Dockside Green: The Story of the Most Sustainable Development in the World

By Kim Fowler

How did a 15-acre contaminated harbour area in Victoria, B.C., once nicknamed "Darkside," become Dockside Green, the world's most sustainable development?

This book explains how community connection and sustainability can be achieved by an inclusive, responsible, innovative, and self-sustaining development. From its inception in 2001 to its ongoing development in 2019, author Kim Alison Fowler shares the successes and failures of Dockside Green's design, construction, operations, and lessons learned.

Fowler, the original project manager and sustainability planner, was guided by visionary principles based on the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) model that successfully integrated a New Urbanism mix of residential and commercial use with its adjoining industrial working harbour.

The question remains—world leading sustainability was built, has proven to be successful, and is loved by those who live and work there—yet has not been substantially replicated. Why? The answers lie inside these pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Nov 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9780228816607

Kim Fowler

Kim Fowler has spent over 30 years in the design, development, and project management of medical, military, and satellite equipment. His interest is the rigorous development of diverse, mission-critical, embedded systems. Kim co-founded Stimsoft, a medical products company, in 1998 and sold it in 2003. He has also worked for JHU/APL designing embedded systems, for a company now part of Curtiss-Wright Embedded Computing that built digital signal processing boards, and consulted for both commercial companies and government agencies. Kim is a Fellow of the IEEE and lectures internationally on systems engineering and developing real-time embedded products. He has been President of the IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement society and an adjunct professor for the Johns Hopkins University Engineering Professional Program. He has published widely and has written three textbooks - this book is his fourth. He has 18 patents - granted, pending, or disclosed. Kim currently is a graduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Kansas State University to finally get his PhD to teach and research.

Book preview

DOCKSIDE

GREEN

The Story of the Most Sustainable Development in the World

KIM ALISON FOWLER

Dockside Green: The Story of the Most Sustainable Development in the World

Copyright © 2019 by Kim Alison Fowler

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-1659-1 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-1660-7 (eBook)

Dedication

To all those who have gone before, enabling me to stand on their shoulders. May this book continue that legacy.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Prologue

The Call

Chapter One - Project Overview

1. Overview

2. Basic Foundations of the Challenge

a) What is Sustainability?

b) How to Assess Sustainability – The Triple Bottom Line

c) Sustainable Development and the Climate Change Connection

d) Sustainable versus Green

e) What is a Brownfield?

f) The Challenge

Chapter Two - Project Steps

1. Overview

2. Project Management

a) Business Case

i. Environmental Remediation

ii. Geotechnical Constraints

iii. Existing Debt

iv. Market Risk Analysis and Pro Forma

v. Community Consultation

b) Development Concept (The Plan)

c) Land Sale

i. Request for Land Sale Expression of Interest

ii. Request for Proposal

d) Rezoning and Master Development Agreement

e) Site Development

Chapter Three - Sustainable Use

1. Overview

2. Residential Use

a) Affordable Housing

3. Commercial/Industrial Use

a) Buildings

i. Inspiron

ii. Prosperity, Synergy, Office Park, and Other Commercial Buildings and Units

b) Permitted Uses

4. New Urbanism Mix of Uses

5. Parking: The Social Experiment

6. No Smoking

7. Recycling

Chapter Four - Sustainable Design

1. Why Lead with LEED™?

2. Sustainable Design – The Transition from Crap

a) The Business Case for Sustainable Design

b) Conventional Crap versus Sustainable Design

c) Cost Complaints

d) Possible Solutions

Chapter Five - Sustainable Infrastructure

1. District Wastewater Treatment Plant, Irrigation, and Stormwater Management

2. District Heating and Hot Water System

3. The Blue Green Spine

a) The Crown Jewel Waterway

b) The Walkway

4. Dock

5. The Natural, Historic Gorge Waterway

6. Green Roofs and Wall

7. Reflective Roofs

8. Rooftop Garden and Patio

Chapter Six - The Importance of Place

1. Overview

2. Creating Place – New Urbanism versus Sprawl

3. Essential Connection to Natural Elements

a) The Intrinsic Benefits of Nature Walkways and Waterways

b) Affinity for Water

c) Permaculture

Chapter Seven - Lessons to Share

1. Project Management

2. Procurement

3. Development Finance – The Holy Grail or Achilles’ Heel?

4. Why Not Repeated or Required?

Conclusion

Appendix: Voice

About the Author

Endnotes

Acknowledgements

Much gratitude and thanks to Mary Ellen Duff, my long-time friend from high school, who persisted in encouraging me to write this book. A writer herself, she had composed several plays in the National Novel Writing Month (NanaWriMo), an international internet-based group that supports writing 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. As NanoWriMo accepted professional writing, I signed up in 2015. Mary Ellen also knew that as a former elite athlete, I would be competitively dedicated to writing the minimum standard of 1667 words a day for 30 days. She was also wise enough not to tell me the first draft is just the start of writing a book! Many thanks to Dr. Sandra Smith, dear friend, fellow planner, and book author, who graciously reviewed several drafts and provided comments, endless support, and (much-needed) occasional humour. Thanks also to Gene Miller, an accomplished writer, who encouraged me to write in any way that got me started! My gratitude to all the sustainability practitioners who made this project successful, particularly Carola Bomfim Lima. Three-and-a-half years after NanoWriMo, I began the publication process. Thanks to my family and other friends who provided support and encouragement; it made the long process much easier. Also, thanks to my alma mater, the University of Toronto, for providing me with the education and rigour to challenge the status quo to implement sustainability.

Prologue

The Call

I have heard the call,

Through the freshness of a new morning,

In the afternoon breeze drifting through the trees,

In the brilliant flaming sunset,

And across the cool, mystic night.

I have heard it.

But the call is no longer gentle, complacent, and satisfying;

It is an insistent cry of pain, anguish, and death.

Caused by human actions of ignorance masked by pride,

Irresponsibility masked by infinitude, and selfishness masked by progress.

We have tried to control the uncontrollable,

Master the unmasterable, and

Conquer the unconquerable.

We have failed.

The Earth is no longer resilient; it can no longer support all human activity.

It is crying out urgently, desperately, for our help.

Is the final cry of death near, or do we have the intelligence and will to impel change?

I cannot sleep; I cannot rest until the cry is answered.

And it must be answered by me.

~ Kim Fowler (preface to Master of Science in Planning thesis, University of Toronto, 1990)

Chapter One

Project Overview

1. Overview

The Dockside Lands are a 15-acre redevelopment site located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada that achieved the highest sustainability rating in the world under the LEED™ green building rating system in 2008 and 2009. This book details the project management process that attracted and rewarded a sustainable developer partnered with a municipality and the site development and operation over an 18-year period. Chapters include the chronology of the development, sustainable use, sustainable design, sustainable infrastructure, and the importance of community, place, and connection. Successes, failures, stories, and lessons to share are discussed throughout the book.

The City of Victoria (the City) acquired the Dockside Lands from the Province of British Columbia in 1989 for one dollar and in exchange for approximately $3.1 million (2004 dollars) of estimated land development servicing costs (e.g. potable water, sewer lines, roads) for nearby Provincial Lands and all the Dockside Lands. The site area was 12 acres with three acres in the middle of the site being privately owned by the owner of the Princess Mary Restaurant. The Princess Mary Restaurant was named after the ship vessel which was dry landed in the 1960s and converted into the restaurant. The land title of the 12 acres was transferred in an as is condition for environmental contamination. The site has a long-term industrial use dating back to circa 1884, including: a shipbuilding and repair yard; roofing and shingle manufacturing operation; railway works and freight yard; industrial iron and metal scrap recovery yard; and asphalt plant operation. Much of the east (waterfront) side of the Dockside Lands was reclaimed by land filling in the early to mid-1900s. The fill extended the foreshore to its present location. With the origin of fill material unknown and the large land area, the site was ranked in the top ten contaminated sites in the province.

From the 1989 purchase until 2001, the City undertook some soil remediation but never completed the work prior to new, higher standards being adopted by the provincial Ministry of Environment. The City had also marketed the land for sale up to three times unsuccessfully. One developer had proposed an amusement park, and another, a golf driving range. The City had leased out several portions of the site to various businesses, including a small boat construction business, but most of the site lay idle from circa the 1950s. The site is an integral part of the Victoria Harbour located adjacent to the Upper Harbour and Downtown in the Victoria West neighbourhood (see Figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1: Locational Map of the Dockside Green Site¹

The author assumed the project manager role in September 2001 to lead an interdepartmental and consulting team of eight people with the City of Victoria. Through redevelopment and cross-contamination agreements, three acres of privately-owned land in the middle of the site, the Princess Mary lands, became part of the redevelopment site to total 15 acres. The integrated project management process resulted in an innovative redevelopment project.

The vision for the redevelopment called for a mixed use, sustainable development based on Triple Bottom Line (TBL) principles. The site melds the marine industrial uses along the working harbour to the east and the residential commercial areas to the west and north through a mix of light industrial, commercial, and residential uses. Several unique or best management practices were used during the visioning and planning process, including: New Urbanism, Development Concept, Minimum Break-Even Policy, Triple Bottom Line, and Sustainability. Community involvement occurred at key project stages, including the involvement of a community advisor, who observed the usually confidential land sale selection process.

Figure 2: Dockside Green Site prior to Redevelopment

The City encouraged and rewarded sustainability innovation via a competitive land sale process to find a development partner. The result was City Council selecting Windmill Developments Ltd. and Vancity Enterprises on December 16, 2004. They proposed to work with the City to build the first multi-phased development in North America to commit to Platinum standards under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) rating system (see Figure 3), including:

•an on-site wastewater treatment system to collect and recycle wastewater and rainwater (that almost met Canadian Drinking Water standards) for irrigation, creek, and pond renewal along a greenway running the length of the project, and to supply the greywater toilets that would conserve more than 70,000 gallons of water annually

•a biomass gasification plant to convert locally sourced wood waste into clean-burning gas to produce all heat and hot water through a district energy distribution system

•heat recovery ventilation units in each condo using fresh air vented directly in from the roofs

•a Greenhouse Gas neutral site

•cycling, walking, and mass transit as the main forms of transportation and connection to the TransCanada Trail and over 48 km of regional trails

•over $5 million in community amenities, including a:

°$3 million affordable housing fund

°$400,000 Sustainability Centre for non-profit sustainability organizations

°$187,500 fund for public art

°public dock and small boat launch

°complex of greenways, parks, pathways, and urban streams with over 400 trees

°public dock for small boat launching and a harbour ferry stop

°historical, First Nations, and environmental information program

°community amphitheatre, public washroom, park shoreline restoration, children’s play area, and seniors’ housing complex

°car co-op with Smart Cars

°rooftop garden complex for growing vegetables

Windmill Developments Ltd. and Vancity Enterprises created a limited partnership called Windmill West that renamed the site to Dockside Green. With an estimated value of $600 million at build-out, Dockside Green proposed to be an integrated, sustainable community of approximately 2,500 residents with 1.2 million square feet of live/work, hotel, retail, office, and light industrial uses in 26 buildings. The project was consistent with the City’s Development Concept for the site, adopted by Council following several stages of community involvement. Also included in the project was a quadripartite development agreement between the owner of the Princess Mary lands, the business owner of the adjacent Point Hope Shipyard, Windmill West, and the City. The agreement provided for the Princess Mary landowner to sell his land to Windmill West, and the extension and amendment of the City’s land lease with the Point Hope Shipyard, which enabled the business to invest in a $5 million marine railway.

Figure 3: Proposed Redevelopment of Dockside Green, 2005

Dockside Green’s first neighbourhood contained two phases of residential and commercial mixed-use buildings. The first phase of residential buildings was called Synergy and two commercial buildings were called Inspiron. Synergy contained two sets of townhouses, two apartment towers, and garden flats along the waterway. Each apartment tower had one commercial unit located on the Tyee Road exposure. Inspiron has two commercial buildings with the first being three storeys comprising ground floor retail and upper floors of office use. The second building was the Farmer Construction head office that was constructed from salvage of the former Princess Mary banquet hall on Harbour Road. In March 2008, 98 new residential condo owners took occupancy of Synergy and the commercial occupants moved into the first Inspiron building. On July 23, 2008, Synergy and Inspiron attained the highest LEED™ Platinum point total in the world with 63 of a possible 70 points. After being awarded Platinum under the new model LEED™ Neighbourhood standards, the project was the first LEED™ Platinum community in the world. The Farmer Construction building was completed in 2009 and