British Columbia: Making Progress on Sustainable Energy Community Development

QUEST RELEASES BC PROGRESS REPORT ON INTEGRATED COMMUNITY ENERGY SOLUTIONS.

VICTORIA, Aug. 7, 2013 /CNW/ - QUEST - Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow - today released the 'Integrated Community Energy Solutions Progress Report for the Province of British Columbia' containing a snapshot of integrated community energy solutions (ICES) progress in the province.

The report highlights British Columbia's rapid progress on ICES, which has been driven largely by the climate action commitments of the Province and local governments with support from utilities that are taking an increasingly integrated approach to energy.

"Smart energy communities are being successfully built all across Canada with many leading edge examples coming out of British Columbia," said Michael Harcourt, Former Premier of British Columbia and Chair of QUEST. "The report will help QUEST inspire other community builders to think 'smart' about energy in their own communities" continued Harcourt.

ICES are all about creating smart energy communities by linking energy with land use, buildings, transportation, waste, water and related community infrastructure.

The report specifies a number of integrated energy solutions currently implemented in BC, including more than 30 district energy systems and over 500 electric vehicle charging stations. Other examples include the City of Vancouver's sewage heat capture system, which turns waste sewage heat into space and water heating; the T'sou-ke First Nation's solar initiative which uses solar energy to meet hot water and electricity needs; and the Regional District of Nanaimo's Landfill-Gas-to-Electricity facility which converts the gas released by the landfill into electricity; as well as a range of other initiatives that improve energy efficiency at the community level in BC.

"The BC ICES progress report supports the Province's reporting requirements to Natural Resources Canada arising from the 2009 endorsement of the "Integrated Community Energy Solutions: A Roadmap for Action"," said Victoria Smith, Chair of the QUEST British Columbia Caucus. "This is our first progress report. It provides a baseline for which we can measure future success" continued Smith.

The full report is available at: www.questcanada.org/caucus/bc

QUEST - Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow - is a national non-profit organization supported by a collaborative network of partners that undertakes research, policy analysis, outreach, and capacity building to advance smart energy communities in Canada.

SOURCE: QUEST - Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow

Tonja Leach - Director, Communications & Engagement
Tel: [phone] ext. 323   Email: [email protected]