Asset Management - cdn.renewcanada.net€¦ · Andy Manahan is an officer with rCCAO in addition to...

September/October 2006

www.renewcanada.net $900

ALSO: Lawrence Cannon, Glen Murray and ‘Dr. Infrastructure’

Asset ManagementMunicipal Tools, Money and the Infrastructure Gap

Community RevitalizationRails, Trails and Sustainable Building

Site Remediation

Canadian Brownfields

2006ToronTo

ocTober26-27

Contents

49 24

38

12

New light is shining on the old Brick Works factory in Don Valley – a brownfield that Evergreen is redeveloping into a cultural, economic and environmental centre for central Toronto.

AbOut the COver

47

S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 6

ASSet MANAGeMeNt 12 Slaying the Deficit Dragon

Proper accounting for tangible assets is key. By Glenn Miller

15 the Depths below Assessment is the first step in a long-term plan for sustainability. By Charlerick Bergeron

20 InfraGuide best Practice Utility managers are responsible for outlining the full cost of water and sewage facilities. By Mike Tobalt

COMMuNIty heAlth AND revItAlIzAtION

43 the Power of Geothermal We need to move away from a centralized power generation system. By Ron Dembo, Ph.D.

45 Green Acres The newest approaches to building self-sustainable communities. By Vicky Sharpe

47 brick Works Green represents both cash and environmental stewardship. By Mira Shenker

49 rails to trails Trans Canada Trail will unite the country. By Dan O’Reilly

FeAtureS 17 Making a Case for P3s Public opinion is

the next major hurdle for P3s. By Andy Manahan

24 Mission: Australia – Part 2: Melbourne Australians are building an international reputation for being a quality, modern city. By Todd Latham and Mira Shenker

26 the State of Canada’s Infrastructure This inaugural overview of the state of our country’s infrastructure. By Mira Shenker

31 Infrastructure Asset Management How Canada stacks up to asset management systems in Australia and New Zealand. By Guy Felio, Ph.D.

38 Fibre Optics – lighting up the Future of Communications The infrastructure of the future, right now. By John Leckie

DePArtMeNtS 4 editor’s Note Build it and they will come. By David Dehaas

5 letters Lawrence Cannon, Glen Murray and Marcia Wallace.

7 rethink Making model homes affordable. By Chris Rickett

10 Opening Shots

22 reMediate The rejuvenating power of cement. By Aaron Stauch and Chuck Wilk

34 reFinance Explaining project finance. By Dale Richmond

41 re: the law Finding new sources of power is one thing; getting it to market is another. By David McFadden and Michael Morrison

52 rebuild Building green calls for innovative design. By Marina Fensham

54 the leeD list Where the Salmon Run and other Green Adventures

58 Closing Shot Focus Forward

Photo:E

vergreen

September/October 2006 reNew Canada 3www.renewcanada.net

September/October 2006 volume 2 Number 5

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Letters to the EditorTo express your point of view or to comment on the content of this magazine, please send letters to [email protected] or by mail to: ReNew Canada, 9 Prince Andrew Place, Toronto, ON M3C 2H2. All letters must include name and full contact info and are subject to editing.

By David Dehaas

Build itand they will come

Governments – elected politicians and their grey armies of mostly unionized, lifetime-employed, civil-service-pensioned employees – do not, cannot and really don’t want to understand infrastructure.

And that’s why it’s time to start moving governments out of the infrastructure business.

Infrastructure can be defined as the framework upon which development grows, the grid that makes it possible, the matrix that attracts and nurtures it. Build it – to quote W.P. Kinsella – and they will come. Build infrastructure and you create the conditions in which growth, development, prosperity and progress will happen. Capacity makes its own demand.

The infrastructure industry is long-term and forward-looking by its very nature. It is a proactive business. Private money – private enterprise – looks ahead, identifies an opportunity and builds new capacity on the expectation that the need will justify the investment.

But governments, be they municipal, provincial or federal, are short-term and reactive by their very nature. They spend money on infrastructure when the need, the demand and the political pressure become overwhelming. We need to be in a transportation crisis, with roads plugged and voters screaming louder than the permanent anti-development lobby before a government will even start thinking about building new capacity. We need brown-outs before they will seriously look at investing in new power generation. We need a Walkerton before we start to take our decaying water systems seriously.

Even then, the opposition to new projects is intense and intransigent. Consider for a moment the major argument against building new roads. Ask the man on the street, and he or she will very likely tell you, “There’s no point in building new roads, they’ll just be full of traffic the day after you open them.” It’s an argument one hears all the time and it is basically the accepted wisdom in our big cities.

It’s also about the dumbest thing anyone ever said about anything.

It’s like the Toronto Star newspaper – to pick a large, successful commercial enterprise at random – saying, “There’s no point in printing more copies, people will just buy them and read them.”

The backdrop for this argument is the mistaken belief that economic development exists in a vacuum by itself – and that it is not necessarily a good thing. In this way of thinking, no thought is given to the fact that economic development is what has created the modern world, that it is what pays for health care and education and social programs and a steadily growing improvement in virtually all aspects of our lives.

But this is still the argument that holds sway over government policy and government decision making.

Government’s role should be regulatory – the way government regulates the safety of everything you buy in the supermarket. Making sure everyone plays fair. Making sure community standards for things such as environmental protection are respected. Making sure safety standards are met. Making sure there is a level playing field.

But government should no more be involved in building infrastructure than it is in growing food or – heaven forbid! – planning what food should be on the grocery store shelves next year.

It is, in short, time for the economy and the real world of global economic competition to regulate the framework on which it is built. It is time for enterprise to drive infrastructure. It’s time to build it – and yes, they will come.

"It’s time start moving

governments out of

the infrastructure

business."

4 reNew Canada September/October 2006 www.renewcanada.net

FeAture CONtrIbutOrS

letters

Andy ManahanAndy is an officer with the Residential and Civil Construction Council of Ontario in addition to his full-time employment with a major construction union based in Toronto, Local 183. pg. 18

John Leckie John is a freelance writer and editor who has written extensively about construction for a variety of newspapers and magazines. pg. 38

Dan O’ReillyDan is a freelance writer specializing in construction and infrastructure issues. pg. 49

Guy FelioGuy (aka Dr. Infrastructure) is the technical manager of the National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure at the NRC Institute for Research in Construction.pg. 31

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November/December issue. The deadline is Oct. 27, 2006.

“Action forward.” Those are the words I’d use to describe today’s federal Transport, Infrastructure a n d C o m m u n i t i e s Portfolio. We are moving ahead in a purposeful renewal of Canada’s

infrastructure. New developments have taken place that demonstrate our government’s determination to take action in collaboration with provinces, territories and municipalities.

An unprecedented $16.5 billion in federal support is being provided for provincial, territorial and municipal infrastructure over the next four years. Budget 2006 renewed existing infrastructure funds to $4.2 billion, created a new Highways and Borders Infrastructure Fund worth $2.4 billion, and provided up to $1.3 billion in funding for public transit.

These are key investments in Canada’s new government plan to build a stronger economy by ensuring that all levels of government have the resources and clarity they need to deliver the services Canadians want.

The new government’s Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Portfolio—that I have the honour to lead—will manage these funds and provide more integrated decision-making, given the convergence of issues relating to Canada’s communities and economy. Accordingly, for the first time in our history, one minister will have a full range of tools to advance priorities in a range of interrelated areas. At present, these priorities include transportation gateways and trade corridors, transportation security, sustainable infrastructure, public transit, and building vibrant communities that offer a healthy environment and an outstanding quality of life.

To advance these priorities, a greater degree of involvement on the part of provinces, territories, municipalities and the private sector has actively been sought. Their views were asked for, then integrated in the development of Budget 2006. Since its tabling, I have met individually and collectively with representatives from each order of government. As a former municipal councillor and provincial minister, I have learned that collaboration is essential in making real progress.

Such has been the case, for example, with several broadband initiatives that have either been completed, such as the ones in New Brunswick and the Magdalene Islands, or that are underway in Newfoundland, Labrador, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. These projects contribute to communities’ economic, cultural and educational development.

Another major development for the Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Portfolio has been its involvement in the process to restore the country’s fiscal balance. The Government of Canada is keenly aware that the fiscal balance has a direct impact on cities – where 80 per cent of Canadians live.

Accordingly, as Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Minister, I was asked to consult with my provincial and territorial counterparts as well as the municipal sector. The purpose of these consultations has been to discuss the federal role in infrastructure with a view to preparing an integrated long-term infrastructure strategy; to place federal infrastructure funding on a long-term basis; and to ensure accountability to Canadians for infrastructure investments by all governments. These consultations have been exceedingly constructive in advancing the collective effort to restore Canada’s fiscal balance.

Taken together, these major developments have resulted in spirited activity that has greatly occupied the portfolio and its provincial, territorial and municipal partners. But we must always keep in mind our broader vision, goals and objectives. We need to view infrastructure not as a series of projects or as major capital expenses, but more as investments that supports our ultimate goals.

Canada must have the kind of infrastructure that keeps our country competitive internationally and provides a sustainable, high quality of life for our

Glenn MillerGlenn is vice-president, education and research with the Canadian Urban Institute and an editor with the Ontario Professional Planners Institute. pg. 12

“We need to view infrastructure not as a series of projects or as major capital expenses, but more as investments that supports our ultimate goals.”


(continued on page 6)

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Subject: Well done!

Just read the latest issue of ReNew

that landed on my desk. A welcomed

break for a hectic day, but I wanted to

take the time to say well done. Each

issue seems more inviting – it’s visually

interesting, has relevant stories in an

easy-to-read format and the editorial

team pulls it together with a perspective

I think has been missing in Canadian-

sponsored media to date.

Keep up the good work.

Marcia Wallace, PhD, MCIP, RPP

Brownfields Coordinator

Planning and Development Division

Ministry of Municipal Affairs

and Housing

letters

the Infrastructure deficit is not an abstract. We experience it in the countless potholes on our streets and the worn-out subway stations where we cram into over-crowded cars. Even in growth cities like

Alberta, the lag in the development of adequate transportation infrastructure is the lead issue in most city councillors’ reelection brochures.

But we know that even if we filled every pothole and fixed every leaky sewer pipe we would still be in trouble. The recreational, cultural and educational amenities that make a city exciting and increase quality of life are no longer just nice things to have, they are the essential components to a prosperous city; they are the factors that make a city the choice of a creative work force; that can attract and retain its knowledge workers. These workers promote a healthy economy so we can pay the bills to fix those potholes.

This past summer we’ve seen three excellent reports released that all contribute to advancing the urban agenda in Canada. But they all come up short in helping city leaders connect their two major challenges: fixing decaying infrastructure and building a culturally-dynamic city. These challenges have been viewed as separate hurdles for too long. The sooner we realize that they can and must be developed together, the sooner we can get on with creating urban wealth.

The final report from Mike Harcourt’s External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities, “From Restless Communities to Resilient Places,” recommends all governments cooperate to “assess and maximize the local effects from all government investments.”

The Conference Board of Canada report, “Canada’s Hub Cities,” stresses the need to remove provincial barriers to the mobility of labour. The report points to critical quality-of-life assets that attract highly mobile workers.

“Imagine Toronto,” a report by the Creative Cities Project Team in Toronto, draws heavily on Richard Florida’s ideas about the importance of culture and creativity.

Every recommendation in these reports is strong and should be celebrated.

But all three reports focus largely on program investments by various levels of government. The mindset is on cost instead of cost-benefit, with little attention paid to revenues that might be generated by these investments. There’s almost no mention of a viable economic and financing model that can drive development and wealth creation.

The reports don’t link the paybacks and financing options on private- and public-sector investments in infrastructure to

policies that facilitate the development of a creative urban economy. More specifically, they don’t address the uplift in property values that in turn define a significant portion of the revenue payback to city coffers. Yet this is all possible.

The strain on city budgets today can be found in the infrastructure deficit of unfixed streets, pipes and subway lines, estimated at between $50 billion and $125 billion in Canada. If we can’t define strategies to come up with the money to address basic utilitarian infrastructure, how can we dream of building the creative and cultural infrastructure essential to the livability of cities and to retaining a creative work force?

The answer is integrating economic development plans with land use, transportation, fiscal and cultural planning. The first step is to identify development projects that have the greatest ability to create wealth and help pay for themselves. Site- and district-specific plans look at value uplift in property, strategically leveraging private and public investments to generate and capture city, provincial and federal revenues.

The financial and tax revenues from major cultural and infrastructure projects are not limited to the site. They’re experienced across a given area, but the payback is dependent on the project’s design. While big cultural institutions are thrilling and important, the banal and ugly developments that define 90 per cent of what is being built in our communities is discouraging. These developments could have an integrated, far-reaching impact if they were viewed as playing a larger role in the community.

In fact, Toronto’s waterfront lands, the new Kitchener Library and Winnipeg’s transit system could all be doing a better job of leveraging development if the proper integrated planning and staging had been done. They should be wealth generators within their districts, not just costly infrastructure projects.

Sitting on a shelf in most municipal offices are a dozen different plans designed to develop that city. Most mayors are likely holding onto a land use plan, a heritage plan and a cultural plan. But as the three major studies this summer have shown, they’re seldom linked.

And yet, there is a way to do it.

Glen Murray is the former Mayor of Winnipeg and an urban strategist and consultant. [email protected]


citizens and communities. In the words of the final report of the External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities, “Canada needs to retake its place in the world at the forefront of international thinking about how we create better places for today and better prospects for tomorrow.”

We know that communities that have high quality infrastructure – that are safe, environmentally sustainable and vibrant – attract investments and businesses that generate jobs. They attract and retain highly-skilled residents, contributing further to economic development because it is precisely these communities that offer what is needed to improve quality of life.

“Action forward” has become our watchword because the Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Portfolio is taking action and moving forward in realizing this vision. The initiatives I have highlighted represent some of the most important investments the federal government will ever make in the quality of life of our cities and communities, and the competitiveness and sustainability of Canada’s economy.

In closing, I would like to congratulate ReNew Canada magazine on its first-year anniversary. Publications like this one contribute to information sharing among partners and stakeholders, which in turn contribute to the betterment of the country.

the honourable lawrence Cannon is Canada’s Minister of transport, Infrastructure and Communities. tc.gc.ca

(continued from page 5) The answer is integrating economic development plans with land use, transportation, fiscal and cultural planning.

rethink

There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of sustainable housing design competitions and showpiece homes

in Canada, but the cost-benefit ratios still make the sustainable home a novelty item reserved for those who can afford to be self-righteous in their reduced environmental impact.

While there is a need to acclimatize people to the possibilities, as showcase construction projects do, there is an even greater need to make sustainable technologies cheaper and available to the masses.

For now, the possibilities are out there, even if the financial basis for their long-term success still eludes us.

There is the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s (TRCA) Sustainable House Competition in Vaughan, Ontario. Numerous green homes have been built in Kitchener-Waterloo by ARISE Technologies and Cook Homes. Fleming College has a Sustainable Building and Design Program which has developed several sustainable building projects, including a food bank in Haliburton and a classroom for the Kinark Outdoor Centre near Minden, Ontario.

The technologies these showpieces display are amazing – straw bale insulation, passive-solar heating, solar hot water heating, rainwater collection for toilet and hand washing, off-grid renewable solar photovoltaic electricity, geo-thermal heating and cooling, green roofs, engineered wetland waste water systems, flexible design and the use of locally- produced and recycled materials.

These projects are meant to showcase the technologies available to homeowners who want to reduce their environmental impact; offer opportunities for contractors to become familiar with sustainable technologies; and, of course, create acceptance for new—and what are sometimes old—green building concepts.

The technologies these demonstration homes display are needed. Canada’s

residential sector has to find a greener plateau, especially in its single-family home market. With transportation accounting for 32 per cent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and the residential sector accounting for an additional 15 per cent, how Canada constructs its homes and neighbourhoods plays a large role in whether GHG reductions will be realized.

However, in the debate over sustainable housing design, one thing comes up again and again – cost. What’s the cost and what’s the payback?

Sure, the few who can afford to make the investment and shift to sustainable housing technologies do so. But the majority can’t afford it, and many who can aren’t willing to invest. So the public goes along with their lives oblivious to new technologies, or fascinated by the possibility of innovation, yet knowing it is out of their reach.

The only way to make sustainable housing a realistic option is through mass production. Conventional home design makes its gravy by being fast and easy to construct. The design is simple and accepted; the materials readily available. If sustainable housing design is going to green the residential sector, it has to mimic this reality.

Unfortunately, the route to mass-produced, accessible designs and price reductions is through the creation of a mass market. And the only way the market for sustainable housing design is going to develop is if people are forced to pay the true cost of their resource consumption. If those who can afford to pay did so, costs could be brought down, designs made more acceptable, and the technology more accessible thanks to mass production.

Electricity is a prime example. In Ontario, consumers pay the “average” cost over-time for power, which means they are insulated from the spot market price and lose any incentive to conserve power at peak periods.

Sustainable housing models are just a dream until

residents can afford the true cost of going green.

By Chris Rickett

DREAM HOUSE

Students from Fleming College construct a straw bale at the Kinark Outdoor Centre.

Photo:D

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But even this “average” cost over time doesn’t account for the numerous subsidies doled out to producers; financing agreements; removal of liability (as is the case with nuclear); lack of accounting for replacement costs; and the negative externalities involved in electricity generation, including the environmental and healthcare costs of dirty generation, and long-term storage costs of nuclear waste.

With all of these subsidies and the lack of visibility of market prices, there is little reason for homeowners to make the investment in a solar array, which in the case of the Cook Homes project in Waterloo resulted in an added cost of $15,000 to $20,000 – and that was a subsidized price!

The payback is simply too long, keeping the technology out of reach for most people, and a novelty for those with the means and desire to invest.

The lack of true-cost accounting in household resource-use goes way beyond electricity. It covers all aspects of home living, including waste, potable water, waste water and stormwater. Using cisterns and rainbarrels to collect stormwater for reuse, as the TRCA’s Sustainable House intends, is an amazing rehash of historic technologies that were used before municipalities started hiding the cost of stormwater sewers and treatment on homeowners’ property tax bills. Citizens do pay for stormwater controls but, again, the price is averaged keeping the true cost hidden.

One altruistic neighbour may rip up their driveway to install a rainbarrel, but that doesn’t mean he or she will pay less than the family next door who has paved an entire front lawn. According to a recent report for the TRCA, there’s a 30-year return-on-investment for a rainbarrel under the current water rate structure. That would be

a lot different if people were forced to pay the true cost of stormwater controls based on the amount of impervious surface on their property and how much water they contribute to the system.

Likewise, the payback on that rainbarrel and the reuse of stormwater would be a lot more economical if municipalities implemented demand management based on variable rates for their potable water systems and accounted for future water supplies.

Some municipalities are making strides in true cost accounting. Waste management systems and sanitary systems are increasingly

being treated as utilities, with the true cost of the systems being reflected in the household cost. Unfortunately, just as many other municipalities are slow to respond and make their residential ratepayers pay the true cost of their consumption.

Asking that people pay for the true cost of service is not about penalizing them. It’s about fairness, making people pay for their consumption. Our current mode of subsidizing the resource-use of homeowners is sabotaging

our chances of creating a more sustainable way of living. What’s more, it keeps all of these green technologies and showpiece homes out of reach from the mass-market that so desperately needs them.

“One altruistic neighbour may rip up their driveway to install a rainbarrel, but that doesn’t

mean they’ll pay less than the family next door who has

paved their entire front lawn.”

rethink

Chris rickett is a councillor in the City of Stratford, Ontario and a watershed planner with the toronto and region Conservation Authority. he is currently completing his Masters in Public Administration at the university of Western Ontario in london.


Opening Shots

B.C. CONSIDERS $700 MILLION SEWAGE P3

The Capital Regional District (CRD), which covers the area at the southern tip of Vancouver Island including Victoria, was recently directed by B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner to start planning for a large sewage treatment plant. A progress report, including a proposed schedule and cost for the project, is due no later than December 31, 2006. Details at victoriasewagealliance.ca.

QUAY TO THE CITY

What papers called “a tantalizing glimpse of future waterfront” was really a week-long festival at Toronto’s waterfront. A park was built over one kilometre of traffic lanes and a trail built to fill a gap in the Martin Goodman bike path. Concerts, harbour tours and films were staged to get the public excited about revitalizing the area. Some citizens expressed confusion as to why temporary structures were going up, while motorists expressed anger at roads being blocked. Others were excited about a more permanent change in the future. Details at towaterfront.ca.

TORONTO’S EXHIBITION PLACE LAUNCHES SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

With a $600,000 zero-interest loan from Toronto’s Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) and $250,000 from the Green Municipal Fund (GMF), the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) system in Canada was installed on the roof of Horse Palace, unveiled Aug. 22. The system “is a key

Opening shots is a regular section with infrastructure news from across Canada. If you have relevant and current news you’d like included, contact [email protected].

element in Exhibition Place’s goal of becoming energy self-sufficient by 2010,” said Dianne Young, CEO and general manager of Exhibition Place. The 100-kilowatt solar installation is part of a feasibility test. Its electrical performance will be monitored and details made available to the public. Details at explace.on.ca.

“LIVABLE CITY” POLICY FOR WINNIPEG

Kevin Lamoureux, deputy leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party, will lead an open-door consultation process to find solutions for urban renewal in Winnipeg. Lamoureux said the initiative will focus on public meetings and consultations in communities within the city, informal meetings with community renewal activists, youth and student organizations, the aboriginal community, seniors groups, rank-and-file urban planners, plus city officials and former politicians. “I want to see and hear about ideas that would really push the envelope on urban renewal and making Winnipeg a livable city for this century,” Lamoureux said. Details at gov.mb.ca/legislature.

DOCKSIDE GREEN LTD. WINS MULTIPLE AWARDS

Windmill Developments and Vancity Enterprises are turning Dockside Green, a 15-acre brownfield in downtown Victoria, B.C., into a mixed-use community with a triple bottom line (TBL) philosophy. Dockside Green was awarded a “Smarty” during Smart Growth BC’s Innovations in Smart Growth Housing conference. They also won a Royal Architectural Institute of Canada National Urban Design Award. Smart Growth BC also praised the VicWest Community Association for their involvement in the planning process, which built trust and speeded up the approvals process. Details at docksidegreen.com.

OTTAWA ON TRACK TO CLEANER AIR

The Ontario government has approved an environmental assessment for a 29.4 kilometre, electric-powered light rail transit system, to run from the University of Ottawa through the downtown core to Carleton University and into Riverside South. With the ability to transport around 43,000 passengers every day, it will help get cars off the road, improve air quality and reduce emissions. Funding comes out of the $1.2 billion set aside in the 2006 federal budget for the Move Ontario program. Details at lightrailnow.org.

DESIGN AND BID FEES INTRODUCED

Infrastructure Ontario has received approval from the Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal to offer design and bid fees for losing bidders on Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) projects. The bidding requirements for these costly projects require significantly more commitment from private-sector firms than traditional projects. David Livingston, Infrastructure Ontario’s president and CEO, said this compensation is one way of encouraging bidders to consider Ontario a great place to do business. Details at www.pir.gov.on.ca.

MB TO HOST NATIONAL WIND ENERGY CONFERENCE

More than 1,000 delegates and 120 exhibitors will head to Winnipeg this October for the 22nd annual Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) conference. CanWEA president Robert Hornung said: “Manitoba is positioning itself to be a Canadian leader in wind energy deployment.” Delegates will be able to tour the St. Leon wind farm—a $210 million project by Algonquin Power —and learn about Manitoba’s composite sector, expected to play a key role in the future of the wind industry. Details at manitobaenergy.ca.

TWRC SPENDS $6.5 MILLION ON MIMICO WATERFRONT

Toronto’s western waterfront, bordering Lake Ontario, Humber Bay Park and Norris Crescent Parkette, is being revitalized. Representatives from TWRC, TRCA and the Mimico community showed up this July for the official start of construction of the Mimico Waterfront Linear Park. The three-phase project includes improved access to the waterfront, the extension of a waterfront trail, cobble beaches and additional natural habitats. Details at towaterfront.ca.

$210 MILLION FOR HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE IN ALBERTA

Budget 2006 includes funding for several contracts. Ontario-based Carillion Canada Ltd. is the new contractor for five maintenance areas in northeastern Alberta, worth nearly $37 million per year for the next seven years. Alberta Highway Services Ltd. picked up four new maintenance areas in west central Alberta, worth about $21 million per year for the next six years. Ledcor Alberta Ltd. Volker Stevin Contracting will keep their maintenance contracts, worth $18 million and $46 million respectively, for another six years. Details at infratrans.gov.ab.ca.

New rooftop Pv system

Cyclists enjoy the extra space during quay to the city.

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FPOUNDER

CONSTRUCTION

Asset Management Asset Management

Newspaper headlines tend to focus on government announcements trumpeting commitments to new projects, but a much more fundamental task faced by municipal

managers is keeping existing capital assets in a state of good repair and ensuring there are sufficient funds put aside to renew or replace them when the time comes.

Part of the problem, says Tim Beauchamp, is that “local governments don’t properly account for tangible assets.” Beauchamp knows what he’s talking about. He’s director, Public Sector Accounting with the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB), an independent organization dedicated to setting standards for financial reporting, and he has long studied the problem.

Canadians have been hearing about the burgeoning “infrastructure deficit,” a term coined to describe the shortfall between the level of capital spending needed to renew aging civic infrastructure and the ability of local government to raise the money. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) calculates that even though municipalities spend upwards of $15 billion annually to maintain fixed capital assets, we are still falling behind.

A blue ribbon group led by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering in 2003 estimated the tab was in the order of $60 billion. Whatever the dollar figure, there is ample evidence that much of the basic infrastructure supporting our major cities is well past its “best before” date.

At the same time, few jurisdictions are in a position to finance renewal at a time when they also have to face the challenge of constructing new infrastructure to cope with growth.

To correct the woefully outdated accounting situation, says Beauchamp, the PSAB recently issued a directive – PS 3150 – that, as of January 1, 2009, will require local governments to account for and amortize their tangible capital assets in their financial statements. The intent is to ensure that the full cost of using those assets is shown on a municipality’s books, consistent with PSAB’s broader objective, which is to move local governments to full accrual accounting practices.

At present, according to Todd MacDonald, principal of Performance Concepts, an Ontario-based consultancy serving the Canadian municipal sector, “critics argue that the current financial statement disclosure practices can lead to bad decision-making. At the moment, for example, the capital cost of not maintaining a roadbed is not included in the cost of providing the service, so an accounting system that does not factor in roadbed deterioration does not reflect the true cost of providing the service.”

Because capital and operating costs are traditionally dealt with separately, MacDonald suggests, it is all too easy for politicians seeking to pare down budgets to reduce the road maintenance budget, for example, thereby undermining the value of the original investment in that capital asset. “The problem,” he notes, “is that users of the financial statements are not being informed of what is actually happening to the condition or value of the capital asset.”

The process involved in moving public sector accounting practices to what seems like common sense to those familiar with private sector accounting practices has not been easy. Why do this, the argument goes, if nobody is planning to sell those assets?

In the U.S., the American equivalent of PSAB, known as GASB (pronounced “Gasby”), started the ball rolling more than five years ago by requiring state and municipal governments to report the value of fixed assets on their financial statements. Just as Canada is proposing, GASB, in a directive known as GASB 34, requires municipalities to record depreciation charges as expenses. But, GASB 34 also offers U.S. municipalities the option of using what is termed “the replacement approach.”

For management consultants like MacDonald, who see Canada’s looming infrastructure deficit as a significant problem, the decision by GASB to give municipalities the choice of selecting the replacement approach was a reasonable way to acknowledge a long-term schism in accounting circles. “How useful is it to for a municipality to show an asset that cost $20 million five decades ago depreciated to a current

SlAying ThE

DEfIcIt DragOn

By Glenn R. Miller

Common-sense accounting practices for local governments


Asset Management Asset Management

value of $5 million when in the real world it costs $150 million to replace that same asset at today’s prices?” he asks. “From my perspective, the imminent and unavoidable replacement of that asset represents an unfunded liability that should somehow be captured on the municipal balance sheet. GASB recognized this asset life-cycle perspective in its reporting approach. PSAB does not.”

According to Beauchamp, though, the additional step of putting aside funds to pay for replacement is a “management decision.” But he acknowledges that PS 3150 could be an important step forward that will help municipalities get their financial houses in order if they wish to follow that practice. Terry Patton, PSAB chair, goes further, stating in his July 2006 bulletin: “This marks a significant evolution and maturity not only for local government accountability but for the local government sector generally, as overall, they supported tangible asset recognition.”

As the national standard-setter for good accounting practices in the municipal sector, PSAB consulted widely before finalizing its directive, receiving comments on an “exposure draft” from many stakeholders, including the FCM, auditors, municipal engineers, and provincial and federal agencies. Beauchamp also liaised with the National Asset Management Working Group, which came together following the release of the Technology Road Map report on Canada’s civil infrastructure systems.

Placing a value on older assets is a challenge, Beauchamp says. But if the U.S. experience is anything to go by, municipal staff will find that once the practice becomes “business as usual,” the benefits far outweigh the difficulties. For example, even in the aftermath of 9/11, New York City was able to comply with the new reporting requirements.

Although opposition in the U.S. was considerable, reflecting fundamentally different visions for the “right way” to record tangible assets on a municipality’s books,

“The process involved

in moving public sector

accounting practices to what

seems like common sense to

those familiar with private

sector accounting practices has

not been easy. Why do this,

the argument goes, if nobody is

planning to sell those assets?”

practitioners eventually came to realize that the additional transparency and clarity resulting from meeting the new standards could reap considerable hidden benefits. For one thing, it allows municipal lobby groups to make across-the-board comparisons because municipalities report measurable data that can be compared against state or even national spending norms.

“One of the additional benefits of PS 3150 is that it clarifies the definition of ‘cost’ to ban the ‘netting capital grants,’” says Beauchamp. At present, if a municipality invests in two identical assets but pays for one of them with

the help of a provincial subsidy, it is possible to show the cost of one of the assets at the lower, or net, cost – a practice that is at best confusing, at worse misleading. “That won’t be possible once 3150 is in force,” says Beauchamp.

The benefit of keeping information about capital assets separate from provincial or federal subsidies is not lost on Doug Floyd, vice-president of Delcan Corporation, whose responsibilities when he was commissioner of transportation with the former Metro Toronto government included managing the roads and highways under Metro’s jurisdiction. He recalls that Metro’s practice


was to estimate the corporation’s fiscal capacity to repay debentures for the construction of major capital projects by including provincial subsidies in the calculation. When those subsidies vanished overnight, Metro had to scramble to fill the gap with operating funds. This left his department with barely enough money to carry out routine maintenance.

“Governments are now faced with a major dilemma of how to replace or renew the old infrastructure, how to deal with the legacy of weak investment in the 1980s and 1990s and how to deal with current growth pressures particularly in newly-developed areas,” says Floyd. “The downloading of responsibilities over the last decade or so from the federal to provincial governments and thence to municipal governments without any restructuring of the taxation system has also complicated matters.”

Asset Management

“For many local governments, the infrastructure deficit

represents a major political problem, because politicians

tend to give priority to issues that are visible to the electorate

over those like the renewal of infrastructure that are mostly

hidden and longer-term in their impact.”

For some jurisdictions, such as the Region of Peel in Ontario, which learned from the Metro experience, the new requirements from PSAB will present no problems because the region is well advanced in developing a sustainable asset management system that inventories each capital asset, provides a valuation and assessment of the condition, plans for repair, rehabilitation or replacement, and ensures that funds are available through reserve fund management.

For many other local governments, however, the infrastructure deficit represents a major political problem, because politicians tend to give priority to issues that are visible to the electorate over those like the renewal of infrastructure that are mostly hidden and longer-term in their impact.

The formation last year of the National Asset Management Working Group, with representation from the Canadian Public Works Association (CPWA), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE), the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE), the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), and Infrastructure Canada, is intended to provide the longer-term perspective needed to address these important issues.

PSAB’s new requirement may not satisfy all the players, says MacDonald, but no progress on tackling the infrastructure deficit will be possible unless these complex issues are better understood by everyone – particularly non-accountants.

Glenn r. Miller, FCIP, rPP, is director of education and research with the Canadian urban Institute. Miller recently joined the National Asset Management Working Group, as a representative of the Canadian Institute of Planners.


ThE DEptHS BEloW

By Charlerick Bergeron

They’re not as visible

as potholes, but the

deteriorating sewer pipes

networks under our cities

need to be addressed or,

at the least, assessed.

Recent studies have shown that a large proportion of municipalities don’t know and don’t evaluate the condition of their sewer pipe networks. A survey of Canadian

municipalities conducted in 2000 for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) yielded 115 responses and indicated that more than 53 per cent did not have a condition assessment system.

The Centre for Expertise and Research on Infrastructures in Urban Areas (CERIU) conducted a survey of 500 Quebec municipalities this summer. Out of 116 responses, 78 were from municipalities with sewer systems. When asked if they were using condition assessment systems, nearly 40 per cent said they didn’t assess the condition of their networks. About half of respondents blamed insufficient funding, while the rest indicated their networks were too small or too young to warrant condition assessment at this time.

What would it take to convince the public and elected officials to enforce systematic condition assessment protocol implementation, whatever the complexity or simplicity of sewer networks in question? Even though the practitioner’s toolbox already contains invaluable tools such as the CERIU’s Underground Infrastructure Compendium or the InfraGuide’s suite of more than 50 Best Practices, the message does not seem to get through effectively. An explanation of the merits of integrated GIS-based assets management, or risk and financial analysis, doesn’t seem to be the solution.

While engineers, researchers and scientists value knowledge, as it’s crucial in understanding the mechanisms at work in infrastructure aging and decay, sometimes too much knowledge can be overwhelming to the layman.

A fitting analogy to the operation and maintenance (O&M) of sewer networks is the operation of a motor vehicle. While most of us own or use a car and know that there is more to it than simply putting gas in the tank and paying registration fees once in a while, we understand that going a little over the recommended oil change and lube schedule won’t lead immediately to a catastrophic engine breakdown. But

we keep in mind that oil should be changed every 5,000 or 6,000 kilometres or so, and we certainly don’t wait until the engine burns out and stops running.

We understand that the short-term savings of ignoring required maintenance will end up costing us much more in the long run.

The maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) of a sewer pipes network is very similar. The stewardship of those buried assets often laid down 50 or more years ago mandates that we carry out basic maintenance, rather than run the risk of much more costly repairs or replacement later on.

Regular inspection and condition evaluation is a small investment to make to keep the system in good running condition for a long time. Early on, a minor problem in a pipe can be fixed relatively cheaply. Postponing that maintenance through lack of condition assessment or lack of funds will inevitably lead to higher repair or replacement costs in the end.

Using common sense and the following adage should help implement sewer condition assessment protocol across the country: A fool learns from his mistake. The wise man learns from the fool’s.

A survey of Canadian municipalities conducted in 2000 for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) yielded 115 responses and indicated that more than 53 per cent did not have a condition assessment system.

A brick sewer cave-in caused by mortar loss, water infiltration and

subsequent soil washout.

Charlerick bergeron is director, underground Infrastructures technologies at the Quebec-based Centre for expertise and research on Infrastructures in urban Areas (CerIu). ceriu.qc.ca

Photo:C

ER

IU


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Advancing the case for public-private partnerships (P3s) or alternate financing and procurement (AFP), as it’s called in Ontario, is an uphill battle. Although there are

many examples around the world where infrastructure has been successfully built using non-traditional delivery methods, there are numerous naysayers in Canada. Their negative opinions about these approaches has made selling the public on the merits of AFP more difficult than it should be. This has diminished the opportunity to use AFP for desperately-needed infrastructure projects.

Consider, for example, what the late Jane Jacobs, widely respected as an urban visionary – and revered by the media – had to say on the subject in her 2004 book Dark Age Ahead:

“At the core of this intellectual phenomenon now shaping much (but not all) of Western culture is a moralistic belief that each public service or amenity should directly earn enough to support its cost. Thus each school is supposed to earn enough to support itself, through fees of some kind or through profit-making arrangements such as sale to a corporation of monopolistic rights to vend soft drinks and snacks. Such arrangements are called public-private partnerships (PPP, or

MakIng a caSE FoR p3s By Andy Manahan

The Struggle for Public hearts and Minds.

P3) and are much encouraged by neoconservatives and most boards of trades. Hospitals, transit systems, and orchestras are scorned as free-loaders seeking handouts if they can’t directly pay their way or, better yet, make a profit either for tax collectors or for a corporate partner.”

In an op-ed piece for a national Canadian newspaper in the summer of 2004, I wrote that “funding models that apply private or other non-government funds such as the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) and teachers’ pension funds, offer a viable supplement to traditional government funding.” This was in fact one of the major conclusions in a paper that Local 183 and its management partners in the construction industry had released that spring.

In response, Paul Moist, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, wrote that “P3s are not a necessary or desirable solution. Union members and pension-fund holders should be wary of the P3 model, which is risky, politically unaccountable and more expensive than a purely public investment model. Ontario’s infrastructure crisis – indeed Canada’s – can be solved through public financing.”


I came across that same attitude during my summer reading in the above-captioned conclusion about P3s by Jane Jacobs. The late author’s interpretation of P3s as a sellout by the public sector to the greedy private sector is unfortunate, especially in light of the many worthwhile insights in her book. Since it is the only reference to P3s in the book, it appears that Jacobs was unaware of the full array of non-traditional delivery models that are possible where the public owns the asset.

Jacobs is not alone in her low opinion of P3s. Every time Queen’s Park announces a hospital project, toll roads or AFP policy, it elicits headlines from the Toronto Star like

“Tolls are bad idea for Ontario roads” or “McGuinty errs on privatization.”

Occasionally, there is a break in the seemingly endless stream of downright negative editorials from the Star. The “Faceoff” column between Rick Anderson and Linda McQuaig provides some balance – he says private-public partnerships make good sense; she says who says it’s a myth that private sector saves public money. But the nay forces tend to use more evocative language. In one of McQuaig’s 2005 “Faceoff” pieces, he says “apparently succumbing to corporate pressure, McGuinty is now launching a far-reaching privatization plan that goes beyond where Harris or Eves dared to go.” And, “the business community has generated such hysteria over government debt that politicians prefer the private sector do the borrowing, even though the public still pays for it and ultimately pays more.”

Fortunately, David Caplan, Ontario’s

Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal, has been a strong advocate for increased infrastructure investment and recognizes that there is an important role for the private sector in delivering infrastructure projects on-time and on-budget. He has been diligent in establishing a framework for planning, financing and procuring public infrastructure and in creating a new provincial agency, Infrastructure Ontario, which will manage the implementation of AFP projects.

The Ontario government’s achievements in providing a more coordinated approach in helping to close the infrastructure gap are highlighted in a report by a newly-

formed labour-management organization. The Residential and Civil Construction Council of Ontario (RCCAO) was formed several months ago to address a number of the challenges facing the construction industry. This report, our first, focuses on the infrastructure funding deficit.

We found that the government is tackling complex growth, environmental and infrastructure issues in a more comprehensive way. ReNew Ontario is the government’s five-year strategic infrastructure investment plan. It will coordinate contributions from all levels of government, the private sector and public agencies to generate more than $30 billion for investment in public infrastructure. The 2006 Budget went further by elaborating on investment priorities in transportation, health care, education, water/environment and so on.

The objective is to ensure that infrastructure investments are targeted to areas that have been forecast to have

population and employment growth. As Caplan stated at the time, ReNew would lead to a “renaissance for public infrastructure.”

The “Building a Better Tomorrow” framework lays the foundation by ensuring we get the best value for public investments and proper life-cycle maintenance for public assets. The Places to Grow legislation and growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe released in mid-June will assist in determining priority infrastructure investments.

The report focuses on public-private initiatives, providing a brief historical overview of P3s in Ontario and Canada. It notes that “there has been no institutional

framework to guide this type of development and this both accounts for, and contributes in part to, the mixed experiences in Canada. Projects have been stalled or cancelled because of conflict with public sector unions and/or a lack of commitment to the process by the public sector bureaucracy.”

A solution lies in the ability of major public pension funds based in Canada to invest more of their asset base in Canada. Public infrastructure projects offer these funds the chance to make a reasonable profit leasing facilities that are built for public use to the government. RCCAO’s report says that “many pension funds have been frustrated and disappointed by the lack of such domestic opportunities in Ontario that meet their investment criteria.”

Instead, their capital is being invested in P3 projects in other jurisdictions around the world. For example, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) and the Ontario

Illustration:PatriciaS

torms

Selling the P3 model to the public is a challenge for its proponents.


Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) have each invested $555 million in Scotia Gas Networks for gas distribution in Scotland and England. Wouldn’t it make more sense for Canadian residents, through their pension funds, to invest here in Canada for necessary infrastructure projects?

In other jurisdictions, the partnership approach offers investors stable returns that are in excess of those obtained in the fixed income markets. Here are some examples of what other jurisdictions are doing:

• The UK has set up a project known as the Private Finance Initiative, which facilitates the application of private funding to public projects. The rules governing investment are well-established and understood by investing entities and government departments alike. It is likely to comprise around 10 to 15 per cent of the total investment in public services.

• Ireland has established the National Development Finance Agency to advise State authorities on the optimum means of financing public investment projects in order to achieve value for money. In 2006, 25 partnership projects are expected, covering a range of sectors including road, rail, education, justice, water and waste.

• Portugal has been using the public-private partnership model for about 10 years. P3s in Portugal have spread from the transport sector to other public service sectors.

• The Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland have established detailed and standardized procedures to encourage private-sector involvement. There are currently 29 projects being contracted, 17 projects in the market and another potential 17 projects in the pipeline.

• Closer to home, Partnerships BC initially focused on road and bridge work: the Sea-to-Sky Highway; the five-lane bridge across Okanagan Lake and the Fraser River Crossing. Other projects in health, senior housing, sports centre and water treatment plants are being rolled out.

In a recent magazine article on public sector purchasing, Abraham Akkawi indicated that the tide is turning for Canadian public-private partnerships. Based on an informal analysis of the market for projects that are less than five years old as well as future announced projects, he estimates that there are “at least 100 projects in Canada that fit the P3 criteria. They collectively amount to a total capital outlay of approximately $20 billion.”

RCCAO’s report concludes that Ontario, and other governments across Canada, need to do a number of things to facilitate continued investment in AFPs:

• support innovative financing by policy or legislation;

• create a stable and transparent regulatory framework;

• increase the level of standardization;

• create a pipeline of projects so that there is a predictable flow of deals;

• consider user fees or charges;

• protect public sector jobs through contractual guarantees; and

• provide essential public education. Under the last heading, the report notes that innovative financing

is “not a code word for privatizing public services. Rather it is a strategy for financing and building more public infrastructure – and building it faster.” This is the message that must be delivered to those naysayers who continue to send incorrect messages to the public.

I would encourage all those who are interested in this topic to read the report on the ReNew Canada website or at rccao.com.

Andy Manahan is an officer with rCCAO in addition to his full-time employment with a major construction union based in toronto local 183.


In 2009, the Public Sector Accounting Board mandates all Canadian public sector organizations must report their non-financial assets, including tangible capital assets.

For more information contact [email protected]

or call 877.311.6522

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PSAB PS 3150?

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inFRAguiDE BEST PRACTiCE

By Mike Tobalt

Full Cost Recovery in Water and Sewer Rates.

Through best practices (BP), InfraGuide is looking into solutions for sustaining infrastructure in the long run. Their recently launched best practice (BP) entitled “Water and Sewer Rates: Full

Cost Recovery,” addresses funding for potable water and sewage systems.The report, developed by a group of experts from across Canada, explains

the importance of full cost recovery for municipal water and sewage system services. It outlines an approach the utility manager can take to determine full costs, develop an effective cost recovery strategy and demonstrate to decision-makers the need to approve that strategy. Key topics covered include the identification and quantification of full costs and the setting of adequate and equitable rates to recover full costs.

Budgets for water and sewage systems have typically been based on historical trends, with inflationary and/or service level adjustments. In some cases, refinements in regulations on drinking water quality and wastewater discharge quality impacted budgets. User rate decisions


Identifying full costs and implementing a full cost-recovery plan for water and sewage systems not only represents a sound business practice, but also ensures sustainability of the water and sewage services. Through a technically-defencible finance plan, the municipality can demonstrate accountability to its customers and win their support for proposed rate increases.

InfraGuide is dedicated to developing and promoting best practices to support sustainable municipal infrastructure. This

Water and Sewer Rates: Full Cost Recovery BP is available in hardcopy and on-line at infraguide.ca.

reflected a desire to keep rates low or in line with other municipalities. But as water and sewage systems age and deteriorate, rising renewal costs are leading to inadequate reinvestment in capital renewal and inadequate cost recovery.

The problem is worse where deferred maintenance has widened the gap between what should be spent and what is being spent. Also, as managers incorporate more sophisticated approaches and tools such as business planning, level of service pricing, and performance benchmarking, historical costs with inflationary increases no longer serve as a reliable guide for budgeting. As a result, the gap between what should be spent and what is being spent continues to widen for many utilities

The need to finance the replacement of water and wastewater infrastructure in the coming decades may challenge many utilities financially, particularly those that currently do not include an infrastructure allowance in their rates. In some municipalities, the concurrent need to finance pipe replacement and upgrade treatment plants will significantly increase the challenge.

Proper planning to recover the full costs for these services can help ensure that funding for water and sewage systems is sufficient to sustain them indefinitely and that funds are appropriately spent. A full cost-recovery plan can also be developed to promote more efficient use of water, allowing municipalities to defer costly capacity expansions. Without planning for full cost recovery, the level of service would gradually decline.

A good place to start is with InfraGuide BP’s nine-step process to establish a full cost-recovery plan:

Set goals and objectives

Identify components of full costs

Estimate full costs

Conduct gap analysis

Identify revenue sources and prioritize

Review financing methods

Develop a financial plan

Set the rates and charges

Review the full cost assessment and cost-recovery plan annually

Michael tobalt, P.eng., is a research officer at the National research Council. he is the Potable Water technical Advisor for the InfraGuide

program involved in the production of best practice documents and educational materials.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

“Deferred maintenance has

widened the gap between

what should be spent and

what is being spent.”


reMediate

Redevelopment of brownfield properties is inherently sustainable development compared to development of

“greenfield” properties. But, depending on which remediation technology is used to address site contamination, the sustainability rating of a project can increase. Re-use of existing site materials increases the sustainability of a site by decreasing off-site disposal and use of virgin material as replacement. One remediation technology that permits the beneficial re-use of soil and sediment is solidification/stabilization (S/S). Because of that, S/S is being used at more brownfield sites.

S/S treatment has been successfully used to treat radioactive wastes since the 1950s and hazardous waste since the 1970s. It’s widely used for site remediation and brownfield redevelopment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers S/S an established enough treatment technology to set aside 24 per cent of its Superfund, an EPA fund for cleanup of abandoned or uncontrolled contaminated sites, for source-control remedial actions.

The treatment involves immobilizing contaminants in a treated material by mixing a binding reagent into the contaminated

media or waste. The immobilization prevents migration of the contaminants through airborne particulates and/or via groundwater to humans, animals and plants, helping to protect human health and the environment.

In Canada, S/S technology has been applied to remediation projects like the Sydney Tar Ponds site in Nova Scotia.

How S/S Works

Although the terms “solidification” and “stabilization” sound similar, they describe different processes by which binding reagents immobilize hazardous constituents.

Solidification refers to changes in the physical properties of a hazardous constituent. The desired changes usually include an increase of the unconfined compressive strength, a decrease of permeability, and encapsulation of hazardous constituents.

Stabilization refers to chemical changes of the hazardous constituents in a medium or waste. The desired changes include converting the constituents into a less soluble, mobile, or toxic form. Binding reagents commonly used include portland cement, cement kiln dust (CKD), fly ash and a number of proprietary reagents. Because of the variety of waste

constituents and media, a mix design should be developed for each case. Most mix designs are a blend of the inorganic binding reagents listed above – in other words, cementations. Organic binding reagents like asphalt, thermoplastic and urea-formaldehyde have also been tried. But these are more expensive than inorganic binders, and so are rarely used on a commercial scale.

Effects of Binding reagents on Waste

Portland cement is a generic material used mostly in concrete construction. It’s also a versatile S/S binding reagent with the ability to both solidify and stabilize a wide variety of wastes, making it the most popular base for mix-designs in S/S treatments. Cement is often chosen as a reagent for its ability to:

• chemically bind free liquids;

• reduce the permeability of the waste form;

• encapsulate waste particles surrounding them with animpermeable coating;

• chemically fix hazardous constituents by reducing their solubility; and

• facilitate the reduction of the toxicity of some contaminants.

cEMEnt-BaSED SoliDiFiCATion/STABilizATion

By Chris Clow, Aaron Stauch and Chuck Wilk

Solutions for remediation.

S/S remediation will help sites like this go from brownfields to greenfields.

Photo:P

ortlandC

ementA

ssociation


Field demo on-site

Cement-based S/S has been used to treat wastes that have either or both inorganic and organic hazardous constituents. Mix designs often include by-products or additives in addition to portland cement, such as CKD, fly ash, and slag. These additives can also be used as alternatives to portland cement in some cases, where the mix design is shown to be effective with these products for a particular site. Lime can also be used to adjust pH or to drive off water using the heat produced during hydration.

Among the numerous successes using cement based S/S are a former steel mill site in Vancouver, B.C., a former rifle range in Burnaby, B.C. and a former battery breaking site in Brandon, M.B. (case studies available at renew.net)

cement-Based S/S today

S/S is the preferred treatment technology for sites listed by the U.S. EPA’s Superfund and is gaining momentum in Canada’s remediation market. It has already been used successfully on several projects in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s been proposed for the predesign of the Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens Sites Project in Nova Scotia. This project’s Environmental Impact Statement, including details about the S/S technologies application, was reviewed by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency during a Joint Panel Review in the spring of 2006. Based on that review, cement-based S/S has been proposed by the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency as the remediation technology to be used at three sites. These sites will use a combination of bio-remediation, and ex-situ and in-situ cement-based S/S. An estimated 500,000 or more metric tonnes of contaminated soil will be remediated by one of these methods. Cement-based S/S is being deployed at the former Sydney Steel Corporation site, in combination with bio-remediation, to remediate 100,000 metric tonnes of slag and industrial fill

contaminated with bunker ‘C’ and coal tar.S/S is being considered or used in more

than just the above-mentioned projects. The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) acknowledges its successful use in other parts of North America and has begun the process of examining cement-based S/S by issuing Certificates of Approval (Cs of A) for four test projects in Ontario. The success of these test projects is expected to lead to easier regulatory approval and acceptance of S/S treatment technology in Ontario, resulting in its increased use for treatment of contaminated sites across the province.

Though it is only beginning to enter the Canadian landscape as a viable treatment technology, cement-based S/S is a viable solution because of its ability to stabilize and solidify hazardous waste and media in a cost-effective manner. As it is proposed by engineering designers, selected by site owners and successfully implemented by environmental contractors on more Canadian projects, it will become a valuable tool in brownfield redevelopment and infrastructure renewal.

To find out more about cement-based S/S, contact the Cement Association of Canada for information about member companies, environmental contractors and consultants with experience using cement-based S/S. cement.ca cement.org/waste

Photo:C

ementA

ssociationofCanad

a

Chris Clow, P.eng. is a technical sales engineer specializing in cement-based remediation solutions for lafarge North America. [email protected]

Aaron Stauch is coordinator, Sustainable Development for the Cement Association of Canada based in Ottawa, Ontario. [email protected]

Charles M. Wilk, lehP, QeP, leeD AP is program manager, Waste treatment for the Portland Cement Association based in Skokie, Illinois. [email protected]


This past May, a group of municipal and private-sector leaders from across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) were invited on a business mission to Australia. It was a chance for GTA’s

leading planners and policy-makers to exchange knowledge – and contact information – with their Australian counterparts. I was lucky enough to be part of that group. Part One of my experience in Australia appeared in our July/August issue. It focused on Sydney as a city that knows how to get big dollar projects off the ground. Part Two focuses on Melbourne, an innovative city that’s making its mark internationally.

As Minister Cannon points out in his letter to the editor in this issue of ReNew Canada, quality of life is important for attracting business to a city. Melbourne has a modern, cutting-edge feel, making it a desirable place to do business and visit. GTA cities like Toronto, Burlington and Oshawa can learn from their best practice, and from the mistakes that have been made on the way to excellence.

On our first day in Melbourne, Robert McBride of BA Group Transportation Consultants, Michael Moxam of Stantec and I met with

Phillip Walker, general manager of CivicNexus, a subsidiary of ABN-AMRO. The company developed Southern Cross Station, once called Spencer Street Station, one of the newest additions to Melbourne’s cityscape, and an example of that cutting-edge design. What Walker calls the station’s “quirky design” is part of Melbourne’s image as a quality city. His tour of the station included an account of how the project came together.

Toronto can’t, and shouldn’t, follow their pattern exactly, but it is interesting to see how a project that was inspiring headlines like “Nightmare on Spencer Street” was later featured as a masterpiece in Azure magazine.

For $800 million, Spencer Street Station earned the title of largest P3 project in Victoria and also earned itself a lot of press, both good and bad. Despite some negative press, Walker says Southern Cross is an example of how P3s can work in the public’s favour. “The project ran well over budget and time,” says Walker. “Leighton’s [the contractor] didn’t understand the brief and there were other issues with the state.” In the end, there was a global settlement agreement that had Leighton’s losing around $110 million on the deal. “Leighton’s lost out,” says Walker, “but they’re a huge company and can absorb that loss.”

Victoria State, for the most part, was protected with the bulk of the expense borne by the private sector. “That’s the strength of this process,” says Walker. “CivicNexus – a very large financial institution – stands between the developer and the state. Where the state would generally settle because they don’t want to take the political heat, we would go to court.”

Another thing the city of Melbourne would not have done is bring in one person to clean up a messy situation. Walker alluded to a man called “The Cleaner,” an executive at Leighton’s who was called in when the project was getting off track and given the authority to enforce the plan. But even without mystery executives to reign in a project, P3s are designed with key performance indicators (KPI) so that if, for instance, a design change is implemented that takes the project outside of that regime, the contractor is fined.

PART 2: MELBOUrnE

Photos:Tod

dLatham

Philip walker shows robert Mcbride Southern Cross Station’s wavy roof.

Downtown Melbourne – the eureka tower

MiSSion: aUStraLIa

todd latham with ted tyndorf, chief planner for the City of toronto, during a tour of the eureka building.

With innovative design and development strategies, Melbourne has

become a world-class city that’s got the international community’s attention. By Todd Latham and Mira Shenker


Sticking to the design is about more than just budget in Melbourne. Design is becoming a priority – they’ve even appointed a chief architect – in charge of what Walker calls “vision-type stuff” – to ensure the city generates world class buildings. “Melbourne is a collection of leading-edge buildings not just in functionality but in esthetics,” says Walker. He says the features that make Melbourne’s design leading-edge, like the wavy roof on Southern Cross Station, transfer into prosperity for the city. Architectural magazines around the world have featured Melbourne’s cityscape thanks to other well-designed projects like Federation Square and the Convention Centre – both P3s.

But don’t get Walker wrong. “Developing the full commercial potential is not just about building a wavy roof and putting a railway station in it,” he said. The development created a linkage between the docklands and the west end. Property values in the precinct have increased significantly and Walker says people have started frequenting the station on their lunch break because of the quality of services. “It’s a multi-purpose space, not just a railway station.” McBride said: “The station is an example of how you can achieve functionality and still create a space that is delightful.”

McBride said a project with such an ambitious design could have been a disaster but they were able to “define clearly what they needed and provide it, without compromising it with the design.” John Campbell at the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. (TWRC) hopes design will be as big of a priority in the development of Toronto’s waterfronts. They intend to set up a design review panel to consult in the developing process.

But good design is meaningless if a project doesn’t have enough support to get started. “We don’t seem to be able to make [these big projects] happen,” said McBride. “Union Station had a plan that formed the basis of a contractual arrangement, but at the end of the day it floundered both on design issues and with the contract.” He says Toronto is now looking into adding one platform to the subway station at a cost of close to $100 million, “but not as part of a big master plan people can get excited about.”

Creating that master plan is what gets public support for big projects. That’s partly why the TWRC organized Quay to the Waterfront, a temporary redesign of Toronto’s docklands to show the public what it could look like. Involving citizens in a project, showing them the big picture and getting them excited about it, is key to integrating a big development into a central, downtown location. Our tour of the new Eureka building in downtown Melbourne was an impressive example of how to build in a central location. The tower, one of the tallest in Australia, is in a prime downtown location, with 554 ultra-chic living units for sale, but is somehow seamlessly integrated into the city.

Melbourne has created more worldwide publicity – bolstering its reputation as a modern, innovative city. The Committee for the Melbourne model is being copied around the world, with 17 participating cities. Right now, they’re working on a $9-billion renewal project for the docklands at Victoria Harbour – the largest waterfront development in Australia. Victoria Harbour is already the biggest port in Australia with two million visitors per year. After the project is finished, projections put the number of visitors at 20 million.

There’s no reason why Toronto’s docklands couldn’t be just as big of a draw. Janine Kirk at the Committee for Melbourne says: “Melbourne is building ‘another city’ just like Toronto could build ‘another city’ – on the docklands.” Because the two cities are similar in many ways, Toronto can look to Melbourne as a guide and a source of inspiration.

Written by todd latham, publisher and Mira Shenker, associate editor. links to organizations and further documents related to this mission have been posted at renewcanada.net. ReNew Canada thanks the GtMA and the Canadian Consul General of Australia for organizing and hosting this mission. A special thank you goes out to John benjamin of longreach Capital for his generous hospitality and introduction to Aussie rules ‘footie’ while in Melbourne.


Mark Twain said that everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. He might have said the same about Canada’s infrastructure deficit.

Part of the problem is that the term “infractructure” is vague. Most people don’t understand it, let alone get excited about it. And if a theoretical concept like infrastructure is a tough sell to the public, convincing them to care about infrastructure maintenance and renewal is even harder.

While the industry is talking about an infrastructure gap, or a funding crisis, says Leo Gohier, director of Infrastructure Dynamix Inc. (Idx), it’s this lack of public understanding that’s getting Canada into trouble. “We’re not in a crisis now,” he says, “we are at the foot of one. The real crisis is that we don’t manage it, we don’t prepare for it and we don’t communicate it.”

Gohier says too much focus is being put on the one per cent or so of new development that goes up every year, while the existing 99 per cent is falling apart. Canada’s major infrastructure was built during a boom in development 25 to 40 years ago. Now, like the generation that built them, those massive underground networks and highways are in their golden years. Statistics Canada found that, as of 2003, three of the four major components of engineering infrastructure had passed the halfway mark of their service life.

“Aging,” says Guy Felio of Infrastructure Canada, “is a natural process – though some infrastructure is deteriorating faster than others because of certain conditions and issues.”

According to the Technology Road Map, a report published in 2003 by the Cement Association of Canada (CAC) on current and proposed infrastructure initiatives, more money is actually going toward dealing with existing infrastructure than building new.

But if investments aren’t made from an asset manager’s perspective, they may be a waste. Gohier says repairs that save money in the short term can end up costing more in the end. “If you spend 50 per cent of the original cost of an asset on repairs and it doesn’t last another half of its life-cycle, you’ve wasted your money.”

Gohier says engineers, planners and policy-makers need to learn how to be asset managers.

That’s why networks like InfraGuide have developed. “Civil engineering design graduates are being asked to do repairs and retrofits, and all kinds of things they’re not trained to do,” says Felio. InfraGuide provides best-practice case studies to spread knowledge about, for instance, the compatibility of materials, so that retrofits are sustainable.

Because, as ReNew addressed in its first issue, there was no

long-term plan for replacing our major infrastructure when it was originally built, Canadians are now hearing the phrase “infrastructure deficit” from planners, researchers and policy-makers.

Statistics Canada tags it at $60 billion, growing by $2- to $3-billion annually. The technology road map mentions $67 billion, while a study by McGill University puts it at $44 billion. If the amounts each province reports as its deficit are added together, the national deficit is actually closer to $130 billion. And there are any number of other estimates that make it into the media.

Part of the problem is that each study uses its own definition of “infrastructure” and “acceptable condition.” With so many variables, there’s no way to put any meaningful value on it. And anyway, that’s not the point. “Whether it’s 40 or 60 or 100 billion, nobody’s going to come up with that amount and say, ‘Let’s fix it,’” says Felio.

But there also needs to be communication between industry professionals and the public. Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel says, “We have to be creative in finding long-term solutions.” But we can’t do that unless the public changes its attitude. “People think, ‘I paid my taxes, why isn’t there money to fix my street?’” he says. “The public needs to be aware of what’s being done and how much it costs. We need to outline what their taxes are going to be and explain to the public that taxes only cover 10 to 15 per cent of repairs. They need to be brought into the process so they understand the situation we’re in, and that we didn’t charge them enough.”

While the public may not be ready to think long-term, developers seem to be. Baker says: “Green building is not a trend like it was in the sixties. The cost of making and maintaining doesn’t equal cost. It’s not that simple.” People are starting to realize that, and sustainable building is becoming the norm. Jamie James, environmental consultant at Tridel, says: “LEED is essentially the de facto in-house standard from now on.”

Companies like Tridel are starting to account for long-term costs. The cost of a project including its environmental consequences is being called “true cost.” A report for the FCM in 2004 called The Economic benefits of Integrated Green Infrastructure by Sustainable EDGE Inc (now Cobalt), says that efficient, green design will save money if this true cost is considered. Reducing capital and operating costs is possible using integrated green infrastructure if developers are willing to spend more upfront. “Either we bite the bullet and pay the cost now or we do it later,” says Harry Baker at the Canadian Infrastructure Assessment Centre (CIAC).

ThE STATE oF canaDa’S InfraStrUctUrE

By Mira Shenker

understanding what it is, how much we have and how much we need.

Photo:A

ME

C

Pipeline construction in Alberta


Later means when we’ve run out of options. “It will be 30 years from now when the roads fall apart and we have an infrastructure crisis,” says Gohier.

Companies like Australian Macquarie Bank Ltd. are willing to spend the money now, as long as the project meets their updated definition of infrastructure. James Cowan at Macquarie says: “The traditional definition of infrastructure doesn’t discern between a road we want to invest in or not.” He says infrastructure has to not only provide an essential service to the community and have a competitive advantage, but it also needs to provide sustainable long-term cash flows. “Not all toll roads will make money.”

That last statement is at the root of Canada’s continued resistance to P3s. In a 2003 report called Investing in Infrastructure, The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says that P3s “introduce the profit motive into the delivery of essential public goods – an obvious conflict with the public interest.”

But industry professionals like Gohier are all for P3s, and they seem to be the norm globally. Gohier says that France and the UK use P3s extensively. In fact, the UK’s water and sewer system has been privatized since the 1970s. “The water bills went up by 77 percent,” says Gohier, “but ours need to. Just because bills go up, that doesn’t make it a bad thing.” (see Manahan’s article on page 24.)

There’s a long list of willing Canadian investors who would be happy to see Canada follow the UK’s model. Right now, groups like the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) are investing internationally because they don’t see any viable opportunities in Canada. (See page 29). The OTPP’s only current Canadian investment is debt interest in the 407 highway. James Leech, senior vice-president of the Teachers’ Private Capital at the OTPP says: “We had equity interest in Alfalink in Alberta but it was recently divested due in part to a ruling by an Alberta regulator that was averse to pension funds,” he said, “The regulators take their cue from the politicians and the political will to date doesn’t seem to be there.”

“The federal government is interested in pursuing [P3s] and has consulted with various sectors about it.” says Gerry Maffre at Infrastructure Canada. He says the Canada Line in B.C. and the Edmonton Ring Road are big P3 projects the federal government fully supports. Still, Leech says, “Whether it’s public perception or the influence of regulated labour, there appears to be an opposition to private investments [in Canada].”

Cowan says part of that opposition is the public’s expectation that the government take responsibility for public services, but points to several instances where the public has accepted privately-funded services without reservation. “People buy bottled water because they don’t want to drink municipal water,” he says. “The government does have an obligation to regulate, to make sure people get education, health care, quality water, but that doesn’t mean they have to provide it.”

For the most part in Canada, the government is still responsible for public infrastructure, and more of that pressure is on local governments. That’s partly because urgency for these projects is only felt at the municipal level. “There are no unemployed in the province of Alberta,” says Mandel, “but there are in the city of Edmonton.”

“The government does have an

obligation to regulate, to make sure

people get education, health care,

quality water. But that doesn’t mean

they have to provide it.”


are proud to present a joint venture supplement

on infrastructure in Canada.

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Gloria Kovachs, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) says over the last decade, more responsibility has been given to municipalities. “But more funding hasn’t come along with that responsibility.”

Kovachs says municipal investments in physical infrastructure have averaged about $10 billion a year, jumping to $11 billion in 2004. According to the FCM, they are at “a tipping point.”

Thelma Gee, senior planner at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, says that for public funding to make even a dent in the gap, “there needs to be cooperation between all three levels of government.” A recent report released by the FCM called Immediate and Long-term Federal Funding Support for Infrastructure says that “municipal governments cannot meet this challenge alone.”

According to Kovachs, the report was part of a presentation to Federal Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Lawrence Cannon (see page 5) when he met with members of the FCM on August 31. “These meetings,” says the report, “mark a significant departure from the old top-down approach to designing federal investments in infrastructure.” It repeats several times what has become the mantra of policy-makers and planners in recent years – more than just funding, a long-term plan is badly needed. That’s why when Winnipeg pledged extra money from a rainy-day fund this year for road and highway repairs, not everyone was thrilled. Without a long-term plan, many said, extra funding is ineffectual.

But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when professional planners get together to discuss possible solutions to the problem, they conclude that more planning is needed. While necessary, if talks between all three orders of government and the public were the solution to Canada’s infrastructure shortage, it wouldn’t be the subject of countless articles and reports.

“The fundamental problem here is the public’s expectations,” says Gohier. He says this so-called crisis is a philosophical issue before it’s a financial or logistics one. “Planners can solve any problem if you give them enough money. They’ll make bigger roads, add more pumps – there’s always an engineering solution.”

What’s needed now is not new technology, or even more planning, it’s action. “We’re at the bottom of the curve in terms of infrastructure starting to cost us money,” says Gohier. The same logic that tells us to board up the windows before a storm should be telling us to put a plan in action now.

Mira Shenker, bA is associate editor at reNew Canada. She has a degree in Creative Writing from Concordia university.

over the last decade, more responsibility has been given to municipalities, but more funding hasn’t come along with that responsibility.

Gerry Maffre at Infrastructure Canada says the federal government doesn’t fund

infrastructure projects based on category, but based on need. Beyond “the classics” – water, sewers, roads – Maffre says, “the federal government invests in public infrastructure that is essential for quality of life.” Any structure that provides a service the public wants or has come to expect is public infrastructure.

A prosperous city is built on good public transit, road networks, broadband technology, hospitals, schools to train professionals to work in hospitals, airports, convention centres, social housing, parks, bike paths.

As of 2002, Statistics Canada had the government owning $154.8 billion in engineering infrastructure alone. As the public’s idea of what constitutes quality changes, even more money is needed to modernize facilities. The 2006 budget has the federal government investing a record $16.5 billion in infrastructure – both to build new and maintain existing – over the next four years. In the 2005-2006 term, Statistics Canada projects $34 billion in total investments (see statscan.ca for details).

WHatiSInfraStrUctUrE?the Breakdown (from Infrastructure canada)Often the focus is on physical, as opposed to community or social, infrastructure.

physical: roads, railways, airports and border crossings. benefits: trade, tourism, security.

Supporting utilities: water, wastewater, electrical. benefits: energy, clean water, health.

communications: phones, cable, satellite and other telecommunications systems. benefits: economic productivity, access to markets.

Supporting public activities: government buildings, hospitals and schools, cultural and recreational. benefits: education, health and quality of life.


International Projects

Pipeline construction along a u.S. road.

Investor: AMEC

project: In August 2006, they signed a contract with Enbridge to provide program, project management, engineering, and procurement services for the Southern Access and Southern Lights Pipeline projects. Work, to be done in Chicago and Illinois, includes building a crude oil pipeline from the Rockies and Alberta to refineries in the Midwestern U.S. and a hydrocarbon pipeline for transporting diluents to Alberta.

Value: US$19 million

Details at amec.com

Investor: Bombardier Transportation Ltd.

project: In June 2006, 550 kilometres of line was built from Lhasa to Tibet – it’s the highest train in the world. Bombardier supplied 367 rail passenger cars, sealed and pressurised to help commuters withstand altitudes higher than 4,000 metres.

Value: $4.2 billion total – almost triple the amount Beijing spent in Tibet on health care and education between 1952 and 2000. Bombardier’s deal was worth C$402 million. They signed C$611 million worth of contracts with China last year alone.

Details at transport.bombardier.com

Stephane rambaud-Measson of bomabardier with Mr. lu Guanglin of Guangzhou Metro Corporation.

Investor: Intelliware

project: They are helping to renovate a kindergarten school in Meung Kong, in Southern Laos. The Jai Dee Children’s Fund, a Toronto charity, is raising funds to help supply pipes for running water, electricity and outhouses. Desks, chairs, books and other materials will also be bought.

Value: Intelliware is contributing $2,000 to the project. The overall cost will be around $6,000.

Details at jaideechildrensfund.org

the school, called Annuban, as it currently looks.

Photo:A

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Type of Government

Approx. Surface Area (sq.km.)

Approx. Population

Approx. # of “Local Government” Entities

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20 million 700Federal Government with States/Territories responsible for local

government (Local councils)

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270,000 4 million 70central Government responsible for local authorities

Infrastructure has become a major preoccupation for many countries around the world. Developed countries, such as Canada, face the challenge of maintaining their

existing stocks of water, wastewater, roads, bridges, and other systems that support economic growth and help maintain the quality of life of their citizens. Meanwhile, developing countries are in the process of building their infrastructure systems to provide basic services to their people.

In view of the massive investments needed in infrastructure worldwide, many countries are turning to asset management (AM) systems to ensure the highest possible returns. There are many definitions of this concept but they all point to an integrated (across types of infrastructure) and rigorous process of gathering knowledge about assets (inventory, condition assessment), predicting their value and performance, determining the needs (maintenance, rehabilitation, renewal) and associated costs over the life-cycle, and choosing the best available technologies for construction and monitoring.

Asset management is not new to infrastructure, having been first applied with pavement management systems more than 20 years ago. Today, the principles of asset management have been expanded and applied to all municipal infrastructure assets.

Although many countries have identified the need for asset management for their infrastructure, only a few have developed tools and implemented policies to address that. Australia and New Zealand are front-runners in the development of infrastructure AM tools. While New Zealand offers valuable lessons in terms of implementation, Australia – because of greater similarities with Canada – offers a better comparison, as shown in the table on the right.

how does canada compare to australia and new Zealand?

By Dr. Guy Felio

Sorted plastics waiting to be sent off for recycling.

Photos:A

CTN

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Canada and Australia have other common elements. For example, the population in the two countries is concentrated in certain geographical zones (in Canada, along the southern perimeter, within 150 kilometres of the U.S. border; in Australia, along the south and east coasts). Both countries are greatly influenced by neighbouring economic superpowers (Canada by the U.S. economy, Australia by that of China and Asia in general). Both have native/aboriginal peoples who live in remote areas that are difficult to access and are exposed to harsh climatic conditions.

These common factors result in Australia and Canada sharing similar challenges in terms of their infrastructure, and its management, including extensive infrastructure networks, ageing urban systems under increasing demand, and servicing remote areas.

In a recent (August 2005) study tour to the region, I was fortunate to attend an infrastructure conference and meet a large number of practitioners and

recyclables are deposited at a Materials recovery Facility.

InfraStrUctUrE ASSETMAnAgEMEnT


policy makers from both Australia and New Zealand. Here are some of the highlights:

Engineers Australia (equivalent to the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers - CCPE) released infrastructure report cards for the country (2005) and for AU States (they can be downloaded from engineersaustralia.org.au). These report cards look at roads, rail, electricity, gas, airports, potable water, storm and wastewater and telecommunications. The report identifies primary challenges related to the maintenance and improvement of infrastructure services such as funding (including mechanisms for the private sector to participate in the provision of these services) and skilled labour shortages (for example, Australia will need 30,000 more civil engineers in the next 10 years). Among its recommendations, Engineers Australia proposes:

• The creation of a National Infrastructure Advisory Council to bring stakeholders together and devise strategies and policies related to infrastructure (this is similar to the Canadian concept of a National Round Table for Sustainable Infrastructure which is being explored by national partners under the leadership of CCPE); and

• Infrastructure planning that is long-term, integrates all elements of infrastructure, and that includes more efficiently

sustainability considerations (social, environmental and economic factors).

An AM culture has not yet been embedded within public organizations (municipalities or local councils). Even if Australia and New Zealand have done well in producing the International Infrastructure Management Manual, it is not enough. There still exist issues related to the culture and structure (silo) of organizations, people, and the connection to the customer (which is generally poorly addressed).

The main promoters of asset management are the Institute of Public Works Engineers Australia, and its counterpart, Ingenium in New Zealand. In Australia, efforts such as training and mentoring are being put in place to inform and educate non-technical staff of cities and communities of the value of AM implementation. The expected results are more informed elected officials and administrations in the benefits of AM systems for their communities.

Canada is certainly the leader in bringing together multi-discipline, multi-stakeholder groups to arrive at a consensus on these issues.


concept lead by the CCPE, or the National Asset Management (NAM) working group, composed of engineers, planners, accountants, academics, and municipal elected officials, are but examples of the unique and inclusive approach Canada has taken.

In terms of asset management guidance, Canada has a number of activities to generate AM knowledge (the National Research Council’s Municipal Infrastructure Investment Planning project) or to disseminate knowledge (the National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure, or InfraGuide).

Overall, none of the three aforementioned countries has created the “silver AM bullet.” Close collaboration between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries that are seriously looking at “managing the infrastructure gap” such as the U.S., UK, and South Africa, will help improve our methods and approaches, avoid costly mistakes, and provide the public with the best infrastructure services at a reasonable price.

In New Zealand, the situation is quite different, primarily because of the size of the country and the type of government. The Central Government passed the revised Local Government Act in 2002, which, among others, requires Local Authorities to produce Long Term Council Community Plans (LTCCPs) by 2006 and contains comprehensive provisions for asset management (the earlier Act of 2000 required all municipalities in New Zealand to develop and implement asset management plans). Most of theses plans are public and can be found on the communities’ websites. Lessons learned (especially from small councils) include:

• Culture change needed (thinking beyond minimum compliance, need for a long- term approach that is supported by senior levels of management and elected officials within the organization);

• Organizational structure changes needed (silos still exist that place barriers to an integrated approach and result in sub-optimal decision making);

• Lack of resources (human, material, financial to fully implement AM systems and achieve highest returns); and

• Commitment at all levels is necessary to the successful implementation of AM systems.

Dr. Guy Felio is technical manager, National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure, at the NrC Institute for research in Construction.

Australia and New Zealand have developed solid practices and documentation to support the development and implementation of municipal AM plans (e.g., the International Infrastructure Management Manual). However, in Australia, there still is a need for widespread implementation of asset management practices. Changes are however likely to come as various states implement requirements for municipalities to have AM plans and with the growing interest of State Auditor Generals in how infrastructure investment decisions are planned and implemented.

So, how does Canada fare in comparison to our commonwealth cousins down-under?

Canada’s approach to financing infrastructure (e.g., Government of Canada partnerships with provinces and territories for infrastructure programs such as Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund - CSIF, Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund - MRIF and the Gas Tax agreements) is unique. For example, the fact that MRIF contains provisions to support asset management plans should increase the awareness and use of AM systems in municipalities across the country. Canada is certainly the leader in bringing together multi-discipline, multi-stakeholder groups to arrive at a consensus on these issues. The National Round Table on Sustainable Infrastructure


spreading out its costs to help with cash management and to match its payment to the use of the infrastructure.

So while P3s are similar to debt in that no current revenue is spent upfront and repayment is over a long period, they are

quite different in that the government itself does not issue any debt. Instead the developers arrange all the financing necessary to design, build and operate the project.

For any given project, a private-sector partner has the option of using corporate finance or project finance to raise funds. With corporate finance, a company raises equity or debt based on its own collateral and capacity to do so. This may be suitable for smaller and shorter-duration projects that won’t strain the company’s balance sheet or limit its capacity to undertake other and future projects. But most public-purpose infrastructure projects are too large for this, so the private sector partners turn to project finance.

The key distinguishing feature of project finance is that funds are raised based on the cash flow that is generated by the project once it is constructed and in service, and not on the collateral or creditworthiness of the developer(s). For example, consider a highway P3 with a concession period of 25 years. The government has agreed to pay the developers a fee each year for the availability of the highway, or perhaps it is a toll highway and the developer will collect tolls. This long-term cash flow to the developers is the asset against which it can borrow the money necessary to build the highway upfront.

Generally, the developers of a project create a special purpose, bankruptcy-remote, legally-independent company in which they are

PRojECT fInancE

understanding

the lesser-known

element of

private funding

for infrastructure.

The term “public-private partnership” (P3), is becoming more and more well-known and understood in Canada. It often goes hand in hand with “project finance,” a term

that’s not as well understood. Two of the more common and comprehensive types of P3s in

Canada are design-build-finance-operate (DBFO) and design-build-finance-maintain (DBFM), where the developer, a private-sector partner, finances a project for the government and is then paid back over time for the satisfactory performance of the infrastructure or service. Project finance describes the way the private sector raises money to finance these projects. A basic understanding of project finance can help everyone understand why and how private- sector partners, the developers, organize to deliver public-purpose infrastructure through P3s.

Traditionally, governments have funded infrastructure projects by paying for their procurement upfront, using current revenues or by issuing debt. With P3s, the government typically pays for the availability of the infrastructure over a long period of time,

reFinance reFinance

By Dale Richmond


the principal shareholders. The newly-created project company usually has the minimum equity required to issue debt at a reasonable cost, with equity generally averaging between 10 and 30 per cent of the total capital required for the project. Individual developers often hold a sufficiently small share of the new company’s equity to ensure that it can’t be construed as a subsidiary for legal and accounting purposes. The project company is the company with which the government executes the P3 agreement and to which it pays the concession fees. In turn the project company pays principal, interest, dividends and operating expenses from the fees.

The bankruptcy-remote nature of the project company means it is sufficiently legally separate from its owners, the developers, that bankruptcy of the developers can’t cause the bankruptcy of the project company. This protects the government and the lenders, isolating the infrastructure from the long-term corporate success or failure of the developers. This is not to say that failure of a developer could not be problematic, but it does ensure that the infrastructure is protected so that the lenders can step in and operate it if necessary. The rights of the lenders to protect their investment in this way are set out in a “lenders-direct agreement” between the government and the lenders.

reFinance reFinance

Capital markets are

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providing financing

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infrastructure projects.

project company

Users

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governmentLenders

Loan

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ServicesUser feesA basic project finance scheme.


reFinance

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The final legal structure of each independent project is different. The chart on page 35 lays out a simple project finance scheme. It shows that the project company may have more than one developer, generally for one of the following reasons:

• the project exceeds the financial or technical capabilities of one developer;

• the risks associated with the project have to be shared;

• a larger project achieves economies of scale that several smaller projects will not achieve;

• the developers complement each other in terms of capability;

• the process requires or encourages a joint venture with certain interests, for instance, local participation or empowerment; and/or

• the legal and accounting rules stipulate a maximum equity position by a developer, above which the project company will be considered a subsidiary.

In large projects, different legal vehicles may be established to perform specific functions like construction, maintenance and actual ownership. The structure is often dictated by tax and other legal conditions, as well as by the credit implications for each participant. It’s also very common for a developer to be more than simply the financial owner of the project company, but to provide one or more key services to the project company. For example, design, construction, or some aspect of operations.

Project companies will seek out financing from a wide range of sources to secure debt and equity at the lowest cost. Capital markets are very interested in providing financing to P3-based infrastructure projects, which often achieve high credit ratings because of the expertise of the developers and the stability of Canadian governments. As a result, Canadian public-purpose infrastructure is now being financed by a wide range of banks, financial institutions, equity funds, and pension funds.

Dale richmond is president of the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships. this article was prepared in cooperation with the

Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships by Chris baisley of Deloitte Infrastructure Advisory & Project Finance.


fIBrE-OptIc nETWoRkS

By John Leckie

industry playing field not just for telecommunications companies anymore.

Not long from now, a student in the photonics program at Niagara College will be able to sit down at a computer at the Welland campus and access devices in the advanced

photonics lab at Algonquin College in Ottawa.The two schools have been operating a joint program for a number of

years but they are hoping to make greater use of the high-speed optical network set up by ORION (the Ontario Research and Innovation Network) to link Ontario’s educational and research institutions to provide greater resources to the students on both campuses.

Similarly, the recently-opened Advanced RF Systems Laboratory at the University of Manitoba, the second of four test labs in the $23-million National Microelectronics and Photonics Testing Collaboratory, will allow researchers and graduate students at 21 Canadian universities access to its tools and equipment through the Ca*net4 network set up by CANARIE, the not-for-profit organization funded by Industry Canada to develop next-generation networks and applications.

Remote access is one of the benefits made possible by the broadband capacity of a fibre-optic network. Researchers in the field are expecting more and more of these types of links to develop as the technology running the networks improves and as more fibre-optic networks develop. Eventually, it might be possible for a doctor,

located in a major centre, to operate on a patient in a remote part of the country using fibre-optic connections.

Fibre-optic cable now links all of Ontario’s universities and most of its community colleges. Through Orion and CANARIE, research and educational institutions in Canada are linked with other research and education networks in North America and around the world. Other provinces have networks similar to Orion, such as Quebec’s RISQ (Reseau Interordinateurs Scientifique du Quebec) or Alberta’s Netera.

Fibre-optic cable, which transmits data by means of laser-generated light though glass (or sometimes plastic) fibre, has played a significant role in telecommunications infrastructure for a number of years. Until recently, however, it has been used primarily for point-to-point long-distance connections with copper wire and coaxial cable dominating the local connections.

“It’s like having a very good, fast highway linking B.C. to Quebec without all the side routes for every city in between,” says Amr Helmy, assistant professor in the photonics group of the University of Toronto’s electrical and computer engineering department.

Much of that fibre-optic cable had been put in place by the country’s major telecommunications players – Bell, Telus, Rogers and others – but the playing field is rapidly changing.


Where the telecommunications companies pretty much had the field to themselves not so long ago, new competitors have come onto the scene, particularly in the downtown cores of larger cities.

Electrical utilities, both provincial, like Hydro One, and municipal, like Toronto Hydro, had put in place extensive fibre-optic networks to monitor and manage their electrical grids but, while they required the speed and reliability of fibre-optical cable, the actual bandwidth requirements were minimal. Many of them realized they had an asset that could be leveraged and set up telecom companies to do that.

Hydro One Telecom Inc. is only a small part of the overall utility, accounting for $19 million in revenue in 2004, about one per cent of the total. Customers include banks, insurance companies, school boards and some government ministries. In addition, some capacity is provided wholesale for other telecommunications companies.

“We are strictly data communications,” says spokesperson Nancy Lunn. “We target companies that have to move a lot of data and happen to be located where we have the capacity.”

Toronto Hydro Telecom recently started up its wireless network that it hopes will eventually cover all of Toronto. The utility is taking advantage of its fibre-optic capacity as well as its access to utility poles to provide perches for wireless transmitters.

Bill St. Arnaud, senior director for advanced networks at CANARIE, says there has been a trend toward users owning their own fibre, both because fibre has been getting cheaper and because the technology for “lighting” the fibre has become a lot easier to use.

Where Canada has started to fall behind, he says, is in deployment of the “last mile,” bringing cable to the home.

There is not a lot of incentive for the telephone and cable companies, which dominate the residential market, to put out the major capital expense of deploying fibre at this point, he says.

“This is where the municipalities can play a role.”

“It’s like having a very

good, fast highway

linking B.C. to Quebec

without all the side routes

for every city in between.”


By installing fibre as public infrastructure which can be leased to potential users or network builders, the municipality can take care of the last mile situation, like many communities in Europe and Japan have done, he says. It could also increase municipal revenues.

Helmy does not expect copper wire will disappear all that quickly in the final mile and, for most uses of the system, it is not all that crucial that is disappear entirely. As the fibre networks get faster, however, the distance covered by copper wire will get shorter and shorter, he says.

His research is related to developing devices that will permit all-optical processing of data packets which could improve processing speeds by five to 10 times.

Now, when data has to be processed in the system, the optical information is converted to electronic signals and then switched back to optical after processing.

The problem for researchers, like Helmy and his team at the University of Toronto, is that electronic processing will soon be capable of handling speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second. Given that most networks now are running at one gigabit, some at 10 gigabits and a few at 40 gigabits, the electronic equipment can handle things well enough for the time being. In order to

develop something that will make the all-optical equipment worthwhile when it is finally ready for commercial application, it will have to handle speeds well over 100 gigabits per second.

Optical networks still face the problem of a lack of tools to diagnose problems when they develop on the network, says Michel Savoie, research program manager for broadband and optical networks for Communications and Research Centre Canada.

“They are fine when everything is working well,” he says, “but, when there are problems, we don’t have the tools to facilitate and automate finding where the problem is.”

Developments in the fibre-optic field have not been coming as quickly since the industry took a major hit in 2000-2001. Major research supporters — such as Nortel and JDS Uniphase — cut back dramatically while they struggled with the effects of the downturn in the industry.

For researchers, this brought a double hit of drastically-reduced support from industry and a similarly dramatic cut in government support because of the linkage of government and industry contributions. Some have been forced to shift their focus elsewhere simply because there is no funding for their fibre-optic research.

The big push in fibre-optic networks now is for agility, says John Cartledge, coordinator of graduate studies in the electrical and computer engineering program of the faculty of applied science at Queen’s University in Kingston. Using ROADM (reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer) technology, networks no longer have to take a direct route from point A to point B. It may get to B eventually, after a few other stops on the way.

Fibre-optic networks, while an integral part of the telecommunications scene at present, are a just beginning to fulfill their potential. There is a tremendous potential waiting to be unleashed but it will be a few years before we know just where that potential will be headed.

John leckie is a freelance writer and editor who has written extensively about construction for a variety of newspapers and magazines.

Fibre-optic networks, while an integral part of the telecommunications scene at present, are a just beginning to fulfill their potential.


SElling pOWErBy David McFadden and Michael Morrison

Regulations to make sure available power gets to market.

The main preoccupation in the electricity sector in many jurisdictions has been the power supply mix. Attention has tended to be focused around the type of generation supply,

for example, nuclear hydro, and the percentage that each supply type should have in the supply mix. Frequently the availability and strength of the infrastructure required to get the electricity to market has taken a back seat. In many jurisdictions, the key infrastructure – transmission lines – is aging and is not adequate to transmit the required future electricity supply requirements for the market, and in some cases not even current requirements.

Governments and regulatory boards must turn their attention to ensuring that the electricity infrastructure is sufficient, some would argue more than sufficient, to ensure that future generations will be able to reach the market.

In Ontario, the transmission network was planned and designed when the province was a net exporter of electricity. That pattern is changing and the province is now an importer. This is changing the flow pattern and triggering the need for investment in the transmission network. As generation and load patterns change so

must the transmission grid. As changes occur in the location of major generation sites, either conventional or renewable, the transmission system must adapt and change because the change in the pattern of electricity flow can lead to a reduced ability to move electricity through the system. In addition, congestion may be created where it does not currently exist.

As the province phases out coal-fired generation, it is facing the reality that the replacement generation, in most circumstances renewable power, will not be located close to the existing coal-fired plants. Instead, the renewable generation – wind and water – will be located in remote areas of the province where transmission facilities are often inadequate or even non-existent. The transmission lines needed to move the electricity produced to market are also either insufficient or non-existent.

It’s now being recognized that an increased reliance on renewable generation will inevitably require significant new investment in transmission. “Timely investment in the transmission system will become an important enabler for some of the fundamental goals of Ontario’s energy policy in the future.” says The Ontario Power Authority.

re: the law


But recognizing that investment in transmission networks is required is only part of the equation. To ensure that transmission is in place when needed requires an efficient, non-duplicative regulatory process. In some jurisdictions, the length of time taken in the regulatory process for new transmission projects can be double the length of time to actually construct the transmission line. Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator notes that “there are a number of needed transmission projects that cannot be completed in time if we have to follow the current approvals process to the letter.” Hydro One, the company responsible for Ontario’s transmission network, further notes that under the current regulatory regime it will take until January 2018 before major transmission projects can be in service. However, under a streamlined regulatory regime the in-service date could be as early as January 2011.

The Ontario Power Authority is recognizing this with the development of its Integrated Power System Plan. Through this Plan, the OPA is proposing that transmission capability be built to anticipate future demand and supply requirements, not in reaction to unanticipated demand or new generation.

Alberta has already adopted the forward-looking transmission-planning model. The Alberta Independent System Operator (AISO) is responsible for forecasting the needs of market participants and developing plans for the transmission system, including expansions and enhancements. When the AISO determines that an upgrade to the transmission system is required, it must submit a needs identification document to the utilities board.

Across Canada, the ability to move power to market efficiently is not just an integral part of a robust electricity sector but also a key factor for a strong economy. It’s therefore important for decision makers to effectively address key infrastructure requirements in response to evolving market developments.

Michael Morrison is the National energy and Infrastructure Industry Group Manager at the law firm of Gowling lafleur henderson llP. he has extensive energy sector experience in regulatory affairs, marketing design and market operations.

David McFadden is a senior partner at the law firm of Gowling lafleur henderson llP and is chair of

the national energy and Infrastructure Industry Group. David has played a key role in a number of

initiatives relating to the power industry.

“Renewable generation – wind and water – will

be located in remote areas of the province where

transmission facilities are often inadequate or even

non-existent.”

re: the law


gEOtHErMaL

By Ron Dembo

Centralized power generation systems are the way of the past, and the future starts in individual homes.

We are at a critical juncture in terms of power generation. An urgent need exists to expand our power supply and yet we must also address rising energy costs, volatile oil

prices, environmental strain and the challenges posed by terrorism. Most of the remedies for tackling this crisis rely on traditional

methods of producing electricity, such as burning coal or investing in nuclear power. But these options are costly, particularly when one factors in their environmental impact.

It ’s time to consider the merits of a new paradigm, which would both solve this problem and improve our ability to generate power. Instead of building more of the same, we must re-think how we produce power. We need to create a distributed system of energy production where individual homes can be turned into renewable energy generators.

In the past, the up-front costs associated with installing small- to medium-sized renewable energy systems were prohibitive. However, Zerofootprint Energy has devised a solution to overcome this challenge, making the widespread adoption of geothermal energy a cost-efficient and viable option.

An analogy comparing our current electricity generation capabilities to the mainframe era of computing helps illuminate this vision for change.

In the early days of computing, there were comparatively few giant mainframes. Those that existed were typically found in special air-conditioned rooms and were owned by large organizations. Users could only network to them via their terminals – although the mainframes themselves were not networked. When the mainframe went down, which happened often, employees lost the capacity to work.

Electricity generation through centralized power plants works in much the same way. Although we are hooked into them through a network called the grid, the plants are single points of failure – if one goes down, hundreds of thousands of people can be without electricity. Case in point: the devastating Quebec ice storm in 1999 and the 2003 blackout that shut down much of the eastern seaboard for several days.

Centralized power plants, like mainframes, are difficult to expand. If usage increases, more giant plants must be built at tremendous cost and with long lead times.

In computing, these vulnerabilities were recognized and addressed. Today, many people have access to one or more computers, as well as multiple ways of getting onto the Internet. If additional users come along, they can simply hook their machines onto a network and become part of the system. Decentralization has also helped computer networks become more reliable and less risky. Now the Internet is never down. Even in a crisis like 9/11, when local telephone networks were severed, workers could communicate wirelessly, using handheld e-mail devices.

In revising our approach to energy, we could benefit substantially from considering the lessons learned by the computer and communications industries. By moving away from a centralized model and investing in small-scale, localized systems, our power generation would become more efficient, reliable and flexible. Polluting power plants could be replaced with clean energy from a series of distributed renewable energy generators, taking a massive load off the grid.

This localized model could also be more easily expanded than our current centralized power systems. If a city were to build 1000 more houses, each with geothermal and solar facilities, it would not only address the demand of 1000 new consumers, but it would also create 1000 more generators.

Community health & revitalization

“By moving away from a centralized model

and investing in small-scale, localized

systems, our power generation would become

more efficient, reliable and flexible.”

ThE pOWEr

oF



greening communities with geothermal power

Zerofootprint specializes in making renewable energy systems financially accessible to builders and homeowners. One way it is doing this is by investing in neighbourhood-centred power projects, initiatives which might seem small-scale to begin with, but that will have the potential to play a major role in combating climate change, stabilizing the country’s outdated power supply, and promoting ground-level support for new energy alternatives.

Zerofootprint is currently spearheading a pilot project to replace natural gas heating and cooling with geothermal power in the houses of approximately 20 homeowners in Toronto’s Little Italy neighbourhood. The plan is simple: Zerofootprint pays the costs associated with the renewable energy unit and its installation. Homeowners participating in the project will be charged a fixed monthly-rate for several years – usually from 10 to 12 years – which will be less than what they are paying now for natural gas. The homeowners also benefit because they will be protected from rising gas prices, which have increased steeply since the 1990s.

The initial response to the idea has been incredibly strong. People are particularly excited by the fact that they are taking part in a project that has never been done before and that will demonstrate the ability of citizens to step up to the plate and promote positive environmental reform. The waiting list for a second session is already full.

The considerable interest in this initiative comes from consumers’ rising awareness of the benefits of using geothermal energy. Geothermal systems are highly economical for heating and cooling, require little maintenance, have long service lives, and reduce energy consumption by 35 to 70 per cent compared to traditional systems. They depend only minimally on electricity and do not require commodity fuels like oil or gas. Instead, they take advantage of the fact that a few metres

below ground the earth’s temperature remains relatively constant and can be tapped to provide us with heating and cooling.

Turning to communities to help solve our power problems will help decentralize the nuclear and coal-fired power plants that have become outdated and remain costly to both consumers and our

environment. It will also help members of the community rally around a common goal and mobilize the resources that are needed to effectuate change. Installing geothermal energy systems is simple and as sustainable as it gets.

As Zerofootprint’s initiative in Little Italy demonstrates, communities are quickly beginning to realize the control they have over their power sources and the power they have over their environment.

“People are taking part in a project that has

never been done before and will demonstrate

the ability of citizens to step up to the plate

and promote positive environmental reform.”

Dr. ron Dembo is the Founder and CeO of zerofootprint (zerofootprint.net) and zerofootprint energy (zerofootprintenergy.com).


grEEn ACRES

By Vicky J. Sharpe

From manure to MicroSludge, Canadians are sourcing new technologies for greener communities.

Whether they’re building facilities to treat organic waste or producing electricity from renewable resources, Canadian municipalities large and small are adopting

clean technologies to solve environmental problems.Cities like Ottawa are testing systems to generate electricity from

their municipal solid waste streams. Not only does this generate electricity for the communities – up to 10 megawatts in some cases – but it also minimizes waste diversion to landfills. Earlier this year, the province of British Columbia announced its intention to install solar heating panels on 100,000 residential rooftops.

This trend is exciting from an environmental perspective, but it’s also an important business development. In the increasingly-competitive global clean-tech market, increased community adoption presents Canadian companies with local market potential, which is often a first step in international business growth.

The town of Vegreville, AB, provides a good example of what a locally-developed solution means to a community. As in many small Canadian farming communities, the livestock of Vegreville far outnumber the town’s 5,500 residents. One local feedlot alone,

Highland Feeders Limited, has 35,000 head of cattle at any given time. The cattle generate huge quantities of manure – equivalent to more than four times each animal’s body weight annually. Previously, it was spread on fields and incorporated into the soil as fertilizer. Now, a portion of the manure is helping to generate electricity for the town.

A family-run farm, Highland Feeders founded a new business, Highmark Renewables Inc., to get value from the thousands of tonnes of manure produced by the farm’s cattle and reduce costs associated with disposal, which averaged more than $500,000 annually.

With the help of various foundations and organizations, including Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and the Alberta Research Council, a consortium led by Highmark built an integrated manure utilization system or IMUS. At the heart of the solution is an anaerobic digester that converts the manure’s carbon to methane gas. The methane is then fed to a gas-fired turbine that generates electricity. Further adding value, fertilizer is also produced in the process.

The annual manure produced by six dairy cows or 10 beef cattle produces enough gas to generate electricity for an average Vegreville home.

Part of the key to success is locating the IMUS facility close to the fuel source, said Mike Kotelko, one of the farm’s founders and CEO of Highmark Renewables. Given the weight of cattle manure, transporting it long distances would require a great deal of fossil fuel and defeat one of the project’s goals – to lessen the use of non-renewable energy. Highmark’s plant is located about 100 metres from the feedlots.

Highmark signed an agreement with Vegreville to produce enough electricity to supply the town with 20 per cent of its electricity needs. The agreement was established even though electricity is fed into the provincial electrical grid rather than directly to the town.



“Though the relationship between Highmark and the town has always been close, this has really solidified it,” Kotelko said.

“It is a good fit for the town since we are an agriculture service community,” said Vegreville Mayor Richard Coleman. “We’re certainly happy that they’re here.”

According to Kotelko, Highmark’s goal is to increase the amount of manure it processes, thereby generating more electricity. Currently, the company generates about one megawatt of power, using about 15 per cent of the feedlot’s manure. The goal is to increase this four-fold or more, he said.

Though Highmark’s level of integration may be ahead of the curve, the concept of community involvement is not unique to Canada.

Twice a year (in January and August), SDTC issues calls for proposals for funding of technologies that address issues of clean air, climate change, clean water, and clean soil. SDTC helps increase the chances that Canadian clean technology innovations succeed in an increasingly-competitive global marketplace. To date, SDTC has committed $217 million to 97 clean technology projects, and leveraged $560 million from project consortia members, for a total portfolio value of $777 million.

Vancouver-based Paradigm Environmental Technologies Inc. set up a full-scale

demonstration of its technology – called MicroSludge – in the city of Chilliwack, B.C. According to Paradigm, typically about 30 per cent of the micro-organisms in municipal waste activated sludge (or WAS) is converted

to biogas after 15 days in an anaerobic digester. Using MicroSludge that number climbs to 95 per cent. MicroSludge chemically pre-treats sludge and then liquefies it using a high pressure homogenizer. The liquefied sludge is then fed to an existing anaerobic digester at the wastewater treatment plant. The result is that three times more waste is converted to biogas instead of being shifted to landfills where it decomposes and releases methane into the atmosphere. The biogas produced can be used to generate clean electricity for the community.

Paradigm’s technology can be deployed at existing or new wastewater treatment facilities. For a municipal wastewater

treatment plant serving a city of one million people, MicroSludge can greatly reduce the amount of sludge being incinerated or going to landfills. From a GHG perspective, this would be equivalent to removing more than 19,000 cars from the road.

Another SDTC-funded consortium, led by Enerkem Technologies Inc. of Montreal, has built a 0.5 megawatts pilot plant in Sherbrooke, Que. using partial oxidation gasification to dispose of municipal solid waste and produce synthetic gas, which can be used in gas turbines to produce electricity. The company is currently in talks with the City of Edmonton to produce a larger 10- megawatt plant.

All three of these companies are examples of Canadians creating sustainable energy solutions that integrate with existing business and community infrastructures with the goal of generating economic benefits and reducing environmental impacts.

“The annual manure produced by six dairy cows or 10 beef

cattle produces enough gas to generate electricity for an average

Vegreville home.”

vicky J. Sharpe is president and CeO of SDtC. For more information on SDtC, go to sdtc.ca.



BRiCkS WOrk

By Mira Shenker

A not-for-profit organization is changing the brownfield landscape in Toronto’s Don Valley.

Looking out over the green meadow beyond the old Brick Works factory, it’s hard to imagine it as the foundry full of bricks it once was. This is a space in transition, a remediation

in progress. There are no more bricks out here, but there are plenty inside the 16 buildings on the industrial pad. A prosperous brickyard from 1889 to 1989, the Don Valley Brick Works had become a raver’s haven of empty beer cans and graffiti.

Evergreen, a national charity with a mandate to bring nature back to cities, is remediating the Brick Works. The charity’s director, Geoff Cape, says the site is a designated brownfield. “But we’ve had the soil tested and it’s just slightly above what’s acceptable. That’s manageable.”

The soil should be clean enough to grow produce and plants in the outdoor and indoor gardens, some of which may be used at an on-site Jamie Kennedy restaurant. Other buildings will be converted into office space and a learning centre.

Cape says Evergreen at the Brick Works is a project that will show policy-makers how a vacant industrial lot can become a self-sustaining cultural centre for Ontario. “We don’t want to be another government-subsidized heritage site,” says Cape. Evergreen wants to provide a valuable service to the environment and community without continuing to need funding, and with their unique business plan, they may do it.

the abandoned but soon to be restored brick Works facility on

the Don river in central toronto.

Photography by Alex Webster

September/October 2006 reNew Canada 47

They also plan to open in stages, so the site never sits unused. An information centre is already staffed and running. The space is being rented out for day camps, private parties and photography workshops. Because of this efficient approach, they plan to be self-sustaining from the start, breaking even in the first full year of operations, and making a profit by their fifth year.

This is assuming a steady growth in retail operations every year. But how will people get to the site to spend their money? Access is definitely an issue. “If this were on the subway line, it would probably have been developed 20 years ago,” says Cape. They plan to develop the bike path and trails, and Cape says they are confident people, especially tourists, will walk and bike there. They are also considering a shuttle in partnership with private investors.

While Cape is confident visitors will come, he also hopes Brick Works won’t be seen as a nature retreat outside of the urban centre. On a mosaic path of bricks, glass and chalkboard in the visitor’s centre someone has written, “nature is not a place to visit, it is home.” When Gary Snyder’s beat poetry is part of a master plan that makes business sense, something unique is definitely in the works.

The master plan for the Brick Works project was approved by the city in August and a capital campaign to raise $50 million has been launched. Startup funding is expected to come from both public and private investors. The provincial government has already contributed $10 million to the project in the form of the Ontario Heritage Fund. “We’ve seen keen interest from all three levels of government because of the Brick Works’ role in the development of the city,” says Cape. “Anything built with bricks in the city, this factory likely had a hand in.”

That’s why Evergreen is keeping 70 per cent of the original structures. The goal is to use the existing infrastructure in an efficient way. The concrete foundation, for example, is three feet thick in places. There’s no need to dig it up. Instead, they’ll use it as a base for a new structure and pile soil on it for the vegetation they plan to grow. Materials from the existing site – like bricks – will be reused. They’ll even preserve some of the graffiti. “It’s a part of the city,” says Cape.

Part of their mission is to integrate the Brick Works into the city, both economically and culturally, while at the same time matching the development to its natural environment. The Brick Works sits on a geologically

important landscape, and Evergreen wants to spotlight that. They’re hoping plans that include green roofs and hydronic heating will be overseen by a landscape architect rather than a conventional one. “We hear a lot of ‘it’s never been done like this’,” says public relations director Marilotte Bloemen. “We’re more than an environmental centre. It’s about uniting nature, community, culture and economics.”

The economics comes in with the office space for rent, the restaurant, sales from the plant nursery and other retail operations. In the winter, there will even be an ice skating track.

“We’re more than an

environmental centre.

It’s about uniting

nature, community,

culture and economics.”


CPPI is a national association of major Canadian

companies involved in the refining, distribution

and/or marketing of petroleum products for

transportation, home energy and industrial uses.

Collectively, CPPI member companies operate

sixteen refineries (representing over 80 per cent

of Canadian refining capacity) and supply over

7,000 branded retail outlets with transportation

fuels across Canada.

www.cppi.ca

raILS To traILS

By Dan O’Reilly

our national community chips in to turn kilometres of unusable space into the Canada line.

Barely 125 years after the 19th Century national dream of a Trans-Canada railway uniting a young Canada, a new national dream is taking shape on many of the same railway

lines and adding to the country’s environmental, economic and infrastructure well-being.

Conceived by Canada 125, the organization created to celebrate our 125th year of confederation in 1992, The Trans Canada Trail is a vast recreational project that will wind its way through every province and territory, linking the country’s three oceans.

Using a combination of existing community and regional trails, abandoned railway lines, road allowances, park paths, newly constructed trails and the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories, it will be the world’s longest trail, spanning 18,078 kilometres by 2010, the scheduled completion date.

hikers across Canada have more space to roam – a section of trail in bC.

(continued on page 50)


“Now 80 per cent of the Canadian population is within 30 minutes of the trail,” says Sanderson Layng, president of the Trans Canada Foundation, the Montreal-based non-profit organization that is coordinating the creation of the trail in association with its provincial chapters, local governments, trail associations and other groups.

“In Quebec, 92 per cent of the trail has been completed and in Prince Edward Island there’s one more bridge [to be built],” says Layng.

Funding for the trail and related infrastructure, such as a series of distinctive

trail pavilions, comes from a variety of sources and is channeled to the provincial chapters by the foundation. Those sources include corporate sponsorships, government grants and private donors who, for $50 each, can have their names inscribed in the pavilions. There are now approximately 70 pavilions across the country with more being added each year, says Layng.

The biggest donation, though, has been the ongoing transfer of a series of discontinued railway lines by CN and CP. Valued at $50 million, those rights-of-ways are the mainstay of the trail, says Layng.

Transforming those rights-of-ways into safe passable trailways requires considerable infrastructure and construction work. Bridges have to be either restored or built, new culverts installed, washout sections

restored and the rail bed ballast either removed or covered, says James Clark, the foundation’s national trail coordinator.

While local volunteers have performed much of this work, the foundation and its provincial chapters have received considerable free help from the military. A bailey bridge was erected on the New Brunswick trail section a few years ago by Dutch military engineers as part of a training exercise.

Approximately 50 bridges were either restored or built by Canadian military engineers from 2000 to 2003, also for

training. “They supplied the labour and we supplied the material,” says Clark.

An example of the work that has been accomplished to date is the rebuild of approximately 80 of the 130 railway trestles along the 883-kilometre former CN railway line that once extended from St. John’s to Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland.

“We still have between 50 to 55 left to do,” says Terry Morrison, executive director of the Newfoundland T’Railway Council. (The unique spelling retains the trail’s historic railway link.)

Contractors are hired to pave portions of the trail as it passes through communities to eliminate dust problems generated by all terrain vehicles. Unlike many regions of the country, ATV use is allowed in Newfoundland, says Morrison.

Another infrastructure benefit is the construction and/or rehabilitation of roads and former railway spur lines by local communities to provide connecting links to the trail as part of an effort to create transportation corridors and improve tourism.

A few years ago the trail also proved to be a convenient corridor for the installation of the Aliant Telecommunications’ fibre-optic line, says Morrison. “It would have been much more difficult and expensive if the trail hadn’t been there.”

Across two time zones in Manitoba’s Whiteshell Provincial Park the trail might be considered a safety feature that just may have avoided an eventual and expensive expansion of three highways, which pass through this 2,800-square-kilometre wilderness area near the Ontario border.

As there are no discontinued rail corridors in the park, three different volunteer trail groups that act as trail stewards have taken on the role of building the trail, including a 23 -kilometre section that parallels Highways 301 and 44. Before that segment was built, cyclists and pedestrians were using the highways as there was no other route for them, says Darryl Peck, a special consultant to the Trans Canada Trail Foundation.

It’s estimated that 85 per cent of those non-vehicle users are now off highway and on to the trail, says Peck. “We [the foundation] aren’t in business to take people off roads, but in this case we did.”

In British Columbia sections of the Trans Canada Trail rail corridors may possibly be used to access timber strands and, in the process, eliminate the need for the construction of costly logging roads, says Blair Baldwin, project manager for Spirit of 2010 Trail, a provincial government program spearheading trail development.

“We are currently negotiating a licence agreement with timber companies that,

Group Work: volunteers made sections like the bow link trail in Alberta possible.

“In total, the federal government, the provincial government,

four different regional governments, Tourism British

Columbia and the Trans Canada Trail Foundation

have contributed close to $23 million towards the

Province’s rails-to trails program.”

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where appropriate, will allow them to use the trail so long as the trail is fully restored and so long as a licensing fee is paid.”

As is the case in Newfoundland and other parts of the country, the Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia has proved to be a relatively inexpensive and easy-to-install utility corridor. Utility licence fees generate funds for trail construction work, says Baldwin.

Just one example is a 20-kilometre stretch from Grand Forks to Christina Lake in southern British Columbia’s historic Boundary mining region. It carries a fibre-optic line on one side of the right-of-the-way and natural gas line on the other side, says Baldwin.

Approximately 750 kilometres of the Trans Canada Trail have now been opened along five significant former rail lines, which are owned by the province and managed by regional governments with the help of local trail groups. The most famous of those corridors is probably the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, which includes Myra Canyon, a stunning engineering feat that includes 18 wood-frame trestles, two tunnels and “numerous magnificent rock cuts,” says Baldwin. It was designated a national heritage site in the early part of this decade and was used for filming a segment of Pierre Berton’s National Dream in the 1970s.

After the province purchased the rail line from the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1990, hundreds of volunteers installed boardwalks and railings to make the trestles safe and accessible. But in the 2003 forest fires that ravaged much of the Okanagan, 12 wooden trestles were destroyed and two steel trestles damaged. That was the catalyst for obtaining funding of $15 million for the resurrection of Myra Canyon, says Baldwin.

“In total, the federal government, the provincial government, four different regional governments, Tourism British Columbia and the Trans Canada Trail Foundation have contributed close to $23 million towards the Province’s rails-to trails program.”

In Ontario trail development is not as dramatic. Approximately 62 per cent of the trail is already in place, with many sections

passing through Ottawa, Toronto and other large urban areas.

“The situation in Ontario is somewhat different. We’re more of a brand or an umbrella,” says Dan Andrews, general manager of Trans Canada Trail Ontario.

By that description he means the designation of the Trans Canada Trail along existing trails that have been built and maintained by a range of diverse organizations include municipalities, conservation authorities and volunteer groups.

But an economic impact study commissioned in 2004 by the Ontario chapter does underscore the economic importance of the Trans Canada Trail, in addition to its principal role in the preservation of the environment and promoting health and fitness across the nation, he says.

Looking ahead to when the trail is 75 per cent complete in Ontario, with the remaining 25 per cent on roads, the PricewaterhouseCoopers study predicted the trail could generate $2.4 billion annually to the province’s economy through tourism and other spin off benefits, says Andrews.

“80 per cent of the

Canadian population

is within 30 minutes

of the trail.”

Dan O’reily is a freelance writer specializing in construction and infrastructure issues.


BUILt To lAST

By Marina Fensham

Designing a sustainable residence for real clients.

As a home, it does not attempt to compete with the monster houses we’ve come to accept as symbols of progress and success. The 1,789-square-foot residence sits on an open lot

and looks like a modest, comfortable bungalow with some eccentric features. But for anyone interested in sustainable residential design, this may be one of the greenest homes around.

Two years ago, I met with the couple who would eventually own this home. They came to me with a design dilemma: how could they construct a sustainable residence from the ground up? Built structures inevitably have some impact on the environment, but these clients were committed to going the distance – their house would generate no energy bills and would instead give power back to the grid.

Though a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for homes has yet to be launched in Canada, sustainability goals can still be applied to residential spaces, it just means putting together a different type of design puzzle. As with other LEED rating systems, there is always a trade-off, and setting priorities on a residential project is akin to choosing which credits you are going for on a LEED-Commercial Interiors project.

My clients had lofty ambitions, but after considering three design options we developed a strategy that worked with the chosen site, satisfied their primary goals and stayed within their budget.

To generate enough energy to sustain the house and give back to the power grid, two solar systems were installed: one to heat the water, floor and air, and a second to generate power for the house. In addition to the solar systems, we installed a back-up wood stove for heating – after all, this is a Canadian home.

Considerable insulation was necessary to conserve the energy being produced, so the entire house was built from an Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) poly system mould filled with concrete. The walls, which are 12 inches thick and insulated inside and out, provide the necessary conditions to save energy.

Windows are a key element in any sustainable residential design, and something we considered carefully when designing the house. Twelve percent of the total window area is on the south side, with four percent on the north side. South-facing windows heat the floor during the day,

rebuild

the house generates no energy bills – just power back to the grid.

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so heat radiates out at night resulting in a heat-gain system and also providing an opportunity for daylighting. In the summer, a large 24-inch roof overhang provides protection from the hot sun, whereas in the winter the lower sun can shine into the house.

To assist in water conservation, we built a well and also installed a cistern underneath the covered porch to allow water to run from the roof into the cistern. My clients had hoped to install a combination compost toilet and grey-water pit, but the Ontario Building Code states that every building must have a washroom, and compost toilets are not certified. As a result, they were forced to put in a septic bed.

The interior of the home is no less green than its exterior. Its modern design aesthetic includes sleek buffed concrete floors, but no air conditioning system. Instead the window placement creates natural cool convection throughout the house. A pantry reduces the number of cabinets needed in the kitchen. Even the basement, a space that would traditionally rely on artificial lighting sources, boasts large windows and an open staircase to increase the amount of daylighting and to provide heat gain in the winter.

Creating a sustainable residence is a puzzle, and as an interior designer it is my job to put it together without compromising aesthetics. The key to solving the puzzle is a collaborative design process, with clients who are 100 per cent involved from beginning to end. For this sustainable home, my clients and I worked together to set goals and focus on priorities that would give us the desired final result.

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“While a LEED rating system for homes has yet to be launched in Canada, we can still apply sustainability

goals to residential spaces, it just means putting

together a different type of design puzzle.”

Marina Fensham, Association of registered Interior Designers (ArIDO), is the principal interior designer at thinkGiraffe.


WhERE ThE SaLMOn rUn AnD oThER grEEn aDVEntUrESThe birthplace of green Peace and home to the first lEED gold building in Canada, Vancouver island Technology Park, the Vancouver branch of Cascadia continues to be a leader in sustainable thinking.

The Cascadia (where the salmon run) Chapter of the Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC), representing the British Columbia, Washington and Oregon region, has the unique

distinction of being one of the busiest chapters of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and, with B.C. being the birthplace of Green Peace, is rather understated.

Although not the oldest chapter in the CaGBC, the Cascadia chapter is one of two original chapters of the USGBC. It evolved from the Portland and Seattle chapters of the USGBC and was officially formed in 1999 as a charitable organization that promotes the “design, construction and operation of buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work” in the region it represents.

Kevin Hanvey, Vancouver branch chair, said that while the chapter was officially formed in 1999, there had been an active organizing group for quite some time previous to becoming officially recognized.

“Vancouver has been engaging in sustainability for a long time,” he said.The Cascadia branch draws on its association with both the CaGBC

and USGBC to provide its members with a wide range of training opportunities, events, information sharing sessions and socializing and networking activities. The Vancouver branch has more than 1500 people on its list serv and, while there is no formal membership at the local level, Hanvey said offerings by the local office are well attended, with between 120 and 150 people coming out to discuss all things green.

l to r: Kevin hydes – uSGbC board member and current Chair, Kathy Wardle – Cascadia board Member, Freda Pagani – Past Cascadia board member, rob bennett – Past Chair, Cascadia Chapter, eesmyal Santos-brault – Cascadia board Member, Kevin hanvey (holding certificate) – Chair, vancouver branch, Cam brewer – vancouver branch, brenda Martens – Cascadia board Member, Sunny Ghataurah – Past vancouver branch member, unknown, thomas Mueller – President, Canada Green building Council


Events in the Vancouver area include a speaker series, technical workshops and socializing events such as “Green Drinks,” an informal gathering of industry professionals who get together to “meet and chat” about what’s going on in green building.

“It’s a great way to share and exchange information,” said Hanvey.

Most recently, Cascadia sponsored the inaugural Closing the Loop, a national design competition developed by the Cascadia council in cooperation with the local design community. Based on the premise that “a building or community can only be as sustainable as its components,” the competition emphasized elements and systems in the built environment. People were invited to submit ideas that could fill the gap of current technology, or the re-design of existing technology. Results of the competition are now on display at the Sustainable Building Centre in Vancouver.

Hanvey said Cascadia has the good fortune of being one of the better-funded chapters of the GBC because of its affiliation with the USGBC. There are already some paid chapter staff members and the Vancouver branch is in the process of trying to get a permanent, paid staff person by the end of this year. He also said there are plans of someday opening a branch office.

“We would like to find office space because it helps to have a storefront,” he said. “But that’s longer term, 18-24 months.”

Details at usgbc.org/chapters/cascadia.

“Vancouver has been engaging in sustainability for a long time.”

Thomas Mueller, president of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and Gary Lunn, minister of Natural Resources and MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, were on hand this month to celebrate Canada’s first LEED-NC Platinum certification in Sydney, B.C.

The project, Parks Canada’s Operations Centre for Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada located on Harbour Road in Sidney, reflects the achievements in environmental sustainability in the building’s construction and long-term operation.

Mueller said the certification is significant for both Parks Canada and for Canada because there are “very few” projects worldwide that have reached the platinum level.

“This building demonstrates the federal government’s leadership in constructing high performance buildings.”

The new Operations Centre features a geothermal ocean loop coupled with a hot water radiant heat floor system. Other features include rainwater storage for use in the building’s low-flow toilets, a roof-mounted photovoltaic system supplying 10 per cent of the building’s energy needs, use of natural light and ventilation, landscape plantings that won’t require irrigation, energy efficient lighting fixtures, and exterior sunshades to keep the building from overheating. Energy consumption requirements for the building are expected to be reduced by 75 per cent in comparison to a standard building.

CAgBC AWARDS CAnADA’S FiRST lEED PlATinuM CERTiFiCATionParks Canada is “walking the talk.”

Photo:LarryM

cFarlandA

rchitectsLtd.


tHELEEDLIStnEW LEED cErtIfIcatIOnS In canaDa

UnIVErSIty Of VIctOrIa MEDIcaL ScIEncES BUILDIngVictoria, British columbia • LEED-goldThe Medical Sciences Building, opened by Premier Gordon Campbell in December 2004, houses two lecture theatres, anatomy research and multi-purpose laboratories, eight problem-based learning rooms, clinical skills teaching room, computer lab and administrative offices for supporting students during their four-year program. Green features include energy-efficient systems, locally-sourced recycled and salvaged building materials, wastewater recycling and natural landscaping.

cIty Of OttaWa paraMEDIc SErVIcE HEaDqUartErSOttawa, Ontario • LEED certified-ncThe first LEED-certified project in the City of Ottawa, the Paramedic Service Headquarters is a 100,000-square-foot, two-story facility that is both disaster resistant and LEED-certified. This P3 will deliver energy performance savings of 25 per cent over traditional designs with annual utility savings of up to $80,000. The estimated return on investment is 3.5 years.

canpar DIStrIBUtIOn facILItytoronto, Ontario • LEED certified-ncAs one of the first projects to be deliberately built under LEED Canada for a leased occupant, the new 170,000-square-foot facility in Etobicoke has been named the John Cyopeck Centre in honour of Canpar’s long-time president and CEO who was the visionary behind the facility and who passed away earlier this year. The design of the facility incorporated energy efficiency and sustainable design measures resulting in reduced energy consumption and operating costs.

tHE gEOrgE anD katHy DEMBrOSkI cEntrE fOr HOrtIcULtUrEtoronto, Ontario • LEED Silver-ncThe George and Kathy Dembroski Centre for Horticulture, formerly known as the Toronto Botanical Garden, was voted the leader in the category of Green Design at the Green Toronto Awards held earlier this year. Highlights of the new facility include a 5,000-squre-foot glass pavilion topped with an energy-efficient sloping green roof. The new roof has decreased storm water discharge by 37 per cent and, once drained into a rainwater cistern, it provides an efficient water supply for the site irrigation system.

gOVErnMEnt Of nEW BrUnSWIck DEpartMEnt Of natUraL rESOUrcESBathurst, new Brunswick • LEED Silver-ncThe new DNR building in Bathurst is the first building in Atlantic Canada to achieve LEED certification. It has been well-insulated and is positioned so offices capture as much natural light as possible. A controlled electrical system in the building makes sure lights are out when the office is not in use and windows can be opened to provide natural ventilation. Other features include an efficient plumbing system designed to save water, ceiling tiles and gypsum wall board made from recycled materials, and doors and hardwood flooring salvaged from other renovated buildings.If you have a leeD-related story idea e-mail [email protected].


Photob

yTodd

Latham

Closing Shot

two management office “pods” in the recently redeveloped Southern Cross station, Melbourne, Australia.

FoCuSfOrWarD

As we celebrate our first anniversary, ReNew Canada looks to the future. This issue centred on asset

management, on planners, regulators and engineers focusing on sustainable infrastructure. We know that the next 10 to 25 years will be a critical time for Canada’s infrastructure so we wonder, when ReNew Canada celebrates its 25th anniversary, what our major urban centres will look like.

Will Canada go through a “sustainability revolution” as Kevin Hydes predicted in our January/February issue? Will design and planning strategies evolve to adapt to modern demands? In our July/August issue, John Lorinc talked about a “21st Century global economy dominated by powerhouse urban regions.” Part of becoming one

of those A-list cities means pushing innovative technologies, design and ideas. In Melbourne, Australia, what was once Spencer Street Station was redeveloped to be a more efficient piece of infrastructure. The new Southern Cross Station is now more than a rail station, it’s a commercial centre, complete with office space for rent where before there was empty space.

Whether we build office “pods” or develop fibre-optic networks that let us work from home, we need to keep in mind that today’s choices affect tomorrow’s cities. Right now, we are making some of the right choices, but a lot of wrong ones. As David Suzuki said in our May/June issue: “We can do better. We must.”

—Staff


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