Government Operations committee  I'd like to echo that. In B.C. there is the continuous optimization program delivered by our BC Hydro utility. That one-year to two-year return on investment is reinforced through this example, and the result in energy savings is typically 7% electrical improvement and 12% natural gas improvement.

Government Operations committee  Under the Leading Workplace strategy, the business case to advance it is “triple bottom line”; it's not just energy savings. The demographic emerging into the workspace is interested in flexible mobile working. There's not an interest in the corner office anymore as being the sign of success.

Government Operations committee  They're five-year leases.

Government Operations committee  Typically five-year leases, and there are very few, a handful at the most, that are beyond that. Our head office for our ministry, for example, is a 10-year lease. But typically we have five-year leases to maintain sort of a nimble portfolio perspective on our space requirements.

Government Operations committee  —when lease space is obtained—

Government Operations committee  If it's a measure that can be repaid, if the return on investment is within that term, we will probably pay for that retrofit. If it goes beyond the lease term, then the negotiation will happen between the landowner and the lease negotiator to share the cost.

Government Operations committee  Cindy actually may be able to help out on this one in terms of recalling the presentation that PWGSC provided at our last federal-provincial-territorial meeting, but I do understand they have a similar initiative. My understanding was that for both of us, the interest is in making sure that we have resources available to accommodate this strategy.

Government Operations committee  Sure, I can speak to that. Our leases are typically five-year leases for our commercial portfolio. As I mentioned, about 80% of our commercial portfolio is leased. To advance the energy efficiency initiatives, the building operations teams that are present in the buildings will identify infrastructure updates that will support energy efficiency, and we'll enter that information into a rolling spreadsheet that's created through the year under what's called the routine capital program.

Government Operations committee  Sure. I was speaking about the Leading Workplace strategy, which is the strategy that is redefining the workspace, or the work point, as we call it. It's moving from identifying our work as the place that we work, going from the space that we share to the space, to the work. So it's that progression away from identifying our work from the actual physical location, to the actual deliverable that we provide, no matter where we do that.

Government Operations committee  I would just add that no matter where we get our funding, it forms part of our debt load, so in B.C. there is not necessarily an incentive to go to the private sector for funding. The business case is built on return on investment, as opposed to where the funding comes from.

Government Operations committee  Eighty per cent of the commercial portfolio is leased. That's relative to space.

Government Operations committee  In core government, there are over 2,000 buildings in our portfolio.

Government Operations committee  That's core government. I expect it would be significantly less for the broader public sector because the health care and education sectors—

Government Operations committee  For core government, we primarily focus on owned facilities, although, as I've mentioned, when leases are renewed and when there is an opportunity to apply a retrofit to increase the efficiency of building systems, that's when we would do it. That cost could either be split or it would be absorbed by us, by the province, so long as it falls within that five-year repayment schedule.

Government Operations committee  In B.C. we get our funding from Treasury Board, so it's public sector funding. The business case for all the energy efficiency initiatives is based on the return on investment. In other words, the initial capital cost must be repaid by cost avoidance, operational cost reduction within a threshold period of time.