Mississauga strengthens growth standards to protect residents from costly climate disasters – Penticton Herald

On Monday, Mississauga’s Planning and Development committee voted unanimously to pass a new set of Green Development Standards (GDS) aimed at making future growth in the city as sustainable as possible. While Mississauga is significantly behind others like Toronto, which have had these standards in place since 2006, residents and sustainability organizations have labelled the approval a historic moment in the City’s effort to mitigate climate change by putting strong sustainability criteria in place for new homes and buildings.

Protecting homeowners and infrastructure from the consequences of climate change—flooding, erosion, heat waves—largely falls on municipalities. GDS, which includes voluntary and mandatory measures, places sustainability as the guiding force for new development. Standards aim to reduce energy use, water consumption and waste contribution, all in the name of limiting the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released. These building criteria result in improvements to public health and the local economy as the end product is a green, vibrant community that people are proud to call home. These policies also include measures to mitigate the negative effects urban environments have on wildlife with the requirement for things like bird-friendly design to limit window collisions, one of the leading causes of bird deaths in the world.

The updated standards mark the first time council has approved a strengthened version since the original set was put in place in 2012.

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