City of Thunder Bay to consider adopting green development standards for new builds

As Thunder Bay, Ont., looks to build more housing, environmental advocates are pushing the city to adopt green development standards (GDS) for new units.

GDS are a set of rules developers must follow in order to ensure more energy efficient builds, with the goal of eventually reaching net-zero emissions. 

Members of the Thunder Bay Climate Transition Collaborative are pitching the plan to city councillors on Monday. 

"There's a gradual progression towards net-zero through these targets," said John Stephenson, a long-time architect and co-chair of the collaborative. "The impact that developers will see is in the design of their development."

The Thunder Bay Climate Transition Collaborative consists of members of a number of organizations interested in mitigating the effects of climate change. Working alongside the city's sustainability co-ordinator, the collaborative was connected with the Tamarack Institute in Waterloo.

From there, members were encouraged to commit to a one-year project that would support Thunder Bay's net-zero strategy, which is how they came up with GDS.

There's a gradual progression towards net-zero through these targets.- John Stephenson, co-chair, Thunder Bay Climate Transition Collaborative

More than a dozen municipalities across Ontario have introduced GDS, which are tailored to each community's needs, said Stephenson. 

"We felt that this was a doable project, that it was something that the city already had their sights on," he said.

Making life livable now and in the future

The city declared a climate emergency in 2020. The following year, council approved the city's net-zero strategy, which outlines a plan for how to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. It includes specific targets for the building sector:

• Have 90 per cent of new construction meet net-zero standards by 2030.
• Have 100 per cent of dwellings built before 1980 be retrofitted by 2030.
• Have 80 per cent of all commercial buildings be retrofitted by 2030.
• Have 100 per cent of all municipal buildings, old and new, be net-zero by 2035. 
• Have 100 per cent of dwellings built after 1980 be retrofitted by 2040. 

Danielle Thom, the city's climate action specialist, said she's working on a retrofit loan program to help homeowners meet these goals.

"Green development standards would definitely help us get there with the new houses that we're building, but it's only one piece of the puzzle," she said.

It's important to recognize the far-reaching impacts of GDS, she said, which means engaging with a wide range of stakeholders over a long period of time.

"We're really going to have to look at how it impacts other sectors and how it might make things, for example, really unaffordable to build," Thom said. 

"It's really a balance between making life livable for people now and people in the future."

Stephenson and Dr. Margaret Woods, fellow co-chair of the Thunder Bay Climate Transition Collaborative, said they'd like to see a plan for GDS in place between 12 and 18 months from now.

However, Thom said she imagines it could be "a three-year process of engagement from start to finish, and creating some kind of implementation framework after that."

Healthy environment, healthy community 

Woods, a retired family physician, is a member of the Ontario section of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE). Much of her advocacy work is focused on the intersection between health and the environment. 

Among her concerns are the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, wildfire smoke, heat waves and increased pollen on respiratory and cardiovascular health, she said. 

She pointed out that Health Canada estimates air pollution contributes to 6,600 premature deaths in Ontario each year. In her eyes, introducing the proposed building standards could reduce climate change, which would in turn reduce conditions that contribute to air pollution. 

"If you have a healthy environment, typically you have a healthy community," Woods said. 

While they both acknowledge the robust consultations needed before GDS can be implemented, Stephenson stressed the need to move forward sooner rather than later.

"We're just very concerned that there is greater urgency to addressing the problem than what is necessarily being recognized," he said.

At the city level, Thom said she hopes people aren't intimidated by the concept of GDS and that it doesn't deter them from seeking development opportunities. 

"We definitely just have to do a lot more research into this. This talk isn't bad and it shouldn't be scary. It's just opening a conversation of saying 'how can we get here?'" said Thom.

In Stephenson's view, development and sustainability can — and should — go hand in hand.

"We do understand the city has a lot on its plate and there are a lot of priorities, but we don't see the process of developing green development standards as competing with those other priorities. We see it as really supporting them," he said. 

As the federal election quickly approaches, people can view a list of Canada's major parties' election promises on key issues, including climate change and energy, here.