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BuildSmart - Sustainable Buildings Solutions 

BuildSmart is a program developed and administered by Metro Vancouver to encourage the use of green building strategies and technologies.

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 Current BuildSmart Initiatives, Projects and Offerings
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Home Renovation Waste Reduction and Recycling Pilot Project
Are you a renovation contractor in the region who has an upcoming home renovation project? Do you know a renovation contractor in Metro Vancouver eager to take on the task of recycling champion? We are inviting all residential renovation contractors to submit  an application to participate in a Metro Vancouver-sponsored waste reduction and recycling pilot on a home renovation project. The project should commence in the fall of 2009, and all interested contrators are asked to submit a short application (see below) to be considered in this exciting new initiative to reduce demolition and construction waste on the residential jobsite.
Background, Benefits & Selection Criteria
Submission Form

Background information and survey results:
As part of the Zero Waste Challenge, Metro Vancouver's goal is to work with businesses in the region to reduce and recycle waste at construction and demolition sites. It has been estimated that wood waste (everything from land clearing waste to wood shingles to hardwood flooring) makes up 15% (about 240,000 tonnes) of Metro Vancouver waste. Much of this waste is generated from the demolition and renovation of residential buildings; about 48% of waste generated (by weight) from the construction and demolition sectors.
 
Metro Vancouver is interested in working with renovation contractors to reduce the amount of waste going to disposal from the renovation of wood frame buildings. Several factors contribute to the low waste diversion rates from this sector; lack of services and information are two of them. To better understand all the barriers and challenges renovation contractors face, we developed a survey to determine the factors that hinder contractors from reducing waste on home renovation projects and potential measures that would encourage them to reduce waste and recycle more on their job sites.
 
Information from this survey will help us design and test a new waste collection system that would facilitate sorting of recyclables and waste on residential renovation projects. It will also guide the design of educational and information materials specific to the needs of the sector.
Home Renovation Material Recycling Depot Trial Project
Duration: August 3rd, 2009 to September 30, 2009
 
The premise of the project is to provide a convenient and safe location for residents performing home renovation work to take back waste wood at retail outlets.  For the purposes of this project, the Home Depot store in Coquitlam, BC will be used for the trial installation. 
 
This project is initiated for research purposes and will only be on trial for a limited period of time (2 months) in order to determine if this is a good approach for managing recyclable wood.  Metro Vancouver will be evaluating the operations of the depot in terms of simplicity, safety, cost and overall popularity with the customers.  Metro Vancouver will administer a survey to clients using the depot to evaluate their satisfaction and to record their comments (pros & cons).  Ultimately, success will be determined by how well residents use this service.

This project targets wood, one of the key waste categories identified in the Zero Waste Challenge and it is anticipated that the data gathered during this trial will provide staff with valuable information to further the initiatives to improve wood waste diversion. 
Wood Waste Symposium

On June 2nd and 3rd Metro Vancouver convened close to 100 stakeholders along the wood waste value chain, to strategize ways to increase wood waste diversion rates in the region and explore pathways to greater market uptake of diverted products. Symposium participants came from a range of sectors including: construction and demolition businesses, wood waste management and end-user companies, industry associations, NGOs and government. The one-and-a-half day event consisted of a combination of panel presentations and break-out group sessions. The first day focused on identifying barriers that currently prevent more diversion of wood waste from disposal and market uptake of diverted wood waste; and the second day centred on the finding the most effective approaches and actions needed to address key barriers.
A report summarizing outcomes of the symposium will be compiled and posted here soon.

Presentations:

  • Lessons Learned from Elsewhere: Alameda County, California has a waste diversion goal of 75% by 2010. To achieve that goal, Stop Waste has an aggressive recycling and reuse plan including for wood waste. Participants heard directly from Stop Waste about the lessons learned along the road to their waste diversion goals.
    Tom Padia, Recycling Director, Stop Waste.org, Oakland, CA
  • Producer Responsibility and Forest Products: Where is Canada’s industry heading? The Canadian forest industry has faced formidable challenges including the softwood lumber dispute, the mountain pine beetle, new forms of media and of course the recent economic turmoil and collapse of the US housing market. Yet through it all, the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) has remained a leader among Canadian industry in its commitment to more sustainable operations. Participants heard directly from FPAC’s Vice President of Climate Change on why the sustainability agenda remains a key element of their business plan and what role the diversion of wood waste plays in their overall efforts.
    Mark Hubert, Vice President, Climate Change Leadership, Forest Products Association of Canada
  • Snapshot of Current DLC Waste Situation in Metro Vancouver: Metro Vancouver recently commissioned a report by Promise Consulting on the Wood Waste Management Capacity in the Metro Vancouver market. Attendees heard a preview of the report and highlights on the current wood waste situation, along with public policy options currently being considered by Metro Vancouver for meeting its wood waste diversion goals.
    Simon Penney, Promise Consulting Inc (Canada) and Andrew Marr, Senior Engineer, Metro Vancouver
  • Panel on the Barriers to Greater Market Uptake/Demand for DLC Wood Waste: Participants heard from companies along the wood waste value chain about the main challenges and barriers they face to greater construction and demolition industry diversion and market uptake of wood waste.
    Corinne Fulton, General Manager, 3R Demolition
    Robert Capar, Owner, Maison d’ Etre
    Richard Babcock, Urban Wood Waste Recyclers
    Peter Moonen, Sustainability and Special Projects Coordinator, Canadian Wood Council
    Randy Gue, Director of Business Development and Resource Recovery, Lafarge Cement
  • Pathways to Greater Diversion and Market Demand: The desire for greater wood waste diversion has led to voluntary, regulatory, and market-based approaches — or a combination of all three — in jurisdictions around the globe. New technologies are creating new markets for wood waste, but what are the conditions that must be met for these to flourish? Participants heard about the possibilities from around the globe and their applications for Metro Vancouver.
    Lisa Skumatz, Principal, Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Colorado
    David Dougherty, President, Dougherty Group LLC, Seattle
    Michael Weedon, Executive Director, BC Bioenergy Network 
Design Considerations for the Implementation of Green Roofs Report
This new Metro Vancouver report has been developed to provide background information and data to assist regional municipalities and developers in understanding the benefits, issues and costs associated with green roof installations and to provide guidance on where research and the green roof business are headed in the near future.
Demolition, Land Clearing & Construction Waste Management Toolkit
Metro Vancouver's Demolition, Land Clearing and Construction (DLC) Waste Management Toolkit is a reference guide for contractors, design professionals and building owners, to help them maximize the amount of construction and demolition waste diverted from disposal through salvage, reuse and recycling. The toolkit is developed by Metro Vancouver's Sustainable Business Services as part of its BuildSmart program.

 News
BUILDEX Vancouver - at the Vancouver Convention Centre West
BUILDEX Vancouver is Western Canada's largest Conference and Exposition for Interior Design, Architecture, Property Management, Real Estate and Renovation. For professionals involved in the designing, building and managing of residential or commercial buildings BUILDEX Vancouver provides opportunities to network with other industry professionals and leaders and increase your knowledge of the industry by attending one of over 50 seminars, as well as a great opportunity to discover new and green products at the over 600 trade show exhibits.
Remember to register prior to the April 7 Deadline to save $25 Exposition entrance fee. The State of the Region Luncheon on April 22nd will feature Johnny Carline, Commissioner/CAO of Metro Vancouver as the keynote speaker for the BOMA Luncheon. Metro Vancouver will also have a display booth (#1430) to promote "best practices" for waste reduction within the building construction and renovation sector.

Sustainable Forestry Initiative releases new standard
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) released, in January 2010, a revised edition of SFI’s certification standard. SFI 2010-2014 Standard includes updated and expanded principles, objectives, and performance indicators. SFI program participants are now required to reach out to, and support, non-certified family forest owners that supply wood fiber to SFI participants. This initiative is aimed at protecting threatened and endangered species, promoting reforestation, and protecting water quality. Participants must also perform risk assessments on offshore fiber suppliers to avoid illegal harvesting operations, areas involved in civil unrest, and other controversial sources. The new standard took effect January 1, 2010; program participants have one year to meet the revised requirements.
For more information contact: SFI (Canada) (613) 722-8734
The Challenge Series - Millennium Water - Vancouver's Olympic Village
The Challenge Series tells the story of Vancouver's Olympic Village at Southeast False Creek: Millennium Water. 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.
The Challenge Series is a resource to educate and inspire communities, professionals, owners and builders seeking to create meaningful opportunities out of the challenges of climate change. 

Volatile Organic Compound Concentration Limits now in force!
New Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Concentration Limits for Architectural Coatings Regulations, pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999), were published in the September 30, 2009, edition of Canada Gazette Part II and are now in force.
 
Regulatory requirements: The new regulations set mandatory VOC concentration limits for 53 categories of architectural coatings. Prohibitions applicable to the manufacture and import of these products will take effect over a period of five years, beginning one year after the regulations were registered (September 9, 2009) with a subsequent two-year sell-through period for each coating category.
 
Impacts on industry: For manufacturers, the incremental cost of meeting the requirements of the regulations are expected to include:
• a one-time cost to reformulate coatings to meet the VOC concentration requirements of the regulations;
• a one-time new substance notification cost for new substances in low-VOC coating formulations;
• a one-time cost to meet labelling requirements;
• other one-time costs including capital expenditures for new/upgraded storage facilities necessary for low-VOC coatings; and
• annual, recurring administration and raw materials costs.
 
Note: The regulations include provisions for temporary permits to provide flexibility for manufacturers facing economic, or other, barriers to reformulation.
The Canadian architectural coatings sector produces coatings for three main segments: general architectural; industrial maintenance; and traffic marking. It is estimated that approximately 289 million litres of architectural coatings were sold in Canada in 2002. Of these, 80 per cent were manufactured in Canada by an estimated 120-160 domestic and multinational manufacturers.
 
For more information contact: Environment Canada, Martin Jeanson, Senior Program Engineer (819) 997-7935; fax: (819) 953-3132; email: martin.jeanson@ec.gc.ca
LEED Canada for Existing Buildings: O&M project registration - CaGBC
LEED Canada EB:O&M is a whole building rating system designed to provide owners and operators the opportunity to certify the sustainable ongoing operation of their buildings.
New Environmental Targets for Commercial Buildings
BC Hydro and the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources have signed an agreement that sets out targets and outlines a strategy to make commercial buildings more sustainable and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As a first step, BC Hydro is funding an energy manager for BOMA to help building operators identify and implement conservation solutions.

Light House Green Building 101 Workshops for Stratas and Co-operatives
Two-thirds of Vancouver residents live in some kind of multi-family building. This can be anything from a duplex to a high-rise apartment. While a condo unit can be very efficient compared to a single family home, there are many easy and cost effective things that can be done to improve the performance and extend life of your building. Besides reducing your environmental impact, greening your condo or co-op unit has a number of other benefits including: savngs on your utility bills, improvements in occupant health, reductions in tenant turnover rates in rental buildings and unit marketability. Schedule your workshop today.

 Green Building Workshops, Events and Conferences
March 13, 2010 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Heating Your Home - Light House 2010 Challenge Workshop
Light House will present 4 case studies of homes that tried to reduce their energy and water consumption as well as their waste production and the lessons learned.
more ...
March 13, 2010 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Jamee DeSimone - Net Zero Energy Homes - Light House Guest Expert Series
Jamee will discuss the building process & attributes of a net zero energy, sustainable building she recently completed in Ontario.
more ...
March 18, 2010 from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
3rd Annual Sustainable Architecture Symposium
Symposium examines the latest technologies for sustainable architectural design using advanced building envelope technologies including a green roof focus.
more ...
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Wood waste Recycling

Fast Facts

BuildSmart is a program developed and administered by the Metro Vancouver to encourage the use of green building strategies and technologies.