Ecology in Focus - Vancouver Ecodensity

Eco Tips: Green Home

Energy Efficient Lighting Lighting for a bright future… Lighting in your home accounts for 5 to 10% of your total energy use. It may seem little, but multiply all the energy consumed in the hundreds of thousands of homes in Vancouver and you’ve got yourself some big numbers. Here are some links to get you out of the dark and help you change your lighting habits… Refrigerators/Freezers Cool it with environmentally friendlier refrigeration solutions. While your refrigerators and freezers are keeping your food cool, they may also be warming up our planet. In fact, they’re two of the most significant energy-consuming appliances. Here are some links on how to make your current fridge or freezer more energy efficient and also new alternatives to replace older models… Home and Water heating Warm up to an energy efficient home… Coming in first place for energy consumption, heating is the single largest use

Environmental Jobs that are Available in Vancouver

If you want to pursue an environmental career in Vancouver, well you’re in luck! There is no shortage of environmental jobs that are available in Vancouver for those who want an environmental career. A lot of industries in Vancouver are tied to the natural resources surrounding its environment. There is an abundance of the Pacific Ocean fisheries which provides stable employment of harvesting fishes like salmon, halibut, red snapper and other sea foods. Vancouver is also full of natural resources, rich forests and animal life. Naturally, there are many companies that work hard to care and protect these resources. There are a lot of environmental jobs available for you to choose from. You could consider a career as an environmental scientist, technologist or engineer. If you choose this job then you should be willing to do some fieldwork and soil, vapor and groundwater sampling. An applicant should also have a

Things we use: Where do they come from, and where do they go?

What does the ecosystem do for us? The natural environment cleans and filters our air and water, and a healthy ecosystem helps regulate our climate. One economist recently reported that the ecosystem services provided by Canada’s boreal forests alone are worth about $93 billion to our economy.* That’s more than our mining and energy industries combined. We don’t pay for these ecosystem services with money, but if we damage the environment beyond repair, the economic losses could be devastating. EcoDensity’s role in better using energy, materials, food and water. If you’re in Vancouver, you’re probably in or near a building of some kind. What materials were needed for this building? Where did they come from? And what materials, labour, and energy were required to change a tree into a plank, or petroleum into shingles – and then to deliver it to where you are now? Everything we build requires materials

Getting around: Transportation

EcoDensity’s connection to transportation. We hear it every day on the radio: traffic backed up for kilometres on Highway 1 or the Mary Hill Bypass. We see it when it hasn’t rained for a while: the brownish grey haze over the city. As well, we know that carbon dioxide from car exhaust contributes to climate change, and in Vancouver about one-quarter of the city’s green-house gases come from cars. The wind off the ocean blows the smog eastward, so it’s easy for us to ignore the effects of our pollution. Thankfully, people who both live and work in Vancouver don’t have the long commutes that many others do. We drive less when shops and services are close to our homes. We know cars are big polluters. Even if we all drove small electric cars, our society’s automobile dependency would still have negative effects. All those cars have to park somewhere,

What Goes Where: Land Use

EcoDensity and where we live, work, and play. All cities devote certain parts of their land to certain uses: separate areas for people to work, live, and play. Vancouver, like most cities in North America, has grown up with large areas being devoted to single uses. Much of this land has low density development. Other areas are mainly business or industry, providing employment and services for Vancouverites. Up until a few decades ago, there were even small farms within the city limits. This type of land use worked when Vancouver was still a small city. However, Vancouver is undergoing tremendous growth, and there is no new land on which people can live. How can we accommodate this growth in population? Through EcoDensity, the City wants to explore how to accommodate growth in ways that reduce our ecological footprint, while improving affordability and livability. What to do? Clear new land? One

Living in a Global City: Housing and Affordability

Relating EcoDensity to amount and type of housing in neighbourhoods Housing options Imagine a young Vancouver couple who has just had their first child. They are enjoying being new parents, and are eager to provide their child with a good home. They think it would be best if they lived near their own parents, but they can’t find affordable rental units in the neighbourhood. They also would like some outdoor space for their child to play. They could leave Vancouver, but they know that this will mean more driving and make it harder to arrange child minding with the grandparents. Picture a different family: a retired couple who have lived in the same house since they were married in 1949. They’re finding it harder to go up and down their stairs and take care of the big garden. Besides, they want to be careful with their finances and live somewhere

Council Approves EcoDensity Charter & Actions

On June 10, 2008, Vancouver City Council unanimously voted to adopt the EcoDensity Charter. The EcoDensity Charter commits the City to make environmental sustainability a primary goal in all city planning decisions – in ways that also support housing affordability and livability. Council also approved a set of EcoDensity Actions. The first two actions to be implemented by the City immediately are: Rezoning Policy for Greener Buildings: Applications for new rezoning will need to meet a minimum LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver rating, or similar equivalency in green design. This includes City priorities for energy performance, water efficiency, and storm water use. Rezoning policy for Greener Larger Sites: Rezonings on sites of generally two acres or more will need to meet a number of sustainability measures in addition to those required in the Rezoning Policy for Greener Buildings. And for sites with housing, a range of types

Update on Laneway Housing – When Might it be Allowed in your Neighbourhood?

The City has been working on amending single family zoning to allow laneway housing. This new housing form will be located in the typical garage area where it maintains backyard open space. As per past City Council direction, it will be limited to 1½ storeys, have at least one off-street parking space, and be rental or family only (no stratification will be allowed). Recently, a City Council Motion directed that action relating to new affordable and rental housing, be prioritized. In explaining the motion, Council referenced laneway housing specifically as such an opportunity for prioritized action and fast-tracking. The laneway housing timeline has therefore been adjusted to provide draft zoning amendments for public comment and Council consideration at the July 21st Public Hearing. Many homeowners have been indicating their wish to apply to build a laneway house as soon as possible. Laneway housing was also identified as having broad public

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