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==Vancouver, Canada==
John Restakis:
"Housing co-ops have established a well-earned reputation as the most cost effective option for promoting affordable housing while establishing strong, safe communities for their members There are 105 non-profit housing co-ops with a total of 5,654 units in the City of Vancouver. There are also 11 equity co-ops with over 200 units.
Housing co-ops have been leaders in the promotion of policies that advance sustainability. Many have been leaders in the movement to retrofit buildings for more energy efficiency. In this, they are aided not only by their social ethic, but also from the support they receive from their federations which enables the sector as a whole to mobilize around shared goals & objectives.
Recently, the Co-op Housing Federation of BC (CHF BC) launched an ambitious effort to address the sustainability issue through the pursuit of strategic actions within the co-op housing sector. The plan is supported through a new partnership between CHFBC, City Green Solutions, and eaga Canada with backing from BC Hydro, BC Housing, Terasen Gas, and Vancity. The initiative focuses on an Energy Use Survey of all housing co-ops, and a complete energy audit for sample types of housing co-op. The collection of this data from individual housing co-ops can then be quickly matched with available programs to fund energy upgrades.
CHFBC’s leadership on sustainability has made it Canada’s first carbon-neutral federation of housing co-ops.
With the assistance of CHF BC, some co-ops in Vancouver have also taken advantage of the CMHC renovation-retrofit grants, the Live Smart Efficiency Assistance Program (LEAP) grants and other opportunities like The Home Depot Foundation grants. CHF BC also led the effort to help leaky co-ops get the resources they needed to get repaired or rebuilt. So far, about ¾ of them have been repaired.
Similarly, the BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA) performed a survey of their members that included energy audits. With this data the association has been able to screen programs to determine which of their housing providers is eligible for support, and then match those societies with the resources they need. To date, BCNPHA has matched more than 500 eligible housing societies with free energy assessments, energy savings kits, grants for energy efficiency retrofits and more.
The outcomes from these initiatives alone will substantially reduce the energy costs of the city. But it is only a beginning. The same initiatives could be extended as a service to each and every apartment building and home-owner with the support of the city and other partners, and the creation of a specialized, non-profit, green home service co-op to apply the tools, conduct the audits, and even carry out the retrofits and energy upgrades. The co-op could also play a central role with the city in marketing the program, raising public awareness, and recruiting resources and skills to the movement for a green city.
What is key for the success of such an effort is mobilizing and targeting the existing commitment and resources of the co-op sector, particularly the organizational capital that is available through the federations that link co-ops together. Organizations like the Co-op Housing Federation of BC, the BC Co-op Association, and Central 1 which links together the credit union system, are invaluable social assets whose expertise, commitment, and membership base constitute a great reservoir of untapped potential for realizing the city’s sustainability goals."
Source: [[City of Vancouver as Cooperative City]]
[[Category:Housing]]
[[Category:Cooperatives]]
[[Category:Canada]]