Training Courses Now Available
Sustainable Stormwater Practices: Fundamentals
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada
Focused at municipal/provincial staff, developers, consultants, contractors/builders, landscape architects and other related practitioners, this course provides participants with broad knowledge of sustainable stormwater management techniques at the property, neighbourhood, and watershed levels. Covers the planning, design, construction, operations/maintenance, and economic considerations for new and retrofit development. Real life case studies demonstrate current experience and lessons learned. For more information, please contact Karyn Ferguson.
Sustainable Stormwater Practices: Designing road and parking lot infiltration systems
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada
This "how to" course provides participants with the background necessary to design or oversee the design of new and retrofit sustainable stormwater techniques for roads and parking lots. Directed at all designers and practitioners associated with or impacted by the design process, provides an in-depth look at the design of road and parking lot infiltration systems. Analysis methods, design considerations, performance expectations, advantages, limitations, social / economic considerations, and available tools are all included. For more information, please contact Karyn Ferguson.
Publications Now Available
Performance Improvement Tools for Small and Medium-Sized Water and Wastewater Utilities
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada and: Canadian Water & Wastewater Association, Region of Niagara, AECOM (Canada) Ltd. & the National Water and Wastewater Benchmarking Initiative, Regional Municipalities of Durham and Waterloo, City of Calgary, Halifax Water, EPCOR Water Services Inc., Ontario Clean Water Agency, Water Environment Association of Ontario, Western Canada Water & Wastewater Association, Ontario Municipal Water Association, Ontario Water Works Association, BC Water & Waste Association, Atlantic Canada Water and Wastewater Association
This publication will provide operators and owners of water and wastewater utilities with practical tools to help them improve their operations and efficiently utilize their resources. The guideline will adapt and apply existing knowledge about quality systems and performance indicators, and present it in a usable and understandable format. With this guideline small and medium-sized utilities will be able to measure their performance in a consistent and standardized way, plan for and implement changes, and measure their progress in a cycle of continuous improvement. For more information, please contact Jeffrey Kraegel.
Training Courses In Development
Procurement Practice Implementations Guidelines for more Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure - January 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada
Targeting municipal procurement professionals, this course will be based on InfraGuide decision-making and investment planning guides such as, "How to select a consultant". Content will include contemporary topics such as incorporation of an organization’s strategic ‘green’ goals into procurement processes/systems, as well as how procurement affects such corporate goals as: GHG emissions reduction, climate change adaptation, and reduction in overall environmental footprint. For more information, please contact Karyn Ferguson.
Implementing Rainwater Harvesting - Spring 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada
An in-depth look at expanding knowledge on how to implement rainwater harvesting for buildings in a municipality. Rainwater harvesting is a key component for any municipality’s future water conservation strategy. The module will concentrate on understanding the issues and considerations around rainwater harvesting, how to overcome misinformed behaviours, as well as practical suggestions and experiences related to successfully facilitating or incorporating rainwater harvesting. For more information, please contact Jeff Walker.
Lot Level Source Control - Spring 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada
A comprehensive look at all aspects of lot level source control, with the intent of providing planners, architects, landscape architects, builders, and other municipal practitioners and decision-makers with knowledge to implement or facilitate sustainable stormwater source control measures. Municipalities, builders, residents, and the environment would benefit from incorporation of sustainable features into building properties that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff at the lot level. The course will describe source control methods, advantages, disadvantages, and applications. In addition to examining plan review, construction, design, inspection, maintenance and monitoring, the course will concentrate on the role each different discipline plays in the process, the important considerations that need to be resolved, and how the disciplines interconnect. Also included will be an examination of the success factors necessary to incorporate lot level source control in a development or a municipality. For more information, please contact Jeff Walker.
Emergency Management and Business Continuity for Municipalities - Spring 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada
Built upon CSA's Z1600 Emergency Management and Business Continuity standard and suite of solutions, this course will address accountabilities and issues as they pertain specifically to municipalities, and is intended for all individuals who are involved in municipal programs or activities which contribute to prevention, mitigation, preparation, response or recovery efforts. Focusing on integrated planning and decision making processes, participants will gain an understanding of the elements of a comprehensive emergency management and business continuity program. Case studies will demonstrate how municipalities can facilitate improved planning in their communities in times of emergency preparation, response and recovery. For more information, please contact Karyn Ferguson.
Bridge Hydraulics - Summer 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada
Floods and erosion continue to be important causes of bridge damage and failures worldwide, and to be a key consideration in bridge design, construction and maintenance. In some jurisdictions, concern over the security of bridges against the action of water has led to extensive re-evaluation of existing foundations. This module, based upon TAC's Guide to Bridge Hydraulics will focus on waterway design, scour protection and channel control as well as hydraulic aspects of construction, inspection and maintenance. For more information, please contact Karyn Ferguson.
Practical Implementation of Climate Change Adaptation Risk Assessment Strategies for Municipalities – Summer 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada
Addresses practical and proven methods for implementation of climate change adaptation considerations within existing management systems for municipal decision-making. It will focus on adaptation related to water management - quality, quantity, and infrastructure. For more information, please contact Karyn Ferguson.
Energy Efficiency in Municipal Buildings and Facilities; Operations and Optimization – June 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada
The module, directed at building operators, superintendants, building environmental and energy conservation personnel and other professionals supporting municipally occupied facilities, will support efforts to maximize the energy efficiency performance of their buildings and to support their building energy efficiency technology. The course will review energy efficiency measures and best practices and provide insights into the policies, procedures, and strategies that optimize the energy systems and technology within their buildings. The course will also address the interdependency of systems and multidisciplinary approaches that support success. For more information, please contact Karyn Ferguson.
Publications In Development
Overview of Key Considerations Relating to Community Infrastructure, Permafrost and Climate Change - Spring 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada and Indian & Northern Affairs Canada
This Guideline has been written in order to support the appropriate consideration of climate change-related factors during the planning, design and development of community infrastructure in permafrost regions. In particular, it sets out to:
- Provide an understanding of permafrost as an environmental variable, with a focus on how it responds to climate and other environmental change;
- Provide an up-to-date assessment of trends in climatic and permafrost conditions across Northern Canada;
- Characterize foundation types used for community infrastructure in permafrost environments, including their general strengths and weaknesses;
- Outline a process for ensuring that the potential effects of climate change are incorporated into the design of foundation systems; and,
- Provide case histories and other examples of how such factors have been addressed to date.
This publication, intended for the planners, designers, builders, owners, regulators and managers of northern community infrastructure, will provide broad knowledge of risks related to permafrost, climate change and community infrastructures that require foundations. It will also provide a set of key planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance-related principles linked to the attenuation of these risks. Real life case histories will demonstrate current experience and lessons learned. For more information, please contact Erik Sparling.
Common Terminology for Municipal Sewer Defect and Distress Coding - Spring 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada and The National Water and Wastewater Benchmarking Institute
This publication will include a body of common language and terminology for the identification of defects and distress coding in municipal sewer systems, and will provide common terminology for use across Canada, with annexes for local deviations where necessary. Applying key publication concepts will help improve the quality and consistency of requirements for sewer inspection service-providers, lower administrative and procurement costs for municipalities, and potentially lower training and/or personnel certification costs via standardized training and testing requirements. For more information, please contact Abraham Murra.
Guideline on the Derivation and Use of Rainfall Intensity-Duration-Frequency Information - Spring 2010
Developed with financial contribution from Infrastructure Canada and Environment Canada
The demand for locally and regionally relevant and updated intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) information has increased dramatically across Canada over recent years, driven in part by an increase in urban development and by improved knowledge with respect to the potential diversity and variability of extreme rainfall characteristics over time and space. This publication will lay out key considerations with respect to the use of rainfall IDF information by hydrologic and hydrometeorology practitioners in Canada. Its primary objective will be to provide clarification regarding the general applicability of existing rainfall IDF information to various hydrologic design applications. The main users of this publication will be engineers, planners, hydrologists, meteorologists, climatologists, municipal and provincial agencies and related applied scientists and professionals playing a role in the planning, design, management, inspection and regulation of storm, drainage, waste water and flood management-related infrastructure. For more information, please contact Erik Sparling.
Decentralized Wastewater Systems (CSA B65) - Fall 2011
Developed with contributions from: Alberta Municipal Affairs & Housing, Alberta Onsite Wastewater Management Association, Alberta Wilbert sales, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation, Health Canada, Indian & Northern Affairs Canada, Manitoba Conservation, Ontario Onsite Wastewater Association
This standard will specify requirements for design, construction and installation, as well as operation and ongoing maintenance of decentralized wastewater systems. The standard will cover single-family, communal, and cluster systems. These systems are intended to be permanently installed, thus reducing or eliminating altogether the need for municipalities to build central sewerage systems. Decentralized wastewater systems will also allow developments in areas not serviced by central sewerage systems. For more information, please contact Abraham Murra.
Mapping of Underground Utility Infrastructure (CSA S250) - Winter 2011
Developed with contributions from: Public Works Government Services Canada, Regional Public Works Commissioners of Ontario, Telus, City of Toronto
This standard will specify the mapping requirements for the recording and depiction of underground utility infrastructure. It is intended to promote the use, and drive the advancement of mapping records during the planning, design, construction, and operation of an underground utility. This standard will apply to the generation, storage, distribution, and use of mapping records to ensure that underground utilities are readily identifiable and locatable. For more information, please contact Mark Braiter.
Performance of Residential Wastewater Treatment Systems (CSA B128.3) - Spring 2011
Developed with contributions from: Alberta Municipal Affairs & Housing, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation, City of Toronto, Ontario Municipal Affairs & Housing
This standard will allow the installation of residential wastewater treatment systems and reduce demand of water by reusing wastewater in homes. The main benefit, however, is to reduce or delay the need for capital investments to expand municipal water treatment plants. This publication will also allow manufacturers of residential wastewater treatment systems to certify their products, to make it simpler for regulatory authorities to approve their use. For more information, please contact Abraham Murra.
Polymeric Subsurface Stormwater Management Structures (CSA B184 Series) - Fall 2010
This standard will make it simpler for municipalities to approve the use of underground stormwater management structures which are used in the collection, detention, retention, and infiltration of stormwater runoff. The main benefit will be to reduce capital investments in larger stormwater systems. For more information, please contact Abraham Murra.
Potable Water Cisterns (CSA B126) - Summer 2011
Developed with contributions from: Agriculture Canada, Alberta Health, Alberta Municipal Affairs & Housing, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation, Health Canada, Indian & Northern Affairs Canada, Manitoba Conservations, Saskatchewan Environment, Superior Technologies
This standard will specify requirements for design, materials, construction, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of potable water cisterns. The standard will also specify the requirements and qualifications for cistern installers and operators. Presently, there are no standards in Canada for potable water cisterns and there is a strong need for a national standard to improve access to safe drinking water for small and rural communities (e.g., northern and First Nations). For more information, please contact Abraham Murra.