How Caledon’s Green Development Standards promote climate-friendly growth

The Town of Caledon, Ontario, is at a critical juncture. Even as its 76,500-strong population is set to triple in the next 30 years, the Town aspires to reduce the community’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. How can it reduce greenhouse gas issues and tackle environmental and social problems while the community grows?

The issue is at the crux of much of our work at SSG. A core challenge in all communities is reducing emissions from running buildings. In Caledon, buildings accounted for almost one-third of emissions in 2016. 

On July 1, the Town took a significant step towards tackling this issue as its new Green Development Standards took effect. With these standards, designed in collaboration with SSG, Caledon will require new developments to demonstrate how their projects will mitigate greenhouse gas emissions while improving greenspace, making buildings more comfortable, and improving resilience to floods, heat waves, and other hazards related to extreme weather.  

Working With the Development Sector

To develop the standards, SSG worked with the Town of Caledon to gather input from the community and industry groups via workshops, focus groups, and community surveys. The standards require a significant shift in business as usual with all new residential, commercial, and industrial development applications required to demonstrate how they meet 20 metrics across three themes: community design and mobility, green infrastructure, and building energy efficiency.

Feedback from industry groups obtained during the development of the standards led to the Town offering training sessions on how to navigate the new requirements. Additionally, based on feedback from developer and construction industry representatives that emphasized that flexibility would be critical, the final standards offer alternative pathways and opportunities to work towards the metric requirements.

Some of the metrics we’re thrilled to see include:

• On-Site Green Infrastructure (2.1): The metrics under the Green Infrastructure theme aim to increase and improve green spaces and the tree canopy. In addition to absorbing greenhouse gasses, these measures will help  make neighbourhoods more resilient to stormwater surges, reduce heat island effect, and improve biodiversity. The metric is supported by a Green Factor Worksheet, which makes it easy for applicants to value existing natural infrastructure, as well as account for additional planting requirements for their site. 
• Embodied Carbon (3.4):  The standards require new buildings to report on the embodied carbon of a project, which refers to greenhouse gas emissions from the extraction, manufacturing, and transportation of construction materials and construction processes. Embodied carbon accounts for 10% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions and is often overlooked in favor of slashing operational emissions, which are more straightforward to measure and reduce. This metric is designed to foster awareness  of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with building materials with resources and a worksheet for applicants to calculate the embodied carbon for different types of developments. 
• Light Pollution Reduction(1.3): Caledon’s standards call for applicants to reduce light pollution, which disrupts wildlife behaviour and human health, in alignment with the best practices set out by DarkSky International Association.

Today’s decisions about how Caledon develops new neighbourhoods and infrastructure will impact residents’ energy use, travel habits, and access to natural spaces for decades, if not centuries.

Green building standards can usher in a future where communities  are less dependent on cars, have more greenery, and are resilient to extreme weather events. They’re good (green) standards to have!