Conserving energy and preserving history: Making Fredericton City Hall carbon neutral

The City of Fredericton will investigate the technical and financial feasibility of retrofitting Fredericton City Hall to meet carbon-neutral building standards. The study being proposed is part of a larger initiative to revitalize and optimize the building in a way that meets current and future needs and expectations. The City will identify efficiency measures to reduce energy consumption by more than 30% and will explore renewable energy options for the nearly 145-year-old heritage building. The project will assess at least 38 technologies and solutions, broken down into the following seven categories: enhanced envelope system; HVAC system; plumbing system; electrical system; lighting system; building automation system; and alternative energy system. The study will produce five options with varying levels of greenhouse gas emission reduction and energy reduction. The different lifecycle costs of each option will be compared, leading to a recommended path forward. This initiative is aligned with Fredericton’s soon-to-be-completed Corporate Energy Strategy and Roadmap (2019), which has created the momentum to set new, more aggressive energy and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the City. The proposed project goes beyond typical projects that Fredericton has implemented in the past, and will serve as an important study to see what is possible for reaching the goal of being carbon neutral by 2050. Innovative aspect(s): • Fredericton City Hall would be one of the first “Second Empire” (c. 1865–1900) municipal buildings in Canada to be retrofitted to carbon-neutral building standards • This project incorporates climate change adaptation measures with regard to flooding, rather than focusing on mitigation measures alone • Innovative technologies will be considered, including geo-exchange from the St. John River Replicability: The Fredericton City Hall project will provide valuable knowledge to other municipalities seeking to retrofit historical buildings. Although individual projects will vary, this project will provide a template for undertaking similar retrofits under municipal funding structures and constraints. Fredericton is committed to sharing stories and lessons learned from this project. (Project description from original funding application)