The city of Coquitlam fell just short of achieving its ambitious 30% greenhouse gas reduction target by 2015 but should be able to hit the goal shortly, according to city staff.
A report to council from the engineering department acknowledged the city was only able to reduce its emissions by 26% since the adoption of its climate action plan, which set the target back in 2006.
But Steffanie Warriner, the city’s manager of environmental services, said that further calibration of the new Thermenex energy system would allow the city to meet its goal. Thermenex provides heating and cooling to the City Centre precinct, including the City Centre Aquatic Complex, city hall, the Coquitlam RCMP detachment and the Evergreen Cultural Centre.
“We were hoping all of the fine tuning would take place in the first year,” Warriner said. “We just didn’t quite get there. It is a very complicated and complex system.”
She noted some of the successes the climate action plan has achieved, particularly when Coquitlam’s rapid growth is considered. Warriner said that had the city not grown by 14% since 2007, the targets would have been achieved by 2012.
“Our city set very ambitious targets, More ambitious than many other municipalities,” she said, “and you can see how far we have come.”
A city staff report said the reduction in energy use has saved the city $3.1 million between 2008 and 2014.
Going into 2016, staff will reevaluate its energy conservation and climate action goals. Warriner said the city is paying particular attention to the federal and provincial governments, which have indicated that broader strategies to deal with emissions could be on the way.
“We want to make sure we are aligned with those strategies,” she said.
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