Edmonton Places Emphasis on the Environment
Edmonton is truly a goldmine of green. There is space to breathe here. In the pristine river valley there is untouched landscape and vast open parks where the “ribbon of green” holds so much potential.
Green Space
The city is built around the North Saskatchewan River where there is much urban waterfront, a space that is largely preserved for public trails, parks and promenades and is the largest urban green space in North America.
A local group called the River Valley Alliance has high hopes for the recreational expansion of the valley. With the slogan “to preserve, protect and enhance,” the alliance hopes to create a large stretch of municipal parkland, extending trails from Devon to Fort Saskatchewan along the meandering river. Throughout the city, it is calculated that there are 830 parks, 338 playgrounds and 40 off-leash dog parks, the most green space per capita in North America in fact.
Innovations of Green
These are just some of the many green initiatives that are being actively pursued in Alberta’s capital city of independent thinkers. What the city is most widely recognized for is the Edmonton Waste Management Centre (EWMC), a site that consumes 233-hectares of space aides in the diversion of 70 percent of waste to the local landfill. By means of material recovery, composting, e-waste and demolition recycling and various bio stations, the facility’s goal is to divert 90 percent of waste from the landfill by 2013.
According to a study done by the City of Edmonton in 2008, EWMC has “developed a way to turn the gas produced from landfills into enough energy to light thousands of homes.” Referred to by the centre as Landfill Gas Recovery, the EWMC notes that one tonne of organic waste can produce 125 cubic metres of methane, “the energy equivalent of one barrel of oil.”
Green Developments
Brian Scott, marketing, technology and research director with the Alberta-based development consultant group Communitas is helping Edmonton to become an increasingly net-zero community.
As of 2007, all new city-owned buildings (including renovations of existing ones), must be designed and constructed to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.
Communitas is working on a project that is being planned to be LEED Silver and net-zero called Station Pointe Greens, of which Scott says is “our most ambitious sustainable development with a 220-unit apartment development currently being planned.
"The city is setting a standard that will hopefully help the adoption of and raise the profile of the LEED certification process,” Scott says. “I have heard from other consultants that in some jurisdictions, energy efficient commercial buildings can in fact cost no more and sometimes in fact less to build than a standard design.”
Another noteworthy project that has been built under LEED Silver certification guidelines is the Centennial Garage, a city building that consumes 331,000 square feet and is home to over 250 city buses, but is surprisingly energy efficient. Equipped with a solar panel wall, a white non-reflective roof, constructed with recycled materials and water-saving measure, this vast undertaking sets a precedent for others to follow.
Finally, going green means to carpool, take public transit or commute by means of self-propulsion. Edmonton makes it easy for its citizens to make a greener choice with its transit system. ETS currently operates 14 kilometres of rail track with 37 electric rail cars, moving over 42,000 passengers weekly. And with more than 6,200 bus stops throughout the city of nearly 800,000, there is no excuse not to hop aboard.
