ESP Team Member Receives Premier’s Partnership Finalist Award

2006/07 Partnership Finalist Award Recipient – Energy Efficiency and Community Energy Solutions Team

  • Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources – Andrew Pape-Salmon, Liz Kelly, Christina Ianniciello and Keith Veerman, Dan Green, Sharon Jorgensen – Victoria
  • BC Hydro – Patrick Mathot – Burnaby
  • Building Owners and Managers Association of BC – Paul LaBranche – Vancouver
  • Canadian Home Builders Association of BC – M.J. Whitemarsh – Burnaby
  • CityGreen – Peter Sundberg – Victoria
  • Douglas First Nation – Chief Darryl Peter – Tipella and Port Douglas
  • Fraser Basin Council – Jim Vanderwal – Vancouver
  • FortisBC – Brian Parent – Kelowna
  • Gitga’at Nation – Dan Cardinall – Hartley Bay
  • Kitasoo-Xaixais Nations – Percy Starr – Klemtu
  • Kyuquot / Checklesaht First Nations – Kevin Head – Kyuquot
  • Natural Resources Canada – Anne Auger, Louis Marmen – Ottawa
  • Taku River Tlingit Nation – Peter Kirby – Atlin
  • Terasen Gas -Sarah Smith – Surrey

ESP team member, City Green Solutions, was included with a list of partners for the Premier’s Innovation and Excellence Awards for 2006/2007 for its involvement with the Energy Savings Plan project. The full Energy Efficiency and Community Energy Solutions Team was selected for its market transformation energy efficiency strategy that aims to create a permanent shift toward an energy conserver culture; for receiving $15 million in special funding from the federal government, almost 30% of the total available nationally; and, for establishing over 70 partnerships with government organizations, First Nations, industry associations, utilities, and other organizations to implement the strategy.

In the 2002 Energy Plan, the Province set out to update and expand its Energy Efficiency Act and work with the building industry, governments and others to improve energy efficiency in new and existing buildings. In September 2005, the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources (MEMPR) released its strategy, Energy Efficient Buildings: A Plan for BC, along with the creation of a number of new energy efficiency and clean energy programs. The strategy includes energy efficiency targets for new and existing buildings in the year 2010, along with 10 policy and market measures to address barriers, including:

  • Information, education and capacity building;
  • Energy pricing and incentives;
  • Voluntary measures; and,
  • Energy Efficiency Act amendments for building components and equipment.

The strategy was instrumental in raising $15 million from the federal Opportunities Envelope over two years (until March 31, 2007), leveraged off of $85 million of utility and industry expenditures and provincial sales tax exemptions, and $20 million for investments in clean energy projects in First Nations and remote communities.

The Opportunities Envelope was a program designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. In round one of this program, 38 proposals were received, 10 were selected with a total value of $24 million, and MEMPR’s proposal for $11 million was approved, representing 46% of the total national allocation. In round two, 19 proposals were approved out of 71 proposals for a value of $30 million, including MEMPR’s proposal valued at $3.863 million.

The notable MEMPR programs that have resulted from the strategy include the following:

  • Community Action on Energy Efficiency Program (policy support and information for 29 local governments);
  • Market transformation program for windows (targeting Energy Star levels by 2009);
  • Market transformation program for residential heating systems (Energy Star levels by 2008);
  • First Nation and Remote Community Clean Energy program (10 communities);
  • Energy Savings Plan (information and incentive program for home owners, low-income households, strata councils and small commercial buildings);
  • Energy Performance Design Assistance for New Building Construction (for institutional, commercial, industrial and multi-unit residential buildings);
  • Built Green BC and EnerGuide for New Homes Program (for new low-rise residential buildings);
  • BOMA Green Buildings Foundation (for existing commercial and institutional buildings);
  • Expansion of Green Buildings BC program (for government, education and health care buildings); and
  • A number of industry training programs.

In partnership with over 70 public and private sector organizations, the strategy implemented a market transformation approach for achieving energy efficiency targets that aim to create a permanent social shift toward an energy conserver culture. The strategy will have the following impacts on the community:

  • Reduce consumer energy costs by up to $127 million in 2010 and $474 million in 2020;
  • Address energy costs in remote and First Nations communities;
  • Create up to 52,000 person-years of skilled employment in BC between 2005 and 2020;
  • Inject about $2.5 billion into the economy in 2020 ($660 million in 2010), with energy savings exceeding those investments by $1.2 billion in 2020;
  • Reduce electricity demand by up to 3,400 gigawatt-hours in 2020, equivalent to the demand of 340,000 homes;
  • Reduce natural gas and fuel oil demand by up to 22 million gigajoules in 2020, equivalent to the demand of 200,000 homes; and,
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 2.3 million tonnes in 2020, equivalent to the emissions created by 450,000 minivans.

The strategy has established a multiplicity of formal and informal relationships to extend the energy efficiency message to a very wide audience. This would simply not be possible without the partnership model established.

For example, within one year of activity, over 38 home builders are now engaged in the EnerGuide for New Homes Program and 76 builders are considering participation. MEMPR’s goal is to support construction of 2,200 homes that meet the target by 2007. In addition to this, 468 home builders have installed over 1,000 high efficiency Energy Star furnaces in new homes, 62 window manufacturers from across the Province have been approached to design and produce products that meet the Energy Star standard, and 2,000 homes have installed Energy Star windows.

The strategy, Energy Efficient Buildings: A Plan for BC, instrumental in raising $15 million from the federal Opportunities Envelope, formed an innovative partnership among industry, governments, utilities, First Nations and others, targeting consumer energy cost reductions of $474 million in 2020 alone, along with greenhouse gas reductions of 2.3 million tonnes.

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