Just two months after the Tantramar Climate Change Advisory Committee recommended that council tackle its biggest greenhouse gas emitting facility with a net zero plan, Active Living and Culture director Matt Pryde says planning is underway.
Pryde told Tantramar council on Monday that, “as requested by the Climate Change Advisory Committee, work has started on developing a net zero plan for the Civic Center.”
Net zero typically means reducing energy use as much as possible and then offsetting what remains through energy production. The Climate Change Advisory Committee had originally suggested using some of its own budget to create a plan to move the Civic Centre toward net zero. But on Monday, Pryde said, “with the help of Community and Corporate Services, we are partnering with the Canadian Urban Institute to have the plan developed free of charge.” Community and Corporate Services is another Tantramar department, headed up by newly hired director Jeff Taylor.
“This could potentially allow us to use some of the advisory committee’s budget to begin implementing the plan,” Pryde told council.
Net zero efforts at The Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre will likely end up saving the municipality in operational costs. An energy audit in 2024 showed that 12 months of NB Power bills cost the municipality more than $166,000, including HST.
The audit found that the municipality could save nearly $29,000 per year in expenses, and prevent 55 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions each year, but it would need to spend about $240,000 up front on fixes.
