GHG emission reduction study for municipal buildings and facilities

The purpose of this study is to measure the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of municipal buildings, identify and evaluate emission reduction opportunities, and integrate these results into the City of Saint John’s asset management program. As part of the study, a series of methodologies and templates will be generated to facilitate the performance of field inspections, and streamline the analysis and reporting of audit results. A screening approach is prescribed with major GHG emitting facilities being selected based on energy consumption estimates and square footage thresholds. These facilities will undergo a complete identification and inspection of components, analysis of energy and GHG emissions, identification of improvement initiatives, calculation of energy savings and GHG emission reduction potential, and full life-cycle cost analysis of selected initiatives. The remaining facilities will undergo a simplified desktop analysis, relying on results of the detailed studies.This study will support the City’s goal of establishing a fully integrated asset management plan, allowing for GHG emission data to be considered as part of the overall decision-making process for facilities. Consideration will be made in this study to integrate collected data and results into the asset inventory and management plan. Additionally, this study will be integrated with the existing risk management framework and proposed climate change adaption plan, all of which are included in the asset management program.In addition to reducing GHG emissions, the results of this study will contribute to the City’s strategy to ensure municipal assets are managed in an effective, safe, and reliable manner to enable City staff to provide exceptional service in a socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable manner. The opportunities identified through the detailed audits will stimulate the local economy using local contractors, increase the municipality’s financial sustainability by reducing energy consumption costs, improve visitor and staff health by improving indoor air quality and ventilation and will reduce the municipality’s dependence on fossil fuels.