Sector:

Civic Buildings [1]

Focus:

Operations [2]

Community type:

District/Region [3]

Large city [4]

Mid-sized city [5]

Resort community [6]

Rural/Electoral [7]

Small community [8]

Tabs

What

Green, Efficient Civic Buildings

Houston's new Leisure Facility utilizes a geo-exchange energy system to provide space and water heating. / District of Houston. Green, efficient civic buildings, for example municipal halls, libraries, and recreation centres, can provide attractive, comfortable and healthy spaces for the use of the local government and community. These low carbon buildings:

Use only the minimum amount of energy needed for operation
Utilize renewable energy sources, rather than fossil fuels, for heating, cooling and power

Existing civic buildings may be retrofitted to reduce energy consumption and emissions and reduce operating costs, improving long-term fiscal performance. New or replacement building design and operation can incorporate green, efficient design, maximizing energy and emissions performance.

Green, low-carbon civic buildings are efficient, use low-emission energy sources, and provide improved indoor working environments.

Local governments typically have direct control over their buildings. Retrofits and green design can often be cost-neutral, making civic buildings a key area for action.

Green buildings, for example as defined by the LEED™ [9] system, in addition to reducing energy and emissions of each unit of floor space, also reduce water and resource impacts, provide healthier and more productive working environments, and support alternative transportation.

Future low-carbon buildings are also energy- and resource-efficient to build and operate for a given amount of service provision. “Net zero” energy buildings, requiring no net external energy input to operate, have been put forward as a longer term goal, and these will become more practical as the building industry advances its knowledge.

Whistler Public Library with green roof / Resort Municipality of Whistler

Langford City Centre Park [10] – An Energy Efficient Multi-use Recreation Facility
The National Works Yard of the City of Vancouver [11] achieved LEED Gold certification [2], with significant reductions in energy consumption; several other examples of civic green buildings are profiled in a GVRD LEED Implementation Guide [3].
Corporation of Delta Recreational Facilities Energy and GHG Emission Reduction Program [12]

[Use the tabs above to learn WHY this sector is important in GHG management and HOW you can reduce emissions in civic buildings.]

[1] Building Green Inc. (September 2007). The Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings. Environmental Building News.
[2] Canadian Green Building Council. City of Vancouver National Works Yard.
[3] Paul Kernan Architect & Sheltair Group. (2002). LEED Implementation Guide for Municipal Green Buildings. Greater Vancouver Regional District.

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Why

Bottom Line – Costs and Emissions Savings

RCMP Building with green features, Ladysmith. Civic building operations typically account for a significant portion of corporate emissions. On average, these emissions are 48% of the total in Canada [1], but vary widely between BC communities – for example, 22% in Squamish [2] and nearly 55% in the City of Nanaimo [3]. Building operations are also one of the largest cost items for local governments.

Civic buildings represent an opportunity for both emissions reductions and cost savings.

Emissions reductions from corporate buildings will directly benefit Carbon Neutral accounting. These reductions can result from energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, implemented as part of existing building retrofits and new building design.

Building new construction green makes good financial sense. Reductions in life-cycle energy costs generally far exceed capital cost premiums [4]. And the upfront cost of building green is decreasing: A recent study found no difference between the average cost per square foot of LEED rated buildings compared to conventional construction in the US [5].

Green, low-carbon civic buildings are efficient, use low-emission energy sources, and provide improved indoor working environments.

Likewise, energy efficiency retrofits can result in good return on investment, improving long-term government fiscal performance [6]. Most BC civic buildings are under the direct control of the local government, allowing for cost effective retrofits.

Additionally, green buildings have also been shown to have positive impacts on employee productivity, through improvement in working environments such as air quality and natural light. Some green design options, such as natural ventilation and lighting, benefit both energy efficiency and the indoor environment.

Civic buildings also offer an opportunity to lead the community by:

Demonstrating successful implementation of building retrofits and new technology to the community, and allowing community members to experience the benefits
Building government and local professional capacity in green, efficient building knowledge and practices

[Use the tabs above to learn WHAT this sector is and HOW you can reduce emissions in civic buildings.]

[1] ICLEI Energy Services. (2000). PCP Inventory Compilation & Analysis. Partners for Climate Protection Program.

[2] The Sheltair Group. (2007). Bridging to the Future in Squamish - Energy & Greenhouse Gas Emissions Baseline & Forecast. District of Squamish.

[3] Hyla Environmental Services. (2007). City of Nanaimo Corporate Climate Change Plan. City of Nanaimo.

[4] Greg Kats, Leon Alevantis, Adam Berman, Evan Mills & Jeff Perlman. (October 2003). The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings. California Sustainable Building Task Force.

[5] Lisa Fay Matthiessen & Peter Morris. (2007). The Cost of Green Revisited. Davis Langdon.

[6] Community Energy Association. (2007). Energy Efficiency & Buildings - A Resource for Local Governments.

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How

Transforming Civic Buildings

Castlegar's geothermal system for heating and cooling City Hall. / UBCM. Transforming the government building stock will typically entail a combination of retrofitting existing buildings to improve performance, and designing new buildings to be green, efficient, and low carbon. These actions have been successfully implemented by leading local governments in BC, and many tools and resources are available to assist others.

Policies

Civic Building Policy [15]
Establish policies that include commitments and targets for both existing and new government buildings, possibly including building location guidelines [16]. Siting of new civic buildings and facilities is also critical to the emissions that result from employee and public transportation to and from that building.

Projects

Green Building Project
Initiate a low-carbon, green civic building catalyst project for a new government building.

Civic Building Retrofit [17]
Develop and implement a comprehensive energy efficiency retrofit program, that includes consideration of renewable energy sources, and takes advantage of innovative financing

Processes

Life Cycle Costing [18]
Utilize life cycle costing for building decision-making.

Inventories: for existing buildings
Establish an energy and emissions baseline and ongoing tracking.

Building Operator Training: for both existing and new buildings
Enable building operators to be better able to identify and implement energy savings initiatives.

Building Location [16]
Guidelines for siting new civic buildings and facilities.

print [19]

Actions for Civic Buildings