Sustainability in the Parliamentary Precinct: The Long Term Vision and Plan for the Parliamentary Precinct—Annual Report 2022 to 2023

On this page

• Net-zero carbon portfolio plan
• Energy Services Acquisition Program
• Greening of the Centre Block
• Adaptation to climate change

Public Services and Procurement Canada is working closely with Parliament to transform Canada’s Parliamentary Precinct into a model for sustainability. The focus of the sustainability strategy prioritizes the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change.

Net-zero carbon portfolio plan

The Government of Canada has committed to net-zero carbon emissions from government operations by 2050, and work in Canada’s Parliamentary Precinct is contributing to achieving that plan.

Energy Services Acquisition Program

The Parliamentary Precinct is heated and cooled by a district energy system connected by an underground pipe network that distributes steam and chilled water. As part of the Energy Services Acquisition Program (ESAP), Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) is converting the old heating plants from using the energy-intensive, high-temperature steam system to a more energy-efficient, low-temperature hot water system.

PSPC engineers play an important role in the conversion process by reconfiguring utility spaces in the upgraded buildings. In 2022–2023, PSPC completed the conversion of the Parliamentary Precinct buildings to receive low temperature hot water.

Greening of the Centre Block

The Centre Block’s ongoing rehabilitation will transition the building from one of the highest emitters of greenhouse gas to being carbon neutral. Key design strategies to get to net zero operational carbon include waste heat recovery and geo-exchange.

Drilling a geo-exchange field of vertical boreholes began this year under the Parliament Welcome Centre. As the ground maintains a relatively stable temperature throughout the year, the boreholes act as a seasonal storage medium, similar to how a battery stores electricity. Heat captured in the ground during the summer can be drawn upon to warm the building in winter. This, combined with state-of-the art building systems, will result in reduced energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions than those associated with traditional heating and cooling.

In 2022 to 2023, the design team also advanced its strategies on how to reduce the embodied carbon associated with construction materials. The manufacturing of steel and concrete are two of the largest contributors of global greenhouse gas emissions. The design of the Centre Block and Parliament Welcome Centre incorporates ways to minimize the emissions associated with the manufacturing of these construction materials. The Centre Block rehabilitation is one of the early federal major capital projects to specify the procurement of low-carbon concrete, as part of a pilot project to support the new Treasury Board Standard on Embodied Carbon in Construction that came into effect December 31st, 2022. The design team also determined during the year that 200 metric tons of structural steel recovered from demolition could be repurposed within the Centre Block rehabilitation, and another 200 metric tons could be repurposed on other projects within the Parliamentary Precinct. This reuse of steel is salvaging the equivalent of 1250 tonnes of carbon emissions from the existing steel, in addition to reducing embodied carbon from new steel by approximately 120 tonnes.

Adaptation to climate change

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) continued innovative work to increase the climate resilience of the buildings within the Parliamentary Precinct, while preserving their important heritage character. Of note, the department, in partnership with the National Research Council, published a Best Practice Guide to mitigate the risk of freeze-thaw damage when insulating heritage mass masonry buildings from the interior. In 2022 to 2023, PSPC shared the guide with other government departments and industry professionals so that they can benefit from the research findings.