A two-pronged approach works best for creating sustainable, climate friendly infrastructure.
- Adapt appropriate policy & regulatory framework: Local governments typically have several plans that detail how infrastructure is designed, built and operated (e.g. Transportation Plans, Liquid Waste Management Plans; Stormwater Management Plans; Community Energy Plans; the Development Permit Process; Land Use or Zoning Bylaws; State of the Environment Reports; Procurement Strategies, etc). These policies and regulations can be changed to explicitly address ways to:
- Improve energy efficiency,
- Create opportunities for renewable energy, and
- Support other climate-friendly strategies.
The municipal policy and regulatory framework can also become a strong driver for residents, businesses, and developers to support climate-friendly infrastructure. Refer to the Policy Levers pages for more information.
- Apply sustainability principles to projects: The ability of infrastructure to be sustainable is determined very early on in the project cycle. You can work sustainability and climate objectives into every stage of the project cycle:
- Planning. Start the integration of planning and design early, and draw in the right people.
- Design. Establish appropriate contracts and RFPs. Existing language may have to be amended.
- Construction. You can require construction practices that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
- Operation. You can set performance targets and monitoring that include triple bottom line analysis.
