The Sierra Club Canada Foundation is calling for an overhaul of 24 Sussex that would make the prime minister’s traditional home “the world’s most energy-smart official residence.”
Calling it an “audacious plan," the environmental charity is proposing that the prime minister’s official residence undergo a “net-zero” heritage retrofit, which would allow the crumbling home to produce as much energy as it consumes.
“This is the time to do it,” Sierra Club Canada’s interim executive director Diane Beckett told CTV News Channel on Thursday.
Beckett, who outlined the proposal on the foundation’s website, said renovations could include everything from triple-glazed windows to keep the heat in, to geothermal heating and “discreet” solar panels.
The residence is in need of an estimated $10 million worth of repairs, after Auditor General Shelia Fraser listed a number of “urgent” issues with the home in 2008, including the presence of asbestos.
Prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau is delaying moving his family into 24 Sussex “until further notice.” The Trudeaus will instead live at the Rideau Cottage, a two-storey home across the street.
Beckett said Thursday that committing to a green retrofit of 24 Sussex could be a powerful symbol as Trudeau prepares to attend the United Nations climate change conference in Paris next month.
She said Trudeau has signalled that he wants Canada to take on a bigger role in international discussions about climate change.
“If we announce that we’re going to make 24 Sussex, our prime minister’s official residence, the greenest, most energy-efficient official residence in the world, I think we would show the world that we were back,” she said.
Beckett said she toured 24 Sussex when Jean Chretien was prime minister and thought the home looked more like a rundown cottage than an official residence.
“It was appalling back then,” she told News Channel. “There was a cheap patio door with cheap plastic sheeting covering it to stop the draft.”
Chretien himself has complained about the lack of proper insulation and air conditioning in the home, saying that the state of 24 Sussex makes Canada look like “a bunch of cheap guys.”
Beckett said that making the residence energy-efficient would also reduce operating costs in the long run.
“It could be a real showcase. It could be a beautiful, beautiful home.”
Chris Wiebe, the manager of heritage policy at the National Trust of Canada, said he believes 24 Sussex was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair because of “a matter of setting priorities at the political level rather than at the administrative level.”
He said he doesn’t agree with those who are calling for the home to be torn down.
“It would be unfortunate,” Wiebe said, noting 24 Sussex’s “incredible history.”
He said there are plenty of heritage renovation experts in Canada who could properly restore the home.
The recent focus on 24 Sussex highlights the need for heritage legislation at the federal level, Wiebe said.
Even though 24 Sussex is listed as a heritage building by the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, “there’s nothing stopping anyone from actually demolishing the building,” he said.
Sierra Club Canada Foundation is urging Canadians who support the idea of an energy-efficient facelift for 24 Sussex to send Trudeau an email.
