• Start year: 2008
• Type: Assessment/Research
• Status: Completed

This report assessed utility data for all of Colwood's facilities. Recommendations were made to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

• Start year: 2011
• Type: Regulatory
• Status: Completed

This is an amendment to the Building Bylaw to encourage the installation of solar domestic hot water systems by reducing plumbing permit fees.

• Start year: 2010
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: Completed

This project is the supply of 23 transit benches with advertising at bus stops of the Greater Victoria Regional Transit System that are in Colwood. A private company supplies the benches and pays Colwood a portion of advertising revenues. The benches make it more comfortable for residents to wait for buses, many of which are infrequent in Colwood, and also make the bus stops more visible.

• Start year: 2008
• Type: Organizational / Governance
• Status: Completed

Colwood purchased an electric truck to replace an old pickup truck. The maximum speed of the truck is 40 km/h, so an amendment to Colwood's Traffic and Highways Bylaw needed to be passed to allow it to be driven on city roads. The truck was manufactured close to Colwood on Vancouver Island. Slogans were painted on the truck to educate the public about it. It is brought to special events, such as Earth Days, for the public to view it up close and learn about it from Colwood representatives.

• Start year: 2009
• Type: Public Participation/Stakeholder engagement
• Status: Completed

This task force was for elected officials and local members of the public, including business owners, to come together and provide input towards a plan for achieving economic sustainability.

• Start year: 2009
• Type: Regulatory
• Status: Completed

This regulation allows for higher density of existing residential areas without the need to construct new buildings. This allows for more efficient use of existing resources.

• Start year: 2011
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

As part of the Solar Colwood project, Colwood is planning to install EV charging stations for public use throughout Colwood and to provide incentives for at-home and at-work EV charging stations.

• Start year: 2008
• Type: Assessment/Research
• Status: Completed

A detailed inventory of active transportation assts was prepared by staff with input from members of cycling and disabilities issues advisory grous and other community groups. An overall active transportation map and list of priority projects to improve active transportation facilities was prepared.

• Start year: 2012
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: In operation

Agenda packages for Council and Committee meetings are currently printed out for each of 7 elected officials. Some packages exceed 100 pages. Changes to Agenda Package policies have been approved to allow paperless distribution of the information for viewing on IPads to reduce paper waste.

• Start year: 2013
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: In operation

To develop a long term Transportation Plan for the City that fits within the regional context and establishes major roadway designations, standards and alignments, ensures effective traffic flow management for the future, and identifies major opportunities for streetscape beautification. Steps will include the development and approval of Terms of Reference, the hiring of a consultant for the development of the plan and the engagement of the community, and the presentation of the plan to Committee and Council for review and adoption. New developments add to traffic loads and in some cases change the nature of roadway flow and usage. This Plan will help to anticipate needs and ensure that roads are appropriately designed for all uses including vehicles, transit, bicycles, motorized scooters and pedestrians. Streets as community places will be recognized, beautification standards will be addressed, and opportunities for streetscape beautification and public art will be identified. Development related improvements (including any streetscape amenities) will be identified in advance. This will save the development community time and money and will improve the City's ability to acquire enhanced infrastructure as a result of development.

• Start year: 2009
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: Completed

This is a City policy to educate staff and set a policy of turning off vehicles if they are not being used for operational purposes.

• Start year: 2009
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: Completed

As a result of a Green Buildings BC Opportunity Assessment finding that energy use at the Fire Station was much higher than expected for a building of that size, a heating system retrofit was completed which reduced energy use by approximately 70%. The payback period was less than two years.

• Start year: 2010
• Type: Education/Awareness Raising
• Status: In operation

This is a planning program with SolarBC to raise awareness of the benefits of solar hot water heating. Under this program, Colwood hosted a training session on SHW installations for building inspectors and promoted SHW systems at community events. Future actions include providing incentives to reduce building permit fees for the installation of SHW systems and meeting with local school staff about the benefits of SHW.

• Start year: 2011
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: Completed

Colwood installed 2 solar hot water panels and 12 photovoltaic panels on its Fire Station. A demonstration area on the ground floor of the Fire Station was built with digital monitoring displays and othe information to allow the public to learn about solar systems. The monitoring system may be accessed on-line for review by Colwood staff. The photovoltaic panels have been setup through BC Hydro's Net Metering Program to allow surplus electricity to go into the public grid system.

• Start year: 2008
• Type: Regulatory
• Status: Completed

There are some electric vehicles that are manufactured to go no faster than 40 km/h. An amendment to Colwood's Traffic and Highways Bylaw was required to allow these vehicles on City roads. These types of electric vehicles may only drive on roads with speed limits up to 50 km/h. Soon after this bylaw was adopted, Colwood purchased an electric truck with a maximum speed of 40 km/h for operations work.

• Start year: 1998
• Type: Public Participation/Stakeholder engagement
• Status: In operation

Colwood's Cycling Advisory Committee is a select committee made up of City staff, elected officials, citizens and representatives of other groups such as the local university. This committee has been on-going since 1998. The committee reviews upcoming development and road improvement projects and other issues of interest to cyclists to make cycling a safer and more appealing choice of transportation as an option to motor vehicles.

• Start year: 2009
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: Completed

This policy allows staff to purchase an electric assist bicycle through a loan from the City that is paid back through payroll deductions.

• Start year:
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: In operation

This is an on-going service that has been offered to local residents for many years. Residents may drop off branches from their yards at Colwood's public works yard two Saturdays per month. The branches are then transported in a few large trucks rather than many smaller vehicles to regional collection areas. Branches are not permitted in residential garbage.

• Start year: 2011
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

Solar Colwood is a demonstration of whole community change towards energy conservation and renewable clean energy. The City is providing advice and financial support to help up to 1000 homeowners (about one-sixth of Colwood’s housing stock) to undertake energy retrofits that will save them money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To date, over 110 homes in Colwood have installed either ductless split heat pumps or solar hot water systems. It is a program of the City of Colwood, conducted in partnership with more than a dozen agencies, utilities, businesses, local First Nations, and academic institutions.

• Start year: 2007
• Type: Regulatory
• Status: Completed

This is an amendment to the Land Use Bylaw to require all new buildings, other than single family homes and duplexes, to have adequate bicycle parking facilities for the intended use.

• Start year: 2008
• Type: Assessment/Research
• Status: Completed

This was a review of Colwood's existing fleet to determine how to improve overall performance.

• Start year: 2011
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

The project is the construction of a sidewalk, bicycle lanes, a pedestrian crosswalk and drainage improvements on a road with traffic volumes of approximately 41,000 vehicles per day. The sidewalk and bicycle lanes have filled a gap between existing sidewalks and bicycle lanes in Colwood and the neighbouring Town of View Royal and are currently in use to provide safer active transportation options. They are along a route with bicycle lanes from the City of Langford to the City of Victoria in the Capital Regional District. Drainage has been improved to allow pretreatment of stormwater in biswales before discharging into an existing stormwater piping system. A crosswalk to allow for safer pedestrian and cyclist circulation is yet to be built.

• Start year:
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: In operation

This is an annual service provided for Colwood residents. For two days a year, residents may drop off large loads of approved waste materials at the Public Works Yard. The materials are sorted and recycled when possible. All materials are removed from the Yard in a few trucks. This reduces fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions of vehicles. Residents would otherwise have to drive out of the City to dispose of their wastes.