Air Quality for Low-Rise Residential Development
Development Features
- Encourage walking as a clean air alternative for all ages and abilities
- Reduce the impact of local heat islands on human and ecosystem health
Tier 1
AQ 1.1 Connectivity
Provide safe, direct, universally accessible pedestrian routes, including crosswalks and midblock crossings that connect the buildings onsite to the off-site pedestrian network and priority destinations.1
AQ 1.2 Sidewalk Space
Provide a context-sensitive pedestrian clearway that is a minimum of 2.1 m wide, to safely and comfortably accommodate pedestrian flow.2,3
AQ 1.3 Weather Protection
Provide covered outdoor waiting areas for pedestrian comfort and protection from inclement weather.4
AQ 1.4 Pedestrian Specific Lighting
Provide pedestrian-scale lighting that is evenly spaced, continuous and directed onto sidewalks, pathways, entrances, outdoor waiting areas and public spaces.5
Specifications & Resources
- Off-site pedestrian networks and priority destinations include: sidewalks, transit stops/stations, parking areas (bikes and cars), surrounding parks and open space, mid-block walkways, underground concourses, primary building entrances or other key pedestrian access points, crossings and routes.
- The pedestrian clearway is the universally accessible, unobstructed, direct and continuous path of travel within the sidewalk zone. A clearway greater than 2.1 m wide may be required at corners, transit nodes or other contexts with high pedestrian volumes or pedestrian activity (e.g. at-grade patios and retail uses): City of Toronto Accessibility Design Guidelines.
- A context-sensitive sidewalk zone at least 6.0 m wide, measured from curb to buildings face, is rec-ommended to support a variety of streetscape elements including the pedestrian clearway, trees, furniture, lighting, utilities, cafés, etc. that contribute to a vibrant and complete street.
Vibrant Streets
Toronto Urban Design Streetscape Manual
Avenues & Mid-Rise Buildings Study (Performance Standard #7A: Minimum Sidewalk Zones) - Outdoor waiting areas must include the primary entrance to the building or any entrance adjacent to a lobby. Coverings such as canopies and awnings should be opaque for shade and weather protection and to mitigate bird collisions.
- Pedestrian scale lighting must be Dark Sky Compliant in accordance with EC 5.1, directed downward and includes fixtures such as bollards or lower-scale pole fixtures along pedestrian routes. For details on pedestrian scale exterior lighting design strategies that minimize light pollution refer to the Best Practices for Effective Lighting.
Tier 1
AQ 2.1 UHI Non-roof Hardscape
Use a combination of the following strategies to treat at least 50 per cent of the site’s non-roof hardscape (including driveways, walkways, courtyards, surface parking areas, artificial turf and other on-site hard surfaces):
- High-albedo paving materials with an initial solar reflectance of at least 0.33 or SRI of 29 1
- Open grid pavement with at least 50 per cent perviousness 2
- Shade from existing or new tree canopy within 10 years of landscape installation 3
- Shade from architectural structures that are vegetated or have an initial solar reflectance of at least 0.33 at installation or an SRI of 29
- Shade from structures with energy generation 4
AQ 2.2 Green & Cool Roofs
Roof areas must be provided with one of the following:
- Green roof for at least 50 per cent of Available Roof Space;5,7 OR
- Cool roof installed for 100 per cent of Available Roof Space;5,6 OR
- A combination of a green roof, and cool roof and solar PV for at least 75 per cent of Available Roof Space.5,6,7
Tier 2
AQ 2.3 UHI, Non-roof Hardscape (Core)
Use any combination of the strategies in AQ 2.1 to treat at least 75 per cent of the site’s non-roof hardscape (including driveways, walkways, courtyards, parking areas, artificial turf and other on-site hard surfaces).
Specifications & Resources
- Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) is a measure of a surface’s ability to reflect solar heat. The SRI for a giv-en material is calculated using both the reflectance value and emittance value of the material. Black asphalt has an SRI of 0 and a standard white surface is 100. Pavement types range between these val-ues with a SRI of 35 for gray concrete.
- Open grid pavement consists of concrete or hard plastic grid systems with large pore spaces filled with a planted growing medium or light coloured aggregate.
- Shade of 10-year canopy width is calculated at solar noon. Refer to EC2.1 – 2.5 for the applicable tree planting standards. Shade cast by buildings is not an eligible strategy.
- Energy generation systems consist of solar thermal collectors, photovoltaics and wind turbines.
- Refer to the Green Roof Bylaw for definitions of Green Roof and Available Roof Space, details on calculating the green roof area required and the Toronto Green Roof Construction Standard.
- A Cool roofing materials must have a minimum initial reflectance of 0.65 and minimum emittance of 0.90 or a 3-year aged SRI value of 64 for a low-sloped roof and a 3-year aged SRI of 15 for a steep-sloped roof. Low sloped roofs have a surface slope of less than 1:6 (9.5 degrees) and steep sloped roofs have a surface slope greater than 1:6 (9.5 degrees).
- Consider designing green roofs to promote biodiversity. Refer to the City of Toronto Guidelines for Designing for Biodiversity on Green Roofs.