Corporate Sustainability

At the Township of Langley, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint by incorporating sustainability in our operations and practices.

Air

Anti-idling policy

The Township's 2007 anti-idling policy limits the idling time of fleet vehicles to one minute. Township pool vehicles are equipped with hybrid electric engines that turn off automatically when stopped.

Trees and landscaping

Trees and plants produce oxygen, and naturally filter pollutants from the air. The Township has tree-planting requirements for public areas, and a bylaw that requires private developments to plant approximately 30 trees per acre.

Energy

Lighting

The Township of Langley, an official Power Smart partner with BC Hydro since 2002, upgraded numerous Township facilities to more efficient fluorescent and LED fixtures. Motion sensor lighting systems were installed in many of the offices and restrooms.

Sports fields use centrally controlled lighting systems with timers, light sensors and user-activated controls to ensure lighting is only on when required. 

Heating

Many Township facilities have been upgraded from inefficient gas boilers to 98 percent efficiency condensing boilers. The Civic Facility boiler system also incorporates solar panels. View a video about the Civic Facility’s solar panels:

Facilities and fleet

Green building

The Township is committed to building energy-efficient and sustainable facilities. The Civic Facility is certified LEED CI Silver, and was the first municipal hall in Canada to achieve this rating. The facility has a GeoExchange heating and cooling system, energy efficient lights, low emissivity windows, energy efficient appliances and equipment and a solar panel system.

Efforts are made to reuse and recycle materials when Township buildings are demolished. When the old municipal hall in Murrayville was demolished, 92% of the materials were recycled, reused, or repurposed.

Efficient vehicles

In 2013, the Township was awarded gold certification in the E3 Green Fleet Program in recognition of our environmentally friendly and efficient fleet. The Township now has multiple electric vehicles in the fleet, along with several hybrids. GPS tracking systems are also installed to help with route planning and fuel management.

Eco-friendly cleaning

To reduce the health and environmental impacts of harsh cleaning products, the Township uses Eco Logo or Green Seal certified cleaners for nearly all of our cleaning needs. A pilot project for an aqueous ozone system is also underway, which cleans without any chemicals (using simply water and ozone from the air), and eliminates the need for cleaner/chemical transportation, packaging and recycling.

Recycling

Responsible Program

‘Responsible’, the Township of Langley’s internal recycling program, ensures that everything from cans and bottles to compost, Styrofoam and electronics are recycled. Learn more about the Responsible program.

Recycling in parks and public spaces

Recycled and recyclable material is incorporated into synthetic features such as recycled rubber for turf, and safe play area surfaces in our parks. Township landscaping projects also use composted soil from the Green Cart program.

Water

Low flow fixtures

Sensor activated taps were installed in most Township facility restrooms, and toilets and urinals were replaced with low flow or waterless units. 

Irrigation and run off

In all our newly planted areas, the Township uses native or adaptive plants suited to our local climate. Once the plants are established, the need for regular irrigation is eliminated. For locations that require irrigation, such as grass fields, systems are controlled by a central hub that receives real time weather station data, and adjusts irrigation run times accordingly.

To reduce pollutants in our waterways, all new parking areas in Township parks incorporate permeable surfacing, or divert run off into rain gardens.