I appreciate that Mr. Greaves expressed a keen awareness of how the climate crisis will impact Cadboro Bay Village in his letter ‘Moderate growth will make Cadboro Bay a more vibrant community’:
“Shifting the village centre uphill away from the rising sea, permitting low-rise buildings along busier streets, and allowing older housing stock around UVic to be replaced with multi-home buildings right where they’re needed – these are positive changes for everyone in Cadboro Bay.”
By ensuring the Local Area Plan carbon means tests the new structures envisioned, we both adapt and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions at the same time.
Carbon means testing (CMT) asks the question: Will an existing structure or renovation somewhere else accommodate the end-use effectively without the new intended structure’s embedded carbon?
An objective CMT evaluation reveals that the need for new structures becomes exceedingly rare, as we’re seeing with the Royal BC Museum. The existing building can be earthquake-proofed for a fraction of the price and forgone invested carbon in the avoided new wood, cement, glass, steel and plastic.
Larry Wartels
Saanich
