While reading the Goldstream Gazette, I came across an article about a new development in Langford. The municipality plans to build 2819 residential houses, 450 senior units, 700, 000 ft2 of commercial business space and 32, 000 ft2 of institutional space, all at the base of Skirt Mountain. They are labelling this as a `sustainable community`. All buildings will be done to LEED-NC standard and 40% of the space will be dedicated as green space such as parks. There will also be an ecological interpretation centre and an attempt to restore the wetlands will be made.
As with the principles of community participation, all the necessary, superficial information was given at an open house, with more visual concepts rather than verbal. Also, a proposed budget of 1.7 BILLION dollars was mentioned. OK, what ? Honestly? 1.7 billion dollars? Granted, some of the funding they say will go towards the ecological restoration of Skirt Mountain, which I see as being pretty fair since the development will destroy it.

With all the new housing projects going up, this one does aim to preserve 50% of the natural ecosystem, as they aim to build within the existing environment, not tear it down and start over. One of the main reasons that this project is even being proposed in that Langford is responsible for providing the new housing with the growing population in the Capital District, it's actually a mandate. There was little objection to go ahead with it at the preliminary planning committee meeting and the builders are not required to build any low income homes either.

Because this is a "green space" the property owners are not required to contribute to the ALR fund.

Members of the existing community are not very pleased; however, their voices aren't being heard. Because it's private property, they have no say as to whether the owners decide to build or not. The new homes will be near or next to Florence Lake, blocking the view. Others would like to see the property designated as a conserved ecosystem area.

Hopefull, in 20 years when this huge project is finished, the people liging there will be involved in any decisions and want to prevent the land fomr expanding and conserve more of the naturally occuring ecosystems there.

B.C. Healthy Communities

So, two guest speakers, Jodi and Todd came to class. They were from BC Healthy Communities, a municipal government association dedicated to improving, well, the health of communities. They want collaboration among members of an area to work upon their strengths and build a place where everyone feels safe. This place should also encourage people to learn and feel connected to their place.

I'm not going to lie, I had trouble understanding what exactly BC Healthy Communities does. I know they help facilitate relationships and help people make decisions about the places they live, but actual concrete things they have accomplished, I'm still a little vague on.

Having a healthy community includes things such as: food security, transportation, housing, and the general sense of well- being an individual has about the place they live.

I started wondering about how living in a healthy community factors into sustainability. I had some trouble at first, but after some thought, I came up with a few ideas.

If somebody feels connected with the place they are at, and is able to help make decisions about their community, then they will have more desire to protect it. If a whole group bands together and demands access to public transportation, they will accomplish a lot more than one person working alone. A committee who opposes the destruction of their community park will prevent it from being torn down.

Most of what we did in class that day was about emotions and thoughts whereas I am more oriented towards facts and figures. I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around it.

I'm still working out some more thoughts, and will keep adding!

LEED

Recently, I've come to understand what LEED Certification means and have noticed that many buildings around Victoria are of Leed standard. There is even a LEED certified building store just down the street from Royal Roads.

While browsing current news events, I came across some interesting information about the LEED AP (accredited professionals) standards being increased . It is now more difficult for businesses to become certified and existing LEED AP's now have the option of obtaining a higher, more prestige level of certification. Now, there's all these AP+, random letter+ requirements and such.

I'm not entirely sure what all these levels are for. There is honestly about 9 or 10 different stages of LEED. The way I see it, you're either green, in the middle or not. I don't think the type of company you are should matter, there needs to be some type of ISO standards implemented for LEED certification. Actually, every new building should be built according to LEED platinum regulations and exsisting infrastructure should be upgraded.

Rant of the day.

Saanich

So, first post! Yea!

Anywho, it was mentioned in class that the Municipality of Saanich is considered one of the greenest municipalities in Canada. I found this interesting as I recently attended an open forum on sustainability issues in Saanich, when the Al Gore presenter came to the public school there. They are actually doing some pretty interesting things.

According to their website, this district is the official walking and cycling capital of Canada and their natural waters are protected and conserved. They are planning on making livable communities, where everything, from your work, doctor's office and neighborhood park in within walking distance of your home. Urban village I believe is the word.

The community is also planning on reducing the amount of waste per household, the amount of potable water and electricity used and obviously, reduce their GHGs!

So far, they have developed an urban forest strategy, a tree protection bylaw and a plan for removing invasive species from the surrounding ecosystems. Honestly, they're doing a stand up job and should probably get an award of sorts.

All this info can be found at http://www.saanich.ca/municipal/docs/pdfs/strategicplan.pdf

See you next week!

~Heather