Dear Editor:
I am writing to resoundingly thank our three North Shore municipalities – North Vancouver city and district, and the District of West Vancouver – for their forward climate planning in incentivizing low carbon emission systems in new buildings through regulation via municipal bylaws, and therefore avoiding the necessity of future building retrofits to become low carbon emitters.
As The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom has reported (in a Jan. 23 article by Fiona Harvey), U.K. residents are facing a different, troubling and expensive scenario.
“Householders buying brand new homes in the next four years are likely to find an unpleasant surprise awaiting them in the future: homes built today will have to be retrofitted with energy efficiency measures and low-carbon technology, at an average cost of more than £20,000. ... The government this week set out proposals to change building regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but declined to bring forward its proposed future homes standard from the scheduled 2025 commencement date.”
As we’ve heard many times with the health pandemic, now is the time to act. This statement is also very true in regards to the climate with the caveat that decades earlier would have been better.
The world is facing an absolutely critical time in our environment with obvious signs of unsettled climate surrounding us.
Judith Brook
Lynn Valley
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