Saul Brown does. He also knew that some of the footage we recorded made it on to YouTube. I hope someday more of the footage makes it online in some form. Strathcona BIA is working on their next conference which they’ve dubbed Sustainability 2.010! I’m less involved this time personally, but with Will Allen coming to Vancouver and Majora Carter having already been here twice. Resilient Cities: Vancouver, greening the inner-city, Green Capital, GCAT, Vancouver is definitely one of the North American leaders in sustainability, social purchasing, urban agriculture, urban architecture. You know good stuff.
The US Green Building Council has awarded Millennium Water AKA the Vancouver Athlete’s Village AKA the place where the Aussies hung their big green flag as a certified LEED Platinum Neighbourhood Development. Our Mayor is rightfully proud of this accomplishment.
As part of the Olympics Inclusivity Goals as well as ongoing efforts to revitalize Vancouver’s historic inner-city, a Community Benefits Agreement was struck between the developer, the City, and Building Opportunities with Business. The outcome of which resulted in 102 inner-city residents being trained and employed in construction, along with over 40 million in procurement from inner-city businesses.
Millennium Village is not in Vancouver’s historic inner-city but False Creek, which is nearby, has slowly been turned from industrial land into mixed residential neighborhood, the Olympic Village was intended to have social housing and be an example of a new-style green planned community, similar to Dockside Green in Victoria.
Building Opportunities with Business, in addition to working on greening the inner-city, helped train inner-city residents to work on the site as part of the CBA that was negotiated between the City and the Developer. Another CBA is potentially in the works for the build-out of the rest of False Creek which would provide benefits to Vancouver’s inner-city.
They are encouraging people interested in learning more about green roofs or the industry and regulations surrounding them to come on down. See you there.
Today was the start of the construction of an earth block shed for the Hastings Street community garden. This is a proof of concept for earth block construction. The manufacturing of the earth blocks is taking place from 9 to 5 on Hastings Street just West of Main.
The mixture Carol and her team are using is 10% cement, 40% clay, 25% gravel, and 25% sand. Getting the water content just right is a bit more difficult. Once the mixture is the correct consistency it is poured into a mold and stamped by hand.
Come on down tomorrow and learn how to make earth blocks and help build a garden shed for the Hastings Street Community Garden. They have have everything you need including healthy snacks provided by Building Opportunities with Business.
Over at the Green Economy Post, there is a top ten list of recent reports on green buildings. This is a lot to read so they also summarize each article. Article eight is a study of office buildings in Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland to try and prove that green architecture and energy retrofits actually increase the value of the building. The report is authored by the Cascadia Green Building Council and is available for download from their website.
Recently some other individuals and organizations have expressed interest in contributing to this blog. So perhaps look for some fresh voices and insights shortly.
