A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
From the Star:
Feeling the need for green
From green roofs to energy-efficient office buildings, Toronto has room for improvement.
Not that we're doing that bad a job, though
Apr. 30, 2006. 08:39 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
TORONTO STAR
This is the second in a three-part series on the main issues raised by readers responding to the Sunday Star's "What If" special of April 16. Last week, Christopher Hume wrote about making the city more pedestrian-friendly. This week: Greening Toronto.
Toronto's very own Mr. Green, a.k.a. Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, is the first to admit it: Torontonians are light years ahead of their politicians in all matters related to the environment.
That was the same message we heard from readers after the Sunday Star ran its "What If?" package two weeks ago. They want a cleaner, greener city and they want it now.
But as Pantalone says, "Governments move very slowly. Time and time again, we underestimate the appetite for greening the city. And even when we try, we're not doing as good a job as we should."
Such honesty is refreshing, but Pantalone also insists that, as inadequate as the civic response has been, we're still in the top echelon of green cities, not just in Canada, but the planet. That's why Mayor David Miller was recently featured in Vanity Fair: He and this city are exemplars.
Watching the 150 or so rigs speeding every day down the 401 as they haul Toronto's trash to a Michigan dumpsite, that's hard to take seriously.
"Diversion," Pantalone intones, "that's the answer. But the issue is packaging. And the city doesn't have authority in this matter."
He may be right, but it points to the essential nature of environmental issues  namely that they implicate everyone just as they affect everyone.
For example, those 48 smog days we had last year (more than we had in the previous two years combined) were due largely to pollution from the United States. Not to say that we don't generate a huge amount of our own but, as Pantalone makes clear, much of our homemade smog comes from the exhaust systems of cars, trucks and SUVs, something not regulated by the city. The auto industry, especially the North American companies, have been shamefully slow to lower emissions.
As usual, we must rely on the federal and provincial governments to take the lead. And now that the full extent of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's environmental befuddlement is coming clear, no one's expecting Ottawa to show leadership.
But there are steps the city can take. For example, it can encourage green roofs, energy conservation retrofits, and the like.
Miller also established the Environmental Roundtable two years ago. There's the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, chaired by Councillor David Soknaki. And don't forget Enwave, which pumps water from deep in Lake Ontario to Metro Hall, the massive Toronto-Dominion Centre complex, buildings at the University of Toronto and many others downtown, to keep them cool in summer and help heat them in winter.
The problem, according to Pantalone, is not that Toronto isn't on the case. What we have here, he says, is a failure to communicate.
"We are the untold environmental success story of Canada," he says. "We're doing so much, but we're not good at getting the message out."
A good example of Toronto's success is the wind turbine at Exhibition Place  the first urban wind turbine on the continent.
The problem, and where Toronto could do better, is that it's still the only one in the city. There are schemes to erect more in the lake off of the Scarborough Bluffs, and even on the Toronto Island, but planning takes time. Studies must be done, costs calculated, contracts signed.... Meanwhile, the city grows more polluted.
And how about installing high-efficiency cooling and heating systems in office spaces? Most of us are unaware that 39 million square feet has already been redone. Much more remains undone, but the trend is clear.
The city plays the role of "marriage broker," Pantalone explains, trying to cajole landlords into being smart. That's not easy  corporate Canada isn't known for its intelligence  except that even the boardroom brains are beginning to grasp that there is money to be saved in them thar heatin' bills.
Just ask anyone from Toronto Hydro, which is busy trying to stop Dalton McGuinty's misguided scheme to build a 550-megawatt power plant beside the old Hearn Generating Station in the Portlands.
Much of the energy it would provide  easily half  could be found through conservation.
According to Chris Tyrrell of Toronto Hydro, at least 250 megawatts could be recovered through conservation demand management, or as it's known in industry jargon, CDM.
As Tyrrell also says, the demand for CDM is huge. "We've only scratched the surface," he says. "There's a long way to go."
It's the same with green roofs, which are a much sexier aspect of conservation strategy. The potential is vast; not only are they the pocket parks of tomorrow, green roofs cut down energy costs and clean the air.
In Germany, 17 per cent of all buildings have them. In Tokyo, the civic government passed a law in 2002 requiring 20 per cent of all new private buildings and 30 per cent of public buildings to be green-roofed.
In Toronto, there are approximately 50 green roofs, including 401 Richmond St. W., a renovated former warehouse, and Mountain Equipment Co-op on King St. W. The difficulty is not with new construction but in adding green roofs to older structures  though, as the 401 Richmond example makes clear, it's possible when the will is there.
The city has entered the field with a program that offers a modest $10 per square foot rebate for green roof retrofits. But the fund has only $200,000 to hand out, though more should be forthcoming from the city as well as Toronto Hydro, which has been asked to contribute $1 million to the program.
Experts say the city would save 100 megawatts of energy annually if just three-quarters of flat Toronto roofs over 350 square metres were greened.
But well below the radar are invisible obstacles such as the building code, which has a bizarre provision that says rain and lake water can't be used to flush toilets when potable water is available. In the meantime, "rainwater harvesting," as it's called, has become a major feature of all green architecture.
Toronto is slowly catching up: The new headquarters for the American software company SAS, which opened on King St. East earlier this month, uses rainwater, high-efficiency equipment and recycled materials.
Given that the environment is the issue of the 21st century, it's shocking that buildings like SAS are still the exception rather than the rule in Toronto. The city's numerous condo builders, with one or two exceptions, are even further behind. Mention green to them and they assume you're talking about money.
Some scientists now claim that climate change has passed the point of no return. If that's true, by the time the politicians catch up, it may be too late.
AoD
Feeling the need for green
From green roofs to energy-efficient office buildings, Toronto has room for improvement.
Not that we're doing that bad a job, though
Apr. 30, 2006. 08:39 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
TORONTO STAR
This is the second in a three-part series on the main issues raised by readers responding to the Sunday Star's "What If" special of April 16. Last week, Christopher Hume wrote about making the city more pedestrian-friendly. This week: Greening Toronto.
Toronto's very own Mr. Green, a.k.a. Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, is the first to admit it: Torontonians are light years ahead of their politicians in all matters related to the environment.
That was the same message we heard from readers after the Sunday Star ran its "What If?" package two weeks ago. They want a cleaner, greener city and they want it now.
But as Pantalone says, "Governments move very slowly. Time and time again, we underestimate the appetite for greening the city. And even when we try, we're not doing as good a job as we should."
Such honesty is refreshing, but Pantalone also insists that, as inadequate as the civic response has been, we're still in the top echelon of green cities, not just in Canada, but the planet. That's why Mayor David Miller was recently featured in Vanity Fair: He and this city are exemplars.
Watching the 150 or so rigs speeding every day down the 401 as they haul Toronto's trash to a Michigan dumpsite, that's hard to take seriously.
"Diversion," Pantalone intones, "that's the answer. But the issue is packaging. And the city doesn't have authority in this matter."
He may be right, but it points to the essential nature of environmental issues  namely that they implicate everyone just as they affect everyone.
For example, those 48 smog days we had last year (more than we had in the previous two years combined) were due largely to pollution from the United States. Not to say that we don't generate a huge amount of our own but, as Pantalone makes clear, much of our homemade smog comes from the exhaust systems of cars, trucks and SUVs, something not regulated by the city. The auto industry, especially the North American companies, have been shamefully slow to lower emissions.
As usual, we must rely on the federal and provincial governments to take the lead. And now that the full extent of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's environmental befuddlement is coming clear, no one's expecting Ottawa to show leadership.
But there are steps the city can take. For example, it can encourage green roofs, energy conservation retrofits, and the like.
Miller also established the Environmental Roundtable two years ago. There's the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, chaired by Councillor David Soknaki. And don't forget Enwave, which pumps water from deep in Lake Ontario to Metro Hall, the massive Toronto-Dominion Centre complex, buildings at the University of Toronto and many others downtown, to keep them cool in summer and help heat them in winter.
The problem, according to Pantalone, is not that Toronto isn't on the case. What we have here, he says, is a failure to communicate.
"We are the untold environmental success story of Canada," he says. "We're doing so much, but we're not good at getting the message out."
A good example of Toronto's success is the wind turbine at Exhibition Place  the first urban wind turbine on the continent.
The problem, and where Toronto could do better, is that it's still the only one in the city. There are schemes to erect more in the lake off of the Scarborough Bluffs, and even on the Toronto Island, but planning takes time. Studies must be done, costs calculated, contracts signed.... Meanwhile, the city grows more polluted.
And how about installing high-efficiency cooling and heating systems in office spaces? Most of us are unaware that 39 million square feet has already been redone. Much more remains undone, but the trend is clear.
The city plays the role of "marriage broker," Pantalone explains, trying to cajole landlords into being smart. That's not easy  corporate Canada isn't known for its intelligence  except that even the boardroom brains are beginning to grasp that there is money to be saved in them thar heatin' bills.
Just ask anyone from Toronto Hydro, which is busy trying to stop Dalton McGuinty's misguided scheme to build a 550-megawatt power plant beside the old Hearn Generating Station in the Portlands.
Much of the energy it would provide  easily half  could be found through conservation.
According to Chris Tyrrell of Toronto Hydro, at least 250 megawatts could be recovered through conservation demand management, or as it's known in industry jargon, CDM.
As Tyrrell also says, the demand for CDM is huge. "We've only scratched the surface," he says. "There's a long way to go."
It's the same with green roofs, which are a much sexier aspect of conservation strategy. The potential is vast; not only are they the pocket parks of tomorrow, green roofs cut down energy costs and clean the air.
In Germany, 17 per cent of all buildings have them. In Tokyo, the civic government passed a law in 2002 requiring 20 per cent of all new private buildings and 30 per cent of public buildings to be green-roofed.
In Toronto, there are approximately 50 green roofs, including 401 Richmond St. W., a renovated former warehouse, and Mountain Equipment Co-op on King St. W. The difficulty is not with new construction but in adding green roofs to older structures  though, as the 401 Richmond example makes clear, it's possible when the will is there.
The city has entered the field with a program that offers a modest $10 per square foot rebate for green roof retrofits. But the fund has only $200,000 to hand out, though more should be forthcoming from the city as well as Toronto Hydro, which has been asked to contribute $1 million to the program.
Experts say the city would save 100 megawatts of energy annually if just three-quarters of flat Toronto roofs over 350 square metres were greened.
But well below the radar are invisible obstacles such as the building code, which has a bizarre provision that says rain and lake water can't be used to flush toilets when potable water is available. In the meantime, "rainwater harvesting," as it's called, has become a major feature of all green architecture.
Toronto is slowly catching up: The new headquarters for the American software company SAS, which opened on King St. East earlier this month, uses rainwater, high-efficiency equipment and recycled materials.
Given that the environment is the issue of the 21st century, it's shocking that buildings like SAS are still the exception rather than the rule in Toronto. The city's numerous condo builders, with one or two exceptions, are even further behind. Mention green to them and they assume you're talking about money.
Some scientists now claim that climate change has passed the point of no return. If that's true, by the time the politicians catch up, it may be too late.
AoD