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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-06-08 q~-ilJgton REPORT CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE Qe~o\l.At;oo*~ M-'+5g-6~ Date: July 7, 2008 Report #: CAO-006-08 File: By-law #: Subject: MUNICIPAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT Recommendation It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report CAO-006-08 be received; 2. THAT Council endorses the Municipal Energy Management Framework and authorize staff to proceed with an RFP process of an energy audit for each of the MAC/Library building and the Garnet B. Rickard Complex with funds to be drawn from the Municipal Government Enterprises Reserve Fund. Submitted bY~..L 6sl Franklin Wu Chief Administrative Officer CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF ClARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVllLE, ONTARIO L 1C 3A6 T (905)623-3379 F (905)623-5717 REPORT NO.: CAO.06-08 PAGE 2 1. INTRODUCTION In response to the growing need for energy and environmental stewardship, the Municipality administration will be embarking on a journey of energy conservation. Through the articulation of a solid Energy Management Plan, we believe Clarington can live up to the old adage of "Think global, act local". 2. DRIVERS OF MUNICIPAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT Apart from the noble goal of reducing our carbon footprint to ease the global warming effect, it is important to note the following key drivers of municipal energy management. First and foremost is the direct benefit of realizing very significant saving in our annual operating budget. In 2007, the Municipality expended $2,944,827 in total energy cost inclusive of natural gas ($1,723,276), electricity ($625,757), fuel ($440,622), and water ($155,173). This represents 6.26% of our annual municipal operating budget. If the Municipality were to achieve a 10% energy reduction, a saving of $294,482 or the equivalent of about one percent reduction in general tax levy could be realized. The second driver for energy management is the 2007-2010 Municipal Business Plan which contains several specific energy management initiatives such as developing a municipal green plan, partnership with our utility providers, maximizing senior government funding opportunities and exploring green initiatives such as LEED building certification and retrofitting older facilities. These as well as other energy conservation ideas must be captured in a comprehensive Energy Management Plan so that actions can be undertaken in a coordinated fashion. REPORT NO.: CAO-06-08 PAGE 3 Last but not least, is the legislative requirement of Bill 21, the Energy Conservation Leadership Act which requires every municipality in Ontario to prepare an Energy Conservation Plan to among other matters, describe the current and proposed activities and measures to conserve and reduce energy consumption. Although the regulations have yet to be released, it is reasonable to assume that a time frame will be imposed in the completion of the Energy Conservation Plan. 3. PROJECT INITIATION AND UNDERTAKING The long term success of an energy management strategy is highly dependent on the commitment from municipal staff. This team approach to tackle corporate wide projects such as health and safety, employee well ness, customer service, etc. have been proven very successful and therefore is used to address the issue of energy management. With this in mind, an Energy Management Steering Committee was formed. The Committee is chaired by the CAO, and consists of representatives from every department in the organization. The mandate of the Committee is to provide leadership, guidance and direction to ensure all energy management efforts are coordinated and sustained over the long term. The Committee has met several times over the last few months and much of the works have been concentrated on project initiation matters such as getting organized, articulating a process to move forward, identifying various short term and long terms actions, as well as assigning tasks to Committee team members. 4. PROJECT BREAKDOWN One of the major tasks undertaken by the Committee is to identify various action items that are required in order to meet our energy conservation goal. For the purpose of establishing a realistic time frame for implementation, these actions items are broken down into short and longer term initiatives. REPORT NO.: CAO-06-08 PAGE 4 4.1 Short Term Initiatives . Apply for funding assistance from senior governments . Explore partnership opportunities with utility companies such as Veridian and Enbridge . Research best practices in other municipalities . Develop employee education/awareness program . Assess current energy consumption . Identify conservation actions for immediate implementation . Conduct energy audit starting with the MAC/Library building and the Gamet Rickard Complex . Pursue spot energy pricing for street lights . Prepare a comprehensive Energy Management Plan for approval by Council 4.2 Longer Term Initiatives . Monitoring provincial legislation and regulations .. Identify retrofit projects and develop related business cases . Develop green procurement policies . Develop green (LEE D) building policies . Examine green fleet alternative . Prioritize energy audit for other municipal buildings/facilities . Partner with FCM Climate Protection Initiative and continue participation in the Mayor's Megawatt Challenge 5. THE ENERGY MANAGEMENT PLAN FRAMEWORK The most critical piece of energy management is the development of a comprehensive Plan to guide all future energy conservation efforts. Bill 21, the Energy Conservation Leadership Act reinforces the significance of the Plan by requiring all municipalities to prepare such a Plan. While most municipalities have opted for the assistance for consultants to prepare the Plan, senior administration feels strongly that we have the in house capability to perform this work. Aside from realizing significant saving from not contracting out the work, the real benefit lies in the opportunity to develop expertise in house, retain the knowledge gained through research, and ultimately create a ready buy-in from everyone involved in developing and implementing the Plan. REPORT NO.: CAO-06-08 PAGE 5 However, we are cognizant of the constraint in undertaking this additional work. In particular, the time required to prepare the Plan will require a longer timeframe and we do not anticipate having the Plan completed before the end of this year. Notwithstanding, we believe the benefits of preparing the Plan in house far outweigh the negatives. A little extra time should not hamper our effort as we are implementing several energy conservation initiatives concurrent with the preparation of the Plan. In order to guide the preparation of the Energy Management Plan, the Steering Committee has developed a framework of the Plan which consists of the following elements. . Mission statement . Goals/Objectives including conservation targets . Overview of Clarington energy consumption and technical issues . Identify constraints and opportunities . Develop Energy audit program including the phasing of buildings/facilities . Identify both short and longer term actions including follow up actions on recommendations from energy audits . Implementation strategies inclusive of budget requirement and business case consideration . Monitoring and reporting 6. ENERGY AUDIT Aside from the many ideas that will realize some immediate saving and reduction in energy consumption such as educating the employees, the most important piece of background conservation work lies in understanding how we consume various forms of energy and how we can realize potential saving and reduction in energy cost. An energy audit of a given municipal building and facility will enable us to do just that. An energy audit is a technical study where expert will analyze all the factors that impact energy consumption and cost such as equipment efficiency, electricity pricing, usage and billing review for irregularities etc. and to make recommendations for improvement. The Municipality does not have REPORT NO.: CAO-06-08 PAGE 6 expertise in the area of energy audit and therefore must rely on external sources to perform these tasks. The Steering Committee has identified the Municipal Administrative Centre/Central Library as the first municipal building to be audited with the Garnet Rickard Complex to follow immediately thereafter. The MAC/Library is our largest building and therefore could offer the best opportunity for saving. The Rickard Complex is one of our oldest facilities and has the potential of capturing many energy reduction initiatives. Depending on the size of the facility and the types of equipment used in our facilities, the cost of an energy audit could range between $10-$30,000. Our research of experience in other municipalities reveals that the cost of an energy audit can be readily recovered from implementing the energy saving recommendations generally within a short period of three years. We would respectfully recommend Council to give approval to staff to issue RFP for an energy audit for the two buildings identified above. The Director of Finance advised that the funds can be drawn from the Municipal Government Enterprises Reserve Fund. As Council is aware, unanticipated provincial funding was received for the Newcastle Library project thus freeing up the accumulated Veridian dividends originally set aside for the green component of the building construction. These dividends can now be reallocated to this initiative. 7. CONCLUSION The Steering Committee will continue to provide leadership, guidance and direction to all staff in implementing all the energy conservation and reduction efforts and will provide periodic progress to Council. Suffice to say, our success depends on the cooperation of everyone in our organization and the support of council is much appreciated as we move forward.