Type of initiative: Energy Management and Use
Population: 68,000 city / 120,000 metropolitan area
Saint John's economy is centered on shipping and industry.
The City of Saint-John intends to set up a district heating and cooling system in its downtown core that will use water from the nearby Bay of Fundy to provide heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. The system will link several municipal buildings and some neighboring private buildings.
The City of Saint John initiated the Municipal Energy Efficiency Program (MEEP) in 1997 to reduce energy consumption from municipal buildings and operations to 20-25% below 1997 levels by 2011. The program committed the City to tracking energy consumption and replacing equipment and appliances with more efficient options. In 1998, the program was expanded to include energy savings from water and sewage facilities. In 2001, agencies affiliated with the municipality, such as the Canada Games Aquatic Centre and the Trade and Convention Centre, were added to the program. In 2005, the City committed to a 6% reduction in energy consumption throughout the community by 2011.
The key objectives of the 1997 MEEP were to reduce energy costs; reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions tied to energy consumption; and to assist other New Brunswick municipalities undertaking similar energy management programs. These objectives have remained consistent throughout the development and evolution of the program. The same objectives have been extended to the water and wastewater facilities and to other City-affiliated agencies.
Since 1998, the City has increased the effectiveness of the program by adopting an innovative software tool called the Energy Management Control System (EMCS). This system allows the City to test new efficiency measures and monitor changes in consumption patterns as a results of energy efficiency interventions, including the installation of new equipment and building renovations. In 2005, a Web-based version of the EMCS was designed and implemented.
The outcomes of the MEEP have been significant, having yielded annual savings of $1.24 million and 10,000 MWh of electricity in 2006 (the last year for which data was available). City staff estimate that annual savings currently stand at $1.4 million and forecast that they will increase to $2 million by 2011. Cumulative energy cost savings since the program took effect stand at approximately $5.1 million. The City also estimates an annual reduction of 5,792 metric tons of CO2 emissions from reduced electricity and fossil fuel consumption.
The City is on track to reaching its goal of reducing energy usage to 20-25% below 1997 levels by 2011. It is currently reporting a 15% reduction in emissions below 1997 levels. Going forward, Saint John is exploring new ways to build upon the success of the MEEP through several new endeavours, such as the creation of a district heating/cooling system near the Saint John Harbour and enacting new building codes consistent with LEED standards. The City also intends to coordinate efforts to increase demand-side management (DSM) and develop renewable energy sources with the local energy utilities, which may lead to further reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Saint John is New Brunswick's largest city, with 68,043 inhabitants in the city proper and 122,389 in the metropolitan area. The city is located at the mouth of the Saint John River, on the North shore of the Bay of Fundy. Saint John's economy is heavily dependent on large shipping and industrial facilities, including the Port of Saint John, the Canaport liquefied natural gas (LNG) seaport, the Irving Oil refinery, and the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station. The local electricity utility, Saint John Energy, distributes energy produced by NB Power from conventional energy sources, including coal, oil, diesel, nuclear, and hydroelectric power.
A variety of concerns compelled the City to adopt an energy efficiency program, including: (1) higher energy costs, (2) a shrinking tax base due to declining population, and (3) concern about health problems related to air quality. The last factor was a particularly strong concern for the Environment Committee, which is responsible for planning and executing Saint John's climate strategy. Health officials have blamed poor air quality for Saint John's relatively high rate of asthma and other respiratory problems.
The commitment to reducing Saint John's energy consumption was introduced as a Council motion in 1996, directing the City's Environment Committee to create the Municipal Energy Efficiency Program (MEEP) in 1997. Despite clear environmental and health benefits, the City's Environment Committee found that its most powerful argument when presenting the case for the MEEP before Council was the potential for savings in operating and maintenance costs. There has been no public consultation process associated with the development of the MEEP, although the City plans to consult citizens through the development of MEEP-related community-wide programs to reduce GHG emissions (discussed below in the Policy Context section).
The primary objective of MEEP is to reduce energy consumption in municipal buildings and operations to 20-25% below 1997 levels by 2011. The program commits to reducing energy costs; reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to energy consumption; and assisting other New Brunswick municipalities in undertaking similar energy management initiatives. Since 1997, the program has evolved to include municipal water and wastewater treatment facilities and facilities run by other agencies affiliated with the City. Nevertheless, the core objectives have remained the same.
To begin implementing the plan, the City received funding from the provincial government in 1996 to hire an Energy Manager. The Energy Manager, hired the following year, works within the Department of Facility Management and has a mandate to analyze energy consumption throughout the municipal government and affiliated agencies, to establish benchmarks for energy reductions, and to outline strategies for meeting these benchmarks.
Activities related to the MEEP have focused on three principal axes of intervention: (1) improving energy efficiency; (2) promoting renewable energy generating capacity; and (3) reducing transportation-related emissions.
Energy Efficiency
Starting in 1997, the Office of the Energy Manager has been overseeing programs intended to increase energy efficiency throughout municipal buildings and operations. MEEP initiatives have included the evaluation ofall City building envelopes for possible efficiency upgrades. These have led to renovations that have included the installation of insulation with vapour barrier, weather stripping, and high efficiency windows and doors. Most of the City's buildings have also been retrofitted with high efficiency lighting (through the replacement of both ballasts and lamps), heat recovery systems, and natural gas boilers in place of less efficient and dirtier oil boilers. Saint John has conducted more than 65 energy retrofit projects in municipal facilities, including offices, garages, fire stations, and community centres, as well as in facilities belonging to affiliated agencies, such as the Trade and Convention Centre and the Canada Games Aquatic Centre.
To facilitate the implementation of the MEEP, the Department of Facility Management installed an Energy Management Control System (EMCS) at four arenas in 1998. This system allows all types of energy usage in the buildings to be remotely monitored and controlled. By 2005, EMCS was installed in all City facilities. There are presently 26 buildings online with EMCS, allowing the City to monitor energy consumption and the impacts of newly installed energy saving equipment and new workplace practices on energy use across all municipal departments and facilities.
Although the Office of the Energy Manager administers EMCS, the system allows managers in other departments to monitor energy performance, including HVAC, lighting, and overall energy consumption. Since 2005, the system has been linked to the City's internal computer network (LAN) and can be easily accessed by City staff from any workstation. EMCS enables departments to maximize energy efficiency while maintaining comfortable workplace conditions. The system is also capable of tracking and calculating the economic benefits derived from energy efficiency measures, helping managers assess the cost effectiveness of these measures and informing decisions related to energy efficiency (City of Saint John, 2006).
In 2005, Saint John committed to a 6% reduction (based on 2005 levels) in energy consumption in the wider community by 2011. To date, no initiatives specifically addressing this objective have been undertaken.
Renewable Energy
The City has recently embarked upon the Geo-Exchange project, which consist of using water from the Bay of Fundy to provide district heating/cooling to buildings in the City's core, including buildings run by City-affiliated agencies such as the Trade and Convention Centre. Private buildings are also expected to benefit from the initiative. Once implemented, the City expects to reduce energy consumption related to heating and cooling by 5 MW annually. Phase 1 of the planning phase was completed in May 2007 and the City is currently seeking funding to implement Phase 2, which entails the creation of a conceptual design to help calculate the costs and benefits the system.
Transportation
Although the 1997 MEEP commits the City to reducing energy consumption in its fleet, little has been done to date. Fleet Services has shifted its procurement policy to purchasing smaller-sized vehicles, although the move was not driven by the MEEP per se, according to Fleet Management. In addition, the City embarked on a campaign to upgrade 1,300 traffic lights across the City with LEDs in 2006. The expansion of park-and-ride facilities and ridesharing programs through Vision 2015 (the City's current sustainable development plan) will be consistent with the MEEP's 6% community energy consumption reduction target.
Several departments have been instrumental in helping the Department of Facility Management to get MEEP off the ground. These include City Boards and Commissions, Leisure Services, Municipal Operations, and the Fire Department. Together these four departments are responsible for 35% of the energy savings achieved to date. The Energy Manager cooperates with department managers to establish energy efficiency requirements for equipment, provide employee training, raise awareness about the program, identify financing needs, and monitor building energy usage.
In order to promote greater awareness and coordinated action within the municipal corporation, the City implemented an Energy Awareness Program for staff in 2001. Although the program has languished over the past several years, the City plans to pick it up again in 2008. City staff have also been encouraged to enroll in energy management and energy awareness courses.
The City collaborates with industrial partners including Saint John Energy, Enbridge Gas and NB Power as well as suppliers of energy equipment and commodities such as Irving Oil Ltd. to help implement energy efficiency measures.
The City has consistently enacted policies that reconfirm its commitment to MEEP. In 2001, the City enacted the Energy Management Policy, which explicitly commits to implementing measures to help reach MEEP's objectives, to be overseen by the Environment Committee. These include climate-friendly transportation initiatives such as ridesharing programs and the construction of park-and-ride facilities.
In 2005, support for MEEP was reiterated in the City' Operational Review, also overseen by the Environment Committee. The committee's commitment to MEEP is reflected by a number of its undertakings, including: new municipal corporation-wide procurement practices; life-cycle analyses; the construction of LEED-rated buildings; and the identification and initiation of renewable energy development through Vision 2015, the City's long-term sustainable development plan. Moreover, the Environment Committee has pledged to integrate MEEP targets into this development program.
The City's efforts to increase energy efficiency are supported by partnerships with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the Province of New Brunswick through its Efficiency New Brunswick program; both FCM and the province have provided grants to fund initiatives related to the MEEP. The City is also a member of Partners for Climate Protection (PCP)1 and is therefore required to create an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the community, develop an action plan to reduce emissions and monitor progress and report results. The reduction of energy consumption is expected to play a key role in Saint John fulfilling its climate change commitments. Saint John is still developing its PCP action plan, the completion of which is part of the Environment Committee's mandate for 2008.
1 Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) is a network of 155 Canadian municipal governments committed to reducing GHG emissions and acting on climate change. PCP is the Canadian component of ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) network that comprises more then 800 communities worldwide.
Between 1996 and 2007, total spending on the MEEP reached $2.5 million. This includes building retrofits, the creation of the EMCS, the Geo-Exchange distribution loop and administrative costs. According to City staff, roughly $200,000 is allocated annually for energy management projects from the City's capital projects budget. Administrative costs, comprised of one full-time salary plus other expenses, total around $70,000 annually and are covered through the City's operating budget.
The New Brunswick Government has provided considerable funding for MEEP initiatives. The City received $25,000 in 1997, $25,000 in 1998, and $15,000 in 1999 for MEEP initiatives from the province. More recently, the City received a $90,000 grant from the New Brunswick Environmental Trust Fund to finance Phase 1 of the Saint John Inner Harbour Geo-Exchange distribution loop.
Since the MEEP's beginning, Enbridge Gas, the private gas utility serving the Saint-John area, has provided a total of $90,000 in grant funding for the purchase of high efficiency HVAC units that have been installed in municipal facilities. Enbridge has also provided technical information and financial support in helping to make the switch from oil and coal to natural gas for space heating and hot water in municipal buildings. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has allocated funding to MEEP in the form of two Green Municipal Fund2 grants, including: (1) $31,000 in 2002 for the City Hall energy audit, and (2) $50,000 in 2003 for a study of potential energy savings in the City's water and wastewater treatment facilities.
2 Green Municipal Funds (GMF) through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) provide loans and grants to help municipalities build environmentally friendly infrastructure.
Overall, the City reports an estimated 15% reduction in energy consumption and says it is on track to meeting its MEEP objective of energy consumption 20-25% below 1997 levels by 2011. The Office of the Energy Manager estimates that based on an analysis of energy consumption (including natural gas, oil and electricity), 5,792 tons of CO2 emissions are being avoided annually thanks to MEEP initiatives. There have been no estimates of GHG emissions from the community as a whole, although the City indicates that a community-wide GHG inventory is a priority for future action.
In terms of energy efficiency, the City of Saint John has recorded a significant decrease in energy costs since the MEEP was established in 1996. Total savings since the program went into effect in 1997 are estimated to be around $5.1 million. By 1998, the implementation of digital control systems and the comprehensive energy audit of the City's water and wastewater facilities resulted in over $88,000 in annual savings, up from $30,000 in 1996. In 2006, the most recent year for which data is available, the City achieved annual energy cost savings of around $1.2 million. City officials predict Saint John is on track to achieving $2 million in annual energy cost savings by 2011.
Certain major retrofit projects in municipal buildings and in buildings belonging to City-affiliated agencies have yielded significant savings. In particular in 2003, energy efficiency improvements to the Saint John Transit Building (the headquarters of the City's public transportation authority) resulted in $50,000 in annual savings over the previous year.In 2006, the Lord Beaverbrook Rink and the Canada Games Aquatic Centre underwent major renovations, which included improvement to the heating and lighting systems, yielding annual savings of $50,000 and $100,000 respectively – savings equivalent to about 80% of maintenance costs for these two buildings, according to City staff. A retrofit of the Downtown Saint John Market Square is expected to save $170,000 annually following an energy audit forecasting a possible 17% reduction in electricity consumption (Saint John, 2006).
Since 2006, 45 water and wastewater treatment plants have undergone comprehensive energy audits resulting in a plan to reduce their energy consumption by 25%. In addition, a number of arenas have been retrofitted with more efficient cooling systems, which led to a reduction in City water usage from 3.3 million to 0.62 million gallons annually in the case of the Lord Beaverbrook Rink (Saint John, 2006). As less water is used in the new cooling systems, less energy is consumed at the water treatment facility.
In terms of developing renewable energy, in May 2007, the City completed Phase 1 of the Geo-Exchange feasibility study detailing technical options for a system that would use water from the Bay of Fundy to provide district heating/cooling to buildings in the City's core. The City is presently moving forward with Phase 2 of the project, which consist of developing a conceptual design for the system that will include a cost benefit analysis to determine the full feasibility of the project. Beyond the Geo-Exchange, Saint John Energy – the local electricity distribution utility – has initiated several pilot studies for the development of renewable energy sources (including wind and biomass), although none have resulted in the creation of alternative fuel sources for the utility's 35,000 customers.
In terms of transportation, there has been no follow up to the 1997 commitment to create a Municipal Energy Efficiency Program Report for Fleet Services as outlined in the MEEP. However, Fleet Services has introduced several programs to reduce energy use for the municipal fleet through an anti-idling campaign and the procurement of two hybrid vehicles. In 2006, the City embarked on a campaign to replace 1,300 traffic lights across the City with LED lighting, resulting in an energy savings of 575,000 kWh and $41,000 operating cost savings annually. (Saint John, 2006)
The MEEP has produced a number of positive outcomes for the City, including significant energy savings, cost savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from municipal buildings and operations. According to City documents, success factors behind the program include the early establishment of a reasonable timetable to achieve energy savings, the establishment of an Energy Manager position to oversee the program, and a comprehensive monitoring system to help ensure full compliance throughout municipal departments and agencies.
The development of the EMCS in subsequent years further enabled the Energy Manager to promote the MEEP as a way for department heads to reduce operational costs and compare energy performance among different departments. While there are no built-in incentives or rewards for energy efficiency, the City is working on a building labelling system in cooperation with the provincial and federal government.
Despite the commitment to reduce energy consumption by 6% below 2005 levels throughout the wider community, no measures have yet been taken to develop community energy efficiency programs. In order to increase energy efficiency throughout Saint John, City staff members feel greater political will is required to encourage demand-side management (DSM) programs and renewable energy production in cooperation with local utility companies.
Apart from completing Phase 1 of the Geo-Exchange district heating/cooling system, the City has been slow to advance renewable energy development in Saint John. Saint John Energy has investigated wind and biomass energy potential in the area but developers will not invest in either of these resources at current electricity rates. The electricity utility is not willing to increase its rates to help finance renewable energy. The City, for its part, has not investigated alternative financing schemes to help foster a switch to clean energy.
City staff point to the slow emergence of a public outreach and communication strategy as a major obstacle to expanding the MEEP. Despite having been created in 1997, there still is no webpage dedicated to the program. The absence of a website and public relations strategy dedicated to the program further prevents the participation of local energy experts in the development of the MEEP. A leading environmental NGO conducting research in energy efficiency in New Brunswick was consulted as part of this case study but was unable to offer insight about the program as staff members were not aware of Saint John's MEEP.
According to City documents, the MEEP was intended to be amenable to replication in other cities as an integrated package of tools for planning, auditing, implementation, and monitoring. While there are some gaps in the delivery on MEEP objectives, other municipalities may benefit from Saint John's experience in developing the highly effective Energy Management Control System (EMCS). City staff claim that several New Brunswick municipalities have benefited from working with the City of Saint John to adopt similar energy management systems although no information on this was available at the time of writing.
Other municipalities in New Brunswick and throughout North America with a similar dependency upon fossil fuel-generated electricity may find the MEEP a useful model for making energy efficiency improvements to municipal operations. Cities with indoor ice rinks may find the Saint John case particularly useful in reducing energy costs for this type of facility. A key barrier to undertaking a similar program elsewhere may be reluctance on the part of the municipality to create a specific position for coordinating energy efficiency measures.
Going forward, the City of Saint John intends to continue pursuing MEEP objectives through the same three key axes of intervention. In terms of energy efficiency, the City intends to build a new Police Headquarters and Saint John Transit building with LEED gold and silver ratings respectively, along with a new “green garage”, a carbon-neutral parking facility. The City also intends to launch a website highlighting municipal climate programs as part of its Vision 2015 sustainability plan overseen by the Environment Committee. Furthermore, the City plans to establish an Energy Management Committee overseen by the Energy Manager to monitor progress and provide recommendations to staff and Council on planning new strategies to meet MEEP objectives. In terms of renewable energy, the City wishes to implement 30 MW of wind power generations in cooperation with NB Power and Saint John Energy, as well as solar heating for various municipal and commission buildings. It also aims to complete Phase 2 of the Saint John Inner Harbour GEO-Exchange distribution loop, which will form the basis of an extensive heating and cooling system for the City's uptown core. Finally, in terms of transportation, the main strategy for improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions is to be the construction of park-and-ride facilities. It is hoped that this will encourage greater use of public transit and a reduction in automobile use.
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