Consultation has concluded and the Community Climate Action Plan was endorsed by Council. See https://www.kelowna.ca/our-community/environment/climate-action(External link) for more information.

Utilizing input from this engagement, and Imagine Kelowna, Council endorsed a Community Climate Action Plan for Kelowna on June 25, 2018. The plan identified opportunities to reduce community energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Kelowna.

As identified in the 2017 Community Trends Report, Kelowna suffered greatly from climate change in 2017, so it’s important for the City to do its part and reduce its emissions of GHGs.

Through Imagine Kelowna we heard that residents want a community that shifts away from our car-centric culture; builds healthy neighbourhoods, stops facilitating urban sprawl, and strengthens the protection of our land, water and air resources. Taking action to achieve these goals will reduce energy and greenhouse gas emissions and create a community that is vibrant, responsible, sustainable, and resilient in the face of climate change.

A variety of actions were drafted that encourage energy conservation, shift transportation choices and support renewable energy will not only reduce emissions, but will also reduce personal energy costs and redirect these savings to the local economy. Many of the recommended draft actions built on actions that are already underway (e.g. expansion of bike paths). For the online discussion, we were looking for your thoughts relating to some of the new actions for transportation, buildings and the proposed GHG targets. For the complete list of actions visit the City’s Climate Action webpage.

Citizens were invited to submit ideas about the draft actions below until Feb. 22, 2018.

This project is made possible with funding from:

FortisBC

ENERGY USE

Energy Use - Draft

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation - Draft

Transportation - Draft

PROPOSED TARGETS

Proposed Targets - Draft

ALL ACTIONS

All Proposed Actions - Draft

FEEDBACK

The Energy We Use in Our Buildings

<p></p><p>In Kelowna, 36 per cent of GHG emissions come from buildings. Based on most recent numbers available (2012), residents spent nearly $1,400 per capita on electricity and natural gas to heat and light homes and businesses.</p> <p>The City of Kelowna has made improvements to many city-owned facilities to reduce energy and GHG emissions, including taking advantage of state-of-the-art energy efficient technology whenever practical for new and retrofitted buildings. Now, we want to promote to residents to also reduce their energy in their homes, leading to lower energy bills. There are two proposed actions to accomplish this: </p> <p>1.  Develop incentives and regulations to encourage more energy efficient new buildings. The Province of BC has introduced the <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/construction-industry/building-codes-standards/energy-efficiency/energy-step-code">BC Energy Step Code</a>, which allows municipalities to voluntarily adopt incremental steps for energy efficient requirements beyond the BC Building Code.  By 2032, the highest steps (net-zero energy ready buildings) would become mandatory across the province.</p> <p>2.  Develop incentives and regulations to encourage existing buildings to be more energy efficient. Over 72 per cent of existing residences in Kelowna were constructed prior to 2000.</p> <p><b>Have you completed any retrofits on your home?  Did you receive any rebates or incentives to help encourage you to do them?  What barriers have you encountered to making your home more energy efficient?</b></p><br>
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The Way We Get Around

<p></p><p></p><p>The biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Kelowna comes from vehicles. The City continues to expand the network of sidewalks and bike lanes and make improvements to transit service to provide residents options to reduce reliance on vehicles. In response, there has been a gradual shift in how people choose to get around and over the past 10 years, there has been a 19 per cent increase in percentage of people choosing to walk, cycle or take transit to work. However, more still needs to be done as fuel sales have increased 14 per cent since 2012.  </p> <p>During the Imagine Kelowna consultation we heard that residents want a connected community that embraces diverse transportation options in order to shift away from our car-centric culture. We recognize that residents will still use vehicles, however, there are simple actions that can be taken to reduce the amount of emissions from vehicles. These actions include reducing idling, and changing vehicles to electric. The City can support these initiatives by implementing an anti-idling bylaw, restricting drive-thrus and developing a community electric vehicle strategy.</p> <p><b>What are your thoughts on the above proposed ideas to reduce emissions from vehicles?</b></p><b></b><br>
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Proposed Targets

<p></p><p></p><p>The Province requires municipalities to include greenhouse gas reduction targets in their Official Community Plans.  Based on Council’s direction, two targets have been drafted for the plan. The first, is a <b>short-term, realistic target</b> that is based on what could be achieved in the next five years by implementing the <a href="https://www.kelowna.ca/our-community/environment/climate-action">recommended draft actions</a>:</p><p><b><i>“Reduce GHG emissions four per cent below 2007 levels by 2023 (equivalent to 28 per cent per capita reduction)”</i></b></p> <p>The second, is a <b>long-term, aspirational target</b> that aligns with the provincial target and takes the long view and sets in motion many decades of progressive shifts.</p> <p><b><i>“Reduce GHG emissions 80 per cent below 2007 levels by 2050 (equivalent to 90 per cent per capita reduction)”</i></b></p><p>It is recognized that this path may not be able to be solved with current technology and regulations, however there are many initiatives on the horizon that could be major game changers in reducing GHG emissions in the next few decades such as increasing electric vehicles and driverless shared vehicles.</p> <p><b>What are your thoughts on the proposed targets?</b></p>
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Other Actions

<p></p><p>There are many actions proposed for the Community Climate Action Plan update. Some are actions that are already ongoing (such as expansion of sidewalks and bike lanes or improvements to transit). Other actions call for further investigation to fully understand the implications before any recommendations for implementation can be made (for example investigation of a private tree protection bylaw or regional fuel tax). </p> <p>The online discussion has focused on obtaining your input on new actions that could be implemented related to transportation, buildings and the proposed GHG targets. For a complete list of proposed actions visit the City’s <a href="https://www.kelowna.ca/our-community/environment/climate-action">Climate Action</a> webpage.</p> <p><b>Is there anything else on the list of proposed actions that you would like to discuss? Do you have any other action ideas that you would like us to consider?</b></p><br>
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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Consultation has concluded and the Community Climate Action Plan was endorsed by Council. See https://www.kelowna.ca/our-community/environment/climate-action for more information.

(External link) for more information.

There are many actions proposed for the Community Climate Action Plan update. Some are actions that are already ongoing (such as expansion of sidewalks and bike lanes or improvements to transit).

Other actions call for further investigation to fully understand the implications before any recommendations for implementation can be made (for example investigation of a private tree protection bylaw or regional fuel tax. The online discussion has focused on obtaining your input on new actions that could be implemented related to transportation, buildings and the proposed GHG targets.

For a complete list of proposed actions visit www.kelowna.ca/our-community/environment/climate-action(External link).

Is there anything else on the list of proposed actions that you would like to discuss?