The last time I trekked to City Hall, there was a bunch happening. My favourite librarians were on strike and there was that whole transit thing. Well, both have wrapped up so it's time to talk green roofs again.
Here's what was on tap:
PG 12.12 - Amendment to the Green Roof Bylaw for Public and Separate School Board Buildings.
PG 12.13 - Creation of a reserve fund as 2012 is the final year of scheduled financial support for the Strategic Infrastructure Reserve.
PG 12.14 - A progress report on the eco-roof incentive program.
Don't know what happened to 12.14 (I think it just had to be adopted), but if you're short on time here's what happened with 12.12 and 12.13 in a nutshell.
On 12.13 Councillor Adam Vaughan put a motion forward to allow all schools (private, public, Catholic and French) to apply for the eco-roof incentive and any other subsidies provided by the City, regardless of the size of the project. Bylaw Amended
On 12.12 Chair of the Planning and Growth Management Committee, Councillor Peter Milczyn asked the chief planner and executive director of city planning to report by May 2012 on a bylaw amendment exemption where soft landscaping on a school site will be equal to or exceed the required area for green roof installation. Forwarded to Council without recommendations
On to the details, including what all of the aforementioned means...
Councillor Karen Stintz was in and out of the room and not present for most of the proceedings. Councillor Ana Bailão (and Vice Chair of the committee) was not present.
That left Councillors Milczyn, Vaughan, Crawford and Di Giorgio to perform the committee's duties.
The talk about green roofs was preceded by a shorter one on affordable housing. I didn't know Michel Labbe from Options for Homes Non-profit Corporation before that, but was thoroughly impressed - eloquent, knowledgeable, persuasive - if I were a betting man I'd say we'll be hearing and seeing more from him and Options in the future.
As for the green roof amendments about 30 people were present. (Far less than the number who turned out when the bylaw was passed many moons ago.)
One person, Virginia Barton from the Toronto Catholic District School Board, offered that because the school board is seeking an exemption from installing green roofs we should all be aware that there is still great interest in "greening their schools". For instance, they are considering installing solar panels (for electricity generation and hot water heating, I think) on 108 of their 210 buildings with 50-60% roof coverage. But they have not looked at geothermal yet because no company has approached them. Note to the geothermal companies, call the TCDSB on Monday!
Passionate arguments were made by several green roof supporters, including two parents who volunteer on their child's school (Jackman elementary) green roof, green roof designers/builders, architects and other advocates and enthusiasts.
To summarize, the speakers outlined the numerous benefits of green roofs, in particular its capacity for mitigating stormwater and the ability to extend the life of the roofing membrane.
Several reiterated the seeming incongruity of the TCDSB passing on an opportunity to install a living classroom and that it's in the TCDSB's best interest to embrace green roofs, as it will save them money over the long haul.
Questions from the councillors ranged from how much maintenance a green roof needs, to warranties, if working with the unions to clean up/maintain the green roof is problematic, if there are any workplace/safety issues.
The bottom line from the city councillors is they have heard from several sources that being required to build a green roof demands some trade off in the planning process. With limited funds, building a green roof for some means having to eliminate a classroom or two inside the building. Also comparing urban Catholic schools to rural Catholic schools is a bit of apples and oranges. Catholic schools in the rural parts of Ontario, who have installed green roofs, may be getting more funding from the province. So they have the capital funding to install the green roof and operational funding to support it for years to come.
All in all the committee seems keen to "improve the urban environment", to quote Councillor Milczyn, and making the subsidies available to the schools makes good sense. (And I think the council will agree.) Especially because someone mentioned a good deal of the eco-incentive money is just sitting in an account and not being used! No one is applying for that cash??? Wow!
It was also interesting to get a quick peak behind the political curtains when one councillor mentioned that the green roofing industry should lobby the provincial government, because the province is the one providing the funding for the schools based on their funding formula.
But with the province in dire financial straits, I don't know if the lobbying effort would yield anything. It's worth a try!
I must mention a couple of councillors went as far as to chastise the TCDSB for not embracing a "theology of compassion" or utilizing their development charges to fund green roofs.
Lastly, the fact that Councillor Milczyn's motion was forwarded to council without recommendation means we could be looking at "a long day" (the Councillor's words) of debating in the future. What he wants to do is have schools with small sites, ones were there is little area available to landscape, to install a green roof.
More to come in May!
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