Energy efficiency and renewable energy for municipal buildings in Gander

The Town Council of the Town of Gander (Gander) wishes to complete a study on the environmental and financial feasibility of implementing energy-efficiency measures with renewable energy to a group of town buildings. The project includes the community centre (which hosts the town’s ice rink), the town hall, the sewage lift station, the water and wastewater treatment plants, the fire hall and the public works depot. Gander has been dealing with issues such as high energy usage, deferred capital expenditures, low thermal comfort and high greenhouse gas emissions. Measures and technologies to be considered in the study include the following: • Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting in all the buildings in the group • Integration of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system with geothermal heat exchanger, high-efficiency cooling coil, low-emissivity ceiling and central automation system at the community centre • A high-efficiency heat pump system at the water treatment plant • A geothermal system that is vertically integrated with a wind turbine at the wastewater treatment plant • An air-source heat pump at the fire hall and the public works depot The expected environmental benefit is a minimum 30% energy savings in each building included in the study, with some buildings exceeding 50%. Less than 10% of this will come from the wind turbine. A Level 3 American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) audit will be performed in each building and will include a system-by-system and room-by-room investigation of mechanical and electrical systems. Gander also plans to conduct interviews with town stakeholders to help identify priorities. Preliminary designs, sizing of new equipment and cost estimates are some of the deliverables of this study. This study aligns with Gander’s Five-year Strategic Plan and its Integrated Community Sustainability Plan. This initiative corresponds to Phase 2 of a previous retrofit project completed by Gander in 2012, which was not funded by FCM. Innovative aspect(s): This project is innovative for the size of the town and the number of buildings and measures being considered. The integration of the ice plant and HVAC systems with geothermal storage will be one of only a few similar systems in Newfoundland and Labrador. Lastly, the project’s costs are financed by savings guaranteed under an energy performance contract between Gander and its consultant. Replicability: Ice rinks are very common in communities of all sizes across Canada and usually consume large amounts of energy. If proven feasible and efficient, the integration of the ice plant and HVAC systems with geothermal storage could help other Canadian communities manage the energy consumption and costs of their rinks. (Project description from original funding application)