City of Vancouver

The City of Vancouver seeks to create a great city of communities that cares about our people, our environment, and our opportunities to live, work, and prosper.

Greenest City:
A Renewable City

We collaborate with residents and businesses to achieve a low-carbon future while building a strong economy and growing Vancouver’s international profile as a forward-thinking city that meets the needs of generations to come.

Challenges:

New: Open Call

Open Call

Sustainable and Innovative Vancouver

The City of Vancouver is seeking innovations within transportation, waste, and the built environment to bring us closer to reaching our goals related to zero carbon, smart city.

Application window:

August 1 - October 31, 2022 (11:59PM PST)

Review schedule:

Applications are accepted and reviewed on an ongoing basis by the Project Greenlight Team, and reviewed quarterly by City of Vancouver. The City's next review period starts August 1st, 2022

Eligibility

City of Vancouver will give preference to proponents that can demonstrate innovative and reliable functionality as well as scalability.

Resources:
City of Vancouver Capital Assets Rain City Strategy Climate Emergency Action Plan

THE CHALLENGE:
Transportation, Zero Waste, Green Buildings, and Rainwater Management

Green Vancouver: Taking bold climate action

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 aligned with the City of Vancouver’s strategic priorities.

The City of Vancouver is open to innovative, novel ideas that address key challenges around its sustainability goals and digital priorities (outlined below). Solutions should fall within the key focus areas of transportation, zero waste, green buildings, rainwater management and digital infrastructure. These might include:

Transportation-related solutions, including but not limited to solutions that:
  • Build smarter and greener transportation infrastructure, including solutions that support active transportation and freight (e.g. smart/responsive pathway lighting for parks, e-bike charging stations, EV charging in facilities, curbside management).
  • Enable zero-emissions transportation, such as EV charging retrofits in buildings, curbside management and charging solutions, energy management systems, integration with energy storage or on-site renewables.
Zero-waste solutions, including but not limited to solutions that:
  • Streamline and manage solid waste and organic waste.
  • Conserve natural resources.
  • Reduce waste to landfill and incinerators.
  • Embody circular economy principles, including repair, refurbish, share and reuse of materials before recycling them.
  • Prevent waste, including wasted and inedible food at all points between farm and table.
  • Process waste into compost, fuel or other value-added product.
  • Streamline solid waste collection and disposal systems with a goal to reduce GHGs while creating social and economic benefit (i.e. green jobs).
Building-related solutions, including but not limited to solutions that:
  • Support low-carbon construction requirements of the future, specifically around low embodied carbon construction materials for buildings and low emission equipment on construction sites.
  • 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).
Rainwater solutions, including but not limited to solutions that:
  • Manage and monitor rainwater runoff from impervious surfaces utilizing various green rainwater infrastructure (GRI) tools (e.g. street rain gardens and infiltration trenches, green walls, smart blue-green roofs) for a variety of building typologies/densities, to help achieve the city’s Rain City Strategy goals.
  • Monitor and manage sewer inflow and infiltration, and reduce the impacts of sanitary sewer overflows.

Desired Outcome

The City of Vancouver would like to pilot innovative, functional, and scalable technologies that align with one or more of its strategic priorities. Successful submissions will demonstrate significant potential to reduce carbon pollution and/or adapt to our changing climate.

Proposals should directly relate to the Climate Emergency Action Plan and/or the Rain City Strategy. Where relevant, they should also align with, and help advance, the Healthy City Strategy and the Digital Strategy. Proponents will need to demonstrate measurable outcomes in achieving these strategies.

Opportunity

Engaging the City of Vancouver could lead to one of the following agreements, as per the City’s procurement policy regarding unsolicited proposals:

  • 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 to not 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 Vancouver has limited financial and staff resources to proceed with projects that do not meet the above-stated priority areas, and do not address a specific need or present a clear outcome. The city will focus on high-impact, low-cost projects.
  • The City of Vancouver 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 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 innovation that handles personal information.
  • Proponents should explain the technology’s ongoing service and site-support model, including costs. The City of Vancouver prefers an investment payback/cost recovery within fewer than five years. However, it will consider five- to eight-year paybacks with additional due diligence.
  • 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 will 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 explain a strong business case potential 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 (comprised of sector leads from Vancouver Economic Commission and Foresight) has standardized all challenge reviews. Proponents should review the eligibility criteria for their specific challenges, as each has its own requirements. Proponents should also review the Application Handbook [PDF] closely.

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 then advise proponents of their eligibility for further consideration.

The Project Greenlight team will then share eligible submissions with the City of Vancouver. The team will support this process and act as an intermediary between the City of Vancouver and proponent, if needed.

At this time, given the heightened demands on the City’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 forward promising proposals for further review. The City of Vancouver 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 Vancouver senior managers. The Project Greenlight team will provide proponents with templates and clarify the format of the meeting with at least 14 days of lead time. 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

City of Vancouver

Call for Innovation

Looking to grow? Partner with the City of Vancouver to deliver solutions that help us achieve our sustainability and innovation goals.

Apply now
Targeted Call

The Neighbourhood Energy Utility

Help the City of Vancouver transition the Neighbourhood Energy Utility (NEU) to 100% renewable energy by 2030.

Application window:

September 16 – November 12, 2021 (Closed)

Review schedule:

This challenge is closed and innovator submissions are in review.

Eligibility

With respect to scale or scope, ideal solutions are:

  • Incremental, phased or holistic in approach
  • Distributed or centralized
  • A single solution or several complimentary solutions

Resources:
NEU Technical Information Climate Emergency Action Plan Neighbourhood Energy Utility 2021 Rate Report

 

THE CHALLENGE:
The Neighbourhood Energy Utility (NEU)

In Vancouver, buildings are the largest source of carbon pollution with nearly 55 percent of community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions coming from burning natural gas for space heating and hot water. Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan sets a target to cut carbon pollution from buildings in half by 2030.

The Neighbourhood Energy Utility (NEU) – the City-owned district energy system – was established in 2010 to provide cost-effective, low-carbon space heating and domestic hot water to buildings in the False Creek area. The core of the NEU is situated in a dense and mixed-use urban environment, servicing a total of 38 buildings (584,000 m2), including residential, commercial and institutional space (see service area map). The system is rapidly expanding, and projected to triple in size over the next 20 years.

The NEU currently aims to provide its customers with a 70 percent renewable energy supply, from a combination of its innovative sewage waste heat recovery system, clean electricity, and renewable natural gas. Under the Climate Emergency Action Plan, the NEU has committed to developing a roadmap that will set the course to support its transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 (the “100% RE Roadmap”). The 100% RE Roadmap will be brought forward to City Council for approval in 2023.

The NEU will need to bring on significant renewable energy supply to meet the growing baseload demand, as well as implement solutions to decarbonize peak load demand.

The City is seeking innovators that can propose solutions to help transition the NEU to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. We are seeking a diverse array of solutions, compatible with the existing system operating conditions, including (but not limited to):

  • New technologies for low-carbon heat production, optimization or renewable energy supplies
  • This includes centralized or decentralized thermal energy storage; heat pumps (AS/GS,); sewage/sea water); SMART analytics and controls tech to optimize operating conditions; alternative fuel solutions (e.g. hydrogen, bioenergy); building level heat recovery; and solar thermal
  • Energy efficiency or demand-side management solutions
  • Operational efficiency solutions

With respect to scale or scope, we welcome solutions that are:

  • Incremental, phased or holistic in approach
  • Distributed or centralized
  • A single solution or several complimentary solutions

Download: NEU Supporting Technical Information [PDF]

Desired Outcome

Successful solutions will:

  • Reduce carbon emissions generated by the NEU
  • Be cost-effective, to ensure affordable rates for customers
  • Minimize environmental impact, with particular consideration to the City’s broader environmental objectives (including, but not limited to, air quality, land availability/project footprint, noise, potable water use, traffic etc.)
  • Provide for feasible implementation (e.g. technological, regulatory and administrative feasibility)
  • Demonstrate effectiveness, reliability and climate resiliency

Opportunity

Engaging the City of Vancouver could lead to one of the following agreements, as per its procurement policy regarding unsolicited proposals:

  • A proponent conducting a demonstration of its solution
  • The City issuing a call to seek market responses to the goods and services being offered
  • The City pursuing the proposal
  • The City not pursuing the proposal
  • Another option as mutually agreed

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 be evaluated on the following:

  • Climate impact: Does the solution reduce GHG emissions of the NEU system? What is the cost of GHG reduction ($/metric tonne CO2e)?
  • Cost of solution: Required capital investment and ongoing operational and maintenance costs ($2021)
  • Value of solution: Does the solution provide a competitive levelized cost of energy (LCOE) against other potential solutions ($/MWh)?
  • Impact on environment: Does the solution minimize the impact on the environment and use of other natural resources?
  • Implementation feasibility: Can the solution be implemented and operational before 2030?
  • Effectiveness and reliability: Is the solution reliable? How well does the solution mitigate risks?
  • Climate resiliency: Has climate resiliency been considered in the development of the solution (e.g. sea level rise, hot/cold temperatures, rain events, drought, snowfall, wind etc.)?

Proposals must also address the following:

  • Proponent must discuss integration of the solution with the existing NEU system (refer to the supporting technical information).
  • Proponents should explain their ongoing service- and site-support model, including costs, if applicable.
  • The City of Vancouver 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 the proposed solution meets the basic certifications and/or minimum standards required to deploy any product and/or service (e.g. CSA, Technical Safety BC, Health Canada, National Sanitation Foundation, WorkSafeBC).
  • If applicable, proponents should discuss “smart” technology components of the solution (e.g. real-time data asset monitoring, internet of things [IoT], data management, ownership and protection etc.).


 

Review Process

The Project Greenlight team (comprised of sector leads from Vancouver Economic Commission and Foresight) has standardized all challenge reviews. Proponents should review the eligibility criteria for their specific challenge, as each has its own requirements. Proponents should also review the Submission Guidelines closely.

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 team will then share eligible submissions with the City of Vancouver. The team will support this process and act as an intermediary between the City of Vancouver and the proponent if needed.

A shortlist of proponents may be invited to make a direct pitch to relevant City of Vancouver senior managers. The Project Greenlight team will provide templates and 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

City of Vancouver

Call for Innovation

Does your company offer a solution for the City of Vancouver? Submit your application today and help the City of Vancouver transition the NEU to 100 percent renewable energy.

This challenge is now closed
Support

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