Hope Town Community Resource Center

The Association Sportive et Loisir de la Municipalité de Hope Town in Partnership with the Municipalité de Hope Town will carry out a Feasibility Study to retrofit the building of the former Hope Town School and use it as a Community Resource Center achieving 50% of reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.From 2011 to 2013 the Municipality used a part of the building for a variety of community events, activities and services, however, the operation and management plan was not sustainable. The building required over 22,000 liters of furnace oil and 76,000 kWh of electricity, resulting in 60 tonnes of CO2e. If the building had been operated at its full capacity with all rooms opened five days a week the environmental and economic costs would have been much higher. The municipality aims to reduce 50% in GHGs from the projected baseline data.An approach with two phases has been adopted to ensure that GHG reduction goals are met, that overall project retrofit costs are feasible and that the final operational costs of the finished project will be on budget and manageable for a small community.First Phase:• Ascertain the feasibility of retrofitting the structure to render it energy efficient in terms of both how much a retrofit will cost, and in terms of what energy efficiencies may be achieved;• Determine that once retrofitting activities are complete, the annual overhead operational cost of the structure will be within the means of the municipality to maintain.Second Phase:• Generate professional architectural and engineer plans to ensure all contingencies have been considered;• Ensure an accurate project cost and blueprint for contractors and project management.Beyond the bricks and mortar, the ultimate culmination of this project is the creation of a community resource center, which will act as a repository for consumer goods which can be reused, repurposed or upcycled by community members. These goods will include construction materials, household furniture, appliances and electronics, clothing, books, and toys. The direct and indirect impacts of this project will be a reduction of waste at landfill and a reduction in long haul transportation and packaging associated with new consumer goods.The Hope Town Resource Center will be socially innovative and environmentally responsible. There is a great potential in future operational phases to build the resource center operation and management around a cooperative model, further empowering community members and building community resilience. This project is leading the charge on adopting the principals of a circular economy even in a small rural remote region.