CASE
STUDIES
North Markham Future Urban Area Community Energy Plan (CEP)
In 2014, the City of Markham initiated its Municipal Energy Plan to develop comprehensive city-wide energy use goals, energy use and generation targets and an action plan to meet these targets. Detailed local Community Energy Plans were to be prepared as companion documents. In the fall of 2015, the City prepared a CEP Terms of Reference for Secondary Plans in collaboration with York Region and other stakeholders, including local developers in one of the new communities. A Sample CEP was developed by a hired consultant to act as an initial document. This Sample CEP document was generally considered unworkable and unacceptable by the landowners and developers’ group. Malone Given Parsons and buildABILITY Corporation, with Leidos as a sub-consultant, were hired by the landowners group to develop a revised CEP.
Revitalization of CEP
The buildABILITY team recrafted the City’s CEP, rewriting substantial portions which were redundant and focused on areas of strategic impact. The team also created action plans, accompanied by accountabilities that were short-term, medium-term and long-term in nature. The revised CEP addressed seven areas of strategic impact:
1. Community Design for an Energy Efficient, Compact and Complete Community
2. Energy in Structures and Infrastructure
3. Community Energy Systems and Local Energy Sources
4. Transportation Networks for Active Mobility and Use of Electric Vehicles
5. Opportunities for Carbon Sinks
6. Communications, Community Engagement and Behavioural Change
7. Data Collection and Sharing Plan
The final step in the CEP process involved the submission of a bound publication. buildABILITY undertook all tasks related to the print production of the final publication. Tasks involved layout design, typesetting, photography and image sources, and coordination with production printers.
Impact:
The North Markham Future Urban Area CEP has been accepted by the City of Markham, and is part of the secondary plans for the FUA. The policies within the CEP are applicable to all four planning blocks in the FUA. An action item of the CEP is a pilot project demonstrating net zero emissions technologies in the FUA.