Home Flood Protection Program Awarded 2020 Canada’s Clean50 Top Project Award
October 7, 2019
On October 3, 2019 Canada’s Clean50 organization and Delta Management Group awarded the Home Flood Protection Program, created by Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo and provided through AET Group Inc., with a Top Project Award, recognizing the 20-best sustainability-oriented projects completed in Canada over the prior two years. Projects chosen are based on the four “I” s criteria: Impactful, Innovative, Inspiring, and can be readily Imitated.
Intense rainfall events combined with aging infrastructure, increased urbanization, loss of natural infrastructure and a lack of flood protection measures at the household level had led to increases in basement flooding across much of Canada. The Home Flood Protection Program helps residents to identify flood risks at their homes and take action to reduce these risks. The program provides free online resources to communities, in-person Home Flood Protection Assessments, as well as a customized outreach strategy for each participating community, based on its flood risk reductions goals, project timelines, and resources available.
A total of 510 HFPP assessments were completed throughout Ontario and Saskatchewan from 2016-2018. Seventy nine percent of assessment participants who completed a follow-up survey at 3 months indicated they had taken at least one new action to reduce flood risk. Sixty percent of actions were completed primarily by residents for under $500 (e.g. cleaning out eaves troughs, installing backup sump pumps, improving grading) and the other 40% of actions cost over $500 and were primarily completed with the help of contractors (e.g. replacing eaves troughs and basement windows, installing backwater valves, waterproofing the foundation).
The objectives of the program were to develop and test a residential basement flood risk assessment tool, flood risk assessment training program and best practices community outreach guideline for driving residential action to reduce flood risk. The goals of this project were to field test the effectiveness of the program in several different communities and to evaluate the potential for applying the program at a national scale.
”Delta’s criteria in determining Project awards is to carefully consider a combination of actual measurable impact, demonstrated innovation, and the project’s ability to inspire others to imitate it – and Home Flood Protection Assessments completed by AET Group INC / Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo is a terrific example,” Gavin Pitchford, CEO, Delta Management Group.
About AET Group:
AET Group is an environmental consultancy firm committed to our ecological, financial and social responsibilities, working together collaboratively to find innovative sustainable solutions that work and remembering that underneath it all, we’re human beings working with other human beings to make a difference both locally and globally. AET Group is a multi-disciplinary environmental consulting, auditing and scientific services company providing professional services in the following core service areas: Solid Waste Management, Environmental Compliance & Management, Environmental Audits, GHG Management, Sustainability Planning, Air Quality, Environmental Mitigation & Monitoring, Water & Wastewater, Home Flood Protection Assessments, Energy Management, Natural Sciences and Building Sciences.
About Delta Management Group / Canada’s Clean50:
Leading sustainability and clean tech search firm Delta Management Group in 2011 founded, and remains the steward of the Canada’s Clean50 awards. The awards were created to annually identify, recognize and connect 50 sustainability leaders, 10 Emerging Leaders and Top 20 Projects from every sector of Canadian endeavor. The firm also annually convenes the Clean50 Summit, in order to facilitate understanding, collaboration and innovation in the fight to keep human caused climate impacts below 1.5 degrees.
Media Contact:
Gavin Pitchford o: 416-925-2005 x2300 m: 774-330-6606 e: gpitchford@deltamanagement.com