Ontario Construction News staff writer
The federal government says it’s spending up to $1 million from the Low Carbon Economy Fund to support the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario’s (CHEO) Deep Energy Retrofit Program, which includes installing a new energy recovery system and re-engineering the hospital’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
The project also introduces two new heat pumps to reduce energy consumption from natural gas-fired boilers. The government says the changes will satisfy the hospital’s heating requirements and recover and reuse heat waste, improving efficiency and reducing emissions.
“At the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, reducing our carbon emissions helps kids today and tomorrow. Spending less on energy now means we can spend more on patient care. And reducing emissions for good will pay dividends far into the future,” said Alex Munter, President and Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
The Low Carbon Economy Fund is for projects that invest in proven, low-carbon technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The most recent intake of the Low Carbon Economy Fund closed February 8, 2024. The Challenge Fund’s application assessment process is underway.
“The significant investment the Government of Canada is making to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario to reduce emissions is welcome news,” said Councillor Marty Carr. “This will make an impact equivalent to removing 2,500 passenger cars off our roads. As Vice-Chair of the City’s Environment and Climate Change Committee, I couldn’t be more thrilled with this investment in both our environment and our health.”
The Low Carbon Economy Fund also supports climate action by Indigenous peoples with an Indigenous Leadership Fund that invests in clean energy and energy-efficiency projects led by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities and organizations. This call for proposals is open from January 31, 2024, to March 31, 2027.
Canada launched the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan in 2022, laying out steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
“By working with organizations across Canada such as the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, we are making operating costs more affordable and growing the economy all while fighting climate change,” says Adam van Koeverden, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. “Through the Low Carbon Economy Fund, the Government of Canada is partnering with climate leaders nationwide to cut emissions, so that our children and grandchildren will have cleaner air to breathe. Helping hospitals make these changes just makes good public health sense.”