Dockside Green Performance Indicators

The Dockside Green redevelopment project is located on 6.05 hectares of land in the Victoria West neighbourhood. Dockside Green is situated on a remediated brownfield site and is intended to be built to the highest environmental standards possible.
 

Working together, the City of Victoria (the City) and the developers (VanCity and Windmill Developments) created design guidelines for the site that take into account a “triple-bottom-line” approach (environmental, economic and social) and include the delivery of public amenities such as affordable housing, public open space and a sustainability centre. The mixed-use neighborhood of residential, commercial and light industrial project will take approximately 10 years to build out.
 

With support from federal, provincial and private sector partners, the City developed a sustainability performance measurement framework (the Dockside Green Performance Indicators). The Dockside Green Performance Indicators will be used to periodically measure the social, economic and environmental impacts and outcomes of the development. This will help the City better understand the impact of the development and to identify and consider adjustments to enhance its overall sustainability.
 

The City partnered with the Ministry of Community Services, the Ministry of Environment, Western Economic Diversification, and Natural Resources Canada to develop the Dockside Green Performance Indicators. The City contracted Real Living Solutions to utilize their web-based user-friendly “see-it” software to present the Dockside Green Performance Indicators. An external advisory committee also reviewed and provided input on the Dockside Green Performance Indicators.
 

The Dockside Green Performance Indicators could be used as a template by municipalities to measure and monitor the social, economic and environmental impacts of a development project. Currently, the typical criteria for determining the contribution of new development to a community is focused on economics and safety. This new model demonstrates how local governments can more broadly evaluate the benefits and impacts of major development. The themes that the indicators cover are broadly outlined below:
 

Environment: land, energy, transportation, water resources, solid waste, and urban ecology.
 
Social: diversity, housing affordability, health and well-being, livability, community.
 
Economic: employment and economic activity, infrastructure, revenue for the municipality.

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