This week’s CivicAction Forum assembled 300 civic, non-profit, business and academic leaders to discuss the transportation challenges facing the GTHA. It was great to be there and I came away with five key insights.
We are at a pivotal moment. Momentum is building among civic leaders – the topic of creating new revenue tools to support regional transportation improvements was practically taboo just six months ago. Now it’s rolling off the tongues of a diverse group of stakeholders driven by bold leadership from the Toronto and Region Board of Trade, CivicAction, and the new Premier.
There is no free lunch. A history of the funding of transit in Toronto showed us that the citizens of Toronto in previous generations bit the bullet and paid to create the transportation assets we now use. We’ve enjoyed the benefits of our growing region without setting aside the money to pay for the infrastructure costs whether sewers, aging electrical grids, or transit. Now we have to pay the piper so we don’t saddle the next generation with our problems. To claim otherwise is misleading and counter-productive.
Public trust has to be earned. It’s abundantly clear that any new funds raised must be dedicated to clearly articulated transportation priorities. The costs need to be shared fairly. There must be transparency and good governance of these funds including regular reporting on how they are being spent and maybe even penalties if targets are not met. Before they’re asked to pay more, people need to be convinced that their contributions are being stewarded well.
Timing is everything. Significant relief from our current congestion will not come immediately. Many of The Big Move projects fit into the “enjoy it with your grandchildren” category illustrated by the Premier’s story of donning her white gloves to ride the new Toronto subway in the late 50s with her grandmother. That said, there are strategies for faster relief like adding more buses and GO trains, expanding active transportation infrastructure (especially where it dovetails with transit and provides coherent commuting routes), and supporting car-sharing, car-pooling, optional toll lanes, and working from home (which saves us the 77 minutes of average commute time, more than double that attractive “32”). And maybe public-private financing arrangements could accelerate project development to deliver new transit options sooner and show people how their monetary contributions are making a practical difference.
We need to get beyond the “inner circle”. An understanding that new revenue streams are needed to resolve our congestion issue has yet to filter down to the voting public. Recent polls show that while 71 percent of respondents are “fed up” with gridlock in the GTHA, only 43 percent think that new dough is needed to resolve it. While CivicAction has launched a new pledge campaign to be driven by their civic leaders, no one is yet conveying clear messages to the broader public. Over the next eight weeks, Toronto Environment Alliance in concert with Move the GTHA is providing Transit Advocate Workshops across the region to stimulate more local conversations across the region through neighbourhood meetings and door-to-door canvassing. Some crisp public messaging from Metrolinx wouldn’t go amiss, and a focus on the $16B of transportation work already underway would be a great place to start.
How about a dozen more initiatives to capture public attention in a way that informs and inspires – who has some creative ideas?
This week’s CivicAction Forum assembled 300 civic, non-profit, business and academic leaders to discuss the transportation challenges facing the GTHA. It was great to be there and I came away with five key insights.
We are at a pivotal moment. Momentum is building among civic leaders – the topic of creating new revenue tools to support regional transportation improvements was practically taboo just six months ago. Now it’s rolling off the tongues of a diverse group of stakeholders driven by bold leadership from the Toronto and Region Board of Trade, CivicAction, and the new Premier.
There is no free lunch. A history of the funding of transit in Toronto showed us that the citizens of Toronto in previous generations bit the bullet and paid to create the transportation assets we now use. We’ve enjoyed the benefits of our growing region without setting aside the money to pay for the infrastructure costs whether sewers, aging electrical grids, or transit. Now we have to pay the piper so we don’t saddle the next generation with our problems. To claim otherwise is misleading and counter-productive.
Public trust has to be earned. It’s abundantly clear that any new funds raised must be dedicated to clearly articulated transportation priorities. The costs need to be shared fairly. There must be transparency and good governance of these funds including regular reporting on how they are being spent and maybe even penalties if targets are not met. Before they’re asked to pay more, people need to be convinced that their contributions are being stewarded well.
Timing is everything. Significant relief from our current congestion will not come immediately. Many of The Big Move projects fit into the “enjoy it with your grandchildren” category illustrated by the Premier’s story of donning her white gloves to ride the new Toronto subway in the late 50s with her grandmother. That said, there are strategies for faster relief like adding more buses and GO trains, expanding active transportation infrastructure (especially where it dovetails with transit and provides coherent commuting routes), and supporting car-sharing, car-pooling, optional toll lanes, and working from home (which saves us the 77 minutes of average commute time, more than double that attractive “32”). And maybe public-private financing arrangements could accelerate project development to deliver new transit options sooner and show people how their monetary contributions are making a practical difference.
We need to get beyond the “inner circle”. An understanding that new revenue streams are needed to resolve our congestion issue has yet to filter down to the voting public. Recent polls show that while 71 percent of respondents are “fed up” with gridlock in the GTHA, only 43 percent think that new dough is needed to resolve it. While CivicAction has launched a new pledge campaign to be driven by their civic leaders, no one is yet conveying clear messages to the broader public. Over the next eight weeks, Toronto Environment Alliance in concert with Move the GTHA is providing Transit Advocate Workshops across the region to stimulate more local conversations across the region through neighbourhood meetings and door-to-door canvassing. Some crisp public messaging from Metrolinx wouldn’t go amiss, and a focus on the $16B of transportation work already underway would be a great place to start.
How about a dozen more initiatives to capture public attention in a way that informs and inspires – who has some creative ideas?
It turns out our mothers were right and planning ahead really is important. That’s the finding of a recent report that shows well-designed urban form has a greater potential impact on reduced carbon emissions than either improved fuel efficiency standards or carbon taxing.
Here in Toronto, where 43 percent of GHG of emissions is associated with moving people and goods, we need to know where to direct our attention with respect to transportation reduction strategies. Studies show that increasing the cost of driving by 10 percent per kilometer will reduce annual kilometers traveled by 18 percent, but a new review published in the B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy showed that a 10 percent increase in “smart growth” amenities – like walkable neighbourhoods – can reduce the number of annual vehicle miles traveled by 20 percent. Not to mention the myriad other benefits of this type of urban design, especially for the health of local citizens – something highlighted in a recent report from Toronto Public Health on walkable cities.
While we sit in a sidewalk café with four lanes of traffic roaring by, or risk life and limb on streets without bike lanes, or while we wait for a bus on a lonely and windswept corner a long walk from anywhere, let’s consider how we can realize a long-term vision that starts with sound urban planning. Who is onside? And where should we start?
On Wednesday Feb 22nd, municipalities, utilities, and other energy stakeholders from across Ontario gathered in Toronto to strategize on how to start building tommorow’s energy infrastructure – today. QUEST — Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tommorow — is a cross-canadian collaborative network with a mandate to mobilize community builders to create Integrated Community Energy Solutions . This week’s meeting of the QUEST Ontario Caucus highlighted the need for knowledge sharing and policy reform to make this vision a reality.
So what exactly are Integrated Community Energy Solutions? ICES is an approach to use new and existing infrastructure more efficiently and effectively by taking advantage of cross-sectoral opportunities in the areas of land use, building, water, transportation, and waste. The goal of ICES is to curb energy demand and reduce GHG emissions, while increasing energy security, enhancing the quality of life and realizing financial benefits.
Its really about taking a holistic approach to development and redevelopment at a block, neighbourhood, or even community-wide scale. Toronto’s Regent Park revitalization is a good example. Not only are the new buildings going up in the neighbourhood highly energy efficient, but the redevelopment also includes a district energy system which will provide affordable, low-carbon heating, cooling and electricity to thousands of neighbourhood residents. The goal is not to take the community “off the grid”, but rather to make it a sustainable node within the grid. This will both miminize costs within the community, while also benefiting the broader public by minimizing the need to invest in expensive — and difficult to site — new centralized generation facilities and transmission corridors.
So how do we make integrated community energy solutions the rule rather than exception? Read the rest of this entry »
The 2-page centre-spread article in last Thursday’s Globe & Mail is another example of how energy efficiency just does not get the credence, respect and profile it deserves.
University of Waterloo’s Institute for Sustainable Energy just released the Equinox Blueprint: Energy 2030, with recommendations for how to meet the world’s energy demand in a sustainable, de-carbonized manner. Their press release highlights, in this order:
– energy storage
– “enhanced” and “advanced” geothermal and nuclear
– off-grid solar electricity and “self-sustaining” micro-grids
– smart cities
– electric transport
The article dedicates 99% of the coverage to the flashy electricity generation ideas. The 3rd last sentence says “Finally, the Equinox thinkers want to see cities re-engineered for better energy efficiency.”
Poor Cinderella. Energy efficiency is hard-working, offers the biggest, fastest and cheapest way to a sustainable energy future, and can help pay for some of the more expensive supply-side options. Would be nice to see an article that starts with: First and foremost, the thinkers want to see super-energy efficient buildings, factories and transportation systems, so that renewable sources of energy can meet the demand.
It’s been a great week for electric vehicles in the news.
My inbox has been filled to the brim with announcements, stories and celebrations. There was this great piece in the Toronto Star about The Agenda’s Steve Paikin loving his Chevy Volt; the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recognizing the Mitsubishi iMiEV as #1 on their “Greenest Vehicle List“; and the Toronto District School Board has featured their ecoFleet plan right on their front page.
A great week, indeed.
It’s important to tell these stories of leadership and accomplishment. These help to counteract the predominantly negative messages that have played out in the media about high prices, range anxiety, and safety concerns. That said, both the positive and negative stories need to be balanced with the ‘real’ stories.
As part of our FleetWise EV300 initiative, TAF is working with public and private fleets from the across the Greater Toronto Area to tell their story. With over 60 EVs on the road, we are starting our in-service performance monitoring to capture the real-time data on how these plug-in vehicles are performing in real-world conditions. With this impartial data, we’ll be able to tell the story that is still waiting to be told: what is the real business and environmental case for EVs?
We want to tell the story of when it’s right to use an EV, when it’s not, and what impact this will have on driving down emissions. By asking the right questions and using our suite of tools to get the answers, we are supporting data-driven decision making and working with our partners to tell their story.
Good or bad, it’s a story that needs to be told.
Nearly 300 guests gathered last night at the Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library to learn about and celebrate some of Toronto’s most interesting green social ventures. On the heels of a nine-month, multi-faceted innovation challenge, contestants, investors and a wide range of supporters gathered to meet the ClimateSpark finalists and hear about investment and prize decisions.
Rahul Bhardwaj, President and CEO of the Toronto Community Foundation told us he’d been grinning all week thinking about the “poo-tential” of winning venture ZooShare Biogas Co-operative which will turn zoo animal waste and grocery store green waste into clean energy. ZooShare received TCF’s Green Innovation Award in the amount of $40,000 while fresh new thinkers from Young Urban Farmers were awarded $10,000 to bootstrap their efforts to put local Toronto back-yards into food production.
The Toronto Atmospheric Fund announced our recent decision to support Summerhill Impact’s Shuttle program to support reduced car travel with a grant of $150,000 over two years, and to provide bridge financing to ZooShare in the amount of $250,000.
The party ended too early when an emergency situation at street level required the whole party to vacate the building. Unfazed, guests proceeded to the nearby Pilot Tavern to continue networking.
Check out the ClimateSpark documentary film and more news about follow-on activities at climatespark.ca
For another perspective on the event and the Challenge, check out a great post at SocialFinance.ca
The challenge of renewing aging infrastructure while simultaneously finding the funds to invest in sustainable new facilities is one of the hardest tasks facing public sector decision makers today. Municipalities, universities, schools and hospitals across the country are forging new relationships with private sector investors who bring a variety of innovative new approaches to asset management and renewal. Author and venture capitalist Tom Rand suggests that Canada’s brightest hopes for meeting climate change targets are the pension funds and other institutions that depend on solid financial returns over the very long term. Another complementary trend is the role of private companies helping asset managers to replace aging physical plant and introduce climate-friendly new infrastructure with investment models designed to be repaid out of energy cost savings.
Join the Canadian Urban Institute and a panel of expert speakers on February 10th to learn more about emerging trends that have the potential to re-set the dial on infrastructure development.
Keynote speaker: Tom Rand, author of “How to Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit,” venture capitalist and CleanTech Advisor to MaRS
Session chair: Sean L. Gosnell, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
With commentary from an expert panel, including:
– Phil Jessup, practice leader, The Climate Group, responsible for the Toronto Atmospheric Fund’s Lightsavers program and the roll-out of climate-friendly infrastructure in three continents.
– David Klacko, Associate, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, practices administrative law, with an emphasis on land use planning and development matters, land acquisition and municipal law.
– Tim Dettlaff, Senior Vice President, Ameresco, a full service Asset Sustainability company responding to the needs of the MUSH sector by addressing the aging infrastructure challenges faced today.
– Eleanor McAteer, Project Director, Tower Renewal Program, City of Toronto and Board Member, Canada Green Building Council – GTA Chapter
Click here for full details and registration.
A well planned energy efficiency retrofit will pay for itself. That’s why the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has launched a Multi-Unit Condominium Energy-Efficient Improvements insurance product. This new product is intended to expand access to financing for energy efficiency improvements to common elements for existing Condominium Corporations. Energy efficiency loans can be insured up to the lesser of 100% of the project costs or 5% of the building value.
This innovation will allow more lenders to offer more and better financing options to condominium corporations (a.k.a. Strata Corporations) across the country. As a result, more condos will be able to leverage their greatest asset — the equity in their building — in order to make smart investments in the future of their community.
Borrowing money to finance energy upgrades can be a great strategy for many buildings. While condo corps maintain a reserve fund for major capital projects, the reserve fund plan is usually based on keeping the existing equipment as long as possible, and replacing it with the cheapest equipment available on the market. Replacing energy-wasting equipment early, with high-efficiency equipment and controls, often requires additional resources. More often than not, a loan can be structured such that the energy savings are greater than the loan repayment costs, making the whole project cash flow neutral – or even positive – from day one.
A number of lenders will now provide financing to condominium corporations — including the Toronto Atmospheric Fund. To find out more about TAF’s financing program, click here.
Can social ventures help solve our climate crisis? Can we reduce greenhouse gas emissions while making a profit and building stronger communities? In the fall of 2011, three organizations teamed up to put this question to the test. Through the ClimateSpark Social Venture Challenge, the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, Toronto Community Foundation and Centre for Social Innovation invited social venturists to put forward their ideas for enterprises that could have a positive climate impact. They also worked to draw in other funders and investors to create a combined investment pool of more than $750,000 that could serve as a source of seed funding for the winning ventures.
The Challenge itself was divided into three parts: ClimateSpark Ignite, an online crowd-sourcing call for ideas, which attracted 61 proposals and more than 2,000 online community members who debated the merits of the ideas presented; ClimateSpark Accelerate, a venture-development bootcamp with custom-designed mentoring sessions for each of the ten Ignite round winners (check out some video snapshots of participants); and ClimateSpark Launch, where the winners get to pitch the combined group of foundations and investors. This is all capped out with a Gala celebration on Feb. 7th where the winner of the Toronto Community Foundation’s $50,000 Green Innovation Award will be announced. (This is a great networking event for anyone interested in social ventures and/or climate action and tickets are just $35).
So what do the answers look like to the questions posed by the Challenge? Very diverse, for starters – the winners represent everything from a “goods sharing service” to a “low carbon condominium” that emphasizes housing affordability. Ideas ranged in development from very “back of the envelope” to in-the-market and well established.
But quantifying actual carbon emissions reduction potential was probably the toughest piece for all the proponents – it’s an aspect of business planning most ventures have little experience with. That might change quickly if we saw an actual price on carbon (e.g,. Ontario ever does introduce carbon cap and trade through, for example, its commitment to the Western Climate Initiative) and greenhouse gas reductions became a real commodity that could help to support social ventures.
Meanwhile, be sure to join us on Feb. 7th to celebrate some innovative climate solutions in our own backyard.
Susheela Ramachandran
ClimateSpark SVC Coordinator
Toronto Atmospheric Fund Blog 