A single Capital Regional District (CRD)-operated building on Salt Spring contributes two per cent of all of the regional government’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, local officials learned last week.
And the 38,000-square-foot Salt Spring Island Multi Space (SIMS) facility, the former middle school built in the 1960s, contributes about 71 per cent of the island’s combined parks and recreation facility emissions, according to senior manager Dan Ovington, who brought an informational report to the Salt Spring Island Local Community Commission (LCC) Thursday, Jan. 16.
The CRD took over management and operation of SIMS in the summer of 2023, including assuming the cost — and emissions impacts — of the building’s four propane-fired boilers and rooftop cooling unit. SIMS is one of just seven remaining CRD sites that rely upon fossil fuels as a primary heating source, Ovington said.
“Two per cent might not sound like a big number, but it’s definitely had us marked as a ‘black sheep’ within the CRD,” chuckled Ovington. “Which may sound like a bad thing, but that’s actually opened up a lot of doors through our Climate Action Group.”
Those opportunities include not only grant funding but also staff support, Ovington said, adding that an energy audit should be completed within the next few weeks that is expected to include recommendations for projects to increase efficiency in heating the building –– and, hopefully, lower costs, particularly as propane prices rise.
“In addition to reducing the GHG emissions, a fundamental rationale is cost saving,” said LCC member and CRD director Gary Holman. “Once you’ve made the capital investment, for example, in the heat pumps, the operating costs should be much lower — so there should be a cost saving and therefore a freeing-up of requisition.”
A conceptual design for a “decarbonization” of SIMS’ HVAC — converting the existing HVAC system to a low-carbon electric system, using existing distribution equipment wherever possible –– is expected to be complete this spring.