RC105 MarApr2023 - Magazine - Page 16
ENERGY
JUST DO IT
District Energy projects are
putting municipalities on
the path to net-zero
by Glenn Miller
AKING TANGIBLE PROGRESS on climate goals in a country as spread out and geographically diverse
as Canada was always going to be a challenge.
More than four years after Justin Trudeau’s 2019
election pledge to achieve net-zero emissions
by 2050, the government is counting on its 2030
Emissions Reduction Plan—a roadmap to guide dramatic
reductions in key sectors including energy producers,
traditional industry, transportation, and the buildings
sector—to complement the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions
Accountability Act released in early 2022.
Many, including the media are quick to remind the
government that its track record in meeting climate goals
has previously been less-than-stellar.. But recent reports
from the buildings sector, which according to the Canada
Green Building Council, accounts for about 30 per cent of
all emissions (this includes energy to power buildings as
well as energy used to create construction materials and
the construction process itself), are cause for optimism.
M
Glenn Miller, FCIP
is a senior associate
with the Canadian
Urban Institute.
16
MUSH sector leading the way
A key factor distinguishing the buildings sector is that
the driving force behind emissions reductions is local.
Canada’s MUSH sector—municipalities (and Indigenous
communities), universities, schools and hospitals—is
forging ahead aggressively. Working collaboratively
with blue chip pension funds and a growing number of
private sector energy companies, MUSH organizations
are tapping government funding to establish a new crop
of innovative district energy (DE) projects that reduce
emissions by relying on low and non-carbon energy. The
prevailing attitude seems to be “Just do it—the time for
negative talk is over,” says one observer.
Municipalities are setting the stage for emissions
reductions in a variety of ways. More than 600 municipalities and First Nations communities having declared climate emergencies. About two thirds have either adopted
or are in the process of creating Community Energy and
Emissions Plans (CEEPs). A smaller number have taken
the additional step of incorporating specific policies in
their official community plans that commit the municipality to pressing ahead with district energy projects. When
RENEW CANADA – MARCH/APRIL 2023
fledgling DE networks lack critical mass as they seek to
expand, developers are often required to ensure buildings
are at least DE-ready.
Richmond, B.C. is a good example of using municipal policy—inspired, some say, by decisions made more
than a decade ago in Vancouver’s Southeast False Creek
neighbourhood to take a chance on alternative sources of
feedstock to power its DE system—to set the agenda for
emissions reductions. Richmond is working in concert
with the Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to make
investments that will allow the city and its utilities to
“accommodate long-term capital drawdown.” The CIB
anticipates as much as 50 million square feet of development in the region could eventually rely on zero carbon
energy using a combination of geo-exchange and sewer
heat capture. This long-term vision builds on Richmond’s
original commitment to district energy made in 2013 when
it incorporated the Lulu Island Energy Company (LIEC).
The first of three zones under the direction of LIEC—
the Alexandra District Energy Utility (ADEU)—currently
services more than 2,200 residential units and a significant amount of commercial space, including the first
Walmart ever to be connected to DE. The system relies
on a combination of ground-source heat pumps and
geo-exchange technology. Natural gas is only used on the
coldest days of the year.
The second zone is Richmond City Centre. Its
award-winning plan “ensures new developments…are
built with an on-site low-carbon energy … compatible with
the future City Centre District Energy Utility (CCDEU) …
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