The municipality of Tantramar is taking a major step toward its climate goals — and doing it in a way that offers a practical model for other small municipalities across New Brunswick.
With support from the Canadian Urban Institute’s Climate Ready Infrastructure Service (CRIS), the municipality has completed a detailed assessment of the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre to identify how the facility can reach net zero emissions within the next decade. The work was done at no cost through CRIS, a federally-funded program that connects small communities that may not have the necessary resources with climate and infrastructure experts to achieve zero emissions within the next decade.
The findings show that because the civic centre already operates primarily on electricity, it is on track to reach near net zero emissions by 2032 as the provincial grid becomes cleaner. But to achieve true net zero energy, Tantramar will need a coordinated package of efficiency upgrades and renewable energy systems — a roadmap the analysis now provides.
Recommendations include several building upgrades, among them improvements to the rooftop ventilation units and replacement of the existing refrigeration plant. Other additional items include a flood water deaerator, an ice rink automation system, heat pump rooftop units, and a lighting control upgrade
CRIS also recommended reviewing Tantramar’s broader corporate GHG inventory to identify other high-emitting buildings that may benefit from similar planning.
“The whole process was seamless, and we were able to get the results we needed to set us up for successfully completing several projects that will eventually lead to our arena becoming net zero,” said Matt Pryde, director of Active Living and Culture.
