Feature
Story
North Vancouver’s
Progressive Vision:
‘Mini-plants’ and a sustainable
energy future
William Susak, PEng, General Manager, Lonsdale Energy Corp., and Deputy City Engineer, City of
North Vancouver
North Vancouver, a member municipality of the Greater Vancouver
Regional District, is a vibrant city
of approximately 50,000 within a regional
population of 2 million. It has a diverse
culture, thriving arts community and
abundant recreational activities – not to
mention a setting of breathtaking natural
beauty on an inlet along British Columbia’s
Pacific Coast. Founded on the principle of
sustainability, the city’s official community plan embraces a vision of a continued
vibrant, diverse and highly livable community while it balances social, economic
and environmental needs. All of the work
of the city – its projects, programs, budgets
and initiatives – must support that vision.
In the late 1990s, planning commenced for the redevelopment of much
of the city’s waterfront and adjacent core
areas. Along with other traditional urban
planning issues, such as land use, transportation and infrastructure, North
Vancouver’s city council also insisted that
energy planning be included. This was an
unusual consideration because in British
Columbia, energy planning is traditionally
carried out by provincial-scale organizations such as BC Hydro for electricity and
Terasen Gas for natural gas. There is very
little history of a municipality planning
for, or providing energy services within, the
province of British Columbia; the city of
North Vancouver is a significant exception.
There is very little history of a
municipality planning for, or
providing energy services within,
the province of British Columbia;
the city of North Vancouver is a
significant exception.
With sustainability as its overarching
theme, the city’s official community plan
defines the city’s energy policy and planning objectives. The highest public policy
document governing the community
emphasizes community energy efficiency,
partnership collaboration and greenhouse
gas reduction as the city’s top energy-planning objectives. City officials and staff had
these in mind as they undertook the redevelopment project. Through effective part-
Courtesy City of North Vancouver.
At the base of the North Shore Mountains, North Vancouver is just a five-minute drive and ten-minute
Seabus ride across Burrard Inlet from downtown Vancouver.
