Dear editor:
Yes, a "four-storey, below-market rental project" AND that the District of North Vancouver acts on its declaration of a climate emergency. Please do not pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity, or we--not even our children, WE--will be retrofitting this building, along with the 100s of 1000s of others we are already living in, to make sure it meets our local, provincial, federal and international 2050 zero carbon targets.
This means acting as responsible land owners and working with Hollyburn and BC Housing to procure not more expensive but more cost-effective, holistic solutions that can be models for all new DNV buildings that will have to meet coming regulations that limit carbon pollution and energy demand.
This means eliminating fossil fuels from space and water heating by using only B.C.'s abundant, clean electricity and scoping grid-integrated solar PV as a potential part of the project to contribute to a resilient electrical grid.
This means building with low-carbon materials such as wood, which in turn drives innovation and development opportunities for B.C.'s wood industries.
This means amalgamating health and safety needs of the occupants into the low-carbon design, to ensure resilience to impacts of an earthquake and protection from impacts of a changing climate, like poor air quality alerts during forest fires, which are increasingly frequent and extreme.
And, if Council truly wants to regain the time lost, then call for solutions from B.C.'s modular construction community. In the project requirements, prioritize factory-built quality control and fast delivery, which prefabrication facilitates by carrying out multiple phases at once and avoiding weather delays.
This means expecting better from an industry that is well aware of their obligations to be part of the solution rather compounding the problem by continuing to build yesterday's buildings that will have to be retrofit using tomorrow's budgets. Retrofitting is more expensive than doing it right the first time.
Let's make sure this housing is truly affordable and sustainable over the long term.
Betsy Agar
North Vancouver
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