ISO 50001:2018 is designed to help companies improve their overall energy performance by making better use of energy assets, reducing both cost and consumption. Globally, ISO 50001:2018 is used by both large and small organizations to curb environmental impact and enhance energy efficiency.

The ESAP heating and cooling plants being operated and maintained by EQUANS Services Canada have been awarded the ISO 50001:2018 certification standard for performance. Under the leadership of Tom Burton (General Manager), Noman Shahzad P.Eng., PMP (Director of Quality) and John Samulack (Director of Special Projects) co-lead the Team in obtaining ISO 50001:2018 Certification for the ESAP Energy Management System following in the footsteps of Public Services and Procurement Canada’s initial certification in August of 2020. Thank you to Louis-Michel Desjardins P.Eng., M.Eng (Operations and Maintenance Manager), Thomas Ouellet eng., Atta Bhatti and Maria Utano-Frigo for support and very special thanks to the Plant Chiefs Pete Chamberland, Brent Mainville, Marc Laprade and all the Operations and Maintenance team members who work together to achieve these outstanding results!

The International District Energy Association (IDEA) releases an annual report, District Energy Space, detailing the growth in district energy for each year. ESAP is the GOLD recipient of two 2020 District Energy Space Awards, presented on October 28^th.  IDEA recognizes members from North America who report the largest growth in the number of buildings served as well as total square footage added in 2019. Another amazing accomplishment from the ESAP and Innovate Energy teams, illustrating the relevance of the partnership in creating a comprehensive and modern energy system in the National Capital Region.

Congratulations to PSPC on the P3 Awards win for Public Sector Promoter/Procurer of the Year.  Judges were impressed by PSPC’s development of the Energy Services Modernization project; modernizing the capabilities of the current heating and cooling energy system, or district energy system, to support efficient technologies and reduce GHG emissions and operational costs. The Government of Canada has leveraged their expansive knowledge of P3 projects to collaboratively work with bidders throughout the process, creating an infrastructure plan that is unique to the National Capital Region.

Underpinning the Energy Service Modernization project is the commitment of the Government of Canada to champion sustainable development and pursue net zero carbon goals.  Additionally, the project agreement provides for the possibility of expansion of the modernized district energy system to other public and private organizations in the National Capital Region and increase the availability of low carbon energy sources.  The judges were also impressed by the strong financial structure used to deliver a complex project that reinforces environmental initiatives.

P3 Bulletin provides multi-vertical information to both public and private sectors in order to foster partnerships in public infrastructure. Components such as design, build, finance and operations and maintenance are all cohesively brought together within this umbrella database and publication platform to bolster the advantageous aspects of the P3 model.

Through P3 Bulletin’s editorial coverage, database and market-leading events they provide the necessary platforms to learn about projects, partners and policies that will shape the transport, social and utility infrastructure sectors.

In March of 2020, ESAP earned international recognition by receiving the IJGlobal 2019 North America Utility Deal of the Year. IJGlobal, Project Finance & Infrastructure Journal, provides detailed information on financial structure, policy, pricing and key players influencing transactions and trends across the global infrastructure market. The annual IJGlobal Awards celebrate the best-in-class transactions and organizations across the international infrastructure and energy sectors.

ESAP is the recipient of Gold Award for Project Development by the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (CCPPP) at their 2020 National Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Public-Private Partnerships. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Innovate Energy have been lauded with creating a cohesive partnership amidst complex issues such as the protection of heritage assets and mitigating risks surrounding interprovincial and federal brownfield construction. The project also has built in flexibility to potentially expand the District Energy System throughout the National Capital Region to other public and private buildings.

The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (pppcouncil.ca)

ESAP, in collaboration with Innovate Energy, successfully achieved the ISO 50001 Energy Management System Standard Certification on August 13th, 2020. PSPC is the first Public Sector organization in North-America to achieve this certification, and also the first to have the audit conducted via conference calls due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ISO 50001 integrates energy efficiency into management practices and enables organizations to establish the systems and processes necessary to continually improve energy performance, promote an energy performance improvement culture and make better use of existing energy-consuming assets and processes. ISO 50001 also helps organizations evaluate and prioritize the implementation of new energy-efficient technologies. In the context of ESAP, the standard is an invaluable tool for continuous energy performance improvement and commensurate reductions in GHG emissions for 35 years, facilitating achievement of GC environmental commitments and departmental targets.

Canada was the first country in the world to adopt the international ISO 50001 standard in 2011.

ESAP is committed to meeting the long-term heating and cooling requirements of PSPC’s portfolio of buildings connected to the district energy systems in the national capital area. ESAP is also committed to aligning with the Government of Canada greening of government operations and reduce emissions by 40% before 2030. ESAP is dedicated to the continual improvement of the energy performance using an energy management system compliant with ISO 50001 to meet the long-term heating and cooling requirements of PSPC’s district energy systems.

Key Facts on ISO 50001

-The ISO 50001 was developed for organizations committed to addressing their impact, conserving resources and improving the bottom line through efficient energy management.

-Designed to support organizations in all sectors, this ISO standard provides a practical way to improve energy use, through the development of an energy management system (EnMS).

-ISO 50001 is based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act management system model of continual improvement also used for other well-known standards. This makes it easier for organizations to integrate energy management into their overall efforts to improve quality and environmental management.

-Through ISO’s members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.

-ISO 50001 provides a framework of requirements for organizations to:

• .Develop a policy for more efficient use of energy
• .Fix targets and objectives to meet the policy
• .Use data to better understand and make decisions about energy use
• .Measure the results
• .Review how well the policy works
• .Continually improve energy management

Next Steps

ESAP recently awarded a 35 year contract for the conversion and operation of the District Energy Systems (DESs) to Innovate Energy. Under the new contract, Innovate Energy is contractually committed to continued compliance with ISO 50001 over the next 35 years.

ESAP and Innovate Energy will review energy performance with operation personnel on a weekly and monthly basis and review the effectiveness of the energy management system in annual Internal Audits and ISO 50001 re-certification audits every three years.

Key Sources

https://www.iso.org/iso-50001-energy-management.html

During the cold, snowy winters in much of Canada, many of us rely on furnaces, boilers and baseboard heaters to keep our homes and offices comfortable — and hope they don't suddenly quit during a cold snap.

But what if you didn't need any heating equipment in your home? What if your community provided a greener, more efficient, more reliable source of heat using locally sourced energy? What if it didn't take up space in your home or office building, you didn't have to maintain it, and it was just about guaranteed to keep running and keep you warm through big storms and power outages?

That's the promise of district energy systems — along with climate benefits that have earned them an endorsement from the United Nations Environment Program. World leaders meet Dec. 2-13 for the COP 25 UN climate conference in Madrid to discuss next steps in implementing the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming, and district energy is one potential tool.

The idea is that instead of having an individual heating and cooling system for each building, multiple buildings are hooked up to a single, central system — similar to the idea of hooking into a municipal water service instead of each building relying on individual wells. The heating and cooling is distributed to individual buildings through pipes that typically contain heated or chilled water.

It's not new — some district energy systems in Canada are more than 100 years old.

But thanks to environmental concerns and the desire in communities to use greener energy technologies for heating and cooling, new projects are popping up across the country.

"Yes, there's a real renaissance," says Bruce Ander, president and CEO of Markham District Energy in the Great Toronto Area. A past chair of the International District Energy Association, Ander has been working in the field for 40 years.

More than half of district energy facilities inventoried in Canada in 2014 had been commissioned since 2000, and more than half of them planned expansions in the near future.

• 6 district energy projects underway in Canada

They range from a project in Vancouver that recovers heat from sewer water to provide heat and hot water to more than 30 condo buildings to one that cools Toronto office towers in summer with water from the depths of Lake Ontario. And even smaller communities are jumping on board, including the village of Teslin, Yukon, which has installed a biomass system, and the rural municipality of Ritchot, Man., which has a district geothermal system.

Many new projects are underway such as:

• A Halifax system that will use seawater for heating and cooling. 
• A biomass heating system in Yellowknife.
• A subdivision that will use geothermal heating in Edmonton.

Why? A major factor is climate change and climate change resilience.

In Canada, buildings are the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, after oil and gas and transportation, Environment and Climate Change Canada reports. And nearly two-thirds of energy use in buildings is for heating and cooling.

Much of that comes from burning fossil fuels, either directly in furnaces or indirectly through power generation. In 2011, for example, natural gas was used to heat half of Canadian homes and electric baseboards were used to heat most of the rest, Statistics Canada reports.

When buildings are individually heated, there aren't many green options.

But Ander says, once a community has installed a district energy system, "Now you can unlock a bunch of technologies." 

Buying local 

Many energy sources used in district energy systems, such as biomass, sewage, lake water or seawater aren't very feasible or economically viable on a small scale.

The choice of energy source for a district heating system is what is available locally and can generate co-benefits for the local community.

• Solar? Geothermal? Garbage? 6 climate-friendly ways to heat and cool buildings

For example, Vancouver captures the heat from families' hot showers, dishwasher and laundry loads in its high-density False Creek neighbourhood. The waste heat literally is heading down the drain, but can be extracted at the nearby sewage pumping plant.

"It's a great opportunity," says Alex Charpentier, acting manager of the False Creek Neighourhood Utility that runs the system. "In a dense urban environment, there's not many sources of local energy."

Charlottetown has little land for landfills and no equipment installed to prevent methane generated by rotting garbage from escaping into the atmosphere, so it burns garbage in its district energy system, says Carlyle Coutinho, president and chief operating officer for the Canadian region at Enwave Energy Corp., which runs the system.

The heat is distributed through underground pipes carrying heated water.

Meanwhile, Teslin, Yukon, is surrounded by boreal forest. Installing district energy means it can now heat buildings with locally sourced wood chips, generating jobs and keeping $300,000 a year that would have been spent on imported diesel in the local community, said project manager Blair Hogan, president and CEO of Gunta Business Consulting.

• Flight shaming, offsets and electric planes: How aviation is tackling climate change

• How a century-old idea is heating and cooling new communities in Toronto

The wood comes from trees cleared for development, and more will be cleared in the future to create fire breaks to protect the community from wildfires, a risk that grows with climate change.

"In every community, there's a unique technology for their unique situation," Hogan said.

In addition to accessing different heating and cooling sources, district energy systems make it easy to feed in new energy sources or switch altogether. For example, a system in St. Paul, Minn., switched from fossil fuels to biomass "almost overnight" without affecting customers, Ander said: "How it's fuelled doesn't really matter to them."

But it can have a huge impact on their greenhouse gas emissions.

'Key measure' for carbon targets

In fact,the United Nations Environment Program calls district energy a "key measure for cities/countries that aim to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy or carbon neutral targets." Its District Energy in Cities Initiative notes that district energy can:

• Reduce energy consumption and costs from heating and cooling by up to 50 per cent.
• Store large amounts of energy at low cost.
• Make transitions to sustainable heating and cooling sources fast and cost-effective.

It adds that such systems are increasingly low-carbon and climate resilient — that is, they can often keep running through storms and extreme weather disasters that are becoming more frequent with climate change and that often knock out the electricity needed to run many traditional heating systems.

That's why they're often hooked up to places like hospitals that can't afford to lose power.

Ander says Markham's system has had more than 99.99 per cent reliability since it launched in 2000 — in 165,000 hours of continuous operation in 20 years, it's been down just 2.5 hours.

"The buildings are much easier to operate," he said. "You don't need to worry about this critical equipment failing."

He notes there are other benefits for customers:

• They don't need to pay the large up-front cost of installing equipment, such as furnaces, boilers, chillers or air conditioners. Nor do they need to maintain the equipment.
• They free up space that would have been taken up by that kind of equipment.
• There's reduced noise and vibration from heating and cooling systems.
• There are safety benefits to not being directly supplied with natural gas, for instance.

Markham District Energy's Markham Centre system serves every new building that has been built in the city's "new" downtown since 2000. It expects to ultimately heat and cool 30 million square feet of homes for 41,000 residents and 39,000 employees in commercial and institutional buildings. 

• Drake Landing: A ray of sunshine for solar thermal energy

• Fighting climate change may be cheaper and more beneficial than we think

For now, the system burns natural gas and uses electrically powered chillers for cooling, but its use of fossil fuels remains more efficient than if the buildings had individual heating systems. It also has started to incorporate waste heat from data centres.

Installation barriers

Despite the benefits of district energy, most buildings in Canada are still heated and cooled individually. As of 2013, district energy heated and cooled about 2,600 buildings across the country, representing less than one per cent of total energy used for heating and cooling in Canada, reported the Canadian Energy and Emissions Data Centre at Simon Fraser University.

Partly, that's because building an economically viable district energy system typically requires two things that aren't often found together:

• High density.
• Undeveloped land. 

But the biggest challenge is the upfront cost to install the infrastructure, especially since it must be done before there are any buildings with paying customers attached, Ander says, adding that it takes decades of customers paying their utility bills to recover the cost.

"So there has to be some sort of some assistance in some manner from higher levels of government," he suggests.

Another challenge is the low price of natural gas that is the dominant heating fuel in Canada, says Lucio Mesquita, senior engineer with the Solar Thermal Renewable Heat and Power Group at Natural Resource's Canada CanmetENERGY Research Centre.

"To compete with natural gas — it's a tough one."

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Mesquita was part of the team that built and continues to monitor the Drake Landing Solar Community in Okotoks, Alta., which collects heat using solar panels in the summer and stores it for home heating use in the winter. In the past 13 years, more than 90 per cent of home heat — 100 per cent some years — has come from the solar collectors.

He says not enough of the discussion on reducing emissions has been about ways to decarbonize heating in Canada.

"We have the solutions. We have the technology to do the deep decarbonization," he said. "It's a matter of resources and the right market conditions."

Modernization of heating and cooling plants will significantly cut carbon pollution and save money

OTTAWA, June 4, 2019 /CNW/ - Canadians are already feeling the impacts of climate change, and expect their governments to take action to reduce carbon pollution. In the National Capital Region, events once known as 'the flood of the century' are now happening every few years. In Western Canada, wildfires are filling the air with smoke and forcing thousands to evacuate their homes. To lead by example in the fight against climate change, the Government of Canada is making its own operations greener and adopting technologies that significantly cut carbon pollution, reduce costs, and ensure a safer future for our kids and grandkids.

Today, on behalf of the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, announced that the Government of Canada will partner with Innovate Energy, through a public-private partnership model, to modernize how it heats and cools buildings in the National Capital Region which will also allow the city, the community, and local businesses tap into cleaner power.

The contract, awarded to Innovate Energy, includes a $1.1 billion investment for the design and construction of the new system, to be completed by 2025, as well as additional funding for ongoing maintenance and operation.  The investment is just one more way the Government of Canada is greening the capital.

By switching the heating and cooling plants to cleaner technology – from steam, to a fully electric system for cooling and low-temperature hot water for heating – the project will reduce carbon pollution by 63 per cent, save hundreds of millions of dollars, and improve safety conditions. The partnership also includes the operation and maintenance of the system from 2020 to 2055.

Quotes

The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility: "We are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which includes leading by example by greening our own heating and cooling plants. We are proud that our Government is working with partners like Innovate Energy to modernize this critical infrastructure, reduce costs and emissions in a safe and responsible way."

The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change: "By investing in cleaner and more efficient ways to deliver energy to tens of thousands of occupants in the National Capital Region, we are reducing pollution, fighting climate change, and saving hundreds of millions of dollars on operating costs. District energy will allow the city, the community, and the local businesses to tap into cleaner power. We are working hard to make Ottawa the greenest capital city with investments in LRT, cycling infrastructure, active transportation, and a healthier Ottawa River. We are setting the standard for how communities can become greener and more resilient in the face of climate change.  Projects like this show that investing in practical, affordable clean energy solutions protects our environment, supports good jobs, and builds a stronger economy for the future. The environment and the economy go together."

Tony Cook, Construction Manager, PCL Constructors Canada Inc.: "The Innovate Energy Team members consisting of PCL Constructors Canada, PCL Investments Canada, Black & McDonald, and Engie Services, along with our design partners BBB Architects Ottawa and WSP Canada, are honoured to have the opportunity to work with PSPC to modernize the district energy system.  This project will be one of the country's most significant projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save operational costs, and improve safety."

Quick facts

-The total contract is valued at $2.6 billion over a 35 year period. The first portion is for the design and construction of the new system, valued at $1.1 billion. The second portion is for the operation and maintenance, which includes the energy and fuel costs of the new system valued at $1.5 billion.

-The Treasury Board of Canada is greening government operations to support Canada's sustainability goals already established under the Paris Agreement on climate change and in the Canada's climate plan. Our Greening Government Strategy is consistent with the United Nation's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy.

-Through its Green Procurement policy, the Government is integrating environmental considerations in its procurement process. The Government of Canada is one of the largest public buyers of goods and services in Canada and its activities impact the national economy, influencing the demand for environmentally preferable goods and services, the ability of industry to respond to the escalating use of environmental standards in global markets, and the resiliency of Canadian assets to climate change.

-Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) is manages five central heating and cooling plants and distribution networks in the NCR.

-The National Capital Commission (NCC) is focused on a Sustainable Development Strategy that sets an innovative agenda for environmental leadership in Canada's Capital Region. The NCC is working to build a greener and more sustainable Capital Region.

Associated links

Backgrounder: Government of Canada invests in cleaner energy system for the National Capital Region

ESAP Tender Award

Greening Government 

Low carbon in the National Capital Region's buildings

Government of Canada committed to modernizing heating and cooling plants in National Capital Region

Request for Qualification

Request for Proposal

Video transcript: Energy Services Acquisition Program

***

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SOURCE Public Services and Procurement Canada

For further information: Marielle Hossack, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, 819-997-5421; Media Relations, Public Services and Procurement Canada, 819-420-5501, media@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca

Related Links

www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has selected a consortium to manage the $1.1-billion overhaul of five heating and cooling plants in the National Capital Region that has drawn the ire of the country’s largest federal public service union.

The department Tuesday announced that Innovate Energy has been awarded the 30-year contract to design, retrofit, maintain and operate the plants, beating a rival bid from a group that included SNC-Lavalin.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said the federal government was “leading by example” in its bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the country by supporting a project to make heating and cooling infrastructure more environmentally friendly.

“We’re very proud that our government is working with partners like Innovate Energy to modernize this critical infrastructure,” she said during Tuesday’s announcement at the Cliff Heating and Cooling Plant in downtown Ottawa, one of the facilities that will be upgraded.

Known as a district energy system, the five plants heat 80 buildings in the area with steam and cools 67 of them with chilled water through more than 14 kilometres of underground pipes.

BACKGROUNDER: Feds say P3 best option for upgrades to Ottawa-area central heating plants

Under the Energy Services Acquisition Program, PSPC will modernize the outdated technology in the plants in hopes of lowering emissions and supporting growth in the clean technology sector.

The first stage of the overhaul will convert the system from steam to low temperature hot water and switch from steam to electric chillers, which is expected to be completed by 2025. PSPC says this will reduce emissions by 63 per cent, the equivalent of taking 14,000 cars off the road.

From there, the natural gas powering the plant will be replaced by carbon neutral fuel sources, which is estimated to reduce emissions by a further 28 per cent. It’s estimated the renovation project will save more than $750 million in heating and cooling costs in the next 40 years.

As part of the overhaul, a section of the Cliff Plant — located next to the Supreme Court of Canada — will be transformed into a publicly accessible green space area that overlooks the Ottawa River at no additional cost, the department revealed Tuesday.

In October, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which represents employees of the plants, launched a campaign against the government’s decision to use a public-private partnership (P3) for the retrofitting project, raising concerns about costs and safety. The union alleges that outside employees won’t be held to the same health and safety standards of government workers and that P3 projects routinely cost more than traditional public financing deals.

It wants the government to scrap the proposed project and meet PSAC members and experts to collaborate on a new path forward that would ensure federal employees continue to operate and maintain the plants.

Steve MacKinnon, parliamentary secretary to the public services and procurement minister, told iPolitics that union officials have expressed concerns with him over the planned retrofit that he shared with department staff. But after conducting a rigorous analysis, the P3 route was determined the most appropriate, he said, especially as it comes with no job losses.

“We didn’t have (to) sacrifice on safety or health — we didn’t have to sacrifice on job security,” he said, adding that PSAC opposes the project “more or less on an ideological level,” hinting at the union’s historic criticism of P3s.

READ MORE: PSAC holds rally against feds ‘privatizing’ capital heating system

Department officials say they were prompted to seek out private sector partners, in part, to address long-term staffing issues, compounded by a steadily greying workforce at the plants. They argue that department developed apprenticeship programs largely struggled to hold on to talent lured by more lucrative salaries in the private sector.

However, the union is accusing the federal government of failing to offer sufficient internal training, make needed investments in staffing or aggressively recruit new talent. And while department management says they’ve met with staff to discuss the proposed retrofit and prepare new roles for them within government, the union says employees have been left in the dark on these major operational changes.

When asked if anyone in government reached out to PSAC members to inform them that a consortium had been chosen, MacKinnon said he didn’t know but all that information is released publicly once finalized.

McKenna told iPolitics that she has also met with PSAC officials about the project and raised the concerns she heard to the department, though maintained that it was a “great investment” that would lead to significant emission reductions.

In a joint statement released Wednesday, PSAC’s national president Chris Aylward and Randy Howard, national president of the Government Services Union, said their opposition to the project and P3s in general is based on “information, research and global evidence” that these sorts of financial arrangements “do not save money, do not provide better service, and regularly fail,” citing, as example, repeated delays and problems with Ottawa’s ongoing light-rail transit project.

Aylward and Howard said while MacKinnon and McKenna have met with members, they “did not provide fact-based answers” to the complaints raised, referring to their citing of documents like value for money studies and a business case that were not shared with them.

“For months our access to this information has been blocked. What little information we have received was either in draft form or has been so severely redacted that it’s useless,” reads the statement from the union heads.

“The body of evidence from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere indicates that P3s do not work and are a poor and reckless investments for governments. Why is the government not prepared to share information that would back up its claim that this particular privatization is a good deal for Canadians, and a safe project for those who work and live in Ottawa?”

Aylward and Howard added that they’ve filed “several complaints” with the Information Commissioner regarding the rejection of their requests for documents relating to the project under the Access to Information Act.