Victoria’s Dockside Green First in LEED® for Neighbourhood Development Pilot Program
Victoria, BC, February 14, 2007— Victoria’s Dockside Green is the first community development to apply for participation in the LEED® for Neighbourhood pilot program offered by the US Green Building Council.
Co-developed by Windmill Developments and Vancity, Dockside Green has been pursuing LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) status for all the buildings on its site. Now, the project has applied to have the entire site certified through the new LEED® for Neighborhood rating system.
The US Green Building Council (USGBC), the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) have come together to offer this new rating system. The LEED® Neighbourhood Development pilot program will provide an independent, third party verification of a projects commitment to sustainability.
“As usual Dockside Green has taken the lead by being one of the first companies to apply,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and founding chairman US Green Building Council “This innovative development is already changing the way we view green communities and their commitment to continue leading the way in neighbourhood design should be commended.”
Set to launch in 2009, the new LEED® for Neighborhood Development Rating System will integrate the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building into the first national standard for neighborhood design.
LEED® for Neighbourhood Development Program/Dockside Green
Developers interested in having their development part of the pilot project need to submit documentation in 2007 in order to attempt to be certified as a LEED® for Neighborhood Development Certified project. Selected projects will be rated on their choice of location, linkages to their surrounding and design, in addition to green construction and technology. Using their collective experience, participant’s roles in the pilot project will be to revise the rating system before it undergoes public consultation in 2008.
“It has always been our goal to ensure Dockside Green is a model community for others to emulate,” said Dockside Green co-developer Joe Van Belleghem. “We are determined to lead the way in green building by serving as an example and hope to participate in this cutting edge LEED® program for neighbourhoods.”
Once complete, Dockside Green will be a community of 2,500 people on the harbour in downtown Victoria. The LEED® for Neighbourhood Development program places emphasis on design and construction elements that relate the neighbourhood to its larger region and landscape. The pilot project, which will continue throughout 2007, will select 120 projects to be part of the program; Dockside Green is vying to be one of them.
For more information on the LEED® Neighbourhood Development pilot program, people may go to www.usgbc.org
For more information on Dockside Green, people may go to www.docksidegreen.com.
Media Contact:Dockside Green - US green building neighbourhood
Christine Gleed, Tartan Group
250.592.3838 or 250.896.3844 (cell)