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Another strategic element is the promotion of LEED-certified projects. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a point-based rating system used to grade a building’s environmental sustainability. (Buildings score higher by using less energy, water and natural resources, creating less waste and having better air quality and temperature regulation.) Four levels of certification are possible: certified, silver, gold and platinum. Today in Vancouver two-thirds of new apartment towers, condo towers, office buildings and large retail centres must build to a LEED gold standard. Pander claims that even though there is an extra upfront cost of about five per cent required to meet that standard, you more than make up for that later in increased efficiency. According to Pander, many developers now use cutting-edge sustainability as a selling point. “You can’t lease an office building today in Vancouver that doesn’t have a LEED gold certification,” he says.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][mk_image src=”https://energy-exchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/NEU0859_KristopherGrunert.jpg” image_width=”400″ image_height=”400″ crop=”true” lightbox=”false” frame_style=”simple” target=”_self” caption_location=”inside-image” align=”left” margin_bottom=”10″ desc=”KRISTOPHER GRUNERT”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][mk_image src=”https://energy-exchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/BMP0TR.jpg” image_width=”400″ image_height=”400″ crop=”true” lightbox=”false” frame_style=”simple” target=”_self” caption_location=”inside-image” align=”left” margin_bottom=”10″ desc=”© NORMAN POGSON/ALAMY”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][mk_image src=”https://energy-exchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/BG27KR.jpg” image_width=”400″ image_height=”400″ crop=”true” lightbox=”false” frame_style=”simple” target=”_self” caption_location=”inside-image” align=”left” margin_bottom=”10″ desc=”© EI KATSUMATA/ALAMY “][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text disable_pattern=”true” align=”left” margin_bottom=”0″]The quest to reduce energy needs and lower greenhouse gas emissions in buildings is not limited to projects above ground. Tucked under the Cambie Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver, a five-fingered smokestack lit by eerie purple lights is the nerve centre of a novel form of renewable district heating that was originally installed to power the Olympic Village site.
The first system of its kind in North America, the Neighbourhood Energy Utility uses waste water (runoff from showers and washing machines) to supply the neighbourhood with 70 per cent of its heat. A large heat-pumping station pulls the heat from the waste water and distributes it as warm water for heating space and tap water in 24 buildings. Supplementary heating from natural gas boilers can be used during cold spells or if the pump fails. “It produces half the greenhouse gases of a traditional heating system,” explains Pander. “There is more cost upfront, but better savings long term because of the price stability.” As he notes, natural gas is cheap right now, but that may not be the case in the future. “This system makes the economics of largescale renewable energy viable.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][mk_button dimension=”three” size=”large” outline_skin=”dark” outline_active_color=”#fff” outline_hover_color=”#333333″ bg_color=”#13bdd2″ text_color=”light” icon=”moon-next” url=”/living-clean-and-free/4/” target=”_self” align=”right” fullwidth=”false” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”15″ animation=”scale-up”]
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