City council ramping up reaction to climate change

More floods and ice storms possible as winters get warmer

With Edmonton’s winters now averaging 4.5 C warmer than they were 100 years ago, the city is wrestling with how to protect against the possibility of more ice storms and floods.

Council members also debated Tuesday how to get its roughly 900 buildings to net-zero faster — generating as much energy as they use.

That could include extensive renovations on up to a half-dozen existing buildings, pushing Edmonton’s capacity and creating signature demonstration projects within the next budget cycle.

“These are clean technology jobs,” said Mayor Don Iveson, proposing a plan to see a library, firehall, bus barn or examples of other types of buildings included in the new project.

He is planning on introducing the idea as a motion at council next Tuesday.

In 2012, council made a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 50 per cent by 2020.

But with many new city buildings coming online, the city’s emissions actually increased by 19 per cent instead.

Council argued greater efficiency would save money and commit the city to do its part to limit humancaused climate change.

The city’s climate numbers come from Environment Canada.

Besides warmer winters, city officials also found yearly average temperatures increased by 2.4 C over the last 100 years.

Each year, there are now 38 fewer days with a minimum temperature below freezing.

That means fewer blizzards and extreme cold day events, but more heavy rain, floods in the river, flash floods in neighbourhoods, heavy snow, fire, heat waves and drought, said Chandra Tomaras, senior environmental project manager.

“Edmonton’s climate has already changed,” said Tomaras, whose team is working next to model the new hazards Edmonton faces and ways to mitigate the damage.

David Dodge, head of the city’s community advisory board overseeing the efficiency and renewable-energy strategy, said the city should set more aggressive targets.

It should also be more flexible to take advantage of the $566 million available from the province in the next couple years.

The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre will give matching grants to upgrade boilers and replace windows, for example.

The municipal solar program will help fund new solar installations. Other programs are aimed at reducing citizen’s energy needs.

“This two-year period is a golden opportunity,” said Dodge, who is also chairperson of the board for Energy Efficiency Alberta. “The iron is hot right now.” City officials presented a new building policy Tuesday which would commit Edmonton to put at least one per cent of each project’s capital budget into on-site energy generation such as solar panels.

They’re also recommending Edmonton build to a standard that’s 40 per cent better than the existing building code, and review that

commitment every two years. Windermere Fire Station was

already built to be net-zero.

Officials plan to report back on the most cost-effective upgrades to existing buildings in early 2018.

Coun. Ben Henderson criticized the work as only “opportunistic.”

It’s focused on doing better where upgrades are already planned, rather than looking at where the biggest reduction in carbon emissions can be achieved.

“As good as this work is, it doesn’t get us (to our targets),” Henderson said, adding this work will become more urgent as the price on carbon increases. “That’s the hard conversation we have to have with ourselves.”

Edmonton’s energy goals also involve the community, aiming to help residents reduce their energy needs. This fall, Edmonton will launch its education and marketing part of the strategy, rolling out a series of advertisements and other messages to help people know what first steps they should consider.

In June, Edmonton is launching a home-labelling program so people selling their homes can show the value of their energy upgrades to buyers.

“The intention is to link it into the real estate process ... much like a walk score is pulled in right now,” said Mike Mellross, project manager. Each home rating would be public information, and the process of rating a home would also help homeowners know how they could improve.

It will be useful for sellers, too, said Coun. Michael Walters.

They’ll know “this is what the house is going to cost them for real before they make a purchase decision.”