University of British Columbia Conference includes Green Infrastructure Tour
Canadian Water Network Launches Pan-Canadian Initiative
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is leading a national initiative that is intended to create a network of experts that collaborate and share their experiences. Funded by the Canadian Water Network, the kick-off event was held at UBC from June 20 through 22 and comprised a pre-conference workshop, conference and field tour. For the complete story, click on Canadian Water Network Launches Pan-Canadian Initiative at University of British Columbia Conference.
The conference part was a two-day event. On Day Two there was a tour of a number of sites in the Greater Vancouver region. The tour drew on the experience of the Green Infrastructure Partnership in implementing an outreach program called Celebrating Green Infrastructure: Showcasing Innovation in the Greater Vancouver Region.
Richard Boase of the District of North Vancouver helped organize the tour. According to Boase: “The tour was first-rate as we were able to provide a casual setting in the midst of anice blend of research, practicality and on the ground implementation. As the Green Infrastructure tours have already proven it is not until people actually get out into the field, look at things and “kick the tires” that the momentum of change really begins.”
“Being able to look at things in the field gives people the confidence to try new things or presents unique opportunities to improvise on somebody else’s ideas,” Boase continued. “It is amazing how many times we found ourselves looking at something and questions like “What about doing it this way…… ” or “Did you think about …….” came up and lead us to a new idea or re-design just based on looking at something that has already been built.”
In addition to the field tour, Richard Boase made a defining presentation on Day One. Titled New Directions in Urban Watershed Health, this presentation provided conference attendees with an overview of how the Water Balance Model enables local governments and the land development community to make better decisions. To read the complete story posted elsewhere on the Waterbucket website, click on New Directions in Urban Watershed Health.
The Green Infrastructure Tour was a full day and included sites in the City of Vancouver (Crown Street, Country Lanes, 12th Street pervious pavement, BCIT Green Roof Research Project at Great Northern Way Campus), City of North Vancouver (Automall), and District of North Vancouver (Lower Capilano pervious pavement lane, tree climate stations, Maplewood Flats community and Mosquito Creek wetland). In the photo opposite, Richard Boase demonstrates what happens when water is poured onto pervious pavement.
Green Infrastructure Tour Photographs
Crown Street, City of Vancouver
The City of Vancouver has undertaken an exciting new approach to residential street design and rainwater management. Vancouver’s Crown Streethas become the city’s first Sustainable Streetscape. The design uses innovative ideas to integrate transportation into an environmentally sensitive setting. The Sustainable Street demonstration project has provided a design that can be used as an inspiration or template for future street improvement projects. For more information, click on The Country Lanes Demonstration Project in the City of Vancouver.
Country Lane, City of Vancouver
During the summer of 2003, the City of Vancouver constructed three “Country Lanes” as part of a demonstration project to evaluate more sustainable alternatives to regular lane paving. The Country Lane Demonstration Project has also been recognized throughout the Lower Mainland, Canada and internationally with requests for design data from many cities and municipalities. The project has also been an overwhelming success in terms of community involvement and education. For more information, please click here.
UBC Tree Canopy Interception Research Project
Collaboration between researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Greater Vancouver region’s three North Shore municipalities — North Vancouver District, North Vancouver City, and the District of West Vancouver — has opened the door to a long-term partnership to bring science into the community. Shown above is a climate station installation at North Vancouver District Municipal Hall for the UBC Tree Canopy Interception Research Project.This is one of 60 statons located across the North Shore. For more information, click on Story of the UBC Tree Canopy Interception Research Project.
Green Roof Research Project
The BCIT Green Roof Research Facility (GRRF), located at the Great Northern Way Campus, is a 100-square-metre building dedicated to research on rainwater source control and thermal performance of green roofs.
The mission of the BCIT Centre for Architectural Ecology – Collaborations in Green Roofs and Living Walls is to conduct world-class, innovative research on green roof and living wall systems and to provide research-based education across disciplines, to students and practitioners. The Centre is located within the School of Construction and the Environment at the BC Institute of Technology. For more information, please click here.
The BCIT research centre provides a research facility for the local green roof industry; conducts applied research in collaboration with other universities and government organizations; provides practical training opportunities for students on various aspects of green roof technology; creates multi-disciplinary expertise within the BCIT faculty on green roof technology; develops a regional infrastructure network to monitor the performance of green roofs; improves public awareness of the technology through education and demonstration.
Maplewood Eco-Industrial Area, District of North Vancouver
Maplewood is located in the District of North Vancouver immediately east of the Seymour River and the Ironworkers Memorial 2nd Narrows Bridge on the north shore of the Vancouver Harbour (Burrard Inlet). The community has chosen to use Eco-Industrial Networking (EIN) and sustainable community planning principles as the basis to pursue these goals throughout the residential, commercial and industrial community.
As redevelopment proceeds, the complete and compact residential area will complement an eco-industrial networking area founded on green infrastructure principles & practices. For complete information on the project and to access the Final Report, please click here.
Pocket Wetland, District of North Vancouver
Richard Boase provides background on the ‘pocket wetland’ located in the Mosquite Creek floodplain, District of North Vancouveer.
Posted July 2007