As part of a plan to build a University of Waterloo satellite campus next to its downtown core, the City of Stratford completed a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment and Remedial Action Plan for the Cooper Site, a 7-hectare former industrial site. The research team sampled soil and groundwater to determine the level of contamination at the site-particularly metals, petroleum hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). They did a risk assessment for several development scenarios, examining potential off-site impacts and liability. They also explored options for remediation.

The study identified contaminants in the soil and fill materials but showed that the migration of contaminants in groundwater was not as significant as expected, therefore large-scale groundwater remediation was not needed.

To remediate the area proposed for the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, the city processed and re-used the majority of the contaminated material and soil as a railway screening berm elsewhere on the property (a more cost-effective and practical solution than transporting it all to landfill). The University of Waterloo built the first phase of its Stratford Campus on the remediated portion of the land and opened the campus in October 2012.

Results

Challenges

• The original timeline for the study had to be extended because of legal and logistical issues related to materials stored on the site, building conditions and complex environmental factors.
• Halfway through the study, the province amended Environmental Protection Act regulations relating to the assessment and remediation of brownfield properties, requiring some adaptation.
• The number of boreholes, monitoring wells, and soil and groundwater samples required were estimated for each step of the project; however the actual amounts and types changed considerably as the investigation progressed and more detailed information came to light.

Lessons learned

• Communicate results on a regular basis, allowing sufficient time for all parties to review reports.
• Map out each potential step in the study clearly and remain flexible as results are obtained, because each set of results may determine the next steps required.
• Inform and consult with the public and stakeholders, and allow sufficient time in the project schedule to address issues of concern (such as heritage issues).
• Identify and plan for potential deviations from the project scope and schedule (such as regulatory changes, legal issues and technical requirements).

Resources

• City of Stratford Cooper Site reports
• University of Waterloo Stratford Campus

Partners and Collaborators

• University of Waterloo

Project Contact

Ron Shaw
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
City of Stratford
Province of Ontario
T. 519-271-0250, ext. 233

Feasibility Study for a Green Thermal Utility (GTU) District Heating and Cooling Loop in Downtown Saint John

The City of Saint John studied the feasibility of a district energy system to serve buildings in the downtown area. These systems distribute thermal energy from a central facility to heat and cool multiple buildings.

Saint John's study examined various energy options including raw sewage heat recovery from the nearby waste water treatment plant and energy recovery from  Saint John Harbour seawater and industrial waste. In the end, the recommended approach was to use waste energy from the nearby Irving pulp and paper mill. Initially, 15 buildings would be connected. The district energy system would reduce energy costs, greenhouse-gas emissions and the city's fossil-fuel dependency. It would also encourage the development of green buildings in the heart of the city.

Results

Challenges

• The lack of a project champion in city government and limited city staffing capacity to oversee the study.
• Limited understanding of the potential of a district energy system among property managers and owners.
• Financial constraints at the city, which put the district energy system project on hold in 2011.

Lessons learned

• Visit district energy sites in other municipalities and consult with managers, designers and developers to clearly understand the potential of these systems.
• Develop a master community energy plan to list local energy sources, buildings and future infrastructure projects before undertaking this kind of study.
• Consult early and often with the public and local developers and property managers throughout the project.

Resources

• Community Energy System Design Recommendation
• City of Saint John's media release

Partners and Collaborators

• City of Saint John
• FCM's Green Municipal Fund
• FVB Energy
• Fundy Engineering
• Province of New Brunswick
• Irving Pulp and Paper

Project Contact

Samir Yammine
Energy Manager
City of Saint John, NB
T. 506-648-4667

The Town of Ladysmith developed a Sustainable Action Plan that provides the framework for sustainable prosperity throughout the 21st century. Adopting the plan is an important step toward achieving the Town's Sustainability Vision, which it developed in 2008-2009.

The plan focuses on five broad goals: a prosperous green economy, a healthy community, a flourishing natural environment, a compact built environment, and smart, transparent governance.

The plan covers a comprehensive set of community issues: land use, transportation, green buildings, multi-use landscapes, infrastructure, community health, economic diversity, and a local food system. Specific goals and targets include reducing GHG emissions, cutting fossil fuel consumption, and improving wastewater treatment and solid waste management.

Ladysmith's Town Council and staff will use the Sustainability Action Plan to set priorities, guide decision-making about future projects and actions, monitor performance, and report annually on outcomes.

Results

Challenges

• Stability of personnel: Over the course of the project there were two changes of lead consultant.  

Lessons learned

• Set a short time frame and be prepared to make adjustments.
• Build on existing plans. Move towards recognizable goals, but don't expect the plan to be perfect.
• Include many stakeholders. The process revealed what other stakeholders were doing and produced several valuable spinoff projects.

Resources

• Sustainability and Green Living
• Ladysmith's Sustainability Vision
• Town of Ladysmith Sustainability Action Plan

Partners and Collaborators

• Stz'uminus First Nation
• Cowichan Valley Regional District

Project Contact

Ruth Malli
City Manager
Town of Ladysmith, B.C.
T. 205-245-6400

Westbank Centre Revitalization Plan

To revive a downtown drained of stores and shoppers by malls on the highway that has skirted the community since 1990, the district of West Kelowna drafted a 25-year plan to remake the central Westbank Centre neighbourhood as a pedestrian-friendly place to live, work and play.

The plan grew out of a series of public meetings and calls for a mix of higher density housing, niche retail stores, sidewalk cafes and a farmers' market. It would limit traffic through downtown while encouraging transit use and create cycling paths linking the area to trails around Okanagan Lake and the Glen Canyon Regional Park. It urges governments to locate a library and a health-care centre in the neighbourhood.

As a first step, council approved $250,000 for benches, planters, lights and other Westbank Centre street improvements.

Results

Challenges

• Allocating staff to the project in competition with other planning exercises.
• Finding time to consider feasibility of final recommendations.
• Producing an illustrated brochure free of planning jargon to promote the plan to merchants and developers.

Lessons learned

• Involve staff from all departments to ensure that project recommendations support other civic plans and priorities.
• Events combining multiple planning exercises attract wider public participation and make more efficient use of staff.
• Digital modeling makes complex traffic-change proposals easier to comprehend.

Partners and Collaborators

• District of West Kelowna
• FCM's Green Municipal Fund
• Coriolis Consulting
• HB Lanarc - Golder

Project Contact

Nancy Henderson
Director of Development Services
District of West Kelowna, BC
T. 778-797-8833

Exhibition Place LED Lighting Field Test

Eager to showcase green technologies and save on electrical costs, Toronto's Exhibition Place replaced 50 high-pressure sodium lampposts along a pedestrian walkway with light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures. The LED lights have motion detectors and brighten from a low default setting when someone is using the path.

A few new high-pressure sodium fixtures were installed for comparison. Over the test period, the LED lights used 77  per cent less energy than the sodium lights. They also had excellent light levels and uniformity of light.

While the old lights needed replacing every few years, the LED lights are expected to last 15 years. Their performance is being monitored. The city is considering converting all outdoor lights at Exhibition Place and all pathway lights in its parks to LED systems.

Results

Challenges

• Extra time was needed to consult on the design of the fixtures.
• The depreciation in the amount of light emitted by the LED lights over eight months was higher than expected, at 14.4 per cent.
• The true financial benefit of the LED lights will not be known until their lifespan is established.

Lessons learned

• Ensure all partners are aware of new regulations and requirements for energy-efficient projects.
• Involve all commissioning and energy consultants in preliminary stages to ensure the design meets the requirements.
• Use a standardized protocol, like the one developed by the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, to assess the lights so data can be directly compared with other projects.

Resources

• Lightsavers' monitoring and evaluation protocol for LED lights

Partners and Collaborators

• FCM's Green Municipal Fund
• City of Toronto
• Exhibition Place
• Light Savers
• Toronto Atmospheric Fund

Project Contact

Dianne Young
Board of Governors of Exhibition Place
City of Toronto, ON
T. 416-263-3611

To increase the efficiency of its water treatment process and reduce the use of chemicals, the City of Thunder Bay studied different methods for cleaning filtration membranes at its Bare Point Drinking Water Treatment Plant. After examining membrane foulants (the elements being filtered out of the water) and testing innovative cleaning strategies, the researchers concluded that soaking the membranes while using lower concentrations of sodium hypochlorite (the primary cleaning chemical used to clean membranes) works better and slows membrane deterioration, compared to chemical treatment at higher concentrations. Additional optimizations of the cleaning process included changing the acid used for pH suppression and conducting the two chemical cleaning processes back to back (rather than putting the membranes back in use between the stages of cleaning). The study also included a promising trial of bifunctional electrode technology (using electricity and UV light to remove organic contaminants) which would dramatically reduce the energy requirement for water treatment and help eliminate chemicals from the process. After initially reducing the sodium hypochlorite used in the membrane-cleaning process by 40 per cent, the city eliminated its use completely in October 2014.

Results

Challenges

• During the winter, the temperature of water entering the plant is lower than the manufacturer-recommended limit for the membranes.
• Water temperature fluctuations throughout the course of the study resulted in an extreme range of data, creating a need for a follow-up study using temperature-controlled water.
• The plant and Lakehead University are separated geographically, without easy access by bus, adding travel time for student researchers. The university had to put the data into electronic format so that it could be accessed over the Internet.

Lessons learned

• Explore the general correlations between membrane fouling and feed water characteristics such as total organic carbon, particle counts, turbidity, pH and temperature.
• Explore the effect of varying cleaning parameters on membrane life span and operational cost.
• Research options for optimizing the cleaning efficiency of the backwash process.
• Install a temperature control instrument in the pilot plant to eliminate fluctuations in temperature that may affect the properties of membranes and the fouling potential of various organic and inorganic constituents.
• Research the impact of seasonal changes on membrane fouling and performance.

Resources

• City of Thunder Bay Water Quality Reports
• Bare Point Water Treatment Plant

Partners and Collaborators

• Lakehead University

Project Contact

Carl Goodwin
Process Engineer, Environment Division
City of Thunder Bay, ON
T. 807-684-3195

City of Thompson Sustainable Community Plan

To make this northern Manitoba mining community a healthier, more sustainable, and recreation-rich place to live, the City of Thompson adopted a plan to enhance the wintertime appeal of its parks.

Summer baseball diamonds and soccer fields will give way to new skating areas next to outdoor hockey rinks; cross-country ski loops and snowmobile trails will be extended; and the city will maintain its network of parkland walkways in winter months.

The parks initiative complements a wider city sustainable-growth plan that will see more high-density downtown housing, increased commercial diversity to reduce economic reliance on mining, infrastructure repairs, and greater protection of the fragile northern natural environment.

Results

Challenges

• Balancing demand for new houses in suburbs with more environmentally sound high-density housing downtown.
• Attracting new commerce and industry to reduce reliance on mining.
• Setting appropriate usage policies for different types of recreational space.

Lessons learned

• Define what the community wants from the process before hiring a consultant to lead it.
• Create a detailed public-engagement strategy that goes beyond Facebook, blogging and other social media.
• To forestall fear of change, clearly explain what is meant by sustainable growth.

Resources

• City of Thompson Master Parks Plan
• City of Thompson Sustainable Community Plan

Partners and Collaborators

• City of Thompson
• AECOM Canada
• FCM's Green Municipal Fund

Project Contact

Gary Ceppetelli
City Manager
City of Thompson, MN
T. 204-677-7922

Cold Lake Regional Utilities Services Commission Wastewater Treatment Plant Feasibility Study

The City of Cold Lake studied the feasibility of different wastewater treatment systems to improve effluent quality. Its existing system - four treatment lagoons - was nearing capacity and was harming the environment through its discharges into the Beaver River.

A purely mechanical treatment system would be very expensive, so the city wanted to include a vegetative process to remove nutrients. The study team's recommendation was to combine moving-bed biofilm reactors with the lagoon process. Moving-bed biofilm reactors are relatively new to North America; they use a honeycomb-like medium to increase surface area for the microorganisms that remove nutrients.

The city, through the regional utilities commission, hoped to undertake a small-scale pilot project to test the treatment system, especially in winter conditions.

Results

Challenges

• There was a lack of data on water quality in the Beaver River, which was needed to determine the level of treatment necessary.
• It was difficult to get confirmation of new effluent limits from regulating authorities.
• Cold Lake's northern climate raises questions about whether moving-bed biofilm reactors will work year-round.

Lessons learned

• Do a thorough search of the technologies out there so that you have confidence in your choice of system.
• Allow at least 12 to 14 months for a study like this, as the receiving water may need to be sampled at different times of year.
• Tertiary treatment or nutrient removal from municipal wastewater will seem expensive, but it is necessary for the health of the receiving water bodies.

Resources

• Cold Lake - Beaver River water management plan

Partners and Collaborators

• City of Cold Lake
• AECOM
• FCM's Green Municipal Fund

Project Contact

Kevin Nagoya
Chief Administrative Officer
City of Cold Lake, AB
T. 780-594-4494, ext. 7930