It is regrettable that the original standards set for the Central Green project of LEED Gold construction and 20% affordable housing had to be watered down by Kelowna city council. The reason given was the expense of incorporating these features into the project and still giving developers an adequate return on their investment.
This brings me back to the series of open houses that were held prior to selecting a final design for the project. One of the original choices offered the public for this site was a series of four storey buildings equipped with solar-panelled roofs making them energy self-sufficient – a feature which practically by itself guaranteed a LEED Gold designation. As low-rise buildings can be constructed from wood, the cost of construction could have been kept down thereby affording a higher percentage of low-cost housing within the project. But instead of choosing the sensible option, the public backed one of the high-rise designs having been brainwashed for years by groups like Smart Growth BC, the Okanagan Partnership, and the Geography Department at UBCO that the highest residential densities were the most sustainable and these densities could only be achieved through high-rise construction.
Well, at this time I invite all those who participated in the Central Green open houses and selected the final high-rise option that was chosen on the grounds that they thought it would be the most sustainable to give themselves a cranial enema and wash out all the crap that they had heard before, because it is just that – garbage. High-rises are not, repeat NOT, more sustainable than four to six storey buildings no matter what various misguided people, some with very obvious connections to the development industry, tell them. And it is sad that the high standards originally set for the Central Green had to be lowered in order for them to learn this lesson.
