City of Edmonton Adopts New Sustainability Policy for its Buildings

Source: · CITY OF EDMONTON · | June 13, 2021

On June 10, the City of Edmonton approved six new procedures that will ensure its buildings are carbon neutral by 2040.

Source: City of Edmonton

A SUSTAINABLE PATH FOR OUR BUILDINGS

The Climate Resilient Building Administrative Procedures are a set of six procedures that provide direction on how City buildings are expected to be built, operated, rehabilitated, acquired, leased and funded with respect to climate resilience.

These procedures will ensure that:

• Newly constructed buildings are built to an emission neutral standard

• A plan is created to retrofit existing buildings to an emission neutral standard

• Buildings are continually improved for increased climate resilience

WHY DO OUR BUILDINGS NEED TO BE CLIMATE RESILIENT?

We are already seeing the consequences of climate change. Edmonton is one of the fastest warming regions in the world and the science shows that our climate is expected to change even more significantly into the future.

Source: City of Edmonton

Our buildings are responsible for nearly 50% of the corporation's greenhouse gas emissions and this newly approved Climate Resilience Policy and Procedures puts Edmonton on a path to reducing emissions.

For every degree of warming, there are significant economic and social costs for Edmonton. The Policy demonstrates our commitment to climate solution leadership and provides some assurance that City infrastructure will enjoy reduced operating costs, and be able to withstand climate impacts that are modeled for the region, including hailstorms, flooding and damage from high winds. Climate resilient structures can help to limit damage and result in cost savings too.