Description
Public sector organizations must show leadership by having all new public sector buildings constructed to net-zero carbon. While all public sector buildings should meet this standard by no later than 2030, near-term building plans should be modified wherever possible to meet this standard, in order to decrease future retrofit costs.
This work will be led by Area Municipalities, the Region of Waterloo, and other public sector land owners.
CITY OF CAMBRIDGE
The City’s corporate Energy Conservation and Demand Management (ECDM) Plan contains two actions to work toward net-zero buildings:
- Action B1 requires that the City’s Green Building Policy and associated technical standards be updated in order to require that all newly constructed and deeply renovated buildings undergo a net-zero and alternative energy evaluation as part of the design process and require that the life cycle cost and return considerations for reducing GHG emissions be presented to Council.
- Action B3 requires the City to conduct a pathway feasibility study on its ten highest-emitting facilities with the aim of taking those buildings to net zero through significant retrofits, fuel-switching, sustainability measures, climate adaptation projects, and on-site energy generation.
CITY OF KITCHENER
- The City of Kitchener's indoor recreation complex at Schlegel Park is being designed as a net-zero building.
- The City of Kitchener's Fire Station 1 and Forest Heights Community Centre are undergoing projects for HVAC electrification to reduce GHG emissions.
CITY OF WATERLOO
- Generation Park has been designed to encourage net-zero building.
- The City of Waterloo has a Green Building Policy for City-Owned Buildings (COM2021-027) which states that new construction must be zero-carbon ready and that existing building retrofits to achieve 80% GHG emission reduction over time.
- The new Community Pavilion is 47% more energy efficient than code and the East Side Library is 40% more energy efficient than code.
TOWNSHIP OF WOOLWICH
The Township of Woolwich is working towards a net-zero carbon standard for future implementation.