Laval wins its first LEED Gold certification
Three other municipal buildings await LEED status
(TLN) The City of Laval has succeeded in obtaining the highest ranking certification for environmentally-sustainable public buildings. The municipality won the LEED Gold for the Lausanne Community Centre which was completed in 2018.
“I am extremely proud of this certification,” Mayor Marc Demers said on receiving news of the certification. “This is exactly in line with our strategic vision, which aims to make Laval a city in an urban setting within nature.
On the right track
“This demonstrates that we are doing the right thing where sustainable development is concerned, notably by making buildings that answer to the highest environmental standards.”
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. As Mayor Demers pointed out, the Laval Fire Department’s Firehall No. 2 in Chomedey opened in 2016 and obtained LEED Silver certification.
More LEEDs awaiting
In the meantime, three other new municipal buildings in Laval are waiting to be certified LEED Gold. They are the new Exploration Centre at Parc de la Rivière-des Mille-Îles, the Sainte-Dorothée community centre and Firehall No. 5 in Saint-François.
The principal requirements that must be followed to get LEED certification are that building sites must be managed ecologically, while water, energy, choice of building materials must also meet ecological compliance norms.
Executive-committee makes decisions at January meeting
Members of the City of Laval’s executive-committee took several decisions during a public meeting they held on Jan. 8, including actions involving local water quality, cultural activities and animal protection.
The executive-committee recommended to city council that it confirm the renewal of the City of Laval’s participation in the Industrial Chair for Drinking Water at the Polytechnique Montréal for five years from Oct. 2020 to October 2025 at a cost of $500,000.
Water research
The chair is mandated to produce scientific results recognized by industry, leading towards improved water treatment methods while minimizing health risks. Other cities that participate include Montreal, Longueuil, Repentigny and L’Assomption.
The executive-committee also approved an agreement between the City of Laval and Théâtre Harpagon for the implementation of the program Théâtre à ciel ouvert 2020, for the sum of $119,196.88. This municipal program will be showcasing professional actors in a theatre production to be staged outdoors during the summertime at the Centre de la nature.
Berger Blanc contract
The executive-committee also recommended to city council that it award a new one-year contract for pet and domestic animal care services to Berger Blanc for $1,131,354. Following a public call for tender for the contract, only Berger Blanc answered and met the various criteria. The City of Laval is currently studying potential measures to deal with pet and animal care issues in-house, without having to outsource the task.
Finally, the exective-committee recommende to council to pass a resolution to create a new organization to be known as the Table de développement agroalimentaire de Laval (TDAL). The new consultative group, to be overseen by a board, will be mandated to coordinate and deal with issues involving farming and food production in Laval, along with the marketing of locally-grown products.
Laval gets a good deal for disposing of household waste
City to continue reducing its waste stream, says Dufour
(TLN) At its Jan. 14 public meeting, Laval city council awarded a $54,929,754.65 contract to Complexe Enviro Connexions Ltée, which has a landfill site in Terrebonne, for the collection and management of recyclable materials. Lasting five years, the contract will begin in 2021 and end in December 2026.
Taking into account Laval’s size as a city, the mayor and council maintain the deal is exceptionally good. Laval will be paying $34.92 per tonne in 2021, and up to $39.24 in 2026, while the average for other Montreal-area municipalities will range from $35 to $65 a tonne.
“Our goal for the coming years is to continue to reduce the volume of waste that ends up in landfill,” said Councillor Virginie Dufour of Sainte-Rose who is responsible for environmental dossier while adding that the city expects to announce a new strategy for recyclables in the coming months.
Laval passes by-laws to boost electrification of transport
Charging stations will be required at apartment buildings
(TLN) Laval city council took an important step forward at its January public meeting towards encouraging sustainable mobility. Two by-laws were passed that will make it easier than ever for electric car owners to use re-charging stations on Laval’s territory.
At multi-unit bldgs.
The measures will place some responsibility on apartment building owners for providing electric recharging stations at all new multi-unit residential buildings.
“These new regulations are completely in keeping with our desire to concretely take part in the struggle against climate change,” said executive-committee member Virginie Dufour, the city councillor for Sainte-Rose.
Sustainable mobility
“The obligation to foresee the installation of electric recharging stations at all new buildings being built is something tangible aimed at improving accessibility to the different options for sustainability mobility,” she added.
According to the new rules, all new residential buildings containing from five to 49 units will have to have recharging stations for at least 25 per cent of available parking spaces. Buildings with 50 or more units will have to have recharging stations in place for at least 20 per cent of all parking spaces.
