Potential Energy and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies
Included below are:
1. A list of the potential energy and greenhouse gas reduction strategy areas that will be evaluated.
2. A detailed description of each of the strategy areas.
3. A list of the objectives that will be used to assess the different energy and greenhouse gas reduction strategies.
1. Potential Energy and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies
Energy and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy Areas
Buildings
Residential Retrofits (Ground Oriented and Apartments)
Commercial Retrofits
Residential New Construction (Ground Oriented and Apartments)
Commercial New Construction
Transportation
Transportation Demand Management
Transit System Improvements
Vehicle Electrification
Transportation Behaviour
District Energy and Renewables
District Energy Zones
Air Source Heat Pumps
Geoexchange
Biomass Furnaces
Solar Thermal
Waste Heat Capture
Sewer Heat
Waste To Energy
Biomass
Geoexchange
Other
Urban Forest
Offsets
Solid Waste Reduction
2. Description of Each Potential Strategy Area
Buildings
In the City of Victoria, commercial and residential buildings account for 51% of community greenhouse gas
emissions (2007).
Retrofits
Because the City of Victoria is almost fully developed, there may be less new construction than in other areas
of British Columbia. With fewer opportunities for energy efficient new construction, the City's existing building
stock must be considered.
While only 23% of Victoria households live in single family homes and townhouses, the energy use of these
households can be as much as two times that of households in multi-family buildings, depending on unit size
and building design.
Many of Victoria's existing buildings are inefficient in their energy use. As existing buildings are replaced, new,
more energy efficient buildings take their place; however, this replacement is a gradual process with a
consequently gradual impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
To further reduce greenhouse gas emissions coming from buildings, the City’s existing building stock should
be retrofit to use less energy through better insulation and air-sealing, more efficient building equipment and
the use of renewable energy when possible.

Ground Oriented Residential: Ground-oriented residential buildings are homes with entrances on
the ground floor, opening directly to the outside. Ground-oriented residential building types include
detached and semi-detached homes, duplexes and rowhouses.
Energy audits conducted by Natural Resources Canada provide examples of home retrofit projects in
the Capital Regional District that have reduced energy use between 20% and 80%.

Apartment: Nearly 80% of households live in multi-family buildings. Emissions from buildings come
from burning fossil fuels to provide energy for heating and cooling, delivering hot water, and providing
other building services.
Multi-family apartment residential buildings are typically two or more storeys with multiple homes
contained within a single building. In the City of Victoria, 77% of households live in multi-family
apartment buildings. These buildings include both rented and owned apartments, as well as
condominiums.
Retrofits to multi-family residential buildings can significantly reduce the energy use in these buildings.
Implementing retrofits in multi-family apartment buildings can be a challenge, especially when dealing
with multiple owners, as in the case of condominiums, or in rental units when energy savings benefit
renters, rather than the building owners.

Commercial Buildings: In the City of Victoria, buildings account for 51% of community greenhouse
gas emissions (2007) and commercial buildings alone account for 29% of total community
greenhouse gas emissions.
Commercial buildings are buildings used for commercial uses such as shops, offices, warehouses,
restaurants and hotels. Larger commercial buildings may combine several of these uses into one
building.
Retrofits to commercial buildings can reduce energy use significantly. Implementing retrofits in
commercial buildings can be a challenge, especially when dealing with multiple tenants or owners, or
in leased units when energy savings benefit tenants, rather than the building owners.
New Construction Standards
New construction is an important consideration in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy
consumption, as buildings built today will impact the City’s greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come.
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions coming from buildings, it is important to construct new buildings to use
less energy. Building energy consumption can be reduced through passive design strategies, better insulation
and air sealing, more efficient building equipment and the use of renewable energy when possible.
The Province of British Columbia’s Building Code regulates how our buildings are built, including their energy
efficiency. Beginning in 2012, the energy efficiency requirements in the BC Building Code will be increased to
an equivalent of Energuide 80 for residential buildings, and to ASHRAE 90.1 (2007) for commercial buildings.

Ground-Oriented: Through 2040, 17% of new residential units in Victoria are projected to be single
family, with the remainder anticipated to by multi-family.
Ground-oriented residential buildings are homes with entrances on the ground floor, opening directly
to the outside. Ground-oriented residential building types include detached and semi-detached
homes, duplexes and rowhouses.
New ground-oriented residential buildings built to the 2012 Code will use approximately 40% less
energy than the average existing home in Victoria today. With current construction and renewable
energy knowledge, it is possible to build homes that produce as much energy as they consume.
Achieving energy efficiency beyond the 2012 Code in new ground-oriented buildings may be a
challenge because local governments are limited in their ability to require better building performance
than mandated by the BC Building Code.

Apartment: Multi-family apartment residential buildings are typically two or more storeys with multiple
homes contained within a single building. These buildings include both rented and owned apartments,
as well as condominiums. Through 2040, it is anticipated that 83% of new residential units in Victoria
will be multi-family.
Achieving energy efficiency beyond the 2012 Code in new multi-family apartment buildings may be a
challenge when energy savings benefit residents rather than building developers. Local governments
are also limited in their abilities to require better building performance than mandated by the BC
Building Code.

Commercial Building: New commercial buildings built to the 2012 Code will use approximately 20%
less energy than the average existing commercial building in Victoria today. It should be noted,
however, that building energy consumption in commercial buildings varies widely depending on the
specific commercial use. For example, food retail will use significantly more energy than general office
uses.
Achieving energy efficiency beyond the 2012 Code in new commercial buildings may be a challenge
when energy savings benefit tenants rather than building developers. Local governments are also
limited in their abilities to require better building performance than mandated by the BC Building Code.
Transportation
Emissions from transportation account for 44% of Victoria's total emissions.
Transportation Demand Management
Transportation Demand management is a catch-phrase for a series of policies that are designed to encourage
people to drive less, thereby reducing congestion and greenhouse gases. Traditionally, their focus has been
on reducing congestion effects, but they can also be effective in reducing the total amount of vehicle
kilometres travelled and thereby reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Transit Improvements
Improving the supply of transit can encourage residents to drive less. Nearly 13% of Victorians use transit to
commute to work (2006 census). However, while improved transit can have a substantial impact on peak
hour, peak route congestion, its overall impact on greenhouse gases can be small, as many personal trips are
still made using the private automobile.
Behavioural Change
Over three-quarters of Victoria residents live within 5 km of their jobs, with approximately half (47%)
commuting to work by private vehicle (2006 census). For all trips (including work, personal, recreation, etc.),
private vehicles are the dominant form of transportation. The mode split for all travel during a 24 hour period
was 67.2% private vehicle, 9.6% transit, and 23.2% walk/bike. While current behaviour models indicate
relatively minor reductions in vehicle kilometers travelled (VKTs) from proposed transit improvements, the
models are calibrated to recent experience in other North American cities. Cultural changes towards walking
or biking could have a significant impact on greenhouse gases at very low cost. Attaining significant additional
mode shifts, however, has been difficult, and may be even more difficult given the City of Victoria’s aging
population. Mode shift behavioural changes modeled in this strategy are in addition to predicted shifts from
transit improvements.
Vehicle Electrification
Increasing the percentage of cars that are powered solely by electricity can have a significant impact on
greenhouse gas emissions. As electricity in British Columbia is currently generated from low carbon sources,
it may make sense to encourage the electrification of vehicles.
However, increasing demand for electricity may require BC Hydro to seek less carbon-friendly energy
sources, and could ultimately be counter productive if electrical demand from vehicles were to rise
substantially across B.C.
District Energy and Renewables
District energy is not a single energy generation technology. Instead, it is any local energy network that
connects an energy supplier to multiple consumers. Typically, a district energy system consists of a central
plant where energy is generated and a network of insulated, underground pipes that deliver energy in the form
of hot water or steam to multiple buildings requiring space heating and/or hot water services. Supplying heat
and hot water to multiple buildings, developments, and entire neighbourhoods increases efficiency and
reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Distribution System
Buildings that connect to district energy typically use hydronic pipe systems to circulate water through the
building to provide heating, and sometimes cooling. Each building must also have an energy transfer station
with heat exchangers or heat pumps to ensure the water is delivered the consumer at the desired
temperature.
To be efficient and cost-effective, district energy systems should be located in areas that have a higher
density of development, such as townhomes, apartments, and office buildings. District energy systems also
work best in areas with many different uses, for example shops, offices and residences, so that a more
consistent amount of energy is being used throughout the day. To achieve a decrease in community energy
and emissions, these district energy systems should be supplied in whole or in part by a renewable energy
source. A distributed network in and of itself does not ensure greater efficiencies will be achieved above a
standalone system.
Renewable Energy Sources
The main benefit of district energy is that these systems can use multiple energy sources to produce the
steam or hot water that is transported to buildings - even within a single system. While most systems use at
least some natural gas, the water in these systems can also be heated by other lower carbon energy sources
including biomass, municipal waste, geothermal and solar energy, and by capturing waste heat from buildings,
sewer systems, or industrial processes. To ensure heating demands are consistently met and most cost
effective, a district energy system employing these low carbon energy sources will use them to meet building
base load demands, and supplement the system with natural gas to serve peak loads and provide backup
heating.
Other
Solid Waste
Emissions from solid waste account for 5% of Victoria’s total emissions (2007).
Nearly 65,000 tonnes of solid waste from Victoria’s residents and businesses end up at Hartland Landfill
annually. Organic solid waste produces methane and other greenhouse gases as it decomposes in the
landfill. Increasing the amount of material that is diverted from the landfill via recycling, composting or other
reduction strategies reduces the amount of greenhouse gases emitted.

Solid Waste Diversion: Currently, the Capital Regional District diverts approximately 40% of its solid
waste through recycling and other programs. It has set a target of 60% diversion rate by 2012 and
85% diversion rate by 2020 (CRD Regional Sustainability Strategy). The City of Victoria is introducing
organic waste collection to its garbage collection service beginning in 2013. Approximately 30% of the
waste to landfill in Victoria is organic. In addition, the Hartland Landfill captures and combusts
approximately 48% of the landfill gas created to generate 1.6MW of electricity.
Purchasing Offsets
If the City is unable, or cannot afford to reduce greenhouse gas emissions locally, offsets can be purchased
from organizations that certify that they (their partners or agents) are reducing emissions elsewhere by a
specified amount. Offsets do not themselves prevent emissions within the community from being released to
the atmosphere, but do provide opportunities to fund strategies that mitigate or sequester greenhouse gas
emissions, thereby compensating for, or “offsetting,” emissions in the community.
Urban Forest
As part of their normal growth, trees capture and store carbon over their lifespan. By increasing the number of
trees on public land, one can increase the amount of carbon captured by the urban forest.
3. Objectives that will be used to rate potential strategies
Objectives
Measure
Quantitative Measures
Reduce community GHG emissions
Community-wide total GHG reduction (tonnes of C02 / Year)
Reduce cost of implementation
Cost per tonne of GHG reduction
Increase building energy efficiency
Energy intensity of existing residential buildings (kWh / occupant /
year)*
Energy intensity of new residential buildings (kWh / occupant /
year)*
Energy intensity of existing commercial buildings (kWh / sq. m /
year)*
Energy intensity of new commercial buildings (kWh / sq. m /
year)*
Reduce waste
Tonnes of waste reduced
Reduce high GHG transportation modes
Mode split (private vehicle, transit, walking, cycling)
Average trip length
% of vehicles in community fueled or partly fueled using
renewable energy resources
Objectives
Measure
Qualitative Measures
Make best use of public involvement in
Implementation
Is strategy amenable to public participation?
Flexibility of Strategy
Is strategy flexible in the face of changing technologies,
demographics, and economics?
Ease of implementation
Do existing plans, policies, legislation or regulations support the
strategy?
Does the strategy implementation require significant City staff
resources?
Risk/Uncertainty of implementation
Are there specific risks that could result in this strategy not being
realized?
Work through partnerships where possible
Does local government have exclusive/shared/no influence or
jurisdiction to implement strategy?
If partnerships are required, do effective partnerships exist?
Are potential partners readily identifiable, are they few or
numerous, are they likely to be motivated to participate?
Is there an opportunity to collaborate?
Maximize synergistic effects
Minimize trade-offs
Does the strategy deliver other benefits?
For example:
- climate adaptation measures
- ecological
- liveability and wellbeing (social)
- economic vitality (economic)
- etc.
Does the strategy or action conflict with other environmental,
social or economic objectives and strategies?