Energy & GHG Reporting – The Big Picture

You can read more about CO2 concentrations in atmosphere:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/05/09/400-ppm-carbon-dioxide-in-the-atmosphere-reaches-prehistoric-levels/

So you may be wondering how much does Canada contribute to our global greenhouse gas emissions? Well below is a graph from a report on the trends in global CO2 emissions which shows Canada is one of the top emitters, at 556 million tonnes of CO2 in 2011.

CO2 emissions by country

From this report it is clear that Canada has a significant impact on the world’s greenhouse gas levels and that we will need to play a major role in reducing global emissions. In fact, when you look at CO2 emissions per capita Canada ranks 4th highest showing that there are many countries with larger populations than ours who are emitting less.

You can read more about “Global Trends in CO2 Emissions” here:
http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/CO2REPORT2012.pdf

Now let’s consider why Canada is emitting this much CO2? The following graphs from “Canada’s 2011 Greenhouse Gas Inventory” report illustrate that 81% of Canada’s GHG emissions are resulting from the energy sector. And that Ontario and Alberta contributed 59% of the total GHG emissions in 2011. While Ontario, with it’s large manufacturing base started off as the largest-emitting province in 1990, it has been surpassed by Alberta in recent years.

Read “Canada’s 2011 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report” here:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/Publications/default.asp?lang=En&xml=A07ADAA2-E349-481A-860F-9E2064F34822

So we know that energy use in Ontario has a major impact on Canada’s total emissions. The following graph from a ministry of energy report titled “Reviewing Ontario’s Long Term Energy Plan” shows the breakdown of the province’s GHG emissions by sector. The transportation and industry sectors contribute more than half of the emissions but the commercial and institutional buildings sector (C&I) still accounts for 6.9% of the province’s GHG emissions approximately 11 million tonnes.

The Green Energy Act was introduced into Ontario legislature in 2009 to encourage energy conservation, renewable energy production, an to promote a green economy. In accordance with Ontario Regulation 397/11 of the Green Energy Act, all public agencies including hospitals are required to report their annual energy consumption and corresponding greenhouse gas emissions to the Ministry of Energy.

Sunnybrook reported a total 26,622 tonnes of CO2 resulting from energy used.

So let’s consider how this compares within the commercial and institutional sector. Since energy use is the main source of CO2 emissions for the C&I sector we can compare performance based on energy used by different building types.  The following charts from the “Commercial and Institutional Consumption of Energy Survey” illustrate the national averages for energy consumption and energy intensity of building types within the C&I sector.

According to the energy survey, Healthcare buildings make up 10% of the energy used by the C&I sector with hospitals being one of the most energy intensive building types using on average 2.83 GJ of energy per square meter. The Sunnybrook emissions report shows that our campuses had energy intensities below the national average as follows:

Bayview Campus 2.4 GJ/m2
Holland Campus 2.63 GJ/m2
St. John’s Campus 1.83 GJ/m2

Most importantly, there is room for improvement and Sunnybrook is currently developing an Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan to further improve our energy performance. The Ontario Green Energy Act requires that all public agencies update these Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plans every five years.

Reducing global greenhouse gas emissions is a huge global challenge and it’s sometimes hard to see how our behaviours can make a difference. I hope all these graphs and numbers have helped to paint a bigger picture:

• Energy use at Sunnybrook and other healthcare buildings account for 10% of the energy used in the commercial and institutional buildings sector in Canada
• The C&I sector in Ontario accounts for 7% of the province’s GHG emissions
• Ontario accounts for 24% of the Country’s GHG emissions
• Canada  is one of the top 10 largest emitters, accounting for 1.6% of the total global CO2 emissions