Chapter 1 of The Challenge Series - the story of Vancouver’s Olympic Village at Southeast False Creek: Millennium Water

The Challenge Series is an online book, it tells the story of Vancouver’s Olympic Village at Southeast False Creek: Millennium Water. It will be published in eight monthly installments, available on the web and in print, it focuses on the visioning, planning, design and construction processes and celebrates collaboration and sustainable innovation.  This is the first month and it was published on May 22!  

This introductory chapter provides a glimpse into the history, policy and personalities that shaped the development of a sustainable community in Southeast False Creek (SEFC).  Formerly an important industrial hub for Vancouver, SEFC occupies a key piece of waterfront real estate adjacent to the city’s downtown core. The future of SEFC became a focal point of discussion in the early 1990s, following the city’s decision to release the SEFC lands from the industrial land base. It became clear that the redevelopment of this 80-acre, centrally located site presented an opportunity to make a statement about the direction of future development in Vancouver.

 

In 1991, after years of discussion, consultation and weighing of options, Vancouver’s city council determined that the SEFC lands should be a model sustainable community: “On the south shore of False Creek, develop a neighbourhood that is the model of sustainability, incorporating: forward-thinking infrastructure; strategic energy reduction; high-performance buildings; and high transit access.” This proclamation marked a momentous achievement for the City of Vancouver, and a turning point toward a sustainable approach to urban design. In the ensuing years, city staff and countless people from local interest groups and the professional community became involved in the visioning process for the site’s redevelopment.

 

Chapter One of The Challenge Series describes SEFC’s past and future, discussing the importance of sustainable community development. It looks at the influences that led to the policy development and design of a new sustainable neighbourhood.

from the Challengeseries.ca website

Carbon Credits - let’s buy our way to sustainability!

Perfect cartoon - unfortunately a lot of us think we can just shop to sustainability…..

Green Event - Hydrogen + Fuel Cell 2009 in Vancouver

HFC2009 is coming to Vancouver this Sunday!  It’s Canada’s largest hydrogen and fuel cell conference and is held every other year.  I used to work int the fuel cell industry - more specifically on hydrogen storage system and I’m excited about this conference as I’ll be seeing some old friends, colleagues, and supervisors.  The conference itself is quite technical and pricy, but between 1:30pm and 4pm on June 1 and June 2, the trade show is open to the public if you bring this FREE VISITOR’S PASS!  Lots of exhibitors including the usual suspects like Ballard, Hydrogenics, and Plug Power.  There’re also booths for projects such as the Hydrogen Highway for the Olympics and Hydrogen Village project in Toronto!  If you’re interested in fuel cells, this is a great opportunity to show up!  You might even get a ride in a fuel cell car!

CBC’s one million acts of green project

Have you signed up for CBC’s one million acts of Green?  This is a project on CBC with The Hour host George Stroumboulopoulos. Essentially this project is to help us realize that small things we do have big impacts!  The website is pretty fancy, i’ll need to spend a little more time to look into it.  

As of today, according to the website, there is a total acts of green of 1,641,800 and GHG emissions saved 92,382,927 kg!

Today’s Green Act - composting at home.

“Ciao!” - Fiat ecoDrive: From Car to PC on a USB

Fiat has developed and launched “eco:Drive” computer application for some of their cars as a methodology for “monitoring and targeting” our driving style.  Essentially it records data during a driving trip on a USB stick and analyzes our driving style - one can see how much GHG emissions has been created on a computer and so on.  Altough not instaneous, I believe that this can help us reduce GHG and drive better! By the way, make sure you check out the eco:Drive website, there’re some driving tips!  

From Car to PC in a USB

- Fiat

Of course, be cooler if it’s instaneous, like Prius’ energy monitor!