Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the motion brought forward by the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre. I do so on behalf of the residents of Waterloo—Wellington.
Mr. Speaker, let me begin by congratulating the member for bringing this motion to the House. I am pleased to see his commitment to energy efficiency and his interest in the federal buildings initiative, something that is important for all of us.
Energy efficiency helps Canadians save money. It ensures a responsible use of our resources and as has been pointed out, it ensures and protects our environment. Energy efficiency is important not only for government but for all Canadian homeowners, industry, small business, and automobile drivers for that matter.
Energy efficiency is a winning strategy. It contributes and helps in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is critical in achieving our Kyoto commitments on climate change. Our commitment on energy efficiency is also key in creating high tech jobs and in making Canada a world leader in this field, something of great note.
My remarks today will focus largely on the role of the Department of Public Works and Government Services in this initiative. As a major property owner in Canada, the Department of Public Works and Government Services has the opportunity to promote and implement energy management initiatives such as the federal buildings initiative.
The federal buildings initiative, or FBI, is a voluntary program which helps government departments and agencies improve the energy efficiency of their facilities. The FBI offers a new approach to updating federal buildings with energy saving technologies and practices with no front end cost.
The federal building initiative employs an innovative contractual arrangement involving a pre-qualified energy management firm and federal government departments or organizations. Through this arrangement the full cost of energy efficiency improvements is financed with the resulting energy savings.
The energy management firm finances a project and supplies and installs the new equipment. The department then pays the resulting lower energy bill to the utility and an amount equivalent to the energy savings to the energy management firm until the full cost of the energy efficiency improvement is recovered. At no time does the department pay more than its pre-improvement energy bill. After the improvements and costs have been recovered, it pays a lot less.
The FBI reduces the cost of government operations. It generates thousands of jobs and in the process lowers greenhouse gas emissions. In many buildings, annual energy savings of between 10% and 15% can be achieved by implementing relatively simple measures such as high efficiency fluorescent lights and motors, and heating-cooling system upgrades. Energy accounts for roughly 30% of a typical facility's operating and maintenance costs so that even modest improvements can add up to improvements that are substantial in nature and substantial in savings.
Let me describe a few success stories. In Winnipeg for example, Public Works and Government Services Canada is upgrading four federal buildings which will result in annual savings of $100,000. Environment Canada reaped annual savings of $880,000 through its retrofit of a Burlington, Ontario facility.
Public Works and Government Services Canada alone has signed 29 contracts representing about $33 million in energy investment by the private sector. This generates over $5.2 million in annual savings for energy costs, reducing CO2 emissions by 80,000 tonnes per year and creating 660 jobs in the process.
By the year 2000, Public Works and Government Services Canada estimates that it will have reduced energy consumption by $12 million per year and CO2 levels by 14%. This is quite remarkable. This is an important element in the government's response to meeting our greenhouse gas emission commitments which were made in Kyoto.
In addition to launching its own projects, Public Works and Government Services Canada as a common service agency helps others departments implement the federal buildings initiative by undertaking project management on their behalf. With its broad expertise in the areas of procurement, fleet management, water management, water conservation and energy efficiency, Public Works and Government Services Canada is well suited for this task.
The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre will be pleased to hear that public works is now pursuing the feasibility of the federal buildings initiatives in all leased buildings it manages. This of course means more energy savings and more job creation.
Virtually every department that owns buildings has made a commitment to pursue this initiative and the programs of the federal government are having an increasingly positive effect on the energy efficiency of government operations. We are also encouraging the private sector to go faster in its reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as well.
It is only appropriate then for the federal government, a big energy consumer itself, to set this kind of important and positive example. Canada is recognized as a world leader in energy efficiency, and deservedly so. That is something we can all be proud of.
Let me assure the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre that the federal buildings initiative is alive and well and will be implemented wherever and whenever possible. It is important that we as Canadians do so.