The E word

Vancouver takes a kinder, gentler approach to EcoDensity

As an urban planning concept, density is not new—a few decades of unchecked suburban expansion notwithstanding, cities have always been inherently dense to a more or lesser degree. As a City of Vancouver urban planning initiative, however, EcoDensity dates back to just 2006—but it’s quickly gaining traction in one of the densest and most desirable cities in North America.


 

In fact, Vancouver is not as densely populated as its postcard reputation might suggest: Beyond the skyscrapers of downtown, vast swaths of the city are zoned for single-family dwellings, be they West Side Shaughnessy mansions or East Side Vancouver Specials.

But as the vacancy rate dips ever closer to zero, real-estate prices continue their stratospheric orbit, traffic gets jammed, transit gets fuller and energy demands continue to soar, an increasingly wide array of Lower Mainland residents are ready to hear this or any other idea that will lead toward a more sustainable solution.    

I have seen the future, and it is UniverCity

Welcome to your future! We call it... EcoDensity

As I trudged along the steep, sidewalk-less dirt path that runs along the outer ring road of SFU’s sprawling Burnaby Mountain campus—having gotten off the bus one stop too early, packing two bags, and rolling my ankle along the way—I developed what you might call a slight negative bias towards the secluded UniverCity residence. But once I turned on to University Crescent, the main street that curves through the middle of the mini town centre, all my grumbling washed away.

I live in a dense residential neighbourhood, I’ve visited EcoDensity-style sites, and I’ve been to SFU’s main campus on several occasions—but I was still pleasantly surprised by what I saw at UniverCity. Maybe it was just the heat that day, but it occurred to me as I walked along the many medium-density developments that this is what the future of urban living would look like.

My bit of urban exploration to the outer reaches of Burnaby later recalled (i.e., sent me to Wikipedia) a journey made in 1919 to the Soviet Union by a journalist named Lincoln Steffens. Somewhat bafflingly, given the time and place, Steffens became enamoured with that country’s brand of communism and stated as much upon his return to the U.S. in 1921.

“I have been over into the future,” he said, “and it works.”

The benefit of hindsight tells us that Steffens was, alas, not quite on the mark, though for ardent skeptics of anything that vaguely resembles civic planning today, comparisons to the Soviet style of government are still inevitably dredged up.

However, far from being the kind of soulless, centrally planned commune that EcoDensity’s most ardent detractors envision, UniverCity actually represents the best of both residential worlds—neither of which includes Gulags or windowless housing blocks.

The two worlds that I’m referring to both exist right here in North America, and especially in the Lower Mainlaind: vibrant, amenity-rich urbania, and quiet, pastoral suburbia. UniverCity manages to combine these positive attributes without the accompanying downsides of busy-ness, dirtiness, isolatedness or car-dependentness.

Of course, that’s not to say that UniverCity is totally sustainable, being as it is on the top of a mountain and practically in Port Moody. Even taking transit requires lumbering up and down the hill in chugging diesel buses; cycling to and fro is clearly only for the die-hards; and walking anywhere beyond campus itself is right out.

The point is, this idyllic hilltop development is—like the castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail—only a model. Regardless, it’s one that could be implemented elsewhere—closer to transit, closer to jobs, closer to sea level.

But UniverCity, which first broke ground in 2001 and is still under construction, never purported to be a civic solution for the Burnaby or Vancouver or anywhere else: it’s a university residence, and for that purpose works brilliantly.

That said, there are plenty of things that city and suburb folk alike would enjoy about this hidden gem. There are walkups, and townhouses, and condos, but not of the towering Yaletown or Coal Harbour variety that many people find overly imposing. There are sidewalks, there are bike paths and, yes, people here also drive cars (gasp!). They also have patios and barbecues, as well as pets and wooded areas. But there is also a transit hub within walking distance, as well as commercial amenities and even an elementary school on the way.

In other words, there is a mix—one that feels safe, inviting and, to all but the most ’burb-hardened, inevitable.    

Home Green Home

B.C.'s first green communities broke ground a decade ago. What's it like to actually live in one?

In 2005, a B.C.-designed submarine called the Sawfish descended to the bottom of a hydroelectric reservoir near Powell River to harvest old-growth Douglas fir.

The trees had been perfectly preserved since 1931, when dam construction created Lois Lake; now, this high-quality reclaimed timber has been used to build Victoria’s Dockside Green, one of North America’s greenest mixed-use developments ever.

Across the Strait of Georgia, more than 350 metres above sea level, a single mountaintop residential building at SFU’s sustainable UniverCity development draws its heat from holes drilled deep into the Earth.

B.C. Experimental communities like Dockside Green and UniverCity serve today as a testing ground for green innovations and approaches, new and old, unproven and tried. But more than just green technology incubators or ambitious one-offs, such developments are above all else habitats for people, and demonstrate today how we all might be living tomorrow. These B.C. smart communities have reconsidered the use of space, heat and water in living spaces, and how such features not only contribute to sustainability, but to a livable habitat.

Density is the one thing that B.C.’s pioneering sustainable communities have in common. It’s hardly a novel concept: putting more people on less land (and in less square footage) reduces the need for energy, pavement and city infrastructure. It also encourages community – in such a place, you can’t help but know your neighbours. Throw in a variety of residential housing types, office and retail amenities, and the need to get in the car is dramatically reduced.

While compact urban living might seem a bit cramped to someone accustomed to their own house, the experience of Neil Tran in Victoria demonstrates the positive trade-offs of living in a space that is smaller and smarter. The 34-year-old web specialist moved with his wife and toddler to a 925-square-foot condo unit at Victoria’s Dockside Green last March, from a 2,200 square-foot home on a quarter-acre lot.

“I don’t really think of it as being so much smaller, because it is just better space that is better planned,” says Tran of his open-space-concept condo with lots of natural light. “When you go into one of these units, there’s plenty of room for a small family.”

The smaller space has vastly reduced Tran’s energy costs, and now that he is no longer preoccupied with yard and house maintenance, he spends much more time hiking and playing with his daughter.

“Condo living wasn’t even a choice for me up until I learned about Dockside,” says Tran, who describes himself as still young enough to be in “play mode,” but also responsible when it comes to the environment. “The only reason we picked it was because it had all these amazing green initiatives.”

“Amazing” aptly describes how the development manages water. Dockside collects and reuses 100 per cent of the storm water on site, in addition to treating its own sewage and re­using that water as well. When the estimated 2,500 future residents are housed here in about seven years’ time, Dockside will save 70 million gallons of potable water a year.

Tran says many of the green features of Dockside translate directly into enhanced livability – like an air exchange system that constantly refreshes the air, exterior sun blinds on the outside of the windows that automatically lower to keep indoor summer temperatures comfortable, and a “green roof” community garden.

Tran’s neighbour, Melinda Jolley, who was one of the first people to move into Dockside’s first residential phase, says the green-roof gardens provide a social outlet and connection to nature that traditional condo developments cannot offer.

“One of the nicest, unexpected features of the rooftop garden is how it brings you together with your neighbours and as a community,” says Jolley, who last year grew herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, kale and much more. “Otherwise you might only see your neighbours in the elevator or while getting your mail.”

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Inside a cozy top-storey townhouse at SFU’s UniverCity development, Professor Maite Taboada has her thermostat set to a tropical 23 degrees, with the warmth delivered courtesy of the Earth.

“It’s slow to respond to new temperature settings if you turn it up or down,” says Taboada, a Spanish-born professor of linguistics who shares the townhome with her professor husband Oliver and toddler Adriana. “So we tend to keep it set at a constant temperature and don’t really mess with it much.”

One thermostat on each level of the townhouse controls the heating delivered to the entire floor by piping under the floorboards.

The geo-exchange system heating the 60-unit Verdant townhome development atop Burnaby Mountain relies on a field of 300-foot wells beneath the building; pipes circulate the Earth-heated water with the help of heat pumps, which increase the water temperature and transfer the heat to each unit via an in-floor radiant heating system.

Verdant is one part of UniverCity’s concentration of mid- and highrise buildings, townhouses, and condominiums, and office and retail space on just 80 hectares. When build-out is complete in about 20 years, there will be 10,000 people living there.

One of the most innovative things on Burnaby Mountain is a new approach to density: in what may be a first in North America, the City of Burnaby has legalized secondary suites within apartments; there are already 24 secondary suites in three separate buildings at UniverCity. Resembling the traditional hotel suites with adjoining doors, these condo secondary suites (also called “lock-off suites”) at UniverCity are minuscule by North American standards: between 240 and 285 square feet.

Such suites provide ready housing for students using a minuscule space and energy footprint, and because they currently demand astoundingly high rent (up to $750 a month), they provide a “mortgage helper” for families who otherwise could not enter the condo market.

The secondary condo suites are appealing to students, in-laws and family members, reports Gordon Harris, president and CEO of the UniverCity developer SFU Community Trust, who adds that the City of Vancouver is considering allowing them.

While Taboada’s thermostat is used to control the geothermal heating exclusively, the thermostat interface designed for Melinda Jolley’s Dockside Green apartment represents the latest evolution of an idea whose time has clearly arrived: real-time carbon-footprint monitoring.

In every unit of Dockside’s first residential phase (called Synergy), there is a thermostat-like device (called a “Mach-Stet”) connected to the suite’s hydro and water meters, heat fan and hot water tank. The system, which is also accessible online, automatically rolls all the data into a single number indicating carbon footprint, which can be compared from day to day, week to week, and month to month.

“It has helped me to be more aware of my water use especially,” says Jolley. “If I have a lot of baths in a week or two, and then start having quicker showers, I can clearly see the impact of those behaviour changes.”

There are signs that such real-time footprint monitoring will be mainstream in the shorter term. In a similar vein as the Mach-Stet, Google’s charitable wing Google.org launched its free PowerMeter web service in February 2009, which Google says will eventually provide the interface to allow consumers to track their household energy as it is consumed. The tool is still in the planning stages, and will rely on as-yet undetermined partner companies to build smart-meter tools to feed household data into the online program.

B.C. passed a law in April 2008 that legislated the installation of smart meters across B.C. by the end of 2012. While such meters would only measure and display electrical usage, the rationale is similar: people are more likely to change their consumption behaviour if they can actually see what it is costing them.

And unlike scavenged lake-bottom old-growth trees or tapping the heat of the Earth for home use, it’s an idea that is practical enough today to have already progressed beyond the gates of B.C.’s green sustainable communities.

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Smart, sustainable and green on top

There are many types of engineered green roofs, ranging from rooftop gardens at Dockside Green, to landscaping approaches where a single type of drought-resistant plant is grown. (Generally, all green roofs will consist of a growing medium under-layered with drainage and filtering layers and a root-resistant membrane.)

Green roofs like the ones at Dockside are relatively new in B.C., but are common in other parts of the world like Germany, where 15 per cent of flat roofs are currently vegetated. But it’s only a matter of time until they become commonplace: not only do they insulate the roof, but they protect it from sun, wind and rain; they slow the run-off of storm water; and, when present across an area, they reduce the “heat island” effect in summer, when city temperatures can be two to three degrees higher than surrounding areas.

More than purely functional though, green roofs can be esthetically stunning, as evident at Wakefield Beach near Sechelt, one of B.C.’s “early adopters” of this green technology. Built by Wakefield Home Builders, the completed first phase of Wakefield Beach features 31 homes, each with its own green roof.

On each roof, sedum ( a drought-resistant plant) is grown in a three-inch deep medium made up mostly of pumice. Not only are these rooftop plants easy to maintain, they change colours season-ally – from pink and purples in spring, to yellow and orange in the fall.

Wakefield construction manager Ray Dierolf says his approach to green roofs is more akin to landscaping, except in this case just occasional weeding and annual drain cleaning are required. He adds that the roof cools the home in summer, keeps heat in during the winter, and retains 25 per cent of rainwater.