City looks to be more green
$160,000 worth of retrofits proposed to make Yellowknife more environmentally friendly
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Friday, March 21, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Solar panels are just one of the ways the city could reduce its carbon foot-print in the future, according to a new proposal by administration.
The city is considering spending $160,000 to expand its community energy plan in 2014. If approved by council, $20,000 of that funding would go toward putting solar panels on the roof of the city's bailing facility. - NNSL file photo |
During a Monday committee meeting, Carl Bird, director of corporate services for the city, unveiled five new alternative energy retrofits and improvements which would allow the city to improve on the success of its community energy plan.
Since it was approved in 2006, the city has reduced its annual operating costs by approximately $500,000 while cutting its reliance on greenhouse gases by more than 24 per cent through investing in energy efficient retrofits, such as wood pellet boilers and the heat-recovery system at the Multiplex.
Although the $160,000 worth of projects currently being proposed may not have the overall impact that previous retrofits have, Bird said the city has to rely on smaller investments to make an impact in the future.
"We're running out of places that we can put wood pellet boilers that are big enough that we reduce costs and cut greenhouse gasses," said Bird during the meeting.
That does not mean the city cannot still achieve significant savings on its investments.
Two of the projects - two thermal buffer tanks that will improve the efficiency and lifespan of the city's wood pellet boilers and a water filtration systems for making ice at the city's rinks - which come with price tags of $40,000 and $30,000 respectively, are expected to provide enough reduction in energy costs that the investments would be paid back within one year.
In subsequent years, those investments are expected to save the city between $70,000 and $100,000 annually in energy costs.
The expansion of LED lighting, into which the city has already invested significantly, is expected to be paid back over seven and a half years.
At an expected rate of return of six per cent annually, the one project not expected to achieve significant savings in the short term is a proposed $20,000 for solar panels to power the city's bailing facility.
Despite the low return on investment, Bird said the city could be eligible for $10,000 worth of funding from the GNWT for installing solar panels at the facility.
Installing the panels would allow the city to gain knowledge about solar power and its potential use in the North, he added.
Bird said the solar panels could eventually be used to offset the rising cost of power rates on a larger scale in the future, especially since the cost of solar panels has gone down by 93 per cent in the last 10 years.
All five councillors in attendance at Monday's meeting were in support of going ahead with the current recommendations, with Coun. Dan Wong calling them a "slam dunk."
If approved at a future council meeting, the retrofits would be paid for with $55,000 worth of funding from the 2014 budget and another $105,000 from the community energy fund, which currently has a balance of $458,000.
The city can also apply for a total of $60,000 worth of additional funding to pay for the retrofits, including $10,000 to go toward the purchasing of the solar panels.
