Would You Know One If You Saw One?

CMHC for Housing Industry Professionals and Community Groups	November 2006

Would You Know One If You Saw One?

The WYKO, IYSO test

A visioning and assessment exercise for sustainable communities

Current CMHC research project employs the following twelve features to identify and assess a community in reference to its "sustainability."

Listed to the right are a number of communities which are marketed and /or applauded as sustainable or which appear to have embraced a number of these features.

What do you think? Are some, none or all of the following communities sustainable? Are the twelve features correct? Complete?

What would you add, subtract or revise to the following?

Sustainable Built Environment Features

1. Ecological Protection

Refers to special measures to protect nature, restore native habitat, or develop greenways. Includes elements such as:

Ecological and habitat inventory of a site, prior to design.
Protection of trees, creeks, swamps and nesting sites. Implementing study findings.
Green space protection, through for example, conservation covenants.
Use of native species in landscaping.
Greenways and nature trails.

2. Density and Urban Design

This refers to transit-friendly designs that need 37.5 units per hectare (15 units to the acre) or more for transit to be economically efficient; higher densities also allow for more public greenspace. Many suburban developments are 10–17 units per hectare (4–7 units to the acre).

3. Urban Infill

This refers to development projects that already have existing infrastructure and servicing as opposed to greenfield projects.

4. Town/Village Centre

In larger projects, this involves/emphasizes compact, mixed-use developments with village or neighbourhood centres, so that people have a place to gather, and perhaps do some local shopping. Larger might mean 50 units plus.

5. Local Economy

In larger projects, this involves encouraging the development of local economy, to reduce the need for residents to drive. This involves elements such as:

Zoning land for commercial or industrial uses.
Encouraging home based businesses.
Zoning for 'live-work' units (light industrial/commercial/limited retail, plus live above).
Creating a local economic development strategy.

6. Transportation

This refers to encouraging alternatives to the motor car as a means of transportation, such as including bicycle lanes, or using traffic calming. It includes elements such as:

Designing the project for the use of transit through, for example, allocation and design for the main transit terminal or in partnership with transit authority.
Narrower, interconnecting streets with sidewalks and pedestrian cut-throughs.
The use of traffic calming techniques.
Dedicated cycle-lanes.
Greenways, for hiking, cycling and horseback riding.
Car-free residential areas, where people park their cars and walk to their homes.
Overall trip reduction plans (also known as transport demand management).

7. Affordable Housing

Elements of the affordable housing include:

Secondary suites, granny suites, garage conversions, live-above garages.
Setting aside units for government affordable housing programs, or non-profit housing groups such as Habitat for Humanity.
Co-housing.
Paying a Development Cost Charge to finance construction of affordable units elsewhere, or a 20% set-aside policy.
Blending the affordable units in with the community as a whole.

8. Livable Communities

Livable community, although often broadly defined, is used to refer to facilities such as parks, tot-lots, a community hall, or facilities for the arts, seniors or youth. The elements include:

Parks, tot-lots, open space, beyond the minimum 5% requirement.
Community allotment gardens.
Space for a community hall, a church, or place of worship.
Schools in the middle of the community, as opposed to on the edge.
Seniors centre, facilities for teens.
Including the arts.
Negotiating a strategy to finance and actually build community facilities.

9. Sewage and Stormwater

This refers to alternative approaches to the treatment of sewage and stormwater, such as natural swales, constructed wetlands and new sewage technologies. Elements include:

Advanced sewage treatment systems.
Source control programs against sewage contamination.
Natural swales, in place of storm drains, and increased surface permeability.
Constructed wetlands (to retain groundwater run-off, provide ecological habitat).

10. Water

This refers to aspects of the development focused on the efficient use and reuse of water. Elements include

Measures to encourage water efficiency.
Re-use of treated water for irrigation, and in toilets and urinals (via dual plumbing).

11. Energy

This refers to energy efficiency and the generation of alternative energy. Elements include:

Energy efficient construction.
Passive or active solar design.
District heating and cooling systems (cogeneration).
Ground source heat extraction (pipes in the ground to extract the ambient heat for heating and cooling).
Other forms of local energy generation.

12. The 3 'R's

This refers to encouraging the 3 Rs in a project (reduce, re-use, recycle), such as the use of environmentally sound building materials, in-house recycling systems, or construction wastes recycling. Elements include: