​BRAMPTON, ON: An initiative focused on building healthy communities has garnered the City of Brampton and its partners an award of excellence from the American Planning Association (APA).



Measuring the Sustainability Performance of New Development, a collaboration between the City of Brampton, City of Vaughan and Town of Richmond Hill, received the organization’s Award for Excellence in Sustainability for best policy, law or plan.



Recognizing the importance of sustainable development, the three municipalities worked together to develop an innovative set of metrics and targets for use in their planning processes.

Measuring environmental performance is now built right into the City of Brampton’s planning process. When submitting a development application to the City, an applicant must use the online tool to generate an environmental sustainability score for their application. The tool uses a series of questions to objectively measure an application’s attributes, such as walkability, energy and water conservation, and mix of uses.



The metrics are meant to complement and support other provincial and municipal requirements, like Ontario’s Building Code and Growth Plan, urban design and healthy community guidelines, Peel’s climate change strategy and Brampton’s Grow Green environmental master plan.



The project previously won a 2014 Excellence in Planning award from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute.



The APA’s Awards for Excellence in Sustainability honour projects, plans, policies, individuals, and organizations whose work is dedicated to supporting and growing healthy, sustainable communities.



Quote

“Ensuring the sustainability of our communities has become increasingly important in managing growth and improving the health and well-being of our residents. The City of Brampton takes a comprehensive approach to planning and designing healthy communities, and I’m pleased that the APA has recognized the progress made by Brampton and its partners.”

Elaine Moore, Planning and Infrastructure Services Committee Chair and Regional Councillor



Associated Links

www.brampton.ca/measuring-sustainability





About Brampton: The ninth-largest city in Canada, Brampton celebrates a diverse population that represents people from 209 distinct ethnic backgrounds who speak 89 different languages. Brampton residents and visitors have access to state-of-the-art recreation facilities and one of the fastest-growing transit systems in Canada. Opened in 2007, Brampton Civic Hospital is part of the William Osler Health System, which is one of the largest community hospitals in Canada. For more information, visit www.brampton.ca or follow @CityBrampton on Twitter.



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MEDIA CONTACT

Natalie Stogdill

Media Coordinator

City of Brampton

905.874.3654 | natalie.stogdill@brampton.ca



