Big Time TOD in New Westminster

If you take the SkyTrain, you will have noticed over the past year or so that there is a massive development being integrated with the New Westminster SkyTrain station. The residential component is called "Azure at Plaza88" and consists of three high-rise residential towers. But beyond the tower, according to the New Westminster News Leader, there will be 200,000 square feet of commercial development. That's about the size of a Wal-Mart Supercentre.

Retailers that have recently secured long term leases include Safeway, Shoppers Drug Mart, the Royal Bank of Canada and CIBC.

In the press release issued Wednesday, the newest tenant, Landmark Cinemas of Canada, says it will build a state-of-the-art, 35,000 square foot, 10-screen multiplex cinema in Plaza 88.

The $350 million transit-linked retail-residential centre was developed by Plaza 88 Developments. Located at Eighth and Columbia streets, across from the New Westminster Quay, the master plan includes three residential towers with 600 condominium units. The developers are building out the 200,000 square feet of retail space, which is slated to open in 2011.

“This development is the way of the future with nothing like this in North America, where elevated rapid transit is fully integrated with major shopping and a large residential complex,” said Ken Hardie, spokesperson for TransLink.

If you are living in this development, you might not even need to step outside. Very exciting and scary.

District Heating and Cooling Part 2

The largest source of CO2 emissions for the average BC household is from transportation. The second largest is from heating and cooling. Imagine not having to use any “new” energy to heat and cool our homes. Imagine what sort of large scale positive impact we could have on our environment.

LiveSmart BC

This is where district heating and cooling comes in. One of the great things about district heating is that it uses “waste energy” to provide useful energy. Industry, sewerage, power generation, and waste-to-end plants all create heat as a by-product. Right now, we send all this heat into the air; wasting it. Take, for example, your normal fossil-fuel power plant. Only about 40% of the input energy is turned into electricity. By connecting the plant to a district heating system, 50% of the energy output can be redirected to heating. The plant jumps from 40% efficiency to 90%! District heating also saves money and electricity. According to BC Hydro, half of a home’s energy bill is spent on heating and cooling. Imagine the saving you would see on your Hydro bill with district heating. BC Hydro wouldn’t be running out of electricity if we switch to district heating.

It is great to see that Township of Langley Council, spearheaded by Councillor Jordan Bateman, is seriously looking at creating heating districts. Check out the following slides.

District Energy in the Township of Langley

View more presentations from jgabateman.

The Township would have access to geoexchange (which uses the relatively stable ground temperature to regulate heating and cooling), biofuels, sewage, and even heat from ice making at the Langley Events Centre as sources. Let’s take this one step further. Metro Vancouver is looking at Waste-to-Energy as a solution to our garbage issue. Why not make these combined electrical and district heating plants? District heating should be a major part in reducing our CO2 footprint in Metro Vancouver.

District Heating and Cooling Part 1

District Heating (and Cooling)

The Township of Langley is seriously considering district heating, or centralized heating and cooling. This is already being done in downtown Vancouver. You can read more at Wikipedia. Also, there is a great video on district heating on YouTube looking at Denmark as an example. To sum up the video, it's a very good idea to help reduce carbon emission and save money. Good on the Township for looking at this!

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

Sustainability Open House - City of Langley

I received the following in my Inbox. Have a great weekend!

The City of Langley is developing a Sustainability Framework to define our long term sustainability destination.

SUSTAINABILITY OPEN HOUSE
Date: February 4th 2010
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Place: Langley City Hall (concourse)
and Library
20399 Douglas Crescent

You are invited to help set the long term sustainability destination for the City by co-creating our community sustainability goals. A hands-on, enjoyable evening is planned to explore what sustainability means in the context of the City of Langley and to discuss specific and achievable long term goals. You will be asked to:

-Share community sustainability success stories
-Discuss sustainability issues facing our community
-Work to create specific, achievable community sustainability goals that will be used to guide future programs, plans, and initiatives

Local refreshments will be served.


THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability is about ensuring a high quality of life for all citizens. The challenge is to learn how to live within our collective global capacity. Every person, business and organization has a role to play. The City is committed to taking a leadership role in this challenge, but also needs our partners and residents to join in this commitment.

For Further Information and to RSVP Please Contact:
Roy Beddow, City of Langley rbeddow@langleycity.ca