NEIGHBOURHOOD SUMMIT

June 9, 2012 | EVERGREEN BRICKWORKS

WELCOME FROM PROJECT NEUTRAL

On behalf of the staff, steering committee members and volunteers of Project Neutral, I would like to welcome you to our first Neighbourhood Summit, jointly hosted with our partners from the Junction and Riverdale neighbourhoods. We have worked towards this day for over a year, and are extremely grateful to all the individuals and organisations that have supported us along the way. In particular, we would like thank Councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 30) and Councillor Sarah Doucette (Ward 13) for their support since the beginning of the project. Thank you also to Robert Plitt and Evergreen Brickworks for hosting this event. In addition to providing an inspiring example of urban revitalization and environmental stewardship, the Brickworks now serves as the home for the Centre for Green Cities making this a particularly appropriate venue for Project Neutral and our neighbourhood partners and participants to challenge current thinking on urban sustainability. We are delighted to present award winning and world renowned urban designer, architect and author Ken Greenberg as our keynote speaker an individual who has dedicated both his professional and personal life to the liveability of neighbourhoods. In addition, we have gathered leading experts in urban sustainability to explore three ideas for reducing carbon emissions at the neighbourhood level: municipally financed energy retrofits, district energy, and neighbourhood carbon offsetting. We are confident their presentations will inspire great conversations amongst the residents, neighbourhood leaders, policy makers, innovators and green solutions providers who have gathered for this event.

We look forward to seeing you there! Sincerely, Project Neutral Riverdale Neighbourhood Leaders John Scully Sandra Lester Sean Drygas

Karen Nasmith Managing Director, Co-Founder

Junction Neighbourhood Leaders / Green 13 Co-Leaders Rita Bijons Paul Mero

8:30

Registration Master of Ceremonies: Angela Bischoff, Ontario Clear Air Alliance

AGENDA

9:00 9:15 10:00

Welcome: Karen Nasmith, Co-founder, Managing Director for Project Neutral, Paul Mero, resident and Co-Leader of Green 13, the Junction, and Sandra Lester, resident and neighbourhood leader, Riverdale. Keynote Address: More Urban and More Green: Cities Hold the Key Ken Greenberg, visionary architect, urban designer and author 1st Session: Municipally Financed Energy Retrofits, Sonja Persram, President & CEO, Sustainable Alternatives Consulting Inc

10:45
11:00 11:45

HEALTH BREAK
Break-out discussions: 3 questions (10 minutes per question). Report back:15 minutes Pre - lunch Address: Councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 30)

12:00
1:00 2:00

LUNCH
2nd Session: Retrofitting Urban Neighbourhoods for District Energy, Greg Allen, Senior Associate, Sustainable Edge Joyce Mclean, Director, Strategic Issues, Toronto Hydro, District Energy Jennifer Taylor, Community Power Fund Break-out discussions: 3 questions (10 minutes per question). Report back: 15 minutes

2:45
3:00 3:45 4:30

HEALTH BREAK
3rd Session: Neighbourhood Offsetting Program: Using carbon offsets to fund local projects Robert Elms, Green Power Action Travis Allan, Partner, Zizzo Allan Climate Law Break-out discussions: 3 questions (10 minutes per question). Report back: 15 minutes Closing comments: Councillor Sarah Doucette, Ward 13

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
ANGELA BISCHOFF
Outreach Director, Ontario Clean Air Alliance Angela Bischoff has worked exclusively on the green beat with the NGO community since 1987. From bikes to nukes to mental health to elections, her range of experience is broad. She is currently outreach organizer with the Ontario Clean Air Alliance. Many of you will be familiar with her work through her e-newsletters No Nukes News and Greenspiration as well as her bulletins from OCAA, essential reading for those interested in Ontario and global energy issues and if youre not already receiving them, you should be!

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
KEN GREENBERG
Architect, Urban Designer and Author From a youth spent in the boroughs of New York City and other great cities of the world, to his beginnings as an architect in Toronto, Ken Greenberg has long recognized that cities at their best provide much of what we seek in a place to call home. Community, places of culture and business that we can walk to, mass transit and a wealth of amenities that couldn't be supported without a city's density: the mid-century drive to suburbanization deprived us of these inherent advantages of urban living. The realization of this loss, in tandem with pressing recent concerns about energy scarcity and global warming, has made us see cities with fresh eyes and a growing understanding that they can provide us with an unparalleled measure of sustainability. Ken Greenberg has not only advocated for the renewal of downtown cores, he has for thirty years designed the very means by which that renewal can happen. His recent book Walking Home is both Ken's story and a lesson in turning the world's urban spaces back into places that can give us not only a platform to face the challenges of the future, but also a place we can call, with pride and satisfaction, home.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
1ST SESSION
SONJA PERSRAM, BSc., MBA, LEED AP
President & CEO, Sustainable Alternatives Consulting Inc Sonja Persram is President of Sustainable Alternatives Consulting Inc., a research and implementation company focused on accelerating sustainability. Sonja conducts sustainability projects on policy and finance tools, building regulatory issues, and market and technology solutions. Sonja is the author of three reports on Property Assessed Payments for Energy Retrofits (PAPER) for the David Suzuki Foundation on using the municipal Local Improvement Charge (LIC) financing tool for home energy efficiency retrofits in Ontario. After this project she led a group of PAPER supporters including many municipalities in a combined request for regulatory change throughout last winter and spring 2012. She is the author of many articles, and was awarded a journalists fellowship to Germany in 2010 by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and the German government. Sonja served on the USGBCs Social Equity Task Force.

2ND SESSION
GREGORY A. S. ALLEN, B.A.Sc., P.Eng.
Senior Associate, Sustainable Edge Upon completion of his degree in engineering and studies in architecture, Greg Allen began his career in the renewable energies industry, and designing and building low energy solar houses. Greg set up Canadas first solar collector manufacturing operation. Subsequently he was president of Allen-Drerup-White Ltd., a highly respected low-energy building design and construction firm. He was also co-developer of the first Heat Recovery Ventilator, which resulted in the Air Changer Corporation. Greg has worked on advancing sustainability for 35 years as a designer, builder, community planner, inventor, researcher, manufacturer, policy advisor, community activist and environmental consultant. As Senior Associate of Sustainable EDGE Ltd., his activities include advanced building systems, renewable energy applications, ecologically engineered treatment facilities, and sustainable community planning. Greg is a LEED Accredited Professional.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
2ND SESSION
JOYCE MCLEAN
Director, Strategic Issues, Toronto Hydro, District Energy Joyce McLean is the Director of Strategic Issues at Toronto Hydro Corporation. Joyce has spent over 30 years in the environmental and energy policy field, including as: Toronto Hydros communications and policy lead for renewable energy including a proposed Lake Ontario offshore wind farm and North Americas first urban wind turbine co-owned with WindShare Co-operative, at Exhibition Place. A senior political policy advisor to two Ontario Environment Ministers; An Ontario representative on the International Joint Commissions Great Lakes Water Quality Board; A self-employed policy consultant and writer on environmental issues; Bi-National Great Lakes campaign director for Greenpeace International Chair, Canadian Wind Energy Association Co-Chair, Great Lakes Wind Collaborative Founding Chair, Community Power Fund Educated in political science, marketing, negotiations and journalism, Joyce makes her home in Toronto.

JENNIFER TAYLOR
Program Coordinator, Community Power Fund

Jenny has been active in Ontarios renewable energy sector since 2007. She worked as a Special Projects Manager for Trillium Power Wind Corporation until 2011 and is currently a Program Coordinator at the Community Power Fund. Jenny holds a Bachelors degree in Forestry, a Masters in Environmental Studies and is beginning her PhD in Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto this coming fall.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
3RD SESSION
ROBERT ELMS, P.Eng.
Co-Founder and Chairman, Green Power Action

Robert M. Elms is a cofounder and Chairman of Green Power Action Inc. and the President and cofounder of North American Carbon Canada and coolAction.com Inc. These companies were formed starting in the mid-1990s to specialize in the emerging GHG emission reduction markets. Mr. Elms has been involved in voluntary carbon market space for over fifteen years and most recently was involved in the launching of a voluntary carbon offset fund; the Greening Canada Fund. Mr. Elms holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Lakehead University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Memorial University. Mr. Elms is a registered professional engineer in the province of Ontario and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE).

TRAVIS ALLAN
Partner, Zizzo Allan Climate Law Travis Allan advises private and public sector clients on environmental, corporate and regulatory matters. Travis has negotiated and drafted numerous commercial agreements on behalf of clean tech clients, including carbon credit purchase and sale agreements (ERPAs), technology licenses, marketing agreements and corporate governance documents. Travis also provides consulting services to clients with issues that cross disciplines, such as economics, planning and law. He has advised public and private clients on issues such as municipal liability resulting from climate change, greenhouse gas reporting obligations and novel policy tools to control urban sprawl. In his regulatory practice, Travis represents a number of clients at the Ontario Energy Board. In addition to writing and speaking frequently on climate change and law, Travis provides legal and strategy assistance to a number of organizations Pro Bono as a board member.

We would like to recognize the following individuals and organisations for making the Summit a success!

OUR SUMMIT VOLUNTEERS & SUPPORTERS

SUMMIT VOLUNTEERS
Julie Dzerowicz Tiffany Vong Tamara Balan Laur Fisher Omar Khan Melana Janzen Lily-Ann D'Souza Natasha Jailal Erika Pulfer Ally McKenzie Jennifer Robertson Grant Lowe Mark Salerno

SUMMIT ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Asya Bidordinova, Event Coordinator Chris Hanz, Marketing and Communications Cassandra Alves, Design Caroline Irvine, Marketing and Communications Natalie Galas, Marketing and Communications Kimberly Bagayawa, Marketing and Communications Hind Abdalla, Media Relations

PLANNING, RESEARCH & SUPPORT

University of Toronto 4th year Building Science Class Ryerson University 1st year Masters in Urban Planning Class Sonja Persram, Sustainable Alternatives Consulting Inc Katelyn Margerm, Canadian Urban Institute Jeff Evenson, Canadian Urban Institute Alexandra McDonough, Canadian Urban Institute Jasmine Frolick, Canadian Urban Institute Aidan Whiteley, Canadian Urban Institute Careesa Gee, Canadian Urban Institute Greg Allen, Sustainable Edge Grant Lowe Travis Allan, Zizzo Allan Climate Law Erica Woods, Office of Councillor Paula Fletcher

OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD VOLUNTEERS

Volunteer teams led by your neighbours are the backbone, heart and spirit of Project Neutral. This event would not have been possible without the incredible leadership, passion and dedication of these individuals. Thank you for the thousands of doors that you knocked on, for the meetings you attended and the events you helped coordinate. Your energy has sustained Project Neutral and contributed to its success!

RIVERDALE
Sean Drygas John Scully Sandra Lester Susan Taylor-Simpson Julie Taylor Sandra Pate Linda Palmer Nye Peter Hatch Denny Manchee Sharon Howarth Emily Pong Bob Nagar Ian Small Andrew Simpson Mosharof Bhuiyan Herwig Gayer

THE JUNCTION
Paul Mero Rita Bijons Victoria Clare Helen Vassilakos Annabel Reinis Pam Mountain Dorothy Fraser Herb Irving Jim Bodanis Johanna Hoffmann Chris Holcroft Marko Lavrisa Fiona Rankin Natasha Vaney Eric Mak Lindsay Haeber Lindsay MacDonald Brian Cauley Elizabeth Hellreich

PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS

PROJECT SPONSORS

SUMMIT SPONSORS

NEIGHBOURHOOD PARTNER

LUNCH AND SNACKS

VENUE

ABOUT PROJECT NEUTRAL

Project Neutral offers neighbourhoods tangible ways to respond to climate change. At the individual and household level, we connect residents with their neighbours to inspire change. At the neighbourhood-level, we attract innovators and solutions providers to turn ideas into action. We recognize that transitioning a neighbourhood to carbon neutrality is an ambitious goal. Yet we feel passionately that the most important action that a neighbourhood can take is to start on that journey. With the right momentum, support and tools, we are confident great things will happen: innovative technologies and funding mechanisms will be piloted, and neighbourhood cohesiveness and resiliency will grow in the face of the single most daunting challenge currently facing our planet. The Neighbourhood Summit will provide us with a more defined strategy for reducing carbon emissions at the neighbourhood scale. Canadian experts in urban sustainability will lead discussions in three areas district energy, municipal financing for home energy retrofits, and neighbourhood carbon offsetting allowing residents to push beyond current barriers and explore innovative and transformative opportunities.

WHATS NEXT?
Following the event, we anticipate sending all event participants a summary of the findings, highlighting the key actions and next steps that were identified at the Summit. For anyone wanting to stay involved, we will be sure to propose various ways for this to happen!

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: