Federal President of the Treasury Board Anita Anand announced several enhancements to the Greening Government Strategy at the Building Lasting Change (BLC) conference held in Toronto recently.
The initiatives will add Crown corporations to the strategy and strengthen sustainability commitments in relation to the government’s real property, fleet and procurement, Anand said.
“Crown corporations are now expected to align with the strategy, the commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, and to be climate resilient in their operations,” said Anand. “I have heard from many of you directly who advocated that Crown corporations be scoped into this policy.
“The expectation that Canada Post, that VIA rail, that the CBC will now adhere to the target… is indeed a crucial turning point in the move towards net-zero by 2050.”
All federal departments are now committed to reviewing and updating their net-zero emissions climate-resilient real property portfolio plan every five years to determine the most cost-effective pathway to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The commitment also includes ensuring climate risks to critical assets are assessed as soon as possible, and no later than 2030, and that measures to reduce the risks are implemented no later than 2035.
Departments will ensure all new buildings and major building retrofits prioritize low carbon and climate resilience. All new federal buildings will have net-zero emissions unless a GHG life cycle cost analysis indicates net-zero-emissions-ready construction.
In addition, all major building retrofits, including significant energy performance contracts, require a GHG reduction life cycle cost analysis to determine the optimal GHG savings.
After making the announcements Anand sat down for a question-and-answer session with Thomas Mueller, president and CEO of the Canada Green Building Council, host of the BLC conference. Mueller praised the government commitment.
When he speaks elsewhere, Mueller said, “I will talk about the federal government leadership on resiliency. The new additions of the Crown corporations, and resiliency. These are big, major additions with these thousands of properties.”
Mueller said the updated Greening Government Strategy is “one of the most ambitious government policies designed to decarbonize public buildings at scale. The added focus on procuring low-carbon construction materials, prioritizing climate resiliency and reducing carbon emissions from leased federal properties will drive adoption and derisk new zero-carbon buildings for the industry.”
Anand said the inclusion of Crown corporations to align their operations with the strategy will “create more market demand for low-carbon solutions.”
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