Upgrades to over 120 buildings at 3 Canadian Division Support Base Edmonton will get rolling this summer, following a $45.3 million investment announcement made in March.
The Energy Performance Contract (EPC) will see improvements across the base that will reduce energy costs by 21 per cent—or $2 million—a year.
“It’s about reducing energy use—and by reducing energy use, saving money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Paul Maynes, DCC Technical Specialist, Real Property Management.
An EPC is a contract where an energy services company finances retrofits to buildings—the costs of retrofits are then repaid to the company using money saved on energy bills. This limits the upfront cost for the Client-Partner and results in upgrades to infrastructure for which funding might not otherwise have been available.
The retrofits proposed—called energy conservation measures—will include steps big and small, from changing to LED lights and automated timers, to removing gas boilers in older buildings. The biggest cost upgrade is the automation of systems, but the largest energy saver is all of the lighting improvements, when added up.
“There are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of people to keep in the loop,” said Paul about coordinating this amount of work across so many facilities.
The upgrades will take three years, and start this summer with the new boilers. Energy savings will start to kick in by the end of 2024.
