Employees of the City of Vancouver with their bicycles
Chosen as one of Canada's Greenest Employers for 2013:
By Richard Yerema and Julien Gagnier, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors
(Apr 21, 2013)
Some of the reasons why City of Vancouver was selected as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2013):
- established a Director of Sustainability position responsible for a team of environmental sustainability experts who manage programs, policy development, environmental advocacy, fundraising, project incubation and internal advisory services -- and through a formal action plan, the City aims to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world
- across City departments, employees have formed employee "green teams" who work to implement green initiatives and develop long-term action plans for their specific departments
- is working with BC Hydro in the implementation of a new workplace conservation awareness program that enlists involvement from employees in helping to establish attainable goals and implement energy conservation strategies across the city
- a unique "Sustainable Commuting Program" encourages employees to switch to sustainable modes of transportation through discounted annual transit passes, safe bike storage, end-of-trip facilities, and wellness program incentives for biking and walking to work -- this program is fully funded by revenues obtained from pay parking at City Hall employee parking lots
- in addition to offering a "Home Retrofit Program" that provides low interest loans to homeowners for energy saving renovation projects, the City recently launched a "Green Condo Retrofit Pilot" project that provides low interest and long term loans to condo associations for major energy saving renovations
- recently established an Ethical Purchasing Policy (EPP) to ensure that the purchase of new goods and services are from ethical and sustainable sources and produced without harm to the individual
- set green building requirements for all rezoning applications, such that construction of any civic buildings larger than 500 square metres will have to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold building standards -- and is leading by example noting that its Strathcona "National Works Yards" complex is LEED Gold certified and its Southeast False Creek Community centre is currently targeting LEED Platinum certification
- has implemented a number of programs and initiatives to encourage residents and businesses to reduce their energy usage -- programs include the "Green Homes Program" which sets specific energy, water and air requirements in all new building permit applications; the "Solar Homes Strategy" which encourages the adoption of solar technology through incentives and education; and its "Cycling Towards Sustainability" program aimed at improving the City's cycling infrastructure
- a municipal leader that adopted its official "Transportation Plan" in 1996 and formalized the prioritization of walking, biking, and public transit over the automobile in the planning of all future transportation infrastructure -- since the plan's introduction, bicycle trips have increased by 142 percent, transit by 50 percent, walking by 44 percent, while vehicle trips have decreased by 10 percent
- the City is in the process of planning a charging infrastructure throughout the city for electric car use, introducing a requirement that 20 percent of parking stalls in all new multifamily residential developments have access to charging stations and launching a pilot project to install 67 charging stations throughout the city
Background Information
Major Canadian hiring locations: Vancouver BC.
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