THE CHALLENGE:
Sustainable Coquitlam

Project Greenlight’s open call process solicits innovative ideas that address complex challenges facing public and private enterprises (“members”). Whether your submission involves an emerging technology you are bringing to market, or a commercially available solution used in an adjacent industry, it must be unique, scalable, and align with the City of Coquitlam’s strategic priorities.

Coquitlam, like many nature-rich communities in the region, is projected to see an increase in exposure to climate risk events, including storms, floods, droughts, and heat waves. To mitigate these risks, Coquitlam has begun implementing the Climate Adaptation Strategic Plan and is developing a new Climate Action Plan throughout 2022 to support the goals in the Environmental Sustainability Plan (ESP). The ESP is a forward-looking plan that guides future decisions and supports the long-term environmental resiliency and sustainability of the community, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45% by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The City of Coquitlam is therefore seeking innovative and original ideas to reduce energy and emissions in its operations and increase the resilience of its city services, while addressing its ESP goals related to climate action, the built environment, and water management. Key goals identified in the plan include reducing GHG emissions, encouraging sustainable modes of transportation, enabling sustainable development and building design, and improving stormwater management.

The City of Coquitlam has identified the following key focus areas that can benefit from technology innovation:

Climate action, including but not limited to solutions that:

  • Electrify and/or reduce emissions in the City’s vehicles and fleets.
  • Build smarter and greener transportation infrastructure, including solutions that support active transportation (e.g. smart/responsive pathway lighting for parks, e-bike charging stations, EV charging in facilities, curbside management solutions).
  • Electrify and/or reduce energy and emissions in City-owned and operated buildings and facilities (e.g. advanced or unique heat pumps, novel heat recovery technologies, new envelope technologies).

Built environment and green infrastructure, including but not limited to solutions that:

  • Monitor and manage rainwater runoff on impervious surfaces (e.g. green walls, smart blue-green roofs).
  • Create smarter civic facilities (e.g. machine learning, AI, smart sprinklers).
  • Understand who, when, why, and how frequently users are accessing parks (e.g. playgrounds, courts, sports amenities) and other park amenities and natural areas. The purpose is to inform current and future park planning and design, improve equitable access, and inform operational needs.
  • Understand the location and value of green infrastructure in the City. The purpose is to identify existing green infrastructure to inform decision making on land use planning including parks and opens spaces.

Water management, including but not limited to solutions that:

  • Manage stormwater that provides flood protection while protecting ecological health under current and future climate conditions.
  • Monitor and manage sewer inflow and infiltration, and reduce the impacts of sanitary sewer overflows.
  • Monitor and maintain healthy waterways.

Desired Outcomes

Successful solutions will be functional, reliable, and scalable, and directly align with one or more of the stated key focus areas.

Proposals should directly relate to addressing goals of the Environmental Sustainability Plan and align with the Coquitlam Technology Strategy. Where relevant, they should also align with, and help advance, the Climate Adaptation Strategic Plan, and the Integrated Watershed Management Plans. Proponents will need to demonstrate measurable outcomes in achieving these plans and strategies.

We are seeking proponents that will become our solution partners, with the clarity of vision, passion, and excitement about collaboration and our shared sustainable future. We aim to support our local innovators and are determined to make sure that this collaboration is valuable for you, while we progress sustainable technology ecosystem development together.

Opportunity

Engaging the City of Coquitlam could lead to one of the following scenarios, as per the City’s procurement policy:

  • A proponent demonstrating its solution
  • The City issuing a call for market responses to the goods and services being offered
  • The City pursuing the proposal
  • The City choosing not to pursue the proposal
  • Another mutually agreed option

Note: all inquiries and proposals must be submitted through the Project Greenlight website. If you have a question, check the FAQ for commonly asked questions; alternatively, you can submit your query using the Contact Us form. Please do not contact members directly.

Evaluation Criteria

Show all criteria

Successful proposals will address the following:

  • Given the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, the City of Coquitlam has limited financial and staff resources to proceed with projects that do not meet the above-stated priority areas, and that do not address a specific need or present a clear outcome. The City will focus on high-impact, low-cost projects.
  • The City of Coquitlam is targeting companies with solutions that land between six and nine on the technology readiness scale (TRL), although it will consider lower TRL solutions on a demonstration basis if they are especially novel.
  • Proponents must explain how their proposed solution meets the basic certifications and/or minimum standards required to deploy any product and/or service (i.e. CSA, Technical Safety BC, Health Canada, National Sanitation Foundation, WorkSafe BC).
  • Proponents must demonstrate Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) compliance for any solution that handles personal information.
  • If applicable, proponents should explain coverage (i.e. how many nodes will the solution need?), effectiveness (how well will the solution mitigate risks or improve performance?), and reliability (how well does the solution perform in real-world environments?).

All Project Greenlight review processes have the following criteria:

  • All companies must demonstrate financial stability and ongoing operational readiness.
  • Proponents should explain their intellectual property strategy, including appropriate protections secured or in process.
  • Proponents should identify their technology’s associated risks, including those that may emerge during deployment and operation, and outline a corresponding plan to mitigate them.
  • Proponents should make a strong business case for any submissions, with a return on investment that can be subjected to a sensitivity analysis based on performance metrics.
  • Proponents should explain their desired outcomes with respect to promotion of the results of any engagement.

Review Process

The Project Greenlight team (Vancouver Economic Commission and Foresight sector leads) undertakes a standardized review process across all challenges. Proponents should review the eligibility criteria for their specific challenges, as each has its own requirements. Proponents should also closely review the Application Handbook [PDF].

Read more about the Review Process

The process begins with an initial review of submissions, checking for completeness and ensuring compliance with minimum criteria. The Project Greenlight team will advise proponents of their eligibility for further consideration.

The Project Greenlight team will then pass on eligible submissions to the member, which will review them for relevance and quality. The Project Greenlight team will support this process and act as an intermediary between the member and proponent if further clarification is required.

At this time, given the heightened demands on the City of Coquitlam’s staff due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Project Greenlight team will take the lead to review proposals on an ongoing basis, and will forward promising proposals to the City. The City will endeavor to review shortlisted proposals on a capacity informed, semi-regular basis.

A shortlist of proponents may be invited to make a direct pitch to relevant City of Coquitlam senior managers. We will provide templates and the format in advance, giving proponents at least 14 days of lead time to develop a presentation. Pitches will be followed by a Q&A.
Proponents should not be discouraged if they are not selected for a particular challenge. We encourage multiple applications and re-applications as deficiencies are addressed.

Additional Resources

Climate Adaptation Strategic Plan
Integrated Watershed Management Plans
Stormwater Management Policy and Design Manual
Citywide Official Community Plan
2020 to 2023 Strategic Plan
Annual Report