@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Applied Science, Faculty of"@en, "Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; dcterms:alternative "A climate change planning primer for municipal decision makers"@en ; ns0:rightsCopyright "Maged Senbel"@en ; dcterms:creator "Senbel, Maged"@en, "Church, Sarah"@en ; dcterms:issued "2011-12-15T22:11:42Z"@en, "2010-10"@en ; dcterms:description "The design of our cities and towns has a direct impact on our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Local governments have the ability to respond to the challenges posed by climate change through specific planning and development practices. Strategies such as densification and mixed-use development, reduced distances between housing and employment, and improved transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure all play a role in reducing GHG emissions.The configuration of land use, density, transportation networks and other relationships between buildings, roads, and infrastructure directly influence how much energy and materials we use to live, work, shop, and play. This report synthesizes research demonstrating the direct link between urban form and levels of energy consumption, with their resultant GHG emissions, and provides a number of examples of community responses to the challenge of reducing GHG emissions. The examples cover a number of Canadian communities, with a focus on B.C."@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/39750?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note """The Relationship Between Urban Form & GHG Emissions A Primer for Municipal Decision Makers Maged Senbel, Sarah Church, Erin Bett, Rose Maghsoudi, Kevin J Zhang 2 Urban Form and GHG Emissions | Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures 4 List of Tables 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 1.0 INTRODUCTION 9 Climate Change 10 Greenhouse Gases 10 Lifecycle Analysis 11 Peak Oil 12 Building Resilient Communities 12 Recent Legislation in B.C. 12 Green Communities (Bill 27) 12 Green Buildings Act (Bill 10) 13 2.0 ELEMENTS OF BUILT FORM 15 2.1 Residential Density 16 2.2 Employment Density 20 2.3 Mixed Land Use 21 2.4 Street Connectivity 21 2.5 Distance to Central Districts 22 2.6 Pedestrian Amenities 23 2.7 Transit Infrastructure 24 2.8 Cycling Infrastructure 25 2.9 Building Design 26 2.10 Local Energy Production 27 3.0 CANADIAN CASES 31 3.1 Snap-shot profiles 32 Recent Data 32 Future Projected GHG Emissions 32 3.2 Future Development Scenarios 45 4.0 COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT 53 5.0 TYPICAL GHG EMISSIONS 59 5.1 Low-Density At Varied Distances To The City Centre 60 3Urban Form and GHG Emissions | Table of Contents 6.0 POLICY RESPONSES AND ACTIONS 63 Integrated Sustainability Planning Smart Growth 64 Natural Step 64 Community Energy Planning 65 Common Land-Use Planning Actions 65 Specific Policy Actions 65 GHG Emissions Reductions Targets 65 Building Code Targets 66 Energy Targets 67 Land Use and Transportation Targets 67 6.1 Comprehensive Actions By Small And Medium Communities 68 6.2 Comprehensive Actions By Large Communities 73 7.0 REFERENCES 81 Produced by the Urban Design Lab School of Community and Regional Planning University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada © 2010 Maged Senbel, Sarah Church, Erin Bett, Rose Maghsoudi, Kevin J. Zhang All photographs are by Maged Senbel © unless otherwise indicated. 4 GHG Report | List of Figures List of Figures Figure 1 – The gases that contribute to GHG emissions Figure 2 – Greenhouse gases by source in B.C., from LiveSmart B.C. Figure 3- The effects of density and design on GHG emissions from the heating and cooling of buildings Figure 4 – Scenario comparison by jurisdiction Figure 5 – GHG emissions in B.C. by source Figure 6 – Lower Fraser Valley GHG Emissions Figure 7 – Dawson Creek Emissions by Sector Figure 8 – City of Saskatoon GHG Emissions by Sector Figure 9 – Toronto CMA GHG emissions by sector Figure 10 – Salt Spring Island GHG emissions by sector Figure 11 – Metro Vancouver GHG emissions by sector 5GHG Report | List of Tables List of Tables Table 1 – Urban Residential Density Measures Table 2 – Summary of density thresholds at which travel patterns are affected Table 3 – Summary of Current ktCO2e Emissions Table 4 – Summary of Projected ktCO2e Emissions under “Business as Usual” (BAU) Scenarios Table 5 – The pros and cons of different data sources for calculating GHG emissions Table 6 – Broad comparison of GHG emissions per household compiled from NRCan 6 Urban Form and GHG Emissions | Executive Summary The first decade of the twenty first century saw tremendous growth in research and knowledge on climate change. Governments at all levels in Canada began to explore policies, plans and targets that can serve to mitigate climate change and thereby reduce its impacts on communities. At the local level, much focus has been directed towards urban form, specifically compact development that concentrates growth in city centres and around transit nodes in order to reduce vehicle travel – a major source of greenhouse gas emissions – and to promote transit use and active transportation. Local governments have the ability to respond to the challenges posed by climate change through specific planning and development practices. Strategies such as densification and mixed-use development, reduced distances between housing and employment, and improved transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure all play a role in reducing GHG emissions. Current research on the relationship between urban form and GHG emissions indicates that: and pedestrian infrastructure all play a role in determining • Higher densities provide a foundation for urban form characteristics that together reduce a community’s GHG emissions by capitalizing on: 1. A critical mass of passengers to support frequent and reliable transit. 2. Shorter distances to travel destinations, which enables walking and cycling as mode choices. 3. A critical mass of customers to support local businesses. 4. Clustered buildings for efficient heating. 5. Clustered buildings for efficient use of municipal infrastructure and service networks (water, sewer, power and waste/recycling). • Density is directly related to energy consumption and GHG emissions through its influence on transportation behaviour, space heating efficiency and construction efficiency. • Residential density reduces vehicle ownership and vehicle kilometres traveled (VKT). • High-density developments result in lower GHG emissions per capita for transportation, building maintenance and operation. • Densification of the employment district, along with improvements to the pedestrian environment, may serve to increase the viability of transit service and increase the likelihood of non-vehicle travel to and from work. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7Urban Form and GHG Emissions | Executive Summary • Residents of mixed high-density development make shorter vehicle trips and spend less time driving. • Residents experiencing high levels of street connectivity on their commuting route are much more likely to walk or cycle to work. • Shorter distances to commercial destinations and community amenities within neighbourhoods are more likely to encourage walking, if the neighbourhoods are deliberately designed to be walkable. • Improved cycling infrastructure, including designating safe and well-networked routes, and end-of-trip facilities, increases the use of cycling as a transportation option. • A small home in a multi-unit building consumes less energy and produces fewer emissions than a large detached home. • Local energy sources can impact GHG emissions by reducing the need for large- scale infrastructure and increase energy security and community resilience. • District energy systems can be more cost effective and efficient than individual building heating systems, can be converted to renewable fuels and can benefit local economic development. Local governments have begun to use an array of policy instruments, including provincial legislation, to reduce their GHG emissions. Communities are setting specific reduction targets, which creates the foundation for more specific policies that address buildings, land use, transportation and energy. The community plans and actions considered within this report incorporate land-use planning principles that strive toward reducing energy consumption and promoting alternative modes of transportation. Some communities are utilizing specific frameworks, such as Smart Growth or the Natural Step, to develop strong, integrated sustainability plans; others are focusing on urban design and other land-use planning measures, such as urban containment boundaries, transit-oriented development, and mixed-use developments. While there are many challenges facing communities as they attempt to shift to more sustainable planning and development approaches, the research and examples in this report represent viable and effective opportunities for change. Compact, high-density, mixed-use development supported by transportation options will reduce our overall GHG emissions. Communities must therefore work quickly to develop strategies that capitalize on the relationships between GHG emissions and built form in order to reduce our reliance on conventional energy sources, create resilient communities and help reduce the negative impacts of climate change. 1 INTRODUCTION The design of our cities and towns has a direct impact on our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The configuration of land use, density, transportation networks and other relationships between buildings, roads, and infrastructure directly influence how much energy and materials we use to live, work, shop, and play. This report synthesizes research demonstrating the direct link between urban form and levels of energy consumption, with their resultant GHG emissions, and provides a number of examples of community responses to the challenge of reducing GHG emissions. The examples cover a number of Canadian communities, with a focus on B.C. Municipal and local governments have the ability to considerably reduce GHG emissions through appropriate planning and urban design. The two main contributors of GHG emissions in urban regions, and significant contributors in rural areas, are vehicle travel and the heating and cooling of buildings. Both of these sources can be diminished by reinforcing some basic community planning and design principles. For example, travel behaviour is directly related to the distribution of services, amenities and employment opportunities, as well as to transit access: closer destination proximities and greater available travel options therefore result in lower GHG emissions per capita. In addition, such forms of compact development also enable efficiencies in heating buildings: shared walls reduce overall surface areas exposed to the elements, thereby reducing demand for heat, while clustered buildings allow for the provision of district heating. 10 Urban Form and GHG Emissions | Introduction Climate Change Climate change is an unprecedented challenge for governments and communities around the world. While some GHGs are produced in nature, climate change is the result of dramatic increases in GHGs produced through human activity.1 Human-induced climate change is caused by the increase in the atmosphere of several greenhouse gases, the most prevalent being carbon dioxide (CO2), as shown in Figure 1.i GHGs are most commonly reported in tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2 eq) which includes the converted equivalents of other greenhouse gases. Increased atmospheric CO2 traps heat from solar radiation that would otherwise escape into space. This raises the average global temperature, which in turn can cause sea level rise, ecosystem changes, and increased storm intensity. By far the largest percentage of human-produced CO2 is from the burning of fossil fuels for transportation and electricity. Figure 1 – The gases that contribute to GHG emissions i There are a number of other gases that contribute to the green house effect including water vapour, methane, nitrous oxide (N2O) and other industrially produced gases such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) The effects of climate change are already being felt around the world, and are especially evident in resource communities. Changes in ecosystems, water, agriculture, fisheries, and forests are affecting everything from employment to human health. As climate change progresses, the most noticeable effects will be: changes in levels and timing of precipitation; frequency and intensity of storms and droughts; insect infestations; and rising sea levels. Communities will become more vulnerable to natural forces outside of their control, and mitigating the effects of climate change requires urgent global and local strategies to reduce GHG emissions. Every category of human consumption contributes to GHG emissions, from resource extraction, processing, transportation and manufacturing, to the construction and basic environmental control of buildings. In British Columbia, cars, trucks and buildings make up 47% of GHG emissions.2 Local governments have direct influence over emissions from these sectors through land use planning and development control. At the provincial level, B.C. has committed to reducing GHG emissions by 33% by 2020. This policy commitment acknowledges the kinds of institutional, societal and economic changes required in all economic sectors in order to minimize the threats of climate change. Greenhouse Gases Environment Canada publishes an annual national inventory of GHG emissions and monitors changes by sector from year to year.3 While some annual fluctuations in emissions exist due to changes in the mixture of fuel sources, changes in the level of petroleum extraction activities and changes in the severity of winter, long-term trends show considerable increases in emissions. In 2007, total GHG emissions were 4.0% higher than the 2006 levels. In 2008, total GHG emissions were 2.1% lower than the 2007 levels; however, this is still 24% above Canada’s Kyoto target. Environment Canada reports that the long-term trends 82%   2%   9%   5%   2%   Gases  that  Contribute  to  GHG  Emission   Energy  Related  CO2   Other  CO2   Methane   Nitrous  Oxide   HFCs,  PFCs  and  SF6   11Urban Form and GHG Emissions | Introduction show emissions levels that are 33.8% in excess of Canada’s Kyoto target.4 The charts above indicate B.C. provincial and household GHG emissions by sector. Lifecycle Analysis An important aspect of calculating GHG emissions is determining not only the amount of energy used during the operation of buildings, water and sewage systems, and other components of built form, but also taking into account the entire lifecycle of urban development. This includes the energy expended in the construction and maintenance of roads, buildings, and urban services. These hidden energy costs are sometimes referred to as embodied energy. A lifecycle calculation of urban infrastructure would include elements such as: mining, logging, and processing of materials; energy used in transportation, assembly and construction of the infrastructure; the lifetime operation and maintenance of the infrastructure; and the ultimate disassembly or removal of the infrastructure to a landfill. For residential developments, lifecycle costs include calculations for buildings as well as water, sewer, power, and transportation infrastructure. The network of energy and materials is complex, and it is difficult to attribute exact amounts of energy per resident or per household for shared resources such as roads, underground services, and transit systems. As a result, most methods produce conservative estimates of lifecycle costs. Variations between different ways of calculating lifecycle costs can arise from assumptions about the type of energy used in the manufacturing of specific materials. For example, a steel manufacturing plant that uses coal-generated electricity generates significantly more GHG emissions than a plant operating on hydroelectric power. Lifecycle-based cost-benefit analyses must include long-term costs and benefits so that long-term savings in energy consumption and emissions are weighed against the short-term costs of construction. Despite these difficulties, lifecycle accounting is an important parallel measurement that should be considered when making land use and infrastructure decisions. Peak Oil An issue that will have far reaching consequences for our society is the decline of global petroleum supplies as we reach the peak in available global reserves. Known as “peak oil,” this acknowledgement of the finite nature of fossil fuels has broad implications for societies and economies. Energy experts from around the world acknowledge that we are fast approaching the point where oil extraction is at its Figure 2 – Greenhouse gases by source in BC, from LiveSmart B.C.5 45%   1%   9%   17%   13%   13%   2%   Per  Household  GHG  Emissions   Cars  and  Trucks   Appliances  and  Ligh