Environmental Guidelines
Below is a list of environmental goals and objectives, specifically oriented around environmental sustainability drivers, along with descriptions about why Longlands believes these goals and objectives are relevant to the project and the larger community.
GOAL 1: Ecosystem Integrity
Objectives:
- Preserve and enhance ecologically sensitive areas including stream, ponds, wetlands and their riparian communities, as well as red- and blue-listed plants, wildlife, and plant communities;
- Provide for restoration of ecologically sensitive areas;
- Conserve or enhance urban forest resources; and
- Conserve or enhance corridors for wildlife movement between natural areas on the site and adjacent properties.
Why is this important?
- Functional and diverse ecosystems provide clean air, water and resources necessary for all species, including humans;
- Natural areas, such as woodlands and wetlands, provide beauty, enrich experiences, and are unique assets to the Comox Valley;
- Longlands occupies land within the headwaters of the Brooklyn Creek Watershed and contains sensitive fish-bearing habitat;
- Well-treed sites contribute significantly to rainwater conservation and the mitigation of stormwater impacts to fish habitat and downstream lands;
- Ecosystem biodiversity and complexity has been identified as a key asset in adapting to climate change; and
- Watershed health is directly related to the amount of pervious soils, vegetative site cover and the abundance and quality of riparian vegetation.
GOAL 2: Land Preservation
Objectives:
- Strive to minimize the loss of greenspace, pervious surfaces, and habitat by providing a compact and mixed use development; and
- Provide building support systems and natural systems that are visible to the users and communities as design features (stormwater treatment facilities, water re-use infrastructure, green roofs).
Why is this important?
- The forests of the Longlands site are a unique attribute that is highly valued by the community and the property owners; and
- Higher density, mixed-use developments allow for higher green space retention, support community vibrancy, reduce automobile dependency, and lower per-capita infrastructure development and maintenance costs.
GOAL 3: Indoor Environmental Quality
Objectives:
- Promote health and improved productivity by providing superior indoor environmental quality, including daylight and exterior views; and
- Employ operational practices to optimize indoor air quality.
Why is this important?
- North Americans spend more than 90% of their time indoors, thus indoor environmental quality is an important determinant of health and wellbeing; and
- Construction products, furnishings, and cleaning processes can contribute harmful emissions particularly with prolonged exposure. Individual and synergistic affects of chemicals used in construction products, furnishing and cleaning products are unknown.
GOAL 4: Water Quality and Conservation
Objectives:
- Demonstrate exemplary stewardship of water quality and conservation; and
- Strive to achieve lowest residential potable water consumption in Canada.
Why is this important?
-
While at times water is abundant, the frequency and severity of seasonal droughts
are increasing. Reuse of rainwater and treated wastewater reduces the demand for municipal potable water and aquifer withdrawals; - On-site rainwater management practices reduce on-site and downstream flooding;
- The quality of stormwater released from the site directly impacts the watershed ecosystem; and
- On-site management of stormwater and wastewater flows reduces loads on municipal conveyance systems and processing plants thereby extending their service life and reducing municipal infrastructure costs.
GOAL 5: Energy Efficiency
Objectives:
- Strive to be the most energy efficient development in Canada by reducing energy use during the buildings’ lifetime; and
- Utilize waste streams as potential energy generation resources.
Why is this important?
- Utility cost reductions and future energy security (availability + cost) can be realized;
- Use of energy from renewable resources (i.e. earth, sun, biomass) reduces greenhouse gas emissions, preserves non-renewable energy sources for higher use; and
- Greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming.
GOAL 6: Verification
Objective:
• Provide verification and accountability to the project commitments through third party certification and public reporting.
Why is this important?
• To confirm to ourselves and our community that we have adhered to our commitments; and
• To confirm opportunities for ongoing, continuous improvement.
