Jessica Webster
Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Canada
Brett Korteling
Vive le Monde Mapping, Gabriola Island, Canada
Brent Gilmour
The Canadian Urban Institute, Toronto, Canada
Katelyn Margerm
The Canadian Urban Institute, Toronto, Canada
John Beaton
Strait-Highlands Regional Development Agency, Port Hawkesbury, Canada
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/ecp110573153Published in: World Renewable Energy Congress - Sweden; 8-13 May; 2011; Linköping; Sweden
Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 57:20, p. 3153-3160
Published: 2011-11-03
ISBN: 978-91-7393-070-3
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
Urban emissions represent approximately 40% of Canada’s current GHG emissions and the need to implement Integrated Community Energy Solutions (ICES) is now broadly recognized. A more consistent approach for characterizing energy and emissions opportunities in communities and the provision of more accurate and comprehensive information to planning processes is required. Integrated Community Energy Models (ICEMs) employ Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to integrate spatial information on a community’s land use; building stock; transportation and energy systems and socio-economic characteristics. Using future scenarios; ICEMs support the prioritization of opportunities for energy efficiency and renewable and district technology integration; better enabling planning; policy development and investment decisions.
This paper describes organizations forwarding ICES and ICEM development and selected enabling provincial legislation. Three case-studies are presented: the Energy Density Mapping Strategy for the cities of Guelph and Hamilton; Ontario; the Spatial Community Energy Carbon and Cost Characterization (SCEC3) model for the City of Prince George; British Columbia and the Energy Asset Mapping project in the Strait-Highlands Region; Nova Scotia. For each; core model aspects; required data; highlighted results and their integration into community planning processes are discussed. The article concludes with next steps for implementation and future research and development of ICEMs in Canada.
