Vancouver wins Global Government Leadership Award for Best Green Building Policy

OTTAWA ­— The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is pleased to announce that the City of Vancouver has won a World Green Building Council (WGBC) Government Leadership Award for Best Green Building Policy.  Announced today during the UN Climate Change Convention in Warsaw, the Best Green Building Policy award recognizes international best practice in city-level government policy for green building initiatives.
Held in partnership with ICLEI and UN-HABITAT, this prestigious international awards program honours local government leadership in green building and highlights policies that maximize the opportunity for buildings to mitigate environmental impact. Cities from all regions were considered for the awards under the 2013 theme “Global Excellence in Local Green Building Policy.”
The overall winner of “Best Green Building Policy” was Vancouver, for its Greenest City 2020 Action Plan, an example of excellence in sustainable city policies. The award recognizes the City’s leadership on green buildings, specifically on its two ambitious targets and related strategies. The first target requires all new buildings constructed from 2020 onward to be carbon neutral. The second target is to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in existing buildings by 20 per cent over 2007 levels by 2020. Vancouver’s building bylaw and energy efficiency retrofit requirements are two key tools to achieving those targets.