General contractors, home builders, landscapers, engineers, architects, planning and environmental consultants, electricians, roofers, and HVAC professionals – share your thoughts on green building and development practices to help design programs and other supports to make it easier to incorporate key features into new builds.
The Green Development Program is a proposed voluntary recognition and capacity building program that aims to celebrate leadership in efficient, resilient, and sustainable residential development projects across Grey, Dufferin, and Wellington Counties.
As a collaborative initiative between three Counties, the program will create a consistent, supportive framework for new residential construction, with a focus on projects of 10 or more units. The program consists of three main parts:
The Metrics - Recognizing the diversity of development projects, the framework consists of a flexible menu of 18 possible development features or ‘Metrics’ that applicants may choose to incorporate into their project.
Recognition – For each Metric incorporated, the project achieves a certain number of points. Based on their total number of points, the project would be recognized at a bronze, silver, or gold level.
Capacity Building –Knowledge, best practices, case studies, resources, and training opportunities will be shared with the construction and development industry to overcome local barriers to advancing more efficient, resilient construction
GDP include measures for developers and builders to create thoughtful and innovative developments using sustainable design.
GDP are based on principles to guide development at a level of planning and design that focuses on the community as a whole.
GDP are a critical policy tool for municipalities to achieve their greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, their Official Plan goals, their goals for sustainability, and support climate adaptation.
There are several green development Programmes in place in Ontario. Some examples include:
Municipalities are witnessing rising climate impacts such as higher temperatures, more severe weather events, threats to agriculture, and impacts to health.
Most of Canadians lead high carbon lifestyles due to their reliance on gasoline vehicles for transportation and the use of fossil fuels to heat the buildings they live and work in.
Municipalities can put cost-effective policies in place that will benefit their residents in the future.
With GDP in place, municipalities can ensure that buildings and infrastructure are constructed to be more resilient to disruptions from extreme weather events.
Green Development Programme provide a mix of benefits to communities. These come in the form of environmental benefits, social benefits, and economic benefits and include:
Environmental Benefits
Social Benefits
Economic Benefits
Reduces energy consumption
Reduces vehicle dependency
Improves water management
Increases greenspace
Increases climate resilience
Improves air quality
Promotes healthier, more active lifestyles
Increases access to outdoor greenspace
Promotes the development of affordable and mixed use housing
Promotes community design that embraces heritage and culture
Increases property values
Reduces municipal infrastructure costs
Longer lasting building stock
Improves energy affordability
Creates jobs
Phase
Details
Completion Date
Awareness Building
This phase will raise awareness of the project through webinars and public meetings. This includes:
One public visioning session in each County to solicit input on how Green Development Programme can contribute to sustainable communities;
One webinar for the development and construction industry to raise awareness of Green Development Programme;
Engagement content posted throughout the project on the MetroQuest platform.
April 30, 2024
Creating a Desire for Change
This phase will result in a draft of the Green Development Programme through a series of workshops and charrettes with the building industry and municipal staff.
July 31, 2024
Knowledge Mobilization
This phase will seek feedback on the draft Green Development Programme from municipal staff and council, as well as the development industry and the general public. Standards will be revised based on feedback received.
