Department of Transportation and Infrastructure achieving sustainability in provincial government buildings.
Since 2004 the Government of New Brunswick, led by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI), has been working toward improving sustainability in government buildings. The department is responsible for the design and construction of provincial government buildings. Its Buildings Design and Construction Division provides planning, design and contract administration services to support school, hospital and other building projects.
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Corey Craig Group in Moncton
The Moncton-based Corey Craig Group had been searching for ways to make their properties more energy efficient, when project manager Brian Foster attended a workshop held by Efficiency NB. “I filled three pages of notes with things that we could do,” he says. The company, which operates 24 Tim Hortons, four Wendy’s restaurants, and three Shell stations in southeastern New Brunswick, was looking to control costs internally and manage their energy demand spikes in each store, which led them to participate in Efficiency NB’s Energy Smart Program for Commercial Buildings and implement a number of energy saving measures.
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Lights make savings visible
The Irving Fo
rest Services (IFS) – Willett Warehouse operates 18 hours a day and stores pulp and paper products manufactured at nearby production facilities. Built in the late 1960s, it has expanded over the years to over 9200 square metres. Its two energy sources are electricity, mostly for lighting, and light oil for heating. In 2009, IFS began to investigate opportunities to save energy by upgrading old lighting fixtures and lamps and by replacing an older furnace with a higher efficiency model.
The building had over 250 metal halide lamps which stayed lit while the warehouse was in operation. Metal halide lamps have a short lifespan, approximately 2.5 years, and require significant maintenance for continuous bulb and ballast replacements. Each fixture was also consuming 430 watts of electricity.
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Fredericton Inn - Better controls create energy savings
Wilfred Waite Sr. was in his 60s when he fulfilled a dream and built the Fredericton Inn in 1977. The popular, 3-storey, full-service hotel has 200 guest rooms, 14 banquet rooms and is located in the midst of Fredericton’s retail shopping area.
His son, co-owner Wilfred Waite, who now runs the hotel, was concerned about monthly power bills which ran as high as $42,000. He needed to find a way to reduce energy costs while still ensuring guest comfort and satisfaction.
Efficiency NB’s Energy Smart Existing Commercial Buildings Retrofit Program was a good fit for the Fredericton Inn, based on the building’s age, consumption, and the owner’s commitment to reduce energy costs.
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Whole community rallied to support Atelier R.A.D.O’s retrofits for energy efficiency
Atelier R.A.D.O Inc., founded in 1983, is an Edmundston-based, non-profit organization serving the greater Madawaska region with a food bank, soup kitchen, clothing depot and emergency services for individuals living on or below the poverty line. The rising costs of both energy and food, coupled with an increasing demand for services resulted in a committee dedicated to reducing the non-profit’s operating costs.
Four years ago the committee decided to find a new location, looking for a newer, larger and more accessible building to accommodate its older and growing client-base. After relocating the committee decided to perform an energy assessment on the newly acquired building to target retrofits for energy efficiency in order to cut operating costs and free up funds for services and programs.
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8th Hussars Sports Center Sussex Arena Success Story
The Town of Sussex has made a sizable dent in a hefty line item in their annual municipal budget thanks, in part, to Efficiency New Brunswick’s Commercial Energy Smart program. Retrofits for energy efficiency at the Sussex Arena 8th Hussars Sports Center have reduced the arena’s energy consumption and costs significantly.
From 1992 to 2009 the arena used on average 921,682 kWh/year and in 2010 the arena only used 714,760 KWh-- a 22.5% reduction and savings of approximately $19,244 in energy costs alone.
The 38-year-old arena, was one of the largest consumers of energy in the Town’s portfolio of municipal buildings, making it an “easy target” to lower energy bills, says Jason Thorne, the town’s Recreation Director.
“Knowing full well that energy rates are only going in one direction, the town decided to pursue the retrofits recommended by consultants MCW Maricor, and to great success.”
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Arena’s future brighter with energy efficiency upgrades
The Town of Quispamsis is one of New Brunswick’s fastest growing Towns and, like many communities around the province; it is exploring ways to upgrade the energy efficiency of its municipal buildings to reduce energy costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the first buildings the Town focused on was its nearly 30-year-old arena. The Quispamsis Memorial Arena was built in 1982 and operates with ice half the year, from the beginning of October to the beginning of April. When the ice is removed the facility offers a venue for other recreational activities such as lacrosse and various community events.
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Vintage Bistro and Lounge
When Carol Anne and Gary Forsgren bought the Centennial Place building in the heart of Ham
pton, New Brunswick, they knew that they had a lot of work ahead of them to bring the building up to the high standard they wanted to offer tenants and their customers.
Centennial Place includes the original 60 year-old building plus a 15 year-old addition, and a new addition the Forsgrens added while doing upgrades. Today the facility is home to a fitness centre, dance studio, newspaper and printing press, and the Vintage Bistro and Lounge which the Forsgrens opened themselves, one year ago.
They started looking at how they could improve the energy efficiency and also the comfort level and air quality in the building. “We’ve always been big believers in healthy living environments,” Gary said.
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NB Power committed to reducing its environmental footprint
Long in the business of generating and selling electricity, NB Power is also committed to reducing its environmental footprint. The company recently began looking for ways to reduce energy consumption in several of its buildings. As a result, it recently completed an energy efficiency retrofit at its Fredericton head office building on King Street.
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University of New Brunswick - Fredericton
The University of New Brunswick in Fredericton’s “Energy Management” program is one of the longest standing programs of its kind in the Atlantic region.
From 1996 to 2008 the University completed 63 energy efficiency projects which focused on lighting, scheduling and equipment. These projects resulted in annual energy cost avoidances of about $465,000, and have an estimated payback of 4.4 years.
According to Energy Manager Rick Watson, a growing sense of urgency within the University community of the need to develop and implement more sustainable practices is a key driver for increased efforts in energy efficiency. “There is also a strong desire to be more efficient and lower costs, and to invest in projects that will directly benefit infrastructure renewal,” he said.
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The Saint John Theatre Company
The Saint John Theatre Company is a non-profit organization that produces stage plays at Saint John’s Imperial Theatre. The company exists to provide engaging theatre for its audience and exposure, development, and training to its community-based performers, technicians, and volunteers.
Since it was established in 1990, the company has prepared for productions when and wherever possible, spreading rehearsals, casting, costumes, set construction, and administration across multiple locations throughout the city. These challenging logistics led the company to purchase its own building; an early 1900s two storey in the city’s uptown, which had been vacant for six years.
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Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Potato Research Centre
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Potato Research Centre has first-hand experience that energy conservation is a worthwhile cause. The centre’s operating budget had not been keeping pace with rising energy costs, and as a result, less funding was available for maintenance. Staff recognized the need to decrease energy consumption. The initiative was also in stride with the department’s ongoing desire to reduce its impact on the environment.
The centre leveraged funding from Efficiency New Brunswick’s Energy Smart Program and worked with an energy consulting firm, MCW Maricor, to develop a long-term energy management master plan. The plan identified eight energy conservation measures and prioritized projects with the highest return and the greatest impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
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Moncton's Fortis Properties Blue Cross Centre undergoes retrofits for energy efficiency
With over 1600 tenant employees, the Fortis Properties Blue Cross Centre, located in downtown Moncton, is easily the largest office complex in the city. The Centre hosts Medavie Blue Cross, law offices, a public library, a bank, a cafeteria, other office tenants, as well as boutique retailers. The facility includes an eight-floor high-rise, a three-floor low-rise, as well as a four-storey annex and parking garage.
Faced with the pressure of rising energy costs, Fortis Properties engaged electrical and mechanical contractor Black and McDonald and ADI Limited to develop a building energy retrofit plan.
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The J.K. Irving Centre in Bouctouche is a new 8,200 square metre multifunctional complex that has been bustling with activity from 6 am till midnight 7 days a week since operations began in October 2011. Serving over 8,000 people around Bouctouche and its surrounding region, the complex boasts a gym, walking track, NHL-sized ice rink and is home to the new Town Hall and other municipal and agency offices. Since the Centre opened, the walking track circling the ice rink has been attracting 1,000 – 2,000 people each day.
ohn Chamberlaine of Action Car and Truck Accessories set out to build a high performance building he began working with Chris Stevens of Controls and Equipment who recognized the project would be a great fit for Efficiency NB’s Start Smart New Commercial Buildings Incentive Program. The program provides guidance and financial incentives of up to $60,000 to offset the costs associated with designing sustainable high efficiency commercial buildings.
The Saint John Transit Commission was created in 1979 to operate scheduled transit service within the City of Saint John. It is the largest public transit system in New Brunswick covering about 350 kilometres of city streets and carrying close to 3 million passengers per year.
Somerset Square’s story is a great one from many angles. Even before construction began, building owner, Commercial Properties Limited redeveloped a North End Saint John Brownfield. It meant reclaiming a plot of land that had been contaminated by years of commercial use to put up a showcase building that has been a very positive addition to a neighbourhood that has seen little development in recent years. The building also received LEED Gold certification which validates its high energy and environmental performance. Somerset Square is now the first privately-owned LEED Gold building in Atlantic Canada. To top off its first year of the building’s occupancy, Efficiency NB has chosen Somerset Square as the recipient for its Award for Commercial New Construction.
