The signs are all around us. Rush-hour traffic is turning many of the GTA's roads and streets into temporary parking lots. Damage from flooded basements is one of the fastest rising areas of insurance claims, industry officials say. The electricity grid packs it in for big chunks of Toronto when the temperature soars.
The quality of life we enjoy in the GTA just is not sustainable. Aging infrastructure such as roads and sewers, a devotion to gas-guzzling vehicles and a reliance on electricity from generating plants that gobble coal and natural gas are all escalating to the tipping point.
Unless something is done, and done soon, big urban centres such as Toronto and Mississauga will collapse under their own weight, experts predict.
So is there anything any of us can do as individuals to prevent this frightening picture of the future, or at least slow its tide? There is, according to people such as architect Joe Lobko and developer Alex Speigel.
They are two of a growing group of development industry professionals who have embraced the concept of sustainability and are engaged in designing and building projects that reflect their commitment to ensuring there is a bright future for our kids and grandkids.
Mr. Speigel, for example, runs a small $4-million closed-end investment fund called One Development Corp. Part of its goal is to invest in new sustainable real estate projects; right now it is building 35 sustainable townhouses in Picton, Ont. Through his development company, Ideas Development Inc., he is building eight infill sustainable townhouses at Beverley and Cecil Streets in the heart of Toronto.
Mr. Lobko, on the other hand, has focused mainly on commercial structures, but at the same time he is active in bringing the message of sustainability to local neighbourhoods.
Existing neighbourhoods, not new structures, are the key, he says.
"We build new less than 1 per cent of our total housing stock every year," he says. "As far as sustainability goes, that is a drop in the bucket. We talk a lot about it, though, because it is the easiest to deal with; it is the low-hanging fruit.
"What we really want to do is get communities involved. Help them understand there are simple things they can do to move the agenda forward."
One of them is indeed simplicity itself: Just disconnect drain spouts from combined sanitary and storm sewers. Instead of letting all that rainwater rush into overloaded sewers, let lawns soak it up.
Flooding is a problem along the Black Creek watershed in Toronto's west end, yet only 13 per cent of the homes in that area have disconnected their drain spouts, according to Mr. Lobko. If all the homes followed suit, the flooding might either end or be greatly reduced.
Mr. Speigel agrees that much could be done to retrofit existing structures. Part of sustainability is making better use of what we have, he points out.
He has the renovation of an old warehouse at Lennox and Bathurst Streets, just south of Bloor Street West, under way now and cites it as an example of what can be done.
"The envelope is always the biggest challenge," Mr. Speigel says. "There is not much you can do with old, under-insulated buildings with windows that leak heat in winter and bring it inside in summer."
What can be done, however, is to replace old single-pane with higher-efficiency double- or triple-pane windows, replace old heating and air systems with new high-efficiency ones, and then put in place new technology to reduce the structure's footprint on the environment.
For example, a green roof will help keep the structure cool and provide a natural mechanism to remove carbon dioxide from the air. Planting trees around the perimeter will shade the structure.
At the warehouse project, south-facing windows will have awnings with solar cells built in, as will a trellis on the roof. Those solar cells will turn the sun's rays into electricity that will be collected and fed back into the city's grid.
East- and west-facing windows will have shades that can be drawn down to protect against the heat of the sun as it rises and sets.
"Public awareness is key to sustainability," Mr. Speigel says. And there is nothing like linking the cost of energy consumption directly to its use to drive that home, he adds.
He cites Toronto Hydro's new smart meters, which measure when consumption takes place; customers are billed accordingly. We pay more for peak period use, less for shoulder times, and get the lowest rates at night and on weekends.
"Why not extend that to things like water consumption instead of charging on a flat-rate basis?" he suggests. "Smart meters are definitely having an effect on consumption of electricity, so why not extend that to other services as well?"