1. Sustainability Performance Metrics
Measuring Sustainability Performance of New Development
in Brampton, Richmond Hill and Vaughan
Upwind Downwind 2014 Conference
February 24, 2014
Implementing the

2. Outline of presentation
Project goals and context
Project phases and deliverables
Lessons learned from collaboration and early implementation issues

3. The project
Provide municipal staff with tools to guide and quantify the sustainability performance of new developments
Build on existing protocols for review of development applications
Provide the development industry with a consistent set of sustainability guidelines and metrics across 3 municipalities.
Value-added elements of the project include:
Municipal collaboration;
Metric testing in staff workshops;
Excel tool for scoring applications (consultant addition);
Alignment with objectives of health agencies.
Brampton, Richmond Hill and Vaughan – Performance Metrics
Measuring the Sustainability Performance of New Development
- Provide tools to help municipal staff guide and quantify the sustainability performance of new developments
- Provide the development industry with a consistent set of sustainability guidelines and metrics across 3 municipalities.
- Working partnership to develop Sustainability Performance Metrics (overall format, logic, and priorities) is shared between the two phases of the project among the partners.
Value-added elements of the project include:
Municipal collaboration (building on good work of other municipalities such as TGS and Sustainable Pickering; also a response to development industry for consistency across municipalities);
Metric testing in staff workshops;
Excel tool for scoring applications (consultant addition);
Alignment with objectives of health agencies. 3 3

4. Context
Bill 51 amendments to Planning Act provide for exterior sustainable design elements as part of Site Plan Control;
Municipalities leading this effort include Toronto (Toronto Green Standard), Pickering (Sustainable Development Guidelines), Oakville, Markham, East Gwillimbury and others
FCM grant awarded in December 2010 and partner MOU signed in January 2011
Phase 1 underway in 2011 and Phase 2 underway in 2012
Third and final Milestone Report and Completion Report submitted to FCM in December 2013 to mark project completion
Tony’s slide
2010
- Partnership discussions to undertake a joint project to develop sustainability guidelines and metrics
- Partners collaborate on GMF application submitted in June and September 2010; FCM awards GMF grant for partnership project entitled “Measuring the Sustainability of New Development in Brampton, Richmond Hill and Vaughan” in December 2010
CAP and TRCA to provide peer review
2011
MOU signed by 3 Planning Commissioners
Partners retain The Planning Partnership to complete Phase 1 (SDGs) - Draft Brampton SDGs completed June 2012 (Brampton leads)
2012
Partners retain Halsall Engineering and The Planning Partnership via RFP process to complete Phase 2 (Sustainability Metrics) (Vaughan leads)
2013
Final FCM Milestone report to be submitted October 2013 to mark project completion

5. Phase 1 – Brampton’s SCDG’s
Sustainable Community Development Guidelines (SCDGs) prepared for Brampton
SCDGs set out the qualitative preferences for the physical design of the built environment which set the framework for the Phase 2 work
Michael’s Slide 5

6. Phase 2 - Sustainability Performance Metrics
3 Performance Tiers
Mandatory Requirements - existing standard or requirement based on relevant legislation
Recommended minimum – “doing better than you have to”
Aspirational – “best in class”.
Points system used to quantify how well developments achieve “recommended minimum” or “aspirational” metrics
“Recommended minimum” or “aspirational” metrics do not need to be met for all metrics (i.e. different approach than Tier 1 and 2 in the Toronto Green Standard)
Static Tool similar to a traditional checklist
Dynamic Tool based in Excel

7. Static Tool
Michael’s Slide

8. Dynamic Tool
Excel Spreadsheet – easy to update and conform to changing targets
Differentiates plan types and users
Tool is divided into the 4 core themes and quantifies and scores sustainability performance
Measures compliance against mandatory requirements
Identifies Minimum and Aspirational Thresholds
Provides opportunity to identify scenarios for plan improvements
Michael’s Slide

9. Dynamic Tool : Example Question
Pedestrian Connections - Proximity to School
Are 50% of dwelling units within 800 meters walking distance of public/private elementary, Montessori, and middle schools?
Yes
Are 50% of dwellings units within 1600 meters of public/private high schools?
Are 75% of dwelling units within 400 meters walking distance of public/private elementary, Montessori, and middle schools? No
Are 75% of dwellings units within 1000 meters of public/private high schools?
400m
Michael’s Slide

10. Lessons from collaboration
Shared goal among partners
MOU identifies key roles and minimum financial details
Frequent partner communications and sign-off (longer schedule but better products in the end)
Information sharing as part of the collaboration was extremely useful in quickly addressing internal and external feedback
Partnership boosts the credibility of the products
Collaboration has been successful and there is interest in identifying other projects suitable for a collaborative approach.
Partners driven by a shared goal and were able to set aside minor differences in each jurisdiction;
MOU is a 2-page document identifying key roles and leaving project management and conflict resolution details to staff;
Need for frequent partner communications and sign-off from three agencies requires a longer time frame for project completion, but a more robust and effective product as an outcome;
Sharing information from the outset as part of the collaboration was extremely useful in quickly addressing internal and external feedback e.g. Response to FCM; BILD requests for additional consultation; requests for presentations, etc.;
Collaboration was successful and there is interest in identifying other projects suitable for a collaborative approach.
2010
Partnership discussions underway
Collaborated on Green Municipal Fund (GMF) application; grant for project, “Measuring the Sustainability of New Development in Brampton, Richmond Hill and Vaughan”, awarded December 2010
2011
MOU signed by 3 Planning Commissioners
Partners retain The Planning Partnership to complete Phase 1 (SCDGs) - Brampton leads
2012
Partners retain Halsall Engineering and The Planning Partnership via RFP process to complete Phase 2 (Sustainability Performance Metrics) - Vaughan leads
2013
Third and final FCM Milestone Report to be submitted October 2013 to mark project completion

11. Implementation Issues
Vaughan easing into implementation by first initiating a testing stage
Six additional staff meetings in June 2013 with a focus on implementation issues prior to Council adoption
No budget implications for testing stage
Will need to use the testing stage to identify amendments to the Site Plan Control By-Law, Site Plan Agreement template and Subdivision Agreement template to more fully implement the Sustainability Metrics
Will need to use the testing stage to identify sustainability thresholds to approve an application (although also through ongoing consultation with Richmond Hill and Brampton)

12. Thank you!