City of Ottawa installing energy efficient heat pumps, LED lights at some city facilities

Ottawa City Hall is seen in this undated file photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

The City of Ottawa will be adding energy efficient retrofits to several city operated facilities this year, a change the city says will reduce emissions and lower operating costs.

According to a memo delivered to the Environment and Climate Change Committee in May, the city is investing $2.85 million to install 57 heat pumps and undertake 26 new lighting projects at city facilities.

As part of the initiative, the Ottawa Public Library’s Carling location will receive new LED lighting and four hybrid heat pumps, upgrades Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says will make the library efficient and comfortable.

“They improve how our buildings operate, reduce emissions, and lower costs so more resources can go back into services for residents,” Sutcliffe said in a statement.

“This is about investing in improvements that make a difference in people’s daily lives.”

The retrofits at the Carling library are expected to reduce annual emissions by 31 tonnes of CO2.

The city has other retrofits in the works, including the installation of rooftop solar panels at City Hall, Charles Sim Municipal Workshop Complex and the Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex – Orléans.

The Cardel Recreation Centre’s natural gas dehumidifier will be replaced with an electric desiccant dehumidifier, which the city says will reduce CO2 emissions by 27 tonnes annually.

Fire Station 23 on Carling Avenue will receive new windows, bringing CO2 emissions down by 12 tonnes annually.

Carleton Lodge Long-Term Care Facility will replace its old Building Automation System with a digital system that will “allow the building to be controlled with more efficiency” and reduce CO2 emissions by 81 tonnes annually.

City staff are also working to develop a retrofit strategy which will be presented to council in 2027.

“I look forward to reviewing that strategy next year and continuing to support next steps in moving our buildings towards net zero,” Coun. Shawn Menard, chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, said in a statement. “These retrofit upgrades at the Carlingwood library are another exciting step toward these goals.”

City facility emissions

According to city staff, in this term of council, which began in November 2022, the City of Ottawa completed 89 LED upgrades and three high-efficiency window upgrades. Additionally, the city installed 117 heat pump and three electric boilers.

The city also completed a recalibration of the automation and HVAC systems at the Richcraft Recreation Complex – Kanata.

“The above noted projects are estimated to reduce operating costs by approximately $300,000/year and reduce GHG emissions by approximately 1,200 tonnes/year (or the equivalent of taking 280 cars off the road annually),” staff wrote.

According to the city’s greenhouse gas emissions dashboard, emissions from city facilities increased over a five-year period leading up to 2024 due to “a “substantial rise in the electricity grid emission factor.” However, emissions from city facilities fell from 62,000 equivalent tonnes of CO2 emitted in 2012 to 53,000 equivalent tonnes of CO2 emitted in 2024.

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