On July 27, the federal government announced $200,000 in funding to help the City of Guelph improve energy performance at its facilities. The city has more than 100 buildings, and has pledged an additional $435,000 for the project.
Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield made the virtual announcement on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Jr., Minister of Natural Resources. On social media, Longfield tweeted that the funding “will help the City of Guelph reduce its GHG emissions through reducing energy use in fire stations, office buildings, and community & recreation centres.”
The City states the funding will extend to “all City assets including buildings, fleet vehicles and streetlights.” Guelph has already upgraded many of its streetlights to LEDs as part of its more comprehensive energy efficiency plan.
Reaching a New Standard
The funding will go towards helping the city implement the ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems Standard. According to NRCan, this internationally recognized standard provides corporations and organizations “with a structured plan to manage their energy. It also helps organizations evaluate and prioritize the implementation of new energy-efficient technologies.”
The standard will require the city to conduct an energy review and establish measurable targets for energy reduction. It will then need to put the plan into action, and assess and report the outcomes. The emphasis on assessment and reporting aligns with what Mayor Cam Guthrie sees as the City’s goals. He says:
Council and the community want to be held accountable for our progress towards a cleaner environment, and this funding helps establish the measurements to do just that.
Guelph’s deputy chief administrative officer of Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise Services, Jayne Holmes, tells Guelph Today that the framework the standard sets “helps us meet Council’s goal of achieving 100 percent renewable energy sources for all City needs by 2050.”
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The management system could allow Guelph to improve its energy performance quickly. NRCan says companies that have adopted ISO 50001 average a “nearly 10 percent” improvement in energy performance within 2 years.
Image credit: Crawford Passy
