Wow, seems like a long time since I have blogged about the topic in sustainability.

About half a year ago, I joined an non-profit in China – JUCCCE – Joint US-China Colloboration on Clean Energy.  They are quite an interesting group in the sense that they are not focusing too much on grassroot movements, but more on influencing the policy makers.

The chairperson, Peggy Liu, had been featured quite often in the US press, as she is an expert in dealing with green issues within China.  I had a chance to go with Peggy to meet the Vancouver’s  mayor Gregor Robertson and the delegation team visiting Shanghai’s expo.

Mayor Robertson and Councilor Louie in Shanghai Expo - Vancouver House - along side the Expo Ambassador "Da Shan" (left)

Juccce's Chairperson Peggy Liu, Vancouver's Mayor Robertson, and I in Shanghai's Vancouver Green Capital reception

Vancouver has a vision or mandate – to become the greenest city by 2020.  The truth is, we have a very good case, as Vancouver is already one of  THE GREENEST cities within North America.  I believe that if we can create a marketable and sustainable business case, Vancouver can be the model for the rest of the world – and business communities who supports this will also benefit.

Ever since I came back, I went to many different “green” events – from a community level (Strathcona’s Sustainability Expo 3.0, SFU’s carbon talk series), city level (City of Vancouver’s “IdeaSlam”), as well as provincial/federal levels and many other events that are sponsored by different non-profits and NGOs.  I notice that there are many talks and action that are going forward with the green notion – bike lanes in downtown, community gardens popping up everywhere in the city, and companies talking about how to attract consumers by selling this green aspect.

Personally I believe that energy conservation is the first step towards a green community.  In the next few weeks, I will blog and post more about my knowledge in the Energy conservation field (I am a Certified Energy Manager, btw) and how it will relate to the whole sustainability lifestyle.  So stay tuned!

No related posts.

After coming back to Vancouver, I had a great aspiration to be more green in my life.  One of the areas in focus is the transportation.  Having lived in Beijing the last few years, and without a car, I am very used to traveling by public transit.   Of course, it also helps that the Beijing public transit is very cheap (0.40RMB for bus ride, 2RMB for subway, 7RMB = 1USD)

Anyways, the past month after taking public transit in Vancouver, here are some of my suggestions:

1. Start putting on some gates on Skytrains – I have always bought tickets, but I also “heard” that many don’t. For over 1 month of public transit, I was only being checked ONCE at a skytrain station.  Hopefully this can make the public transit system getting its fair share of revenue.

2. Make less bus stops – To make the buses run more efficient.  It doesn’t help when there are TWO stops at one intersection (look at Fraser and 49th).   Also, between city blocks there are too many stops.  Between Main and Cambie along 49th Ave, there are 4 bus stops, each ones within 200m of each other.  A normal person can usually walk a little bit, this can create a healthier lifestyle too.  I suggest simply take those stops out, people will be ok with it after a while.

3. Less runs to the Airport, more runs to Richmond on the Canada Line – It makes no sense to have a train every 6 minutes to go to the Airport.  I believe Vancouver must have the most frequent airport commute IN THE WORLD.  Instead of having one train to Airport and  the next one to Richmond, Translink should make this ratio 1 to 3 or so (3  trains to Richmond, and then 1 to Airport)

4. On the same note with the Airport train, I think the fee is TOO CHEAP.   It must be one of the cheapest transportation from city center (downtown) to airport IN THE WORLD too.  Beijing Airport,  with the low cost of living, has shuttle buses at $3USD and subway at $5USD, and Vancouver’s system is $3USD departing every 6 minutes. If cost of living is calculated, the Vancouver system’s cost should be 3 times as much as the one in Beijing.   (Note to self, my next article will be researching on the price)  One suggestion is to combine the ticket that goes to airport with the 24hr All-zone Pass.  This way, people who go to airport can pay around $10 and still feel that it is not overpriced.

5. The Olympic Line should stay – the connection to Granville Island and Canada Line is great for environment and business in Granville Island.  Now Granville Island became a place that is easily reachable, which is also how the Canada Line is to businesses in Yaletown.

6. The zone system is stupid – This one is tougher to implement.  I live in Vancouver, about 2 bus stops from Burnaby.  I think it makes no sense that I would pay a much cheaper rate to go to downtown, which is 20km away from where I am at, than to Metrotown, which is 5 km.  Most countries and cities would have the distance of travel be the only aspect to calculate the fare.  Of course, implementing this system requires changing the entire payment system – i.e. smart cards, readers, etc.  So I don’t see an easy way.

Here are some of my ideas.  If you have any more good ideas, let me know!

No related posts.

Transportation is a big part of a city’s carbon footprint, responsible for over 25% of total carbon output.

There are some ideas about how to reduce the transportation footprint:

• Idle-free zone –  Vancouver started the program a few years ago. It is now illegal to have your car idled for over 3 minutes.
• Electric vehicle incentives – newly built apartments built in Vancouver are now required to have electric vehicle charging posts.  Government generally give out great cash incentives to subsidize the  higher-priced EVs.  Car manufacturers are finally getting their act together in putting out nicely built vehicles that suits the needs of drivers in North America.  (Go Prius, Go Volt!)
• Better Transit system – Growing up in Asia and North America, it is easy to tell the difference – the population density of major cities in North America are simply not enough to sustain a profitable system (maybe except New York City).  In Asia, any major city will have packed subways, highspeed trains, and it’s great.
• HOV lanes – encourages carpooling and ridesharing
• Work from Home – most of the times it works, but it requires quite a dedication and concentration to be able to work from home without distraction.

Any other ideas you want to suggest?

No related posts.

Some people had asked me before, how to make my business more “Green”? There are numerous articles on the web, and they can  be summarized into a few steps.

1. Dedicate personnel/Green team

One of the most important aspect of energy conservation in the workplace is personnel involvement.  This is not as simple as one would think.  First of all, the personnel would need to have the full support of the entire company – namely, executives, all levels of management, as well as staffs.  The support will need to come from political and also financial aspects.  Therefore, it is best to form a Green Team that includes personnel from all levels  of the company.

2. Develop a Goal

With people in place, it is implied to have a goal.  Goal setting is tricky – look at the Coppenhagen Climate Change Accord.  As one of the first goal in energy conservation, it is better to make the goal achievable, and also measurable.  Some companies try to achieve the impossible – while it’s great,  but it’s  just like setting goals for weight lost – it makes no sense to lose 100 pounds within 2 weeks.

3.Work out the Plan

With a goal in mind, the plan development will involve setting the right timeline, and inputing the right amount of investments will make the plan right.  Certainly use the  word  ”investment” – this is crucial for creating the business case for the money spent now can be recouped by the cost of energy saved in the next few years.

4. Communicate transparently

The golden “Triple Bottom-Line” rule  - where the company, society, and environment benefits from such a green business must be mentioned somehow.  The entire company will need to receive any news, provide feed back, and get the Green Team to modify the plan if needed.  This may include any additional investments needed, the energy saved (in dollar value).   Let the staff know about this, and the society will know.  The more transparent the communication is, the more involvement one can receive.

Some resources from the book, The Climate Challenge,  101 Solutions to Global Warming

• Carbon Calculator – http://www.carbonneutral.com/carbon-calculators/
• Workplace Eco-Audit – http://cupe.ca/forms/ecoaudit.php
• Zero Footprint – http://www.zerofootprint.net/

No related posts.