Toronto Green Standard Review and Update

The objective of the Toronto Green Standard is to influence and support change to achieve more sustainable development in the City. Based on tiers of increasingly sustainable performance the Toronto Green Standard provides a clear understanding of the City's climate change objectives and expectations for future updates. Builders who are market leaders in sustainability are eligible for an incentive under the City's Toronto Green Standard Development Charge Refund Program if constructing at higher tiers. The Toronto Green Standard performs an important role as a market transformation tool to progressively push development beyond the minimum standards of the Ontario Building Code towards the Toronto's zero-emissions targets as set out in TransformTO, and City Council's 2019 declaration of a climate emergency. It also responds to the Climate Change and Resilience actions to support recover and rebuild set out in the Council adopted Towards Recovery and Rebuilding a Renewed Toronto report (the TORR report). In May 2018, the City introduced Toronto Green Standard Version 3, including a performance pathway to high performance low emissions new construction by 2030 based on absolute performance targets related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission limits, energy use intensity and thermal energy demand intensity. The staff report and the City's Zero Emissions Building Framework study that supported this change set out a stepped approach to increasingly higher energy and GHG performance measures with each Toronto Green Standard update for large Part 3 Buildings (which comprise over 85% of projected new construction in Toronto). The proposed updates to the Toronto Green Standard for Version 4 are based on extensive consultation and collaboration with inter-divisional partners including Environment and Energy Division, Toronto Building, Toronto Water, Parks Forestry and Recreation, Transportation Services, Solid Waste, Corporate Real Estate Management, Engineering and Construction Services, and Legal Services. Staff also consulted with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Waterfront Toronto, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, the Canada Green Building Council, the development industry, industry experts and academics. The proposed changes are consistent with proposed recommendations in the Building Net Zero Emissions City Buildings: Corporate Real Estate's Net Zero Carbon Plan and the Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy. For over ten years, the Toronto Green Standard has been an effective tool for more resilient new development and infrastructure. The Toronto Green Standard Version 4 (TGS v4) looks to advance this further and is designed and structured to meet the City's goals and commitments around climate change. As part of the review and update for TGS v4, staff have focussed on opportunities to support and contribute to realizing a low-carbon and resilient Toronto. The Toronto Green Standard Version 4 (2022) includes three tiers of performance with a focus on carbon reductions and green infrastructure enhancements. The key changes recommended are: Zero Emissions Buildings - Advancing and increasing the next Tier of energy performance on the path to achieve near zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions buildings by 2030 for mid-high rise residential and non-residential buildings. As set out in the report approved by Council in 2017, the energy performance of each tier moves up so that Tier 2 becomes the required Tier 1, Tier 3 becomes voluntary Tier 2 and Tier 4 becomes voluntary Tier 3 (the new highest performance level for near-zero emissions). Embodied Carbon -A new requirement has been added for Tier 2 and 3 projects to conduct a materials emissions assessment of the upfront embodied carbon of structural and envelope components. This requirement recognizes the importance of the carbon footprint of building materials and the role of the Toronto Green Standard in planning and decision making. A requirement for Tier 2 projects to calculate the embodied carbon and the carbon sequestration within landscape designs has also been added. Electric Vehicle Infrastructure - In keeping with the City's Electric Vehicle Strategy, a new requirement for the provision of Level 2 electrical outlets for each new parking space in low rise housing has been added and the current requirements have been increased to 25% in Tier 1 and 100% EV Ready in Tier 2 for large Part 3 Buildings. Water and Ecology - The TGS is proposed to be restructured to better align the inter-divisional and inter-disciplinary inputs to prioritize green infrastructure objectives in the Water and Ecology sections including: reducing stormwater runoff and potable water consumption; reducing urban heat island impact; increasing tree canopy and green roof coverage and enhancing biodiversity. A proposed requirement for new streets is included to capture and control stormwater runoff through green infrastructure.

3. City Council request the Chief Financial Officer, in collaboration with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Director, Environment and Energy, to report, as part of the review of Growth Funding Tools, on options to advance higher levels of uptake of Tier 2 and 3 buildings to facilitate transformation to net zero earlier than 2030. 4. City Council request CreateTO to require the application of the Toronto Green Standard Version 4, Tier 2 for all development agreements, including the Housing Now Initiative. 5. City Council direct the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, in consultation with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Director, Environment & Energy to report to City Council on any proposed updates to the Ontario Building Code related to energy efficiency targets for buildings and on opportunities through the Ontario Building Code to accelerate the zero emissions pathway as set out in this report.