Greening Government Fund: Projects announced in February 2024

The Government of Canada is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and delivering a low-carbon, climate-resilient and clean growth economy.

Through the Greening Government Fund (GGF), the Government of Canada provides funding for projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs) within federal government operations.

The GGF, created in 2019, is one component of the Greening Government Strategy, which outlines targets to reduce GHG emissions from federal operations and a broader scope for greening actions. Since its inception in 2019, the GGF has invested more than $55 million in funding to support 77 projects in 18 departments and agencies to help reduce GHG emissions in their operations.

Projects

1.    Decarbonizing Research and Development Service Contracts

This $100,000 GGF-funded project, located at the CSA, will begin on April 1, 2024. The objective is to obtain more precise data on the environmental impacts of space projects. It involves performing a life cycle assessment on a space project to identify opportunities to reduce embodied carbon. The project will provide recommendations for reducing the environmental impacts and Scope 3* emissions associated with CSA space-related Research and Development contracts.

*Scope 3 refers to GHG emissions that are indirectly resulting from an organization’s operations. For example, GHGs generated through employee work-related air travel, and those released during the extraction, processing, manufacturing, and distribution of a good or the delivery of a service, are considered Scope 3.

Facts

• The CSA has consulted the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to leverage their expertise for this project. A specific project for Life Cycle Analysis will be identified with the consultant once call of tenders is completed.
• CSA will use the project to help and encourage Canada’s space industry to make the transition to low-emissions operations.
• The project also aims to facilitate collaboration, transparency and communication with suppliers to raise awareness about the Standard on Disclosure of Information Relating to Greenhouse Gas Emissions and support their compliance for contracts worth more than $25 million.

2.    Ground Source Heat Pumps for Space Heating in Arctic and Sub-Arctic Buildings

With $1.225 million being invested from the GGF, this $1.775-million project, located in Varennes, Quebec and co-led by Natural Resources Canada and the Department of National Defence, will begin in April 2024 and continue for three years. The goal is to install and test a ground source heat pump (GSHP) system in a federal building in the Arctic. The project targets GHG emissions reductions in Arctic and sub-Arctic (north of 60°) federal buildings. Accompanying feasibility studies will be used to develop a design guide and pre-feasibility assessment tool for estimating energy savings under different climatic conditions.

Facts

• The main focus of this project is to reduce GHG emissions for space heating in buildings. This could in turn support the local energy management with grid flexibility given the potential seasonal energy storage offered by clean energy solutions.
• Given the limited uptake of GSHPs and Sea Water Heat Pumps in the North, techno-economic feasibility studies will be done to identify suitable sizing and design strategies in all 3 Northern Territories to achieve GHG emissions reductions using various kinds of heat pumps.
• Feasibility studies will be conducted on predominant building types and typical heating systems (air based, hydronic based) to provide recommendations on suitable systems for the over 1,500 federal buildings north of 60°.
• Funding this project will directly address key barriers in the current market and support the increased adoption of clean energy solutions in the North.

3.    Advanced Control Strategies for the Canadian Space Agency’s Space Centre

This project received $545,000 from the GGF in 2020 to optimize heating, ventilation, and air conditioning control systems at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec. Led by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the project aimed to reduce energy consumption and costs, peak electrical loads, natural gas usage and GHG emissions. The project achieved the intended GHG emission reduction objective, contributing to reducing total GHG emission from real property operations by 33%, when compared to the operation prior to the start of the project in 2020.

Facts

• As the CSA building is heated using natural gas and electricity, the objective was to reduce GHG emissions associated with natural gas heating.
• Improved controls were adopted in the building to maximize the use of the electric boilers, leading to a 55% reduction in natural gas used for heating.
• The strategies developed by NRCan intend to maximize the use of the electric boilers and thus reduce the use of natural gas. By raising the building peak power limit, electric heating was further increased, resulting in a total reduction of 79% in GHG emissions associated with natural gas consumption for space heating, while maintaining the thermal comfort of the building and without raising utility costs.