In the new integrated waste management complex, a transfer centre makes it possible to process waste and recyclable materials separately in the same building.

At the ecocentre, residents separate their household hazardous waste, wood, metal and bulky items, such as furniture and appliances, into containers. Items in good condition, along with other items made from recycled materials, are sold at the reuse store. The warehouse provides storage space for local community organizations.

The RGMRM initially used an electric baler to press waste and recyclables into compact bundles for shipping. The baler was intended to reduce the number of trucks needed to transport them, which in turn would reduce GHG emissions. However, the amount of organic material remaining in the waste made it difficult to bale. The RGMRM reconsidered this component of the project as a result. The use of the press for recyclable materials reduced and optimized transportation costs over eight years, from 2012 to 2019. Ultimately, the drop in global demand for materials recovered through curbside recycling prompted the RGMRM to retire the baler.   

The RGMRM’s unique, one-stop approach to waste management has made the complex a popular destination for area residents. Trips to the eco-centre and reuse store are now a part of residents’ daily lives, instilling a strong sense of pride in the community. The site boasts up to 26,000 visits per year from a population of about 29,000. The welcoming and attractive reuse store, supplied by onsite workshops and local artisans, has been especially well-received. 

The project’s focus on recovery and reuse has significantly reduced the volume of waste sent to landfill. Consolidating waste management services has also reduced collection costs for participating municipalities and created 16 new permanent jobs at the complex. 

The success of this project clearly showcases the benefits of centralized waste management for all municipalities. This one-stop approach to waste management is an inspiring example that can be replicated in any community. 

Before the reuse store opened, I had no choice but to buy just new. It certainly changed the way I shop."

—Linda Girard, resident of Ragueneau

Consultations with residents provided valuable input to designing the most appropriate and cost-effective approach.

To collect the used textiles, the city built attractive, cottage-style smart bins and placed them at city-owned facilities. Each bin is equipped with solar panels to provide lighting for nighttime safety and security, and a sensor to signal when the bin is three-quarters full and ready for pick-up.

The pilot included an extensive campaign to educate residents on the value of diverting clothing and other textiles from landfill. Interest in the project was intense and swift, and the city soon gained additional partners, dramatically increasing its collection capacity. The city had originally aimed to test two bins, but by the end of April 2017, over 80 donation bins had been placed at fire stations, community centres, arenas, commercial developments and multi-residential properties (there are now over 150). Throughout the pilot, the city and its partners collected about 1,360 tonnes of textiles—12 times the original goal of 113.4 tonnes.

The amount of textiles diverted from landfill during the pilot offset 28,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, saved 95.2 million litres of water and avoided 761 tonnes of chemicals compared to the production of “virgin” fabrics.

The project is now a popular permanent program that actively supports local employment and social service charities. For example, the Salvation Army has added two full-time and two part-time employees and dedicated one full-time truck to service Markham’s bins. At no cost to the city, Markham’s charitable partners resell or recycle all the textile donations and track data on how much is diverted from landfill. In return, the partners use the proceeds to support their own programs.

Our family uses the Markham textile recycling bins regularly—with growing children and lots of hand-me-downs, we have no shortage of clothes that are too worn out to live a ‘third life.’ It feels good knowing that the material is being kept out of landfills and repurposed for industrial uses or recycled into new products."

—Ernesta R., Markham resident

To clean up the site, the city removed and remediated contaminated soil and reclaimed and recycled the timber that had collected in the area. The city built underground structures to hold the contaminated groundwater and prevent it from leaching into the Fraser River. Native plants were put in along the shoreline. 

One of the biggest hurdles involved the implementation time frames required by the project’s funders. To overcome this challenge in a sustainable, cost-effective way, the city engaged in a highly collaborative planning process, involving all stakeholders very early on. This approach helped the team make challenging but time- and budget-sensitive decisions, such as the choice to use an independent remediation process.

Westminster Pier Park remains an urban jewel. This unique, award-winning park offers pedestrian and bicycle pathways, programmable open spaces, and natural riverbank habitat for local wildlife. Its 600-metre boardwalk connects with a 2.5-kilometre linear waterfront park offering great views, green space, public art and playgrounds. All the park structures were designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Gold certification. 

This initiative has revitalized the neighbourhood and attracted new residential and commercial developments to the downtown area. It has also established a strong connection between the natural environment and the city core, and created a people-oriented recreational space for residents to enjoy. 

This project is an outstanding example of how converting former industrial sites to productive use can drive urban renewal, increase economic return and enhance quality of life. 

We have 10 acres on the water that was a lifeline before for our industry. Now it’s a lifeline for our people."

—Former Mayor Wayne Wright, City of New Westminster, BC

Completed in 2015, the library is a model of sustainable construction. It is built with sustainable materials and heated through a combination of solar panels and geothermal heat pumps. Up to 50,000 megawatts of excess solar energy can be returned to Hydro-Québec, for which the city receives a credit. Expansive windows provide abundant natural light, and some are motorized for natural ventilation. Low-flow toilets and taps have reduced water consumption by at least 27 percent. 

The building has Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Gold certification and is on track to reach net-zero energy by 2021. When it does, it will reduce its energy consumption by 2,975 gigajoules per year and save $80,000 in annual energy costs.  

The two-floor building has a total area of 2,000 square metres and is an accessible environment in which community members can learn and discover. The new library includes an activity room, work spaces, a reading room, a family and breastfeeding area, a computer lab, listening and viewing stations, and a multi-purpose space. Attention was paid to every detail, including heated floors and shelving aligned with the windows for light. 

Armed with a wealth of new knowledge after completing this project, the city takes every opportunity to showcase its lessons learned—regularly sharing data and knowledge to help other communities achieve their own sustainability goals.

The City of Varennes plans to apply similar sustainability standards to future municipal buildings. 

A dream come true! This is the best way to express the feeling of pride the elected officials and citizens of Varennes have about this great achievement. [This project] will change the way public buildings are constructed for the future.”

-Martin Damphousse, Mayor of the City of Varennes

Residents who once kept their windows open in winter to deal with excess heat were given control over the heat in their homes. New heat recovery ventilation systems brought more fresh air to the buildings, and two of the buildings also received welcome cooling in the summer. Replacing inefficient toilets with ultra low-flow models also brought substantial financial savings.

TCH and TAF significantly streamlined the retrofits by grouping the seven buildings into a single initiative and selecting a design-build firm that could handle a project on that scale. TCH, TAF and the design-build firm worked in partnership through all phases of the project, using an integrated project delivery (IPD) approach rather than the more usual linear design and review process. The project partners consider this approach a major part of the project’s success. 

Another big success factor was the project’s innovative financing model. TCH and TAF signed an Energy Savings Performance Agreement™, a form of non-debt financing. 

Under the agreement, TAF would cover the capital costs up front and TCH would repay TAF through the energy savings created by the project until the investment was repaid, plus a small return. The design-build firm was required to guarantee the energy savings for 10 years. 

The partners also worked with Building Up, a non-profit organization that trains people facing employment barriers, to offer opportunities for hands-on learning during the retrofit process. Twelve community members were hired to work on the project for a total of 1,677 hours of employment.

TCH has used its experience to inform retrofits of a number of other buildings and is working with other municipalities to help them do the same.  

Through its retrofits, TAF is showing that climate action can lead to new jobs.”

—Roshaun Singh, Building Up

With the new transit system in place, the number of bus passengers has doubled and GHG emissions have been reduced by about 24 percent. To house the buses, the town built a new storage and maintenance building, which has achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification. The buses are anticipated to be in service for about 18 years—three years longer than originally projected.

As with any ambitious initiative, there were bumps along the way. One challenge involved the tight timelines in the six weeks before the official launch of the new transit system: buses were driven from Montreal to Banff and wrapped with wildlife graphics in Calgary, drivers were trained and electronic fareboxes installed, brochures were created and delivered around town, signs at transit stops were updated, and over 1,000 smart cards were initialized. While major efforts by a small team of city staff ensured that timelines were met, the town would allow for more implementation time were it to take on a project of this scope again. 

In the years since the introduction of the hybrid buses, a regional hybrid transit system has been born, connecting Banff to nearby communities, parks and ski resorts. Ridership and fleet growth have been so strong that a new energy-efficient 32-bus storage facility is now under construction. The facility will be home to the town’s first electric buses, which will roll onto the streets of Banff in early 2021. 

Banff’s new hybrid fleet has not only increased community pride and the tourism industry, it has confirmed the Town of Banff as a leader in sustainability.

Being an early adopter of this technology means that not everything will be perfect, but it helps create demand and drive the industry to keep improving."

Karen Sorensen, Councillor for the Town of Banff

Using a heat transfer system, Enwave transfers thermal energy from its district cooling system to the cold drinking water. This re-chills the cooling water that circulates through a network of underground pipes to cool a number of buildings in the downtown core. This new, more passive and sustainable heat exchange technology replaced the energy-intensive cooling plant that was in place before the agreement.

The system has displaced 55 megawatts of energy per year from Toronto’s electricity grid (equivalent to powering eight hospitals) and saved 832 million litres of water per year (the volume of about 350 Olympic-size swimming pools). 

After 15 years of successful operation, Enwave has expanded the deep lake water cooling system. Today, the system provides cooling to over 80 buildings, including critical care facilities, government buildings, data centres, universities, and commercial and residential towers. 

The institutions and businesses tapped into the system enjoy significant savings. For instance, the Toronto General Hospital has freed up 20 to 30 percent of its capital funds, enabling the hospital to channel more resources into patient care, research and lifesaving equipment. 

In early 2020, the City of Toronto and Enwave launched an environmental assessment to study the effects of expanding the capacity of the system to meet the city’s growing demand for cooling.

This investment in a shared infrastructure and distribution system is a clear winning formula that will continue to benefit Toronto’s businesses and residents long into the future.

This novel initiative, providing both drinking water and building cooling capacity to residents, established Toronto as a global leader in innovation, setting the pace to fight climate change and build a more resilient city."

—Jim Baxter, Director, Environment and Energy Division, City of Toronto

Sources

Empowering North America's fastest-growing city

Enwave and Toronto Water tap into innovative energy source

Deep Lake Water Cooling Supply Expansion

The site, abandoned since the 1940s, was contaminated with petrochemicals and required onsite remediation. The city had a pile foundation constructed above ground to allow air to circulate beneath the building, reducing its impact on the permafrost. 

The city plans to install a district energy system in the building to capture and recycle waste heat from the diesel generators that provide the city with electricity. This system, along with the building’s high-performance envelope and other energy-efficiency features, is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by nearly 800 tonnes per year. Compared to traditional swimming facilities, the centre will consume up to 75 percent less heating oil and 10,397 gigajoules less energy per year. 

The city’s new Iqaluit Aquatic Centre opened its doors to residents in 2017. Designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Silver certification, the facility features a lap pool, a leisure pool, two saunas, a whirlpool, a multi-purpose room, an elders’ room, a public fitness centre, a fitness studio and a take-out restaurant. The building design reflects both the natural and cultural environment, with paint colours inspired by the surrounding land, sea and ice; the use of sealskin in the seating area in the elders’ room; Inuktitut signage throughout; and elements that reference Inuit culture. The centre employs 13 full-time workers, 25 part-time staff and a number of volunteers. 

The City of Iqaluit has created a unique example of how a community can come together to realize a vision for healthy living in a sustainable way. This welcoming community space stands as an impressive testament to perseverance and possibility. 

The Iqaluit Aquatic Centre has provided opportunities for health and fitness that have changed lives for the better. We are proud that our facility is a model for arctic sustainability and that it has made such an incredible impact on our community.”

— Amy Elgersma, Chief Administrative Officer, City of Iqaluit

Within the first two years of the pilot, almost 400 individual property owners took the HRM up on its offer. In fact, between mid-2013 and mid-2015, the number of residential installations of solar hot water systems in Halifax exceeded the annual solar panel installations of the rest of Canada.

One of the program’s most innovative aspects was its unique financing mechanism. HRM offered property-assessed clean energy (PACE) loans to homeowners to pay for equipment and installation. The loans are tied to the property and are paid back over 10 years, while homeowners benefit right away from the energy savings. HRM was the first Canadian municipality to employ this user-pay model with the aim to create a budget-neutral program.

HRM expects to offset 660 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually through the nearly 400 solar hot water systems and related water-saving measures installed during the pilot, saving 14 million litres of water each year in 1,265 homes and reducing emissions from heating oil or coal-sourced electricity. Residents will save an anticipated $170,000 annually in energy use ($500 per home).

The road was not always smooth for what would become an award-winning project. The financing and payback process, interest structure and return on investment were not always clear to homeowners. And while a streamlined process of working with a single contractor to install the systems worked well for the pilot, HRM now recognizes that an open-market approach is a better fit for a full program. 

The success of the pilot allowed HRM to expand it into a permanent program that includes solar hot air and solar electric systems. The municipality aims to further develop this program to include deep energy retrofits, with a focus on renewable energy and climate resilience.

The project spurred the solar market in Nova Scotia and across the province and provided awareness to Nova Scotian companies that this type of project can work for Nova Scotians." 

—Kevin Boutilier, Clean Energy Specialist, Halifax Regional Municipality