This text is part of the special Energies section
Last year, the City of Montreal adopted a roadmap for the decarbonization of buildings located on its territory. It aims to achieve zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040.
Commercial, residential and institutional buildings constitute a sector with high potential for GHG reduction. In the Montreal agglomeration, they represent a little more than a quarter of the emissions of these harmful gases. In 2019, they also generated 10% of emissions for all of Quebec. Commercial and institutional buildings, which account for 4.1% of all Montreal buildings, produce 57% of GHGs.
To tackle this problem, the City of Montreal presented a roadmap in November 2022 which aims to accelerate the decarbonization of buildings located on its territory by 2040. This is part of the carbon neutrality target of 2050 set out in its 2020-2030 Climate Plan. Montreal unveiled this new objective at the Montreal Climate Summit in 2022. Other cities, such as Toronto, Vancouver, London and Oslo, are also rushing to reduce their GHG emissions.
New regulations
The roadmap provides that all buildings will have to declare their heating appliances that run on a fossil fuel, such as oil or gas, whereas currently only solid fuel heating appliances, such as wood, are subject to this rule.
The tall buildings of 2000 m2 and more will also have to respect certain specific obligations. They will have to display their GHG emissions performance at each of their entrance doors, using a rating system ranging from A (zero emissions) to F. These buildings will also have to gradually reduce their emissions until they are completely eliminated.
New buildings will have to have zero-emission operations immediately. Fossil-fuelled heating appliances will no longer be permitted.
The City of Montreal held a consultation on this roadmap in the fall of 2022, which led to the presentation of 25 recommendations by the Commission on water, the environment, sustainable development and large parks.
A holistic view of the building
The City has therefore taken a good step forward, but it would do well to go even further, according to Denis Leclerc, technical advisor and former CEO of Écotech Québec. “We shouldn’t just focus on GHG emissions from building energy,” he says. There are several other facets to consider, such as the use of water, energy efficiency, the use of innovative materials, etc. »
It is with this in mind that Écotech presented its brief last May during the consultation of the City of Montreal on the subject of a new roadmap, which this time concerns the circular economy. Isabelle Dubé-Côté, the new CEO of Écotech Québec, insists on the importance of discovering the possibilities offered by clean technologies to achieve the goal of a zero-emission building. “We can miss several opportunities if we have too limited a vision of a zero-emission building or if we don’t know the solutions that exist,” she explains.
She cites, for example, Bone Structure, a Laval company that combines a steel structure and high-performance insulation to build homes that are scalable and ready for Net Zero energy consumption. Or CarbiCrete, whose technology developed at McGill University makes it possible to replace cement with steel slag in the manufacture of concrete. This innovative material also has the advantage of capturing carbon, since CO is injected into it.2 to promote hardening of the concrete.
Technological showcase
In its brief, Écotech proposes to collaborate even more with the City to give it access to its network, particularly internationally. Écotech is already working with Montreal on networking opportunities such as the Grands Rendez-Vous, an approach aimed at generating business opportunities between clean technology innovators and companies or organizations wishing to solve a problem, while reducing their impact on the climate and the environment — and INNO+ Montréal —, a formula that allows a company or organization to launch a call for innovation in order to meet environmental or energy challenges.
“The City must become a showcase for innovative clean technologies”, argues Mme Dube-Cote. The organization therefore wants Montreal to set an example by testing and adopting innovative solutions within its own departments and by requiring that the companies it finances rely more on these solutions.
“It’s a role it hasn’t played much in the circular economy until now, but we feel an opening to move in this direction, believes Denis Leclerc. This is important, because it is really on the side of the circular economy that we will see the greatest evolution in the next few years. »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.