Great Lakes Chapter Partners to Bring Education to Canada

July 1, 2011

The Great Lakes Chapter of IECA has been busy partnering with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and other entities to offer education and certification to the region. Spearheading this effort has been Chapter Board of Directors Ontario representative Glenn MacMillan.

Sponsored by Filtrexx Canada and the Great Lakes Chapter, TRCA recently hosted a one-day interactive workshop based on a new design manual published by Forester Media, entitled The Sustainable Site: The Design Manual for Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development.

The manual is geared toward designers, architects, urban planners, regulators, and technical professionals who require standard specifications and design criteria for sustainable best management practices (BMPs) that can be implemented in the rapidly growing fields of green infrastructure, green building, low-impact development (LID) and sustainable site development. The manual provides standard specifications and design criteria for over 20 different organic, recycled, bio-based BMPs for construction and post-construction stormwater management. With information on how these BMPs fit into and contribute to LEED Green Building Credits (3.0), restore predevelopment hydrology in LID projects, and reduce development site carbon footprint, this new design manual assists today’s professionals in sustainable site development.

Dr. Britt Faucette, the course presenter, reviewed the new manual and explained how it can assist project planners and designers in meeting their design goals, identifying quality compost for stormwater management applications and implementing in LEED and LID projects. Participants also had the opportunity to participate in a field demonstration to see product installation and to discuss product performance and specifications.

CISEC in Canada
The first-ever Canadian offering of the Certified Inspector of Sediment and Erosion Control (CISEC) was held in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, last spring.

TRCA worked with CISEC Inc., based in Parker, Colorado, to revise the US-based training program for distribution in Canada. The course was modeled after the US training course and took place over two days with participants taking a 3.5-hour examination shortly after completing the course.

This is the first certification program of its kind in Canada, and the TRCA hopes that the launch of the program will go a long way toward raising the bar in terms of consistency, service, and accountability of local inspectors.

The 2011 CISEC training schedule includes a second run of the courses in June with plans for additional course offerings in the fall. Future plans for the program include a roll-out across the Province of Ontario with the help of local conservation authorities and the Great Lakes Chapter, with potential for national delivery of the CISEC-Canada program as early as this fall.

Erosion and Sediment Control Field Training Facility
Construction is under way on the development of an Erosion and Sediment Control Field Training Facility at the Living City Campus at Kortright, in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada.

The facility will serve as a site for hosting erosion and sediment control (ESC) field training. Led by TRCA in partnership with other conservation authorities, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), other industry representatives and municipal and agency partners, the facility will allow industry professionals to receive hands-on instruction on how to install and maintain various ESC products.

Partnering with product suppliers will help to ensure that the facility showcases the latest and most effective best management practices and that it provides learning opportunities for both current and future ESC professionals.

For further information on any of these stories, please contact Great Lakes Chapter Board member Glenn MacMillan at Ph: 289-268-3901 or by e-mail at [email protected]