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Getting to Carbon Neutral: A Review of Best Practices in Infrastructure Strategy

Conference Paper · January 2009

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 SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGIES
Getting To Carbon Neutral: A Guide for Cities
Sustainable Eugene Mohareb, Chris Kennedy, David Bristow, Sybil Derrible, David Rulff
SIG Infrastructure Group Sheyda Saneinejad, Robert Stupka, Lorraine Sugar, Ryan Zizzo
Sustainable Infrastructure Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto

Getting to Carbon Neutral: A Guide for Canadian Municipalities Overview: Ten Steps to Carbon Neutrality for Municipalities
Kennedy, C. (ed.) 2009. Getting to Carbon Neutral.

Using readily available, proven and affordable
technologies, municipalities could cut their greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions by 70% or more. Getting to Carbon
Neutral: A Guide for Canadian Municipalities
demonstrates how communities around the world are
tackling the root cause of climate change; more
importantly, it shows how other municipalities can do it
too.
The guide, developed by the Sustainable Infrastructure
Group in the University of Toronto’s Department of Civil
Engineering, analyzes technical options and urban
planning policies that can be used to substantially reduce
a municipality’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Canadian examples include Calgary’s wind-powered C-
train, Toronto’s deep lake water cooling project, and a
bike-to-work initiative in Whitehorse. International
experiences are captured as well in case studies
exploring projects such as passive building design in
Austria or a leak detect/repair process in Tokyo’s water
distribution system. The guide also outlines examples of
methods to overcome barriers to implementation.
Furthermore, Getting to Carbon Neutral is a
comprehensive strategic planning tool. The tool provides
guidelines for estimating the GHG emission reductions
that can be achieved by each of the technologies or
policies, assisting decision making in four key urban
infrastructure categories: buildings, transportation and
land-use, energy supply, and municipal services. Though
specifically designed for Canadian municipalities, the
Getting to Carbon Neutral tool has the potential to
be developed for cities throughout the world.
Through the pursuit of climate change mitigation and low
carbon cities, Getting to Carbon Neutral also promotes
adaptation and resiliency to climate change
vulnerabilities in cities.
1. Develop bold, ambitious building codes and municipal by-laws that ensure
new construction incorporates green design and building techniques to
conserve energy and use renewable sources.
2. Accelerate the retrofitting of the existing energy inefficient building stock
to modern building standards and incorporate renewable energy features.
3. Build transit systems supported by appropriate land use and sustainable
financing mechanisms that could include road tolls, area pricing, higher
parking fees and other innovative sources.
4. Design neighbourhoods that support public transit and where residents
love to walk and cycle.
5. Encourage the use of electric or low-emissions vehicles by greening
municipal fleets, regulating taxi fleets and providing reduced parking fees
or other advantages for green vehicles.
6. Green the electricity supply by investing in larger scale green electricity
supply systems based on wind, small hydro, wave and tidal, solar and
geothermal power sources.
7. Harness energy from a variety of community-scale sources, such as
aquifer and borehole thermal energy storage, combined heat and power
facilities, or energy from waste.
8. Keep ‘harvesting’ solid wastes; recycle, pursue energy-from waste
opportunities and capture methane gas from landfill.
9. Seek efficiency in municipal services; implement energy conservation
opportunities in municipal buildings and services; increase the efficiency
of water and wastewater systems.
10. Green the city; promote green roofs, urban agriculture and CO2 enriched
greenhouses, and expand the ‘urban forest’.

buildings transportation energy supply municipal services

As major consumers of heating fuels and electricity, the operation and There are two fundamental approaches to reducing transport-related GHG
maintenance of buildings account for up to 40% of GHG emissions. By emissions: (1) reduce automobile use by encouraging electric public transit,
employing modern technologies, such as energy efficient envelopes, walking and cycling; and (2) promote the use of low emission vehicles,
photovoltaics, solar water and air heaters, passive solar design and ground including electric cars, by providing the necessary infrastructure and
source heat pumps, GHG emissions from buildings can be cut to nearly offering financial incentives to vehicle owners to change behaviour. Less car
zero. In addition, energy efficient building envelopes are more resilient to exhaust also results in less boundary-layer smog, reducing health-related
temperature extremes and, along with diverse power sources, maintain issues from pollution on hot, humid days.
comfortable internal temperatures during energy disruptions.
Strategy 1: Appropriate Land Use
Estimation Guideline: Motorized Passenger Kilometres Travelled (PKT)
Strategy 1: Reduce Energy Demand
Strategy 2: Public Transportation
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Building Retrofits Estimation Guideline: Passenger Kilometres Travelled on Conventional Bus
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from New Energy Efficient Buildings Case Study Example: Bus Rapid Transit
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Energy Efficient Appliances Estimation Guideline: Passenger Kilometres Travelled on Light Rail Transit
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Vegetation Estimation Guideline: Passenger Kilometres Travelled on Subway
Estimation Guideline: Passenger Kilometres Travelled on Commuter Rail
Strategy 2: Utilize Solar Energy Strategy 3: Active Transportation
Estimation Guideline: Bicycle Mode Share
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Photovoltaics
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Solar Water Heating Strategy 4: Financial Policies
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Solar Air Heating
Quantitative Example: Pedestrianization
Quantitative Example: Passive Solar Design Estimation Guideline: Elasticity from Parking Price Increase
Quantitative Examples: Tolls, Taxes, Area Pricing and other Strategies
Strategy 3: Ground Source Heat Pumps
Strategy 5: Changing Vehicle Technology
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Ground Source Heat Pumps Quantitative Example: Biomass Fuel
Quantitative Example: Fuel Cell Vehicles
Quantitative Example: Plug-in Hybrid and Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Municipalities have a wide array of options for reducing the climate impact Cities have direct control over how they manage waste, deliver water, and
of their energy supplies. To approach carbon neutrality, greater investments maintain the urban tree canopy. Increasing urban vegetation sequesters
in renewable energy technology are needed. On a community or CO2, while reducing energy consumption for air conditioning. Urban
neighbourhood scale, municipalities can promote and facilitate the vegetation also has significant impacts on reducing the urban heat island
development of more efficient district heating and cooling, underground effect, which will intensify with climate change. Safe and robust drinking
thermal storage, cogeneration, and combined heat and power systems. A water management is essential for resilience to extreme weather, flooding,
diverse and decentralized energy supply also enhances urban resilience: or drought.
extreme weather or flooding resulting from climate change will make
centralized power systems vulnerable to disruption. Strategy 1: Increased Sorting and Recycling
Estimation Guideline: Landfill Gas Emissions
Strategy 1: Electricity from Renewable Sources
Strategy 2: Organic Waste Diversion
Estimation Guideline: Energy Production by Wind Power
Quantitative Example: Waste Separation
Estimation Guideline: Energy Production by Hydro Power
Quantitative Example: Anaerobic Digestion
Quantitative Examples: Wave and Tidal Power
Quantitative Example: Composting
Strategy 2: Underground Thermal Energy Storage Strategy 3: Waste Incineration and Gasification
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage
Strategy 4: Methane Capture
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Borehole Thermal Energy Storage
Strategy 5: Water Demand Management
Strategy 3: District Heating and Cooling
Estimation Guideline: Electricity Consumption by Urban Water Systems
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Industrial Process Energy Sharing
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from District Space and Water Heating Strategy 6: Urban Greenery
Estimation Guideline: Urban Forest Carbon Sequestration
Strategy 4: Combined Heat and Power
Strategy 7: Urban Agriculture and CO2-Enriched Greenhouses
Estimation Guideline: Energy Savings from Combined Heat and Power
Strategy 8: Geological Sequestration
Strategy 5: Integrated Community Energy Systems
Quantitative Examples: Community Energy Systems Strategy 9: Purchasing Carbon Offsets

Case Study: A Strategic Climate Change Plan for Toronto – Projections to 2031 Next Steps: The Online Tool References
GHG Savings in 2031 An on-line, interactive software tool that Kennedy, C. (ed.) 2009. “Getting to Carbon Neutral: A Guide for Canadian
Aggressive Infrastructure Strategies Benefits to Climate Change Resilience
(relative to business as usual) municipalities can use to develop GHG Municipalities.” Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, available:
reduction strategies is currently under http://www.utoronto.ca/sig/CarbonNeutralReport_May52010_FINAL.pdf
Retrofit all pre-2012 existing buildings, including outfitting homes Toronto’s aging buildings were constructed at a time of energy
3,957 ktCO2e development. [accessed May 2010].
with solar water heating and ground source heat pumps security and abundance. Their lack of insulation poses a major
hazard in the cold winter months; improving it makes homes 1Bass, B., Krayenhoff, E.F., Martilli, A., Stull, R.B. and Auld, H. 2002. “Modelling the impact of green roof
Require energy efficiency standards for post-2012 buildings and The tool adapts portions of the model
487 ktCO2e resilient to extreme weather conditions and power failures. infrastructure on the urban heat island in Toronto.” Clear Air Partnership, available:
BTES systems for post-2012 residential communities from the guidebook into a user friendly http://www.cleanairpartnership.org/pdf/finalpaper_bass.pdf [accessed May 2010].
Toronto’s current electricity supply – primarily coal, nuclear, and format, specifically tailored for
Require LED light bulbs and energy efficient appliances 211 ktCO2e hydro power – relies on centralized infrastructure and distribution engineers, planners and environmental
2CBC Health News. 2005. “Study shows heat and smog are killers.” CBC News, available:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2005/06/06/smog050606.html [accessed May 2010].

systems. Decentralizing and diversifying supply protects the city strategists working for medium to large
Outfit commercial buildings with solar air heating 966 ktCO2e against widespread power failures and energy scarcity. Canadian municipalities.
Convert 25% of commercial roofs to green roofs 0.7 ktCO2e Recent research suggests that a 50% conversion to green roofs
would reduce Toronto’s urban heat island by over 2˚C 1.
The tool will eventually be extended to Acknowledgements
Change planned LRT system to subway and expand bicycle other cities in other countries.
713 ktCO2e
infrastructure Smog, caused primarily by motor vehicles, is responsible for over Funding for the Getting to Carbon Neutral
Support 20% adoption of battery electric vehicles, increase parking 800 deaths in Toronto each year2. Removing vehicles from the To find out more or to contact us about report was generously provided by the
1,890 ktCO2e road will prevent smog-related deaths as temperatures intensify. extending the tool internationally visit Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
fees, and implement VMT tax and freeway tolls
www.utoronto.ca/sig/g2cn-tool

1st International Conference on Urbanization and Global Environmental Change – October 15-17, 2010 - Tempe, AZ

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