Departments > Planning & Development > Development Services Division > Green Initiatives > Information for Developers

The City of Victoria fully supports Green developments and is pursuing a policy of downtown and vacant commercial lot intensification, walkable neighbourhoods on former derelict harbour front industrial lands, residential intensification in the downtown, and increasing the overall population that can access employment and services within walking or convenient cycling and transit distance of home.

• Green Building Policy for Public Buildings
• Green Building Policy for Private Development
• Green Building Resources

The City of Victoria has taken a leadership role through the development of a Civic Green Building Policy which requires all new construction of civic facilities to be LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver standard, with a goal of LEED® Gold.

The Burnside Gorge Community Centre was completed in 2007 and built to a LEED® Gold Standard.

The City also created the framework for the award-winning Dockside Green Development to become the first LEED® platinum level community.

Currently the City is exploring a Green Building Policy for private development.

The City of Victoria has planning traditions which support many elements of urban sustainability, including:

• conserving built heritage
• building "complete communities" with a full range of land uses - from housing to heavy industry
• maintaining a pedestrian-friendly network of treed boulevards and walkways
• mixing land uses
• an overall built density that is amongst the highest of any Canadian city
• remediation and reuse of vacant commercial lots
• a strong downtown with efforts to balance jobs and residents
• a commitment to the "triple bottom line" with emphasis on social and environmental solutions
• support for alternative transportation modes with emphasis on cycling and transit
• support for strong neighbourhoods
• a balance of sports, arts and cultural facilities
• supporting regional smart growth objectives that will create a pedestrian and transit friendly metropolitan core for the region

The City is exploring ways to support and encourage sustainable development in both public and private buildings.

There are a number of Bylaws and regulations applicable to developments that promote sustainability:

• Bicycle Parking Requirements - [PDF 39KB]
• Permeable Paving Options for Off-Street Parking - [PDF 41KB]
• Tree Preservation Bylaw Summary
• Greenways Plan and Harbour Pathway
• Site Development/Storm Water Management

As of December 2006, new Development Applications for Rezonings and Development Permits require the developer to provide a list of 'green building' features that will be incorporated into the development, e.g., Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System, as endorsed by the Canada Green Building Council.

Information on the LEED and other building rating systems can be found at www.cagbc.org - (Canada Green Building Council)

In addition, the proponent is required to provide development information on environmental features to the Neighbourhood Association as part of the initial discussions.

• Green Buildings BCBC
  A provincial initiative enabling BC's education and health care agencies to dramatically increase the performance of their new and existing buildings through two programs for New Buildings and Retrofit program. This initiative is funded by the BC Ministry of Advanced Education, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources and Shared Services BC.

• Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
  Green Roofs for Healthy Cities' mission is to increase the awareness of the economic, social, and environmental benefits of green roof infrastructure across North America and rapidly advance the development of the market for green roof products and services.

• Light House Sustainable Building Centre
  Light House Sustainable Building Centre is an enterprising non-profit society dedicated to advancing and catalyzing sustainability in British Columbia's built environment.

• United States Green Building Council
  The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is the United States’ foremost coalition of leaders from every sector of the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. The U.S. Green Building Council's core purpose is to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life.

• Royal Roads University Sustainable Culture
  Dedicated to the sustainable futures of Canadian communities.

• City of Seattle Environment Page
  Information on Seattle's Climate Action Plan and other environmental initiatives.

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