Green Shores Raising the Bar for Coastal Development

June 13, 2008 - PRLog -- VANCOUVER – The Green Shores program is releasing a unique new coastal development rating system on June 23 during an event at Simon Fraser University’s downtown campus. The rating system will increase the knowledge, demand and market for green coastal design, said Green Shores Technical Committee Chair, Brian Emmett.

“We hope this powerful tool will help transform ocean front development,” said Emmett. “A range of required and optional credits for building siting, vegetation buffers, pollution control, sediment management, habitat conservation, restoration and design innovation will allow the property to be certified to various levels making the green label a selling feature,” said Emmett. “Governments can also adopt the standards as requirements for development.”

Green Shores is a program of the Stewardship Centre for British Columbia (SCBC), a non-profit society dedicated to supporting and advancing stewardship activities in British Columbia. The Green Shores program promotes healthy coastal and marine ecosystems through development planning and design that benefits the environmental, social and economic aspects of coastal systems.

As part of the larger Green Shores project, the new coastal development rating system will be tested on six coastal developments in British Columbia. The rating system is a certification program based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating model. Successful designation under Green Shores will enable developers and landowners to label their property as “Green Shores Certified.”  


A number of high profile speakers are lined up for the release event. Tim Pringle, Executive Director of the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia will speak about the need for Green Shores approaches due to the growth of coastal development and the growing recognition of ecosystem value in property development. Thomas Mueller, President of the Canadian Green Building Council, will speak about the broadening of the LEED program toward neighbourhood design and the market advantage of LEED certification. Christina Burridge, Executive Director of the BC Seafood Alliance, will speak about the need for protecting marine resources from development impacts.  The Green Shores program and rating system will be introduced along with many of the key players in the development of Green Shores. A representative of the BC Ministry of Environment will present the SCBC with a cheque for ongoing support of the Green Shore program.

“We are looking forward to working closely with developers, engineers, landscape architects and habitat biologists to test and refine the Green Shores rating system, and expect that many members of development community will be joining us at the June 23ed event.”  

Funding for the Green Shores program comes from Environment Canada’s Eco-Action program, The B.C. Ministry of the Environment, and The Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia.

The event takes place on June 23, 2pm-4pm, at SFU’s Harbour Centre campus. Registration is required. For more information, visit the Green Shores website at http://www.greenshores.ca or contact Patrick Walshe, R.P. Bio, Green Shores Coordinator at 1-250-954-0110, Patrick@greenshores.ca

Website: www.coastalrevelations.com