2011 COMMUNITY EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Category Worksheet
LEADERSHIP & INNOVATION
________________________________________________________________
Name of Local Government:
The City of Nelson
Project/Program Title:
Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program – City of Nelson
Community Size:
Mid-size – population approx. 10,000
Project Summary Paragraph
Please provide a summary of your project/program in 150 words or less.
This submission focuses on the City of Nelson’s Corporate Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
Reduction Program. This program is one of several climate change initiatives
currently underway in Nelson that work towards achieving the priorities outlined in
the City’s Path to 2040 Sustainability Plan.
The City of Nelson contracted a Corporate Climate Action Coordinator in 2009 (0.5
time position) to develop and implement the Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Plan. By taking a long-term approach to funding the program, the City found a way to
achieve the primary goal of reducing GHG emissions, at little or no additional cost to
the municipality.
This project allows the City the opportunity to lead the way within the community by
achieving measurable results in GHG reductions. The City will soon begin
implementation of a community-wide emissions reduction plan. But, before asking
residents to work toward reductions at the community level, the municipality has led
by example, spending two full years minimizing the ecological footprint of its own
operations.
Project Analysis
Please answer the question in 300 words or less in 11 pt Arial font (our judges value
directness and brevity). If you experience difficulty answering a particular question,
consider the aspects of your program that may relate to the question and show us how
they are linked.
1. ENVIRONMENT
How does the program/project protect BC’s environment?
The goal of the Corporate GHG Reduction Plan is to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions produced through City of Nelson operations. Corporate operations are
comprised of 24 buildings, 84 vehicles, 3 water treatment plants, 12 PRV stations, 6
lift stations and a sewage treatment plant.
Nelson City Council approved the Corporate GHG Reduction Plan in 2010 with
reduction targets of 25% by 2015, 36% by 2020, and 43% by 2025 below 2007
emission levels. Level I building energy audits and a corporate greenhouse gas
emission inventory were completed by consultants in 2008.
The plan was incorporated into the Five Year Financial Plan (2010-2014) with a
budget of $1.2M for the initial five year phase of the plan. The first phase of the
action plan is currently being implemented by the Corporate Climate Action
Coordinator through retrofits of city buildings, staff engagement, reduction of fleet
emissions, exploration of alternative energy systems, and yearly updates to the
corporate GHG emission inventory.
Specific projects in 2010-2011 include:





Solar thermal feasibility study.
Level II building energy audits.
Use of 5% biodiesel blend during the summer months.
Upgrade of boilers in City Hall and the Civic Centre to more, efficient highcondensing boilers.
Branding of greenhouse gas projects by staff through the development of a
greenhouse gas reduction logo and tagline.
2. PROCESS
Please provide a brief outline of the steps involved in the program/project and
the status of each step.
Step
Year
1
2008
Corporate GHG emission inventory for years 20042007.
Complete
2
2008
Level 1 energy audits on all city-owned buildings.
Complete
2008
E3 fleet review completed through a cost-sharing
partnership with the RDCK. The RDCK and City of
Nelson fleets were evaluated concurrently, thereby
reducing the overall costs of the study.
Complete
Ongoing
3
Description
Status
4
2009/2010
Annual project planning workshop with department
heads and staff involved in capital planning took place
each fall. Workshop will be held annually and planning
has begun for the Fall 2011 workshop.
5
2009
Corporate Climate Action Coordinator was hired in the
fall.
Complete
6
2009/2010
Corporate GHG Reduction Plan was developed in the
fall of 2009 and approved by Council in the spring of
2010.
Complete
2010
Level II energy audits for City Hall and the
Police/Library building. These are two of the highest
energy consumers and GHG emitters within city-owned
buildings.
Complete
2010/2011
Implementation of the Corporate GHG Reduction Plan
began in the fall with an initial focus on building retrofit
projects and energy conservation measures arising
from the Level II building audits.
Ongoing
2010/2011
Staff engagement – the Climate Action Coordinator has
met with each department to talk about the GHG plan.
The goals of employee engagement include:
 empowering staff with information that could be
used to educate the community
 gathering feedback from staff on ways to improve
energy efficiency
 establishing staff suggestion boxes and an e-mail
address to collect ideas on an ongoing basis
 establishing an energy team to develop a GHG
Plan logo
Ongoing
7
8
9
Step
Year
Description
Status
10
2011
Energy Team developed the logo (included in the
Mayor’s letter of support), which builds staff ownership
of the plan. The logo is being used throughout cityowned buildings to identify emission reduction projects
as they are completed or underway.
11
2011
Level II energy audit on the Civic Centre, the third
largest energy consuming building in the inventory.
Complete
2011
Community Climate Action and Energy Plan is currently
being completed by external consultants and will be
reviewed by Council before the end of 2011. Once this
plan is approved, implementation will begin. The City of
Nelson is confident that the groundwork that has been
laid in reducing corporate emissions will help pave the
way to the successful implementation of the communitywide emissions reduction plan.
In
Progress
12
Complete
3. RELEVANCE
Tell us how your submission is relevant to current environmental issues.
The Corporate GHG Reduction Plan is relevant to current environmental issues at
the global, federal, provincial and local levels.
Approximately 55% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions are under the direct
or indirect control or influence of municipal governments, according to the Federation
of Canadian Municipalities. With the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen Conference on
Climate Change to produce a legally-binding agreement on the international stage,
attention will shift to the building of low carbon economies from the ground up. The
focus will be on initiatives by countries, cities, companies, and communities to
address the reduction and stabilization of carbon emission levels. Municipal
governments have an important contribution to make towards climate protection.
The Province of BC set the standard and example of climate action prior to the
release of the BC Climate Action Charter. The City of Nelson was an early signatory
of the charter and its Corporate GHG Reduction Plan was developed well in advance
of the carbon neutral deadline of 2012. City Council recognized the importance of
leading the way in regards to energy conservation through corporate operations and
its Corporate GHG Reduction Plan will have been in effect for almost two years prior
to the release of a community-wide GHG reduction plan later in 2011.
Residents of the City of Nelson are extremely concerned about the environment and
community sustainability. In a Citizen Survey in 2009, 76% of respondents identified
the development of a sustainability plan as Council’s number one priority. The
subsequent “Path to 2040” plan outlines broad community goals that will ensure a
sustainable future for Nelson. Environmental sustainability is one of these goals, and
the implementation of the Corporate GHG Reduction Plan is but one step toward
achieving it. The Sustainability Plan envisions Nelson as growing into an energy selfsufficient community where energy production is “resilient, adaptive, carbon-neutral
and minimizes impacts on the ecosystem.”
4. LEADERSHIP
How does the project reflect leadership and excellence in the advancement of
community development?
Through its climate change initiatives, the Corporate GHG Reduction Plan will
provide a successful model for the development of an energy conscious culture
within the community. The City of Nelson is taking a leadership role by actively
working to reduce Corporate GHG emissions within their own operations before
working with residents to implement community-wide reductions.
The City is currently consulting with community stakeholders in the development of a
Community Climate Action and Energy Plan, which will serve as a blueprint for
energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions community-wide. The objectives of
this Community Energy Plan include exceeding the City’s regulatory requirements
under Bill 27 to establish GHG reduction targets, and the inclusion of policies and
clear implementation guidelines within the OCP.
Because the City has a dedicated resource working 0.5 time, implementation of the
corporate plan is moving forward steadily. The role of the Corporate Climate Action
Coordinator includes engaging staff and residents to demonstrate that GHG
emission reductions are manageable, economically feasible and achievable if
everyone gets involved.
The City of Nelson, along with 66 other communities in BC, is participating in the
FCM Partnership for Climate Protection Program (PCP). Nelson has recently
achieved Milestone 4 for corporate operations, one of only six participating
municipalities in BC to achieve this milestone or higher. Of the 216 participating
communities Canada-wide, Nelson is one of only 7 mid-sized communities to
achieve Milestone 4 for corporate emissions.
5. ECONOMICS
a. How was the project a good use of budget and resources?
Although Nelson’s carbon neutral commitment was primarily motivated by altruistic,
rather than economic, reasons, a strong business case can be made for the
implementation of energy conservation measures resulting in greenhouse gas
emission reductions. When the capital cost of projects outlined in the first five year
phase of the GHG Reduction Plan is offset against the energy savings, it will take an
average of nine years to achieve a complete payback of the action plan. Given that
many systems have a useful life extending beyond nine years, savings will continue
to be realized even after the system has paid for itself. In addition, the primary goal
of reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be achieved at little to no additional cost
to the municipality over the long term.
Capital Cost
Estimate
($)
Estimated Yearly
GHG Reductions
(tCO2e/yr)
Estimate Yearly
Energy Savings
($/yr)
Simple
Payback
(years)
2010
$270,978
120
$70,917
3.8
2011
$453,130
120
$35,910
12.6
2012 - 2015
$438,150
59
$19,398
22.6
$1,162,258
299
$126,225
9.2
Year
TOTAL
It is important to note that Capital Cost estimates listed in the table include the cost
of offsets that will need to be purchased for 2012 emissions and subsequent years
($25/tonne), as well as the cost of a Climate Action Coordinator contract position.
Even with these associated costs, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan has an
average payback of nine years based on the operation and maintenance savings
that will arise from retrofit of buildings and fleet.
In addition, the economic analysis does not account for the cost of replacing
systems that had reached the end of their useful life. Many systems being
upgraded through the GHG Reduction Plan were due for replacement - a cost that
would be incurred by the municipality regardless of the emission reduction projects.
If the standard cost of system replacements was factored into the GHG Reduction
Plan, average paybacks would be reduced even further.
b. How does the project encourage economic sustainability? (e.g. life cycle
analysis, internalizing costs and alternative financing, economic instruments)
When operation and maintenance savings are measured and factored into the
corporate planning process, decisions are made based on a system’s life-cycle cost,
rather than on ticket price. For example, the purchase of a hybrid or electric vehicle
would not just be based on the purchase price, but on the cost savings due to fuel
reduction over the lifespan of the vehicle.
Nelson chose to finance this plan through reserve funds, knowing that the average
payback will be approximately nine years. Future financing methods could include
the establishment of an energy fund in which operation and maintenance savings
resulting from energy conservation measures are deposited into a reserve dedicated
to future energy conservation projects.
6. SUSTAINABILITY
How does the project encourage social sustainability? (e.g. stakeholder
engagement, public participation, equity and diversity, health and safety, knowledge
sharing, capacity building, community identity and marketing)
Community Identity
Nelson residents are passionate about sustainability and taking action on climate
change. Results of the 2009 Citizen Survey clearly showed that residents value the
City taking a leadership role in the area of community sustainability. During the
development of a Sustainability Plan in 2010, residents and stakeholders defined
sustainability as encompassing a broad range of focus areas, including energy and
climate change, land use, local economy, transportation, healthy living and more.
The Corporate GHG Reduction Plan is a first step that allows the City to demonstrate
its commitment to community-defined sustainability principles in a measurable way.
This is all building toward the community-wide Climate Action and Energy Plan,
which will be reviewed by Council later in 2011.
Staff and Community Engagement:
As outlined above (Question 2, Process) City staff have become engaged in the
program through energy teams, education opportunities and encouraging the sharing
of ideas. The staff-developed logo has been incorporated in notices, which will be
posted throughout City-owned buildings, identifying energy conservation projects that
have been completed at those sites. These notices will both raise awareness and
engage community members around the program. Stickers with the GHG logo and a
bio-diesel sign have been installed on diesel-operated city vehicles to raise
awareness within the public of the City’s use of bio-diesel.
Public Participation:
Public open houses have been held to introduce the plan to the public and gather
feedback. Local media have been kept informed, as a way to let the community know
that the City is working toward energy conservation and emission reductions.
Stakeholder Engagement:
Stakeholder groups, specifically community organizations that utilize space in City
buildings, were invited to participate in the yearly GHG project planning workshop as
many of the current energy conservation initiatives revolve around building retrofits
and user practices.
Knowledge Sharing:
Knowledge gathered throughout the process of reducing corporate emissions will be
a valuable resource in the implementation of the upcoming community-wide
emissions reduction plan. For example, the City has commissioned feasibility studies
to explore the applicability of solar thermal as an alternative energy source. This
knowledge could be used to educate and inform stakeholders around the application
of solar thermal within the greater community.
7. INNOVATION
What makes your program/project innovative?
The City of Nelson has taken an innovative approach to climate action in hiring a
single resource dedicated to the development and implementation of a GHG
Reduction Plan. In most communities of a size similar to Nelson, this responsibility
falls within the scope of a staff member with multiple responsibilities. This can be
very challenging for staff of a mid-size community who are already at capacity with
limited resources to dedicate the time and energy to developing a new policy of this
breadth and magnitude.
By taking a long-term view of program expenses, the City was able to identify several
innovative approaches to funding the program. The expense of hiring a contractor
specifically committed to the implementation of an emission reduction plan can be
recouped through the operation and maintenance savings that will arise from energy
conservation projects. As demonstrated in Question 5 above, the average payback
for this program is 9 years.
By taking this focused approach, both through budgeting and staffing, the City is able
to deliver measurable results on an issue that is of high importance to residents.
8. TRANSFERABILITY
How is this program/project transferable to other local governments?
Nelson’s implementation of its Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan is an
example of how a smaller community that lacks the specialized in-house resources
and staff time can still develop an emission reduction policy that will pay for itself
over the long-term. Emissions reduction planning needs to be a long-range process
and not just viewed as a short-term endeavour. Municipalities will still need an inhouse person to oversee the project, but the staff requirement will be drastically
reduced through the contracting of the position to an experienced external resource.
The City of Nelson chose to fund the GHG Reduction Plan through reserve funding,
however financing the project over a 15 year amortisation period was also found to
be a viable option. Based on a Municipal Financing Authority loan of $1.2 M at a 4%
capital rate and a 5% interest rate, after deducting the estimated operations and
maintenance savings over the 15 year term, implementation of the action plan would
cost the municipality a net amount of approximately $300,000.
9. KNOWLEDGE SHARING
What helpful advice would you share with other communities looking to
embark on a similar project?
Based on the recent City of Nelson experience, the following list of suggestions and
lessons learned might be useful to other communities looking to implement a
Corporate GHG Reduction Plan:







Complete a level 1 energy audit on buildings prior to development of an
action plan – this will provide a foundation from which to develop a plan.
Complete a baseline emissions inventory and include a dashboard summary
of fuel sources, departments, buildings, and fleet – this will also help
determine the starting point for an action plan.
Engage staff early in the process as they are the ones who have the best
understanding of day to day operations. Challenge staff within City
departments to identify creative energy conservation measures and
recognise energy champions.
Meet, en masse, with any staff involved in capital project planning and
implementation (most likely department heads, fleet managers and facility
managers) to gather feedback and learn from their expertise.
Ensure that the plan includes specific initiatives that outline precisely how
targets will be achieved, especially for the initial five year phase of a plan –
it’s important to have deliverable action items in addition to higher level
reduction targets.
Assign an in-house staff member who will act as a liaison for the contractor –
most likely someone who is involved in facility management and/or
operations management since many of the projects focus on building retrofits
and operational changes.
Seek out partnerships and/or resource sharing with existing organisations
such as the Community Energy Association, Regional Districts, Fraser Basin
Council’s Green Fleets BC, and the BC Climate Action Toolkit
(www.toolkit.bc.ca).
10. TELL US MORE
Please share any other information you think may help us better understand
your submission.
The issue of sustainability is a challenge faced by municipalities across Canada sustainability of infrastructure, of economy, of resources, and of the environment.
The City of Nelson has taken a broad and innovative approach to these issues with
the development of a series of interconnected planning documents that address
sustainability questions that are specific to the community.
These documents include:
 Path to 2040 Sustainability Plan
 Housing Strategy
 Active Transportation Plan
 Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan
 Sustainable Downtown and Waterfront Master Plan
 Community Climate Action and Energy Plan
By following the approach laid out in these planning documents, sustainability always
remains at the forefront of any decision considered by Council. By incorporating the
principles of these plans into the OCP, policies and procedures, operations work
plans and infrastructure plans, the City of Nelson is actively leading the way to a
sustainable future for the community. This is a leadership role that residents have
asked for: Nelson residents identify closely with sustainability issues and believe they
should be a high priority for Council.
The Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction program is a specific initiative within a
broad range of innovative approaches to sustainability issues that are being taken by
the City of Nelson. By taking a long-term view of the economics, the City has
identified an approach that allows for the program to pay for itself over an average of
nine years. The program is valuable in and of itself, as it will allow the City to meet its
commitment under the BC Climate Action Charter. However it also provides valuable
knowledge, experience and data, which will allow the municipality to continue to act
in a leadership role in the implementation of the upcoming community-wide energy
plan.