NHICE-02 is the second international conference on new horizons in green civil engineering. This year it is hosted online and co-organized by the University of Victoria and BC Housing. It will focus on the new challenges, ideas, solutions and applications in sustainable and resilient Civil Engineering. Morrison Hershfield will be presenting two papers at the conference that aims to be the melting pot of innovative ideas, frontline technologies and industrial applications to address local and global civil engineering infrastructure and building challenges of current and future generations. Register here.
Both topics are part of the presentation block on Wednesday August 26 at 1:40 PST on Track G2
Metro Vancouver’s Application of the Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework
Metro Vancouver provides essential services, including managing the region’s solid waste, for over two million residents in British Columbia’s lower mainland. In partnership with the City of Surrey, Metro Vancouver is currently building a recycling and waste drop off facility for residents and small businesses in an industrial business park in the East Newton area of Surrey BC. Metro Vancouver has implemented a Sustainable Infrastructure and Buildings Policy that establishes standards for sustainable design and construction of Metro Vancouver infrastructure and buildings.
The Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework provides industry-wide sustainability metrics for all types and sizes of infrastructure to help users assess and measure the extent to which a project contributes to conditions of sustainability across the full range of social, economic, and environmental indicators. Envision helps users optimize project resilience for both short-term and long-term effects. For infrastructure, including transfer stations, Metro Vancouver’s Policy requires an Envision Gold performance level.
In this presentation we will share Metro Vancouver’s experience with the Envision Framework on the Surrey recycling and waste drop-off facility, including how community and stakeholder feedback was incorporated into the facility design, and reporting requirements included in project specifications to facilitate Envision scoring.
Presented by: Al Strang, Senior Environmental Planner, Morrison Hershfield and Graeme Patrick, Project Engineer, Metro Vancouver
Municipal Natural Asset Management as a Climate Resiliency Strategy
Natural assets, and the ecosystem services they provide are, a fundamental part of local government infrastructure systems. Natural assets such as forests, wetlands, aquifers and green spaces provide key services to communities such as water storage, filtration and conveyance. They are cheaper to operate and maintain, if not degraded; may provide “free” ecosystem services; do not depreciate, if properly managed; and are carbon neutral, or even carbon-positive.
The Town of Gibsons was the first North American municipality to manage natural assets, using asset management, financial management and ecology principles that are systematically applied to managing engineered assets. The rationale is that the services provided by these systems, in the form of rainwater management, flood control and water purification, have tangible value, and play a vital role in a community’s ability to withstand the impacts of an already changed climate.
In this presentation we will share Gibsons’ experience in integrating:
– The economic, social and environmental benefits of including natural assets in climate resiliency planning
– The use of principles of asset management, financial planning and ecology to maintain the ecosystems services nature provides
– The operational changes required to accommodate the expanded focus on natural assets.
Presented by: Al Strang, Senior Environmental Planner, Morrison Hershfield and Emanuel Machado, Chief Administrative Officer, Town of Gibsons
University of Victoria – Department of Civil Engineering
BC Housing
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Metro Vancouver provides essential services, including managing the region’s solid waste, for over two million residents in British Columbia’s lower mainland. In partnership with the City of Surrey, Metro Vancouver is currently building a recycling and waste drop off facility for residents and small businesses in an industrial business park in the East Newton area of Surrey BC. Metro Vancouver has implemented a Sustainable Infrastructure and Buildings Policy that establishes standards for sustainable design and construction of Metro Vancouver infrastructure and buildings.
Natural assets, and the ecosystem services they provide are, a fundamental part of local government infrastructure systems. Natural assets such as forests, wetlands, aquifers and green spaces provide key services to communities such as water storage, filtration and conveyance. They are cheaper to operate and maintain, if not degraded; may provide “free” ecosystem services; do not depreciate, if properly managed; and are carbon neutral, or even carbon-positive.