Benchmarking program shows City's long-term commitment to sustainability

Summary

A recent report from the Building Benchmark BC (BBBC) program has demonstrated the City of Nanaimo's long-standing commitment to sustainability with four City facilities in the top rankings for lowered greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

In July 2022, the City joined other leading BC municipalities in Canada’s largest voluntary building energy benchmarking program to use data to tackle climate change. With the shared data, BBBC recently released the first annual scorecard report for each of the buildings the City has connected to the program's platform. Their performance is being compared to similar buildings across the province.

Some of the highlights include:

  • the Service and Resource building which opened in 2012, ranked as the third lowest in term of GHGs, out of 32 similar building types;
  • Police Operations, which opened in 1986, also ranked as the third lowest out of 20 similar building types;
  • Oliver Woods Community Centre, which opened in 2008, ranked as the 15th lowest out of 43 similar building types; and
  • the Nanaimo Art Gallery, which opened in 1959, ranked as the fourth lowest out of 13 similar building types.

Many of these achievements are due to the use of low carbon energy sources such as electricity in the four buildings. For example, when the heating units in the Nanaimo Art Gallery required renewal, the City’s facility team decided to go all-electric. Both Oliver Woods Community Centre and the Service and Resource building were built with high-efficiency electric heat-pumps.

The scorecards also indicate where improvements can be made to other City facilities to reduce emissions, particularly in large recreation facilities like Nanaimo’s swimming pools and arenas. These facilities typically use large amounts of fossil fuels such as natural gas for heating.

The City hopes to set an example for many building owners in Nanaimo to participate in BBBC, disclose their buildings’ energy and emissions performance and join the City’s effort to fight climate change. Owners of large buildings in Nanaimo who are interested in learning more about this initiative can email sustainability@nanaimo.ca.

The Building Benchmark BC program is a voluntary benchmarking and disclosure program. To learn more and see the energy and emissions information on the City of Nanaimo’s 21 corporate buildings visit www.buildingbenchmarkbc.ca.

Link to Strategic Plan: Reducing the City's climate impact supports a community that is environmentally responsible.

Key Points

  • Since joining the Building Benchmarking BC program, the City has completed connecting 21 of its facilities to the platform.
  • The City is focused on finding innovative ways to reduce GHGs and move away from fossil fuels as well as balancing service demand and cost consideration.
  • The Building Benchmark BC program is open to all building owners who would like to see how they can reduce their climate impact.

Quotes

"What a great way to show Nanaimo's progress to reaching our climate goals! Nanaimo has long been ahead of the game in sustainability and this report shows the forethought and careful planning of previous leaderships that have gone into making our facilities more efficient and less dependent on fossil fuels."

Mayor
City of Nanaimo

Quick Facts

  • In April 2019, recognizing the global concern raised by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to limit global warming to 1.5°C, City Council declared a Climate Emergency and set new community-wide emission reduction targets be set to between 50% and 58% below 2010 levels by 2030, and between 94% and 107% below 2010 levels by 2050.
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Contact:

For media enquiries, please contact:
Communications
City of Nanaimo
250-754-4251

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