Montreal Climate Summit: New buildings will be zero emissions by 2025
The Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, announced at the Montreal Climate Summit last May that all buildings in the city will have to be powered exclusively by renewable energies by 2040 and that new constructions will have to be, for their part, zero emissions from 2025.
The zero-emission threshold will come into force from 2024 for buildings of less than 2,000 square meters and from 2025 for buildings of more than 2,000 square meters. Also, as of 2023, it will be mandatory for all owners of small buildings to declare all heating appliances using oil or gas. For existing buildings, the goal is to be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2040.
Mayor Plante reinforced that this was an important and necessary gesture. The city of Montreal intends to work in collaboration with Hydro Quebec to encourage promoters and developers to implement the most appropriate energy efficiency solutions. Ms. Brochu, President and CEO of Hydro Quebec, commented on the news with enthusiasm:
“The decarbonization of our economy requires the efficient electrification of existing buildings. As much as it is necessary to reduce the use of fossil fuels, it is also important to do so at the best possible cost. We are very pleased to support the City of Montreal in implementing the best practices in this area. »
Since the beginning of this year, the owners of large buildings have been required to disclose the energy data of their building to the city. The regulation, adopted in September 2021, aims to know the use of fossil fuels in buildings to reduce their consumption. Ivanhoé Cambridge, real estate division of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and a major real estate developer, took advantage of the summit to announce a 55% reduction of the carbon footprint of its Montreal assets by 2030, a commitment that corresponds to a reduction of about 8000 tonnes of CO2. The Centre Hospitalier de Montréal (CHUM) also took advantage of the summit to announce the integration of environmental performance at the heart of its practices and its carbon neutrality objective for 2040, emphasizing that health and well-being are closely linked to a healthy environment and that the disturbances caused by greenhouse gases constitute a major threat to human health.
Let's hope that these major Montreal buildings, precursors in taking actions on energy efficiency, will inspire more than one in achieving the carbon neutrality objectives of our beautiful and great international city.
Source : Magazine l’Actualité
Photo de Montréal : bing.com