Sustainability

*RePlan has applied for a major grant from the federal government for an important sustainability project in False Creek South. We are proposing to study the viability of a community-wide retrofit program targeting “netzero”.

“Netzero” refers to a performance standard that means—at the most basic level—a building produces as much energy as it uses over the course of a year. Highly energy efficient buildings produce their own energy from the sun, heat pumps or, in the case of False Creek, potential water-based generation methods.

With our community submission, we are proposing to study the feasibility of netzero performance at a neighbourhood-scale, as opposed to a building scale, so higher energy producing parts of the neighbourhood could offset other areas with more limited capacity to generate electricity (less direct sun!).

*RePlan caught the interest of the federal government when we submitted an Expression of Interest to Natural Resources Canada’s green buildings innovation and demonstration program. Despite learning of the program’s existence only days before the application deadline, members of *RePlan’s Community Planning Working Group managed put together a compelling application. Go team!

Other activities

As *RePlan member and False Creek Co-op Treasurer Marc White outlined in his May 16th presentation to City Council, the False Creek Co-op is discussing the notion of “green leases” with the City of Vancouver’s Green Building Group. Green leases have the potential to support co-ops’ efforts to reduce their energy costs and emissions.

A green lease includes mechanisms for green improvements, such as allowing partial lease payment through energy savings.

*RePlan’s Community Planning Working Group also sat down with George Heyman, BC Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, in December 2017, to summarize our vision of False Creek South as a centre for social and environmental innovation.  

Sustainability: A founding principle of False Creek South

Since its inception, False Creek South has been recognized as a community at the leading edge of sustainability.

Today, our neighbourhood is widely regarded as a model for social sustainability, with a strong sense of community fostered by a diversity of housing tenures, mixed income demographics, an active neighbourhood agency—the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association (FCSNA)—and thoughtful urban design that promotes interaction among neighbours.

The False Creek South Neighbourhood Association continues to advance the environmental and social sustainability ethos that underpins our community and supports residents’ efforts to enhance the neighbourhood.