building a community that is more socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible and sustainable than typical post-war suburban communities. The planning framework contained within the OCP responds to the increasing recognition of significant economic, environmental and social costs associated with current growth management issues such as urban sprawl, traffic congestion, water and air pollution, loss of affordable housing, energy conservation, loss of open space and areas of high environmental sensitivity and the loss of social contact in communities. By taking the bold step of adopting this framework which is at the core of the new Northeast Coquitlam OCP, Coquitlam Council is committing itself to take an active role in working towards a more sustainable and energy efficient future.
City of Coquitlam Energy Efficiency and Conservation Policies
As reference guide for other BC communities, policies described in the Northeast Coquitlam OCP specifically aimed at ensuring energy efficiency and conservation are as follows:
Intent
- to encourage the planning , design and construction of energy efficient neighbourhoods and buildings;
- to encourage reductions in energy consumption and costs;
- to improve community liveability by reducing local sources of pollution by reducing the need for transportation (particularly single occupant vehicle use), reducing energy consumption and increasing the use of cleaner energy alternatives;
- to foster the development of new energy supply options
Policy: Strategies to encourage Energy Efficient Neighbourhoods
a) The City promotes the following strategies which support the planning, design and construction of energy efficient neighbourhoods and which are intended to guide implementation of this plan, particularly the development of neighbourhood plans.
i) Land Use Strategies
- Encourage a mix of land use and densities throughout neighbourhoods;
- establish dwelling unit and density targets for future neighbourhoods;
- Foster the development of mixed use, pedestrian oriented village centre;
- Promote a contiguous development pattern through staged development plans;
- Promote local employment sources;
- Direct higher density uses to arterials and future transit routes.
ii) Transportation Strategies
- Encourage a multi-modal street design which accommodates transit, bicycles, pedestrians and high occupancy vehicles. Important design features include:
- narrower streets and traffic calming features;
- street trees and landscaping which can provide shade and reduce heat absorption;
- an inter connected street network;
- bicycle lanes and signals;
- bus lanes and transit amenities such as shelters.
- Develop a comprehensive parking plan to complement the overall development concept. The plan should address the following features which promote energy efficiency:
- parking supply ratios which consider the availability of other travel options;
- shared parking;
- parking pricing to encourage transit and HOV use;
- parking location and design which encourages transit use and pedestrian activity;
- develop effective bicycle and pedestrian networks and supportive facilities and amenities;
- encourage trip reduction measures such as vanpools and ridershare programs, employer trip reduction programs.
iii) Energy Supply Strategies
- Encourage ands examine the feasibility of district energy supply options in Northeast Coquitlam, particularly the village centre;
- Encourage the development of other alternative energy supply options;
- Encourage multi-use buildings to take advantage of waste heat utilization and opportunities for on site energy supply options.
iv) Building Design and Site Planning Strategies
- Encourage multi use buildings which can share energy needs;
- Encourage landscaping which can buffer buildings from wind and sun and help reduce heating and cooling needs;
- Locate streets and buildings so that solar access is preserved;
- Encourage building design and features (windows, colours) which reduce energy needs;
- Promote environmentally sound buildings;
- Encourage the use of local or recycled construction materials;
- Encourage the installation of water efficient appliances.
