January 2022
North Shore communities unite on home electrification
The three local governments across the North Shore region of Metro Vancouver have long cooperated on emissions and efficiency, and recently extended the collaboration with a new campaign to increase awareness and understanding of electric heat pumps.
With support from BC Hydro and the Province of B.C., the City of North Vancouver, District of North Vancouver and the District of West Vancouver recently teamed up to produce Jump on a New Heat Pump – an educational initiative targeting homeowners.
Jump on a New Heat Pump encourages North Shore residents who currently heat with natural gas to make the switch to energy efficient, all-electric heat pumps for climate friendly home heating and cooling.
The video explains how heat pumps work, and why they’re good for homes, health, and the environment.
The three communities are sharing the video with residents, as well as information on rebates, homeowner guides, and a recorded webinar.
The partners recently launched phase two of the program which includes a virtual home energy check-up service and new testimonial videos. Watch for their webinar in early February.
Kamloops builders abuzz with building science
Air changes per hour, thermal bridges, right-sized mechanicals and the bright future of high-performance construction were pretty much the talk of the town in the City of Kamloops this past fall.
The City of Kamloops and Canadian Home Builders Association Central Interior (CHBACI) teamed up to invite a Vancouver-based building science expert to town in September to talk about high-performance home construction.
With support from our Sustainable Communities program, E3 Eco Group managing partner Einar Halbig presented to about 100 builders and tradespeople at three tailgate lunch-and-learn sessions located on active construction job sites in the city. The CHBACI co-hosted the three sessions and encouraged its members to attend and learn about the BC Energy Step Code and other policy initiatives.
To fully leverage the value of having Einar's expertise in town, the City arranged to have him present to about 30 aspiring building designers enrolled in the Architectural and Engineering Technology program at Thompson Rivers University, and to building-materials sales and management staff at a local suppliers workshop.
And if that wasn't enough, the city also tapped Einar to speak with about 50 students enrolled in the NorKam Senior Secondary School Trades Sampler program. Both students and their teachers were enthusiastic to learn about the links between the construction trades and climate action, especially the new gigs that didn't exist five years ago as a result of ongoing market transformation. Well done, Kamloops!
For more information on CHBACI or City of Kamloops visit them on the web at Canadian Home Builders' Association - Central Interior - | Canadian Home Builders' Association Central Interior (chbaci.ca) or Environment & Sustainability | City of Kamloops.
Saanich helps condo owners charge closer to home
Condo-dwellers who either own an EV, or hope to purchase one, have long struggled with access to overnight charging. For cost and other reasons, many strata councils have been reluctant to sign off on the needed infrastructure, leaving electric vehicle owners reliant on public stations.
But with help from our Sustainable Communities program, the District of Saanich is working to lower this critical barrier to vehicle electrification and help prepare multi-family properties for the electric mobility revolution.
The District is working with key partners, including Plug In BC and the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association to produce a series of resources to help others cost-effectively retrofit multi-family building parking garages and bring charging to every space.
The District recently hosted a webinar addressing best practices in implementing EV charging in condominium strata buildings. In the presentation, Brendan McEwen, Director of Electric Mobility and Low Carbon Strategies at AES Engineering, explained how a retrofit can open up charging access to all unit owners. He outlined how EV energy management systems and other technologies can cost-effectively bring power to all parking stalls.
McEwen also addressed the overall process and the resources and incentives available, including new EV Ready rebate top-ups that the District of Saanich is providing to the CleanBC Go Electric charger rebate program.
The District of Saanich worked with Plug In BC to develop a guidebook, template survey, request for proposals template, and other materials which can be found here: EV Advisor Service for Strata and Workplaces - Plug In BC.
If you're a condo owner, strata council member, property manager, or anyone interested in learning more about how to retrofit condominium strata buildings for EV infrastructure, watch the webinar.
Say Hello to Angela Jarvis at the City of Coquitlam
In summer 2021, Angela Jarvis joined the City of Coquitlam as its first E-Mobility Manager.
With support from our Sustainable Communities program, E-Mobility Managers like Angela work to advance transportation electrification by leveraging the policy and program tools available to local governments. Angela is currently developing an E-Mobility Strategy that the city will roll into its forthcoming Strategic Transportation Plan. The strategy will include a vehicle charging strategy and an approach to e-micro-mobility.
Surrey offers developers density to decarbonize
A new City of Surrey program seeks to encourage zero-carbon neighbourhoods by offering a density incentive to developers who commit to all-electric construction.
The City's forthcoming Climate Change Action Strategy will seek to reduce community emissions to net-zero before 2050, and the plan considers building electrification as a strategy to help reach that goal. The Zero Carbon Incentive encourages the design and construction of buildings that use only non-polluting, zero-carbon energy during operation. Participating builders may choose a wide variety of building heating and cooling systems in their projects, so long as they meet that criteria.
The City of Surrey recently offered the incentive to builders in the Darts Hill neighbourhood—a planned neighbourhood in the Grandview Heights region of South Surrey. According to its neighbourhood plan, at full build-out in 2050, Darts Hill could host as many as 3,901 homes. While building electrification is not required, the incentive gives builders developing properties there a strong reason to consider all-electric construction.
The City is also considering offering the incentive in the Fleetwood and Semiahmoo plans, and in other neighbourhood concepts in the future.