This text is part of the special section Municipalities
“It’s progressing faster than we thought!” » When it comes to environmental protection, declarations of this type are rather rare. However, the general director of the Vivre en ville organization, Christian Savard, has reason to rejoice, because the transition to decarbonized buildings is progressing at full speed.
In Quebec, 9.6% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from buildings. One of the main culprits: gas and oil heating – the latter alone being responsible for a quarter of the sector’s emissions.
Despite Quebec’s climate ambitions, hundreds of new buildings across the province continue to be equipped with polluting systems. Once installed, they have a lifespan of at least 15 years. Replacing them subsequently with greener equipment is sometimes a very complex task.
Prevost pioneer
Driven by this observation, the mayor of Prévost, Paul Germain, decided to act. The municipality adopted an ambitious regulation on decarbonization last year, banning the use of gas in new residential and institutional construction from the end of 2023.
In a twist, Énergir announced a few weeks later that it wanted to take Prévost to court, accusing him of “ [restreindre] the choice of its citizens” by not authorizing the use of renewable natural gas (RNG). The lawsuit was ultimately abandoned after Prévost amended its regulations to explicitly allow GNR. The government of Quebec confirmed this progress by adopting a Law on the environmental performance of buildings.
The episode, which cast a chill on initiatives of this kind across the province, now seems to have been classified in the past, observes Christian Savard. “Prévost has shown that the municipal world can make things happen. It raised awareness of the issue, which was not on many people’s radar. » Today, regulations of this type are multiplying, including at the level of the Metropolitan Community of Montreal. On April 25, the latter adopted a regulation aimed at regulating GHG emissions associated with the heating of new residential, commercial and institutional construction in Greater Montreal. “With this regulation, we affect half of the Quebec population and Quebec buildings! » rejoices the director.
Carrot, stick, education
What was the magic recipe behind this success? For the mayor of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Marc-André Guertin, municipal authorities have their role to play in convincing the population to follow suit. His city has also adopted a decarbonization regulation at the end of 2023. “We must set an example,” he says. We have to say “yes” when someone asks us if we do it.” How can we justify regulations to citizens if the city is not even capable of implementing them? In fact, Mont-Saint-Hilaire decarbonized a municipal building at the beginning of the year, and four others are in its sights.
Educating stakeholders is also essential, believes Anik Des Marais, municipal councilor in Gatineau, who organized a panel on the energy transition to popularize the issue among her colleagues. “After that, everyone agreed that we suffer from energy obesity,” she rejoices. The elected official was therefore able to persuade her peers to give municipal services the mandate to develop regulations to require the use of a 100% renewable energy source for new residential construction.
In Montreal, Vivre en ville has chosen to create alliances with those primarily concerned. “We have given ourselves the mission of convincing the industry: the major developers and builders. I had them sign a memorandum in which they declared that they were in favor of the regulations. » The door was thus wide open for the metropolis, which, last December, adopted a roadmap for the decarbonization of buildings by 2040.
The work is far from finished to become carbon neutral across the province by 2050. “There, we will have to tackle the most difficult part,” concedes Christian Savard, referring to the decarbonization of buildings already constructed . A range of solutions, from financial incentives to regulations, will need to be deployed to achieve this. But there is no question for the general manager to stop there.
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