T2050 - REEP Green Solutions

ClimateActionWR proposes to achieve deep emissions reductions by doubling the number of municipalities working together as we transition from short-term to a long-term climate action plan, and by more deeply engaging historically under-served Cambridge and townships. We have a strong foundation, with a long term greenhouse gas (GHG) target already approved by four municipalities that have worked together for nine years on our short-term plan.We will start by creating a governance framework to formalize the way the eight municipalities and two NGOs will work together for this initiative and to implement the resulting long-term plan. The next step is to gain a deeper understanding of backcasting as a tool for long-term climate planning. Using backcasting is a novel approach in this instance as there are few examples of this model being used for community GHG reduction planning. Backcasting will help us identify the policies, regulations and municipal plan components for the next few years that will lead to future long-term reductions. Staff will work together through our ClimateActionWR framework to incorporate climate goals and actions as municipal plans are updated, and harmonized where appropriate. The existing Community Energy Investment Strategy for Waterloo Region is an important resource, with provisions for land-use development and emissions reductions.Capacity-building is an important component of this project, for municipalities, contractors and businesses, as well as individual community members. Peer learning forums, workshops and targeted community outreach will introduce innovations in building, retrofitting, transportation, energy storage, and other emerging technologies. Many of the new technologies are developed in Waterloo Region, such as Miovision’s transportation software, while others will be studied to understand how to apply them here in our local context.This capacity-building will include best practices that have not been widely adopted. Many of the tools to address climate change already exist—we just have to bring them to the right users. Practical resources in our community are Canada’s first multi-tenant, net-positive commercial office building, evolv1 including evolvGREEN—the local clean economy hub, the retrofitted 100-year-old Reep House for Sustainable Living, our soon to launch LRT, and more. These and other examples will be leveraged to increase uptake of GHG emissions reduction technologies in all participating municipalities.We propose that the two pilot projects undertaken will address two major sources of emissions—buildings and transportation. The sustainable buildings project will help us determine the best approach for our community to address emissions from buildings, be it net-zero development, passive house, or sustainable building guidelines. The transportation pilot will focus on community-based social marketing or a transportation demand management program in one community that can be customized for the others as we learn from it. Both will result in environmental benefits, improving air quality, increasing energy security for our community, conserving water and energy resources, and increasing the local green economy. Ultimately, the combination of a collaborative governance framework, capacity-building activities, leveraging local technology, and implementing projects will kick-start deep GHG emissions reductions to lead Waterloo Region into a low-carbon future.