Waterfront Toronto’s Villiers Island Development: Path to Climate Positive

Waterfront Toronto is planning a new Climate Positive neighbourhood next to downtown at the mouth of the Don River. The village will be home to a mixed-use community, with residential, office, government and retail spaces. SSG was engaged to review the current urban design plan to assess its expected performance against Climate Positive goals.

An initiative of the C40 sustainable cities initiative, the Climate Positive framework aims to certify neighbourhoods that reduce their emissions beyond zero, expanding their emissions reduction efforts to neighbouring communities. SSG has made transportation, waste reduction and diversion, building construction, energy use, district energy utility, water use, wastewater treatment, renewable energy production, and energy use intensity targets recommendations for the Villiers Island development.

SSG constructed an optimization model that calculates the optimal balance of investments in building energy efficiency, solar PV generation, district energy options, and transportation options. Achieving a Climate Positive neighbourhood is a remarkable challenge, requiring careful consideration of all neighbourhood design, operation and maintenance elements. SSG was pleased to take on this world-class sustainability challenge.