2021 Brownie Award Winners

The 22nd annual Brownie Awards were presented on November 23, 2021.

Category 1: REPROGRAM: LEGISLATION, POLICY AND PROGRAM INITIATIVES

2020 Community Improvement Plan - St. Catharines, Ontario

The City of St. Catharines Community Improvement Plan (2020CIP) is a set of incentive and grant programs offered by the municipality to the private sector, to help offset a portion of project costs related to redevelopment, reuse and rehabilitation of the built environment, and brownfield remediation.
The 2020CIP effectively connects sustainable growth policies and the community building objectives established in the Corporate Strategic Plan and the City’s Official Plan to actionable programs that stimulate investment and facilitate private sector involvement.
The City of St. Catharines has developed and adopted an innovative tool, the Project Evaluation System, to evaluate TIF Program and BTIF Program applications contained in the 2020CIP.

Category 2: REMEDIATE: SUSTAINABLE REMEDIATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

Marwell Tar Pit Remediation - Whitehorse, Yukon

This is a historic site and the remediation project reflects the Yukon Government’s commitment to clean up a legacy from the World War II era.
As part of the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan & Canada’s Northern Strategy, the site was cleaned up to commercial/industrial standards using enhanced thermal conduction (ETC) soil treatment and site-specific standards based on a risk assessment model.
The completed remediation of the Marwell brownfield site further opens the planning processes for the future vision of the area as a safe, connected employment, recreation, and commercial area.

Category 3: REINVEST: FINANCING, RISK MANAGEMENT AND PARTNERSHIPS

Randle Reef Contaminated Sediment Remediation Project - Hamilton, Ontario

The Randle Reef site is located in Hamilton Harbour, ON and is approximately 60 hectares in size and contains approximately 695,000 cubic metres of sediment contaminated with Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and other toxic chemicals.
Cleaning up Randle Reef is the most significant step in remediating Hamilton Harbour and removing it from the list of Areas of Concern, and in reducing contamination and improving water quality and fish and wildlife habitat.
This project was a critical phase in the brownfield redevelopment of the Hamilton Harbour that will create economic and social benefits by enhancing shipping and port facilities, increasing recreational opportunities, enhancing the public realm, creating a stimulus for development, and promoting the harbour as a clean and progressive place to work and live.

Category 4: REFOCUS: VISION OF ALTERNATIVE BENEFITS TO BROWNFIELDS REMEDIATION

150 Harrison Street Modular Housing Initiative - Toronto, Ontario

The 150 Harrison Street Modular Housing Initiative involved the redevelopment of three City of Toronto owned properties – a former police station (150 Harrison Street), a surface pay parking lot (146 Harrison Street), and a vacant lot (50 and 54 Lakeview Avenue) – located in a largely residential area of west end Toronto.
Environmental contaminants in both soil and groundwater associated with a private fueling station at the former police station as well as historical use of the lands as an electrical substation, vehicle repair garage, and a manufacturer of pumps and heat exchangers were present at the lands.
The City, in conjunction with its real estate agency CreateTO, identified the potential to repurpose the lands to address the need for additional affordable housing in the City and the need for greater public green space in the neighbourhood.

Category 5: REBUILD: REDEVELOPMENT AT THE LOCAL, SITE SCALE

Tower Automotive Building Adaptive Re-Use/Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) - Toronto, Ontario

The Tower Automotive Building (Auto Building) is a landmark in Toronto’s industrial Lower Junction Triangle.
The 9,700m2 heritage-designated warehouse was completed in 1920 for the Northern Aluminum Company, the first of many tenants over the century.
Incorporating the urban redevelopment within the neighbourhood, which is transitioning from low-rise residential and employment lands to a more intensified community based around cultural, recreational and higher-density residential uses, this vestigial industrial building has been transformed into a new multi-storey cultural hub anchored by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Canada’s newest public gallery dedicated to international contemporary art.

Category 6: RENEW: DEVELOPMENT AT THE COMMUNITY SCALE

Historical North Vancouver Shipyards - North Vancouver, British Columbia

The former shipyard is a large-scale brownfield site located in a highly sought-after waterfront location in North Vancouver that was contaminated due to historical shipyard activities and consists of historical buildings and infrastructure.
This multi-year environmental clean-up brought the site up to numerical standards, including removal of contaminated soil and risk assessments.
The historic buildings and surrounding commercial and residential uses were complex challenges to remediating the site that is now home to 85,000 square feet of commercial and a multi-use community amenity space (skating rink and splash pad) and features restaurants, cafes, shops, a boutique hotel, and a gathering space for events such as concerts and night markets.

Category 7: REACH OUT: COMMUNICATION, MARKETING AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Arbutus Greenway Design Vision and Implementation Strategy - Vancouver, British Columbia

The Arbutus Greenway represents approximately 42 acres of open space that extends 9 kilometres through Vancouver to link False Creek to the Fraser River and connects neighbourhoods like Marpole, Kerrisdale, and Kitsilano.
For 15 years, the corridor was left to grow wild with invasive blackberries, and it became a forgotten space where people established community gardens, foraged and walked off-grid.
In 2016, the City purchased the corridor and launched the planning process to transform the corridor into a space for native planting, songbird and pollinator habitat, rainwater management, rolling and walking, and a series of public space destinations along the way.

Category 8: BROWNFIELDER OF THE YEAR

Monisha Nandi

Monisha is a champion for brownfield redevelopment, serving on the board of the Canadian Brownfields Network (CBN), as well as having served for many years as the chair of CBN’s technical advisory committee and the Brownie Awards judging committee.
She is additionally an active participant of the Ontario Environmental Industry Association’s (ONEIA’s) Brownfield Committee, supporting outreach, advocacy, and cross-collaboration activities between ONEIA and CBN.
Monisha’s range of professional experience, having worked within both the public and private sectors, and having represented industry, legal, consulting, and development elements of the brownfield revitalization process, makes her uniquely qualified to approach brownfield development holistically – recognizing all the various elements that can impact a brownfield project and dictate its likelihood of success.

Additional: BEST SMALL PROJECT

Richards Complete Streets - Vancouver, British Columbia

Richards Street is Vancouver’s first example of a blue-green system, an eight-block system that incorporates rainwater tree trenches and permeable pavement alongside an all ages and abilities separated bike lane.
The Richards Complete Street project uses innovative soil cells and structural soil systems to improve growing conditions for 103 newly added street trees along this busy and densified downtown corridor.
Over the next 50 years, trees along Richards Complete Street will sequester 50,973 kg of carbon.

Additional: BEST LARGE PROJECT

Environmental Remediation of the Turcot Site - Montreal, Quebec

The Turcot Interchange is a critical transit artery in the Greater Montreal Area, carrying more than 300,000 vehicles per day.
Previously nicknamed the “Smoking Valley,” the Turcot site was used as a rail yard and a maintenance and repair site, along with other industrial activities that left a significant environmental footprint.
Approximately five million cubic meters of materials were excavated, moved and managed during large-scale works in order to remediate the Turcot site and prepare it for a redevelopment that would be highly integrated into the dense urban surroundings.

Additional: BEST OVERALL PROJECT

Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project: Treatment Technology Evaluation Program - Toronto, Ontario

This project demonstrated innovative treatment technologies to showcase, evaluate and contribute knowledge sharing for remediation of soil and water contamination and ground improvement for low-strength soil.
The demonstration was part of a larger initiative to unlock 356 hectares of contaminated land for transformation into a vibrant mixed-use community.
The project included bench scale tests with limited representative quantities of soil, groundwater, and hydrocarbon products from the site and the testing was intended to provide proof-of-concept and inform potential site implementation at larger scales.