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.
The City of Vancouver is seeking innovations within transportation, waste, and the built environment to bring us closer to our goals for a zero carbon, zero waste, and smart city.
Application window:
June 1 to July 31, 2021 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 1.
Eligibility
City of Vancouver will give preference to proponents that can demonstrate innovative and reliable functionality as well as scalability.
THE CHALLENGE:
Fleet, Waste, and Building Efficiency
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 areas of transportation, zero-waste, and buildings and digital infrastructure, and might include:
Transportation-related solutions that support the City’s pursuit of zero-emission fleets (medium- to heavy-duty), including charging infrastructure challenges. These include pick up trucks, garbage and recycling trucks, utility vans and emergency response vehicles.
Zero-waste solutions that relate to solid waste and organic waste disposal or reuse within the urban core.
Building-related solutions that address low-carbon construction requirements of the future, specifically around low embodied carbon construction materials for buildings and low emission equipment on construction sites.
Rainwater solutions that retain and treat street run-off, to help achieve the city’s Rain City Strategy goals
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 fight climate change.
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.
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.
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.
Wondering if your technology is the right fit for City of Vancouver? Have questions about the evaluation process?
Talk to a member of our team using the live chat service in the bottom right corner of this window.
Read through a list of commonly asked questions in the help centre.
If you would prefer, you can send as an email.
