The city of Coquitlam is on track to achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions generated by municipal operations by 30% by the 2015 deadline.
Jozsef Dioszeghy, the city's general manager of engineering and public works, said last year's introduction of the Thermenex energy system was the last step in obtaining the reduction.
"By the end of 2014, we were at 23% reduction, with 415 tonnes remaining to achieve our goal by the end of 2015," he said in an email to The Tri-City News. "The Thermenex district energy system implemented in the civic building campus in late 2014 is expected to reduce our GHG emission by 500 tonnes."
The municipality signed on to the Provincial Action Charter in 2007, pledging to become carbon neutral and reducing corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 1,800 tonnes by the end of 2015.
There is still more work required to become carbon neutral, Dioszeghy said in a staff report, however new emission reduction targets are expected to be set in the coming year.
In order to achieve the 30% reduction, the municipality invested in energy efficient retrofits at its 12 largest energy consuming buildings. That work was completed in 2013, with an energy savings of 400,000 kilowatt hours a year, enough to operate the Glen Pine Pavilion and the Innovation Centre.
Workplace conservation was also highlighted with the city's Carbon Cutters program, creating behavioral changes that resulted in a 500,000 kilowatt hour energy reduction, or approximately $50,000 in savings, according to the staff report. The city has also purchased two electric vehicles earlier this year.
The Theremenex district energy system was introduced last year and will improve the efficiency of the heating and cooling systems at city hall, the RCMP detachment, the City Centre Aquatic Complex and the Evergreen Cultural Centre.
The city staff report also noted that since signing on to the Climate Action Charter in 2007, Coquitlam has grown by 17% and seen an increase in 24,000 sq. metres of civic facility floor space.
