Green Infrastructure

UBC made early, significant contributions to the fledgling green building industry with the C.K. Choi Building in 1996 and the Liu Centre in 2000.

The Forum showcased three regions where communities are ‘convening for action' and developing a vision and road map to change the way that land is developed and water is used.

Jay Bradley (120p)
In the words of Lao-Tsu, 'A journey of a thousand miles begins a single step.' Each rain garden is a single step that we can take.

Green roofs, also known as living roofs, vegetated roofs, or eco roofs, are building roofs which are purposely covered with vegetation. The Capital Regional District has developed a virtual tour of green roofs in the Victoria region.

In 1841, Andrew Jackson Downing published the first landscape-gardening book aimed at an American audience. If Downing came back today, what would he think of our lawns? Presumably, the neatness of our pigless yards would impress him. But it is hard not to feel that he would, at least, be ambivalent. As the anti-lawnists correctly observe, the American lawn now represents a serious civic problem.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina have plans to employ more environmentally friendly building practices and to achieve LEED certification.

At the second in the Cowichan Valley Learning Lunch Seminars in June 2008, Green Infrastructure Guide author Susan Rutherford provided local government participants with a primer on the legal and policy strategies that municipalities can use to encourage or require more sustainable infrastructure designs.

In January 2004, and due to the leadership of Kevin Lagan, the City of Courtenay was the first BC municipality to adopt a policy requiring developers to provide a minimum soil depth on building sites. The City places importance on the soil sponge and has been exploring options to ensure that developers and house builders fulfil their obligations to provide and preserve the minimum required depth on building sites.

“Local governments already have access to a variety of options that can make their communities more environmentally sustainable, and this legislation supports this further by ensuring local governments have the tools and guidelines necessary to create more compact neighbourhoods, with a stronger focus on energy conservation, greenhouse gas reduction, and affordability,” stated Ida Chong.

According to Derek Richmond, the City of Courtenay is developing the bylaw through an inclusive and collaborative approach that educates and informs stakeholders. The bylaw is a tool that will assist with getting the “right thing” done to protect the environment from the effects of erosion and sediment.