Analysis of Methods for Reuse of Stormwater Runoff in an Urban Setting Through Comparison to the Toronto Green Standard

The City of Toronto’s Toronto Green Standard (TGS) has recently been subjected to a review. Discussions are underway regarding its feasibility in practice, focused around determining what issues are associated with the TGS and how they can be eliminated. It is of utmost importance to alter the TGS as necessary, to obtain the results that were originally sought out by the City of Toronto. The task of this article is to explore what other municipalities in North America have done to promote sustainable site and building design. Through reviewing the policies that have been put in place by other municipalities, conclusions can be drawn to increase the feasibility of such measures in Toronto. These findings will then be used to make recommendations as to what the city can do to improve the current design requirements. Focus of discussions will be placed on the potential options developers could have in order to redirect and reuse stormwater more effectively.