Sustainable Region Initiative: City-making

The Future of the Region Sustainability Dialogues and Sustainability Community Breakfasts are outreach components of Metro Vancouver’s Sustainable Region Initiative (SRI). They involve a series of high-profile debates and discussions intended to help decision makers shape the future of the region by presenting a range of views and stimulating fresh thought on regional issues such as housing, industry, labour and immigration, drugs and crime, regional economy, transportation, energy and agriculture. Please check the web site often to find out about future dialogues in your community.

The world is urbanizing. Metropolitan regions are changing. Rapidly growing city regions are increasingly economically robust, culturally rich and socially equitable places to live, work and play. Creating sustainable and livable regions demands innovation, foresight, collaboration, and importantly, learning from other people and places. From Australia to Metro Vancouver, what lessons can we learn about how to creatively accommodate growth and density? What do we need to understand about how, why and when land use and transportation planning best serve or shape each other? What can our communities look like, feel like, when we’ve made the right investments? How do the roles played by transportation and land use planning change when shifting from a city to regional scale? Join Greg Vann and Warren Rowe, visiting guest planners from Brisbane, Australia, and others in our next Future of the Region Sustainability Dialogues. Additional speakers include Don Luymes, Manager of Community Planning – City of Surrey (November 19); Greg Mitchell, Senior Planner and Project Manager – PCI Developments Corp. (November 19): Anthony Perl, Professor of Urban Studies and Political Science – Simon Fraser University (November 22); Gordon Price, Director – Simon Fraser University City Program (November 19 and 28); Warren Rowe, BV International (November 19 and 22); and Greg Vann, CEO/Director, Buckley Vann Town Planning Consultants (November 19 and 22). The schedule is as follows:

Surrey  
Tuesday, November 19, 2013, 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.(refreshments provided)
Sheraton Vancouver Guildford, 15269 – 104^th Avenue
Click here to register online.

Vancouver
Friday, November 22, 2013, 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.(lunch provided)
Coast Coal Harbour Hotel, 1180 West Hastings Street
Click here to register online.

New Westminster  
Thursday, November 28, 2013, 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.(lunch provided)
Inn at The Quay, 900 Quayside Drive
Click here to register online.

These dialogues are a key component of the Sustainable Region Initiative (SRI), and are intended to help the citizens of Metro Vancouver shape the future of the region by presenting a range of views to challenge and stimulate discussion on significant regional issues. Metro Vancouver’s view is that the exploration of new and innovative approaches to regional issues by a broad spectrum of interested stakeholders is fundamental to the ongoing livability and sustainability of our region, and your participation in these dialogues is encouraged and greatly valued.

Large Building Energy Web Page

The City of Vancouver has launched a new web page intended to centralize information pertaining to energy requirements for large buildings, typically Part 3 and Part 9 (non-residential), including dates for the phased implementation of the 2014 Vancouver Building By-Law. For new construction projects, the site provides information on referenced energy standards (ASHRAE 90.1, NECB 2011) and city-specific changes/additions to these standards, as well as links to the associated forms and checklists required for building permit application. For existing buildings, the site also provides information on the new energy trigger requirements for building permit applications. The new energy web page also includes tutorials outlining the process, documents and procedures necessary to complete the energy components of the building permit application. Click here to view the web page.