Creating a new Green Development Standard for the City of Mississauga

The City of Mississauga will develop a mandatory, performance-based Green Development Standard (GDSv2) for newly constructed buildings, which is to replace an existing voluntary standard. The building sector currently contributes 50% of the city’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The new standard will target emissions reductions through high-performance, energy-efficient and climate-resilient buildings. The standard will include criteria by building type (including by sector, scale and use). The standard is expected to reduce the city’s GHG emissions by around 1,500 tonnes of CO2e per year. The new standard will also mandate construction practices that promote efficient water-management strategies; mitigate flooding and erosion issues; reduce solid waste production during construction and during building occupancies; and reduce light pollution. It will also target lower operating costs for buildings through reduced energy and water consumption, as well as improved comfort for building occupants. This project supports two main goals of Mississauga’s Climate Change Action Plan: reducing GHG emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050 (mitigation); and increasing the city’s resilience and capacity to withstand and respond to current and future climate events (adaptation). Innovative aspect(s): · GDSv2 will be a mandatory standard, but as Mississauga is a two-tiered municipality there are limitations on what the city can require from builders; the study will define these limitations and develop policy tools, mechanisms and incentives to address them · The standard will include measurable performance criteria and provide clear evaluation tools to assess its impact · This project will identify the business case for implementing the new standard (e.g., operational cost savings, market value increases, etc.). The city will create a business case for building sector rather than grouping all buildings under one development standard Replicability: GDSv2 has the potential to become a roadmap for other municipalities aspiring to implement their own green development standards. It will include a review of regulations and planning tools from Ontario’s various acts to assess the feasibility of introducing new bylaws and official planning policies. (Project description from original funding application)