Since the establishment of the Municipal Sustainability Committee, Township staff have worked with Enbridge Gas and Hydro One to obtain energy use of Township buildings as well as general community energy used data to understand current consumption levels and get an idea of where they are headed. Staff determined that it would be helpful to have a consultant review the information and provide some guidance as to how it could be used to find ways to move closer to energy efficiency throughout the Municipality. Aladaco Consulting Inc. was hired to conduct this analysis and they presented their findings at the April 7th Council meeting.
The report included an analysis of energy use in municipally – owned facilities as well as in the community at large. It included a monitoring tool to help monitor energy use in municipal buildings in the future. The broad objective was to develop a better understanding of current energy uses and to identify actions that might bring consumption closer to targets established by the Peterborough County Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) and the municipal Energy Demand Management Plan. The mandate also included an overview of the energy use by the community at large, comparing it to that of other municipalities to establish a baseline against which future energy use could be compared.
In their examination of municipal buildings, the consultant determined that six large energy use buildings account for 84% of total municipal corporate energy consumption and 85% of total corporate greenhouse gas emissions. Among these high energy consumers was the waste water treatment plant and the Cavan Monaghan Community Centre. The report identified viable opportunities to adopt energy saving measures at the Municipal Office and the Old Millbrook School. Staff will utilize this information to implement energy savings initiatives such as installing low energy lighting and improvements to HVAC systems where they are cost effective.
The broader community information is more challenging to interpret. Charts were presented outlining the estimated energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions per capita for Cavan Monaghan, Durham Region, Newmarket and London but those data points were based on different years and clouded by differences in reporting processes.
The consultant explained that heat pumps are one of the largest drivers towards decarbonisation currently available. Fueled by electricity, they generate much lower greenhouse gas emissions than their natural gas counterparts. However, heat pumps are not only more expensive to purchase than a natural gas furnace, they are more expensive to operate, and this difference has widened since the elimination of the carbon tax. The consultant also explained that Ontario is in a period of expanding the electrical grid with additional nuclear power. In the interim, the province is supplementing the grid with natural gas. Once the grid capacity catches up, electricity will gain an even greater environmental advantage over natural gas as an energy source.
The consultant concluded that many decisions that reduce the impact of energy use are not economically viable at the moment. The report offered several initiatives that could incentivize the reduction greenhouse gas emissions in the community, such as providing home energy audit programs, insulation and weather protection support, renewable energy workshops and energy efficiency rebates.
Staff will use this report to manage energy use for municipal buildings, to target community initiatives that encourage environmentally friendly energy use and to develop grant applications for energy-related projects.
The complete report is available in the April 7thCouncil agenda on the township website, www.cavanmonaghan.net.