Climate Action Council

Crowdsourced

Crowdsourced Climate Implications for Tree Protection By-Laws

Background

  • Tree protection by-laws address tree protection on existing private property, which is a significant percentage of a community’s urban forest
  • Tree protection by-laws are often part of a municipalities Urban Forest Management Plan
  • Tree Protection by-laws address the loss of trees on private property that occurs because there are no municipal rules for tree protection

Crowdsourced Climate Implications of Inclusionary Zoning

Background

  • Inclusionary Zoning is a planning tool used to create affordable housing by requiring new residential developments to include a predetermined amount of affordable housing among the new homes that are built.
  • Inclusionary Zoning requires a “set aside rate,” the proportion of a building set aside for the affordable units required.
  • A recent 2020 study by the City of Mississauga found that 70% of households couldn’t purchase any type of housing without spending >30% of their household income.
  • Only 10% of the population could afford a detached dwelling with an average price of over $1.2 Million.
  • Renter households are having difficulty finding housing that suits their needs.
  • In the Province’s Bill 23, the housing legislation sets aside five percent of units as affordable units, in developments along major transit routes.
  • An extensive review of set aside rates in the U.S. found that set asides of 10-20% are the most common, but over 20% of all the programs that require set asides used a rate over 15% (ACORN, Inclusionary Zoning Best Practice Report, 2019).

Crowdsourced Climate Implications of Carbon Offsets

Background

  • Offsets can be purchased and applied to GHG reduction targets.
  • Most municipalities want to advance their own GHG reduction targets because of the co-benefits associated with GHG reductions (cost savings, local economic development, air pollution reductions, etc.)
  • There is likely to be a gap between GHG reductions achievable by municipalities and net zero targets. Offsets present an opportunity to address that gap.
  • There are differences across offsets regarding the credibility of GHG reductions
  • Carbon offsets sharing: https://guides.co/g/corporate-energy-managers-community-of-practice/203887
  • There is the opportunity to bring offsets costs into municipal GHG reduction business cases.

Carbon Offsets vs. Carbon Credits

  • Carbon offset: The purchase of some other entities’ GHG reductions towards your GHG reduction targets
  • Carbon credit: The sale of GHG reductions from (in this case, a municipality) to another entity to help them achieve their GHG reductions.
  • Once a carbon credit is sold, it can no longer be applied toward the seller’s GHG reduction targets.
  • Therefore, if a municipality sells any GHG reductions, they cannot use those reductions towards their targets.

Crowdsourced Climate Implications of Carbon Credits

Background

  • Some municipalities have explored the option of selling their GHG reductions to raise revenue to secure future GHG reductions.
  • The main issue with this approach is that once a municipality sells any carbon credits, those credits are not available to be applied to their GHG reductions (If this occurred, that would be double counting and a credibility issue).
  • Most municipalities don’t have GHG reductions to sell (they need them for their GHG reduction targets).

Carbon Offsets vs. Carbon Credits

  • Carbon offset: The purchase of some other entities’ GHG reductions towards your GHG reduction targets
  • Carbon credit: The sale of GHG reductions from (in this case, a municipality) to another entity to help them achieve their GHG reductions.
  • Once a carbon credit is sold, it can no longer be applied toward the seller’s GHG reduction targets.
  • Therefore, if a municipality sells any GHG reductions, they cannot use those reductions towards their targets.

Crowdsourced Top Level Questions to Tease Out Climate Implications

The goal of this effort is to identify what questions are best at teasing out climate implications across all municipal decisions. Below is the summary of the questions compiled via a crowdsourced effort.

Decision High Level Questions (DHLQ):  

  • Is this decision the only option available to meet the need/hoped for outcome?
  • What other options were considered?
  • What other issues are we trying to solve?
  • Is this work locking in long-term emissions?
  • What consequences could arise from this?
  • Does the work align with [municipal] policies related to [the] environment and climate?

Crowdsourced Climate Implications for Protected Bike Lanes Decision

Background Information

  • Protected bike lanes are physically-separated lanes for bicycles that run next to motorized vehicle traffic.​
  • These are the safest on-street places to ride in the city. The physical protection makes it difficult for vehicles to enter the bike lane and in some cases, the protection is good enough to stop out of control vehicles. Protected bike lanes are increasingly common.​
  • There are many different types of protection used ranging from low concrete walls to flexi-posts. They are often used in conjunction with each other.

Crowdsourced Climate Implications of a Sidewalk Installation Decision

Background Information

  • Sidewalks play a vital role in community life. As conduits for pedestrian movement and access, they enhance connectivity and promote walking. ​
  • As public spaces, sidewalks serve as the front steps to the community, activating streets socially and economically. ​
  • Safe, accessible, and well-maintained sidewalks are a fundamental and necessary investment for communities and have been found to enhance general public health and maximize social capital.

Crowdsourced Climate Implications of Recycled Aggregate

Background Information

  • Aggregates are inert granular materials such as sand, gravel, or crushed stone that, along with water and cement, is an essential ingredient in concrete.
  • How is Concrete made?
    • Concrete is constructed using cement mixed with an aggregate – a grainy mix of materials such as stone and sand. After mixing, the concrete is poured into a mold and left to harden. The aggregates are sourced from a local body of water and crushed in a natural procedure. That process is not as carbon intensive as cement production.
    • Cement is made by firing limestone, clay, and other materials in a kiln. CO2 is emitted from the energy used to fire the material and the chemical reaction produced from the mixture when it is exposed to heat.
  • For a concrete mix, aggregates need to be clean, hard, strong particles free of absorbed chemicals or coatings of clay and other fine materials that could cause the deterioration of concrete. Aggregates, which account for 60 to 75 percent of the total volume of concrete, are divided into two distinct categories–fine and coarse. Fine aggregates generally consist of natural sand or crushed stone with most particles passing through a 3/8-inch sieve. Coarse aggregates are any particles greater than 0.19 inch, but generally range between 3/8 and 1.5 inches in diameter. Gravels constitute the majority of coarse aggregate used in concrete with crushed stone making up most of the remainder. The ratio of aggregate to concrete will affect the embodied carbon of the concrete.
  • Recycled aggregates and regular aggregates (also known as virgin aggregates) are both used in construction, but there are several key differences between them:
    • Source: Regular aggregates are sourced from quarries or natural sources such as rivers, lakes, or mountains. Recycled aggregates, on the other hand, are derived from recycled construction and demolition waste or industrial by-products. Concrete is the highest consumed product on earth besides water.
    • Production process: Regular aggregates are produced by mining, crushing, and processing raw materials, which can have significant environmental impacts. Recycled aggregates are produced by crushing and processing recycled materials, which can help reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and the need for new raw materials.
    • Quality and consistency: Regular aggregates are produced from a consistent source, which ensures a uniform quality and performance. Recycled aggregates, on the other hand, can have variable quality and consistency depending on the source and processing method.
    • Cost: Regular aggregates are often more expensive than recycled aggregates because of the high cost of mining and transportation. Recycled aggregates are generally less expensive because they are sourced locally and do not require mining or processing of new materials.
  • Concrete releases over 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually from this industry. Cement is responsible for about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
  • The increasing material weight of the world’s economies is putting a more dangerous level of stress on the climate and natural life support systems than previously thought
  • Resources are being extracted from the planet three times faster than in 1970, even though the population has only doubled in that time, according to the Global Resources Outlook, which was released in Nairobi on March 12, 2019 (Watts. 2019. “Resource extraction responsible for half world’s carbon emissions”.  The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/12/resource-extraction-carbon-emissions-biodiversity-loss ).
  • Disruption to local ecosystems and habitats during the construction process is a significant concern regarding aggregate use. (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. 2018. “Sidewalk Construction: Protecting Trees and Natural Areas.”)

CAC Crowdsourced Climate Implications RE: Townhouse Development

OP Amendment – New Development of a Townhouse Development

  • Crowdsourced effort provides an overview of the questions/climate considerations related to a new Townhouse development. The questions however, would apply to any new development.

CAC Crowdsourced Climate Implications RE: Firehall Asset Renewal

During Clean Air Council’s November Climate Implications Workshop, municipalities worked with CAP to develop the first crowdsourced climate implications sections for the Repository. CAC generalized the report and municipal staff answered the following questions:

  • What part of the climate implications are missing from this story?​​
  • What top-level questions do you think aren’t considered yet​​?
  • Let’s identify the gaps in these implications; what’s missing?

Municipal Facility – Firehall Asset Renewal

  • Heat pumps and fossil fuel furnace units in three fire stations at end of life​
  • The municipality cannot purchase new equipment that locks in consumption of significant fossil fuels past 2030 ​
  • Need to pursue low-carbon and alternative fuel options whenever possible as capital investments are made into facilities​
  • The electrification of the Firehall will directly result in GHG emission reduction by fuel switching from fossil fuel to electricity. This will directly contribute to reducing overall GHG emissions and help it meet its 2030 net zero target.​
  • The optimization of heat pump and geothermal systems will improve operation of the HVAC system, improve efficiency, reduce operational costs, and reduce overall emissions at both firehalls. This will contribute to meeting the Net Zero Target