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Climate Change 2001 - Retrospective Report by Phil Thompson Nova Scotia Home Builders Association, the Federal Office of Energy Efficiency and Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources hosted a one day conference in Halifax November 5th to bring building energy experts together to discuss climate change impacts of energy use in Canada. Opened by Natural Resources Minister, Hounourable Ernie Fage, himself a farmer and businessman, participants were told about the province’s recent energy strategy process. Minister Fage described how more than 100 submissions from Nova Scotians asked for more local benefit from oil & gas development, new training & education, an end to subsidies, and more diversity in energy sources, including renewables. The Minister expressed interest in the provinces “experiment” with large wind turbines. Questions from the audience included progress on large wind power projects, opportunities for energy efficiency in buildings, implications of forest clearcutting, gas guzzler taxes, and the lack of policies for implementation of efficiency in public buildings. Keynote speaker Dr. Donald Aitken, a building designer and senior energy scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, brilliantly demonstrated the use of environmental energies to reduce the impact of building energy use on climate change. He gave many examples of buildings which have used natural daylight to reduce energy use by as much as 50% with no additional cost to the project. He described how single glazed window heat loss in US homes equals the energy provided by the Alaska pipeline, and how simple photocell controls on office lights near windows in the Boston area can alone save 20 megawatts of power. To Dr. Aitken, who is based in California, common sense measures like turning to proven wind generators for power, are not esoteric, and long past “experimental”. As a buildings specialist with great respect for architect Frank Lloyd Wright, he showed a house designed by Wright in 1946 which used natural sunlight and the protection of the earth to reduce energy use by more than 40%. His favorite local example of natural energy is the Purdy’s Wharf development on our harbourfront, it is the only large building in the world using seawater for natural cooling and heating. Peter Busby, a Canadian architect with decades of experience in “green” building design, stressed a holistic approach to environmental design and planning which takes into account every aspect of energy conservation, ecological footprint, recycling of materials and even zoning issues. He especially stressed internal thermal mass in large buildings to absorb daylighting energies and internal loads to prevent forced mechanical heating and cooling. But his main lesson was to use the LEED tool to evaluate green building design by examining sustainable site design issues, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials and resources, innovative design, and indoor environmental quality. He used his major renovation of the Telus building to demonstrate once again that savings of more than 40% are possible without any additional capital cost. He said any engineer who wants buildings with windows that do not open, should be re-educated or fired. According to Busby, we can meet 50% of our Kyoto climate change commitments in Canada simply by retrofitting buildings. Phil Sidebottom, vice-president, power generation and senior engineer with Emera, over lunch described the entire local grid from the point of view of the Utility, and the history of our switch from coal to oil - and then back to coal again. Mr. Sidebottom regretted the need to use off shore coal for air quality reasons, and said he looked forward to new technolgies so NS coal could be burned clean. He was struck by what he learned from the morning speakers, because by 2020 his utility needs a 50% reduction in building energy loads, and now it was possible. He described the failure of the Wreck Cove wind energy project in the seventies, and was surprised that Cheticamp rejected the corporation’s recent selection of their community for large wind generators. He expressed interest in community based selection of wind generators under the current 50 MW RFP, but has a concern that the intermittent nature of wind requires a “double-investment” of capital up front for back up generation. He said he believes the future holds significant potential for his personal preference of gas fired microturbines used for cogeneration, and wished district heating from thermal plants did not present such a difficult planning problem due to short term capital planning problems . During the brief question period, he thought homeowners and businesses are quite attentive to power use, but that public buildings need policies to make a difference. The afternoon sessions provided useful information on municipal green planning programs, specific consequences of atlantic climate change, and a round table discussion with multiple players from the industry. Sandor Derrick described the complexities and opportunities of the Green Planning Initiative of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. He suggested municipalities were key partners in local change and described the $125 million fund which the federation administers to enhance air, soil, water quality and use green energy. His projects must demonstrate a minimum of 35% reduction in resource use through innovative design changes which produce replicable results with measurable savings. While many interesting initiatives were described, sadly none achieved the successes of projects highlighted during the morning sessions, and while some Canadian municipalities are taking the lead in greening our communities, others do not know what buildings they own, let alone what the energy bills might be. The outstanding success of HRM’s composting & recycling program is an interesting exception. Steve Szabo, Climate Change manager for Environment Canada, Atlantic region, gave a specific summary of climate change effects on Atlantic Canada and then moved to a very useful evaluation of locally used energy sources and their climate change implications. His table detailed various pollution impacts of renewables, wood, oil, gas, electric, stored oil, and others -stressing tradeoffs and environmental costs of energy choices. He was particularly concerned about pollution caused by even highly efficient woodstoves in the urban environment, which he estimated was 200 times worse than the nearest fuel competitor. One issue brought up during question period illustrated a serious problem for government departments trying to initiate green projects where they work. Steve described his frustration with the leased Queen Square office space which has housed his department for more than two decades. He could not even control the lights on his floor, which were on full time. There was no switch. All attempts to do energy management have failed. The industry round table turned out to be less of a panel discussion and more of a linear series of brief presentations. Dick Miller, current president of the Canadian Home Builders Association and pioneer of the R2000 program, summarized the dramatic spin-off of the R2000 principles throughout the Canadian housing industry. He said we have become a world leader in energy efficient home construction because of this program, and suspected there are 80 R2000 equivalent homes for every one registered. Erik Twohig, president of Renewable Energy Services Ltd and shortlisted for the 50 MW of wind energy recently announced by NSP, described his excitement about the community investment approach his company is taking toward wind energy, and some frustration that, because we have no clear federal policies, the playing field is not as level as it is in Europe or the US, where some sort of credit is given to green energy to balance the pollution costs of traditional fossil fuels. Chris Bavis, a twenty year veteran of Enerplan, an energy performance contract company which has outlived most of its competititon, spoke briefly about the many opportunities which remain in public buildings to reduce energy use through well tested methods, and pay for the investments through energy savings. Enerplan recently completed a $28 million project in all NB schools, creating a 30% reduction on $18 million in energy, while NS schools have had little success in this area. Suzanne Bona, sales manager for Scotian Homes Ltd, learned recently that her firm was the provincial leader in R2000 house construction over the last ten years. She spoke about the work required to “sell” the slight extra cost of R2000, but that her clients, once they go R2000, never want to live in anything else. She also described the cooperation with other partners, like NSP, in testing new technologies such as off-peak electric heating, and the benefits to consumers who are interested in a variety of energy options. Tony Folkins, director of sales & service for NS Power, echoed Bona’s enthusiasm for demonstrating new technolgies that benefit both the consumer and the utility’s need for load levelling. He described how these issues require a great deal of communication “one customer at a time”. Finally, Jim Brennan of Rideau Construction, builder of many P3 schools in Nova Scotia, described his hectic design build learning curve which included discovering opportunities for major reductions in energy costs in the middle of construction. He simultaneously applied for support for some of these initiatives, in the middle of the process, and happily met the targets in many of his schools. In all, an interesting, well-organized session with not nearly enough people present to benefit from this information, and very little media interest to communicate these important lessons beyond the specialist audience, despite supporting sponsors such as NS Power and The Daily News. We in Canada have a great deal to be proud of on the residential side of things, but much to learn about public policies which enforce change in the area of public buildings and green energy generation. If we are to meet our Kyoto Climate Change commitments, senior policymakers will have to change the policies which inhibit progress in our public buildings and electrical grids. - Phil Thompson 902-499-0365 philthompson@ns.sympatico.ca -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- The preceding message was posted on Sustainable Maritimes (sust-mar) -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- A word from our lawyers ... Don't forget ... 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