Energy and Sustainability Framework outlines city’s plan to net zero

On Monday, the City of Regina released its framework on how it wants to get to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The report is called the Energy and Sustainability Framework and isn’t just a plan for the city’s own operations, but for the entire city including the city administration, industry and citizens.

“The framework will require sustained effort from the city, residents and all sectors of the community. And though we, at the city, as a municipal government do not have complete jurisdiction over each sector, we have this incredible opportunity to lead by example and take the required actions that are within our control,” explained Cara Simpson, director of innovation energy and technology with the City of Regina.

The city itself has already been moving down this path and has already gone through an audit of its energy needs, it has put up the landfill gas-to-energy facility, and it will install solar panels at two city pools and a rec centre this year.

The city is also planning to start electrifying its light vehicle fleet this year, and to electrify its transit fleet as the buses come to the end of their lives — set to be done by 2039.

“The city will continue to make investments around improving our infrastructure just as others will be encouraged to look at making consumer choices around their own buildings as well as transportation choices,” explained Louise Folk, executive director of people and transformation with the city.

By 2050, the plan anticipates a total cost of $11.5 billion from the city, industry and citizens on the initiatives, with a $12.5-billion return on investment. The city couldn’t say how much of that its administration will bear or, consequently, how much it could affect property taxes.

Folk said there are opportunities at both the federal and provincial levels for investment.

“What we’re seeing, especially coming from federal government, whether it be any type of funding program they’re putting forward, is they are starting to look for municipalities to demonstrate their commitment to being renewable by 2050 and meeting all of the requirements that are set out by a number of the global and national plans that have been put in place,” explained Folk.

The Big Moves

The framework splits the work into seven areas — what the framework calls “big moves.”

The first is retrofitting existing buildings, which the report said includes things like upgrading lighting to LEDs and adding insulation, all the way up to updating heating and cooling systems to be more efficient

The second move talks about clean heating — switching space-heating systems to electric, which it says can be impactful with the use of renewable energy and building retrofits.

The report notes that, because Saskatchewan’s electricity grid has higher emissions than elsewhere in Canada, this switch would increase emissions in the short term but “would enable deep emissions reductions in the medium term.”

In the report, the third point talks about moving all new construction to net zero, given that all provinces have agreed to adopt the federal government’s net-zero energy-ready building code for residential builds by 2030.

According to the report, a net-zero energy-ready building is “a highly energy-efficient building that minimizes energy use such that on-site or community renewables or energy from a clean grid can be used to reach net-zero energy.”

And a net-zero energy building uses things like solar orientation and high-efficiency equipment to produce as much clean energy as it uses in a year.

The fourth move in the report talks about renewable energy generation, stating that renewables could meet most of Regina’s energy needs when used together with energy efficiency measures.

In the report, the fifth point is low-emission vehicles and developing and implementing a strategy to move toward them — considering the city’s goals as well as the federal government’s announcement last year that all new light-duty car and passenger truck sales would have to be zero emission by 2035.

The report points out Port Moody, B.C. has a zoning bylaw which includes requirements for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Increasing active transportation and transit use is the sixth point in the report, saying it will be critical to reducing emissions from transportation. The city is in the process of putting together its new Transit Master Plan which will include initiatives along this line.

The last point in the report is cleaning and re-energizing industry. The report notes the city doesn’t necessarily have direct control over industry, but it can influence things like process efficiency by hosting working groups, sharing the best practices, and publicly showing support.

Incentives, education and bylaws

Because the plan includes the entire community, the city will need the co-operation of citizens and industry to meet its goals.

Getting there could include the use of bylaws, but Greg Kuntz, manager of energy and sustainability solutions with the city, said that’s usually the last place they want to go to.

“We’ll always start with an education program educating the public on how they can make the switches and working on things to incentivize, or just make it easier for them,” said Kuntz.

Kuntz pointed to the move to electric vehicles.

“We’ve had really fruitful conversations with SaskPower about how we can move together to work on that and how to get the information out to the residents on what they need,” said Kuntz.

He also talked about targeted education on things like solar, explaining there are federal incentives right now and they’ve been pointing people there.

“A lot of what we see is letting people know what incentives are out there and who can do that work, and once we really point them in that direction, a lot of people take it up,” said Kuntz.

Some of the finer details on some of the moves are still to be worked out. A plan on retrofitting, potentially including incentives, is expected to be brought to city council in June or July.

The framework will go to the city’s executive committee on March 24 for consideration. Before that, there’s a public information session on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.; a link to that event can be found here.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of this story after the City of Regina provided update figures for its investment and return on investment expected by 2050.