Rethinking Energy Conservation in Ontario – Results:The OPS Green Transformation Strategy
| In November, 2010, the ECO released volume 2 of its Annual Report on the progress of activities in Ontario to reduce or make more efficient use of electricity, natural gas, propane, oil and transportation fuels. Click here for more information on this report, including videos and communications materials. | |||||
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The Ministry of Government Services (MGS) created the OPS Green Office in September 2008 to help reduce the government’s internal environmental footprint. The office works with the Climate Change Secretariat, the Premier’s Parliamentary Assistant and ministries to promote an integrated approach to environmental sustainability within the Ontario Public Service (OPS). Its goal is to reduce energy consumption across the OPS, transform the OPS into a green consumer, and develop a green culture among employees. On April 22, 2009, the OPS Green Transformation Strategy (the “Strategy”), as developed and led by the OPS Green Office, received approval from the Cabinet Committee on Ontario’s Economic Future. The Strategy sets a multi-year consumption reduction plan and is focused on the following areas: energy efficiency; greening buildings; waste diversion; print and paper; transportation; and, reduced travel through virtual meetings.
The Strategy commits the Ontario government to greenhouse gas reduction targets aligned with the province’s Climate Change Action Plan. Specifically, the OPS Green Transformation Strategy has an annual reduction target for vehicle fuel consumption, air travel, and energy in facilities of five per cent for each category from 2009/2010 to 2013/2014. (Progress in these areas is already being made. Although it falls outside of our 2009 reporting year, between 2009/2010 and 2010/2011, the number of hybrid vehicles in the OPS fleet increased by 46 per cent, from 513 to 748, and the number of non-hybrid vehicles decreased by 3 per cent, from 7,628 to 7,377.) The OPS is also currently testing anti-idling technology on selected vehicles that maintain power for critical operational equipment without needing to be powered by the idling vehicle’s battery. This technology could significantly reduce fuel consumption in enforcement and monitoring type vehicles.
Under the OPS Green Office, and to support the OPS Green Transformation Strategy, the government established a Green Government Task Force (GGTF). The task force is meant to provide strategic support in a variety of areas, such as: fleet management, facilities, procurement, information technology, and environmental protection.
For the purposes of our report, the ECO has examined two energy efficiency programs under the OPS Green Transformation Strategy. These are a power management strategy and an environmental awareness campaign.
OPS Power Management Strategy
In July 2009, MGS implemented an OPS-wide policy to conserve electricity consumption in offices through adjusted power settings for all OPS computers. The settings were adjusted such that computer monitors and central processing units would transition into standby mode after 5 and 15 minutes of idle time, respectively.
Under this program, about 83 per cent of desktops in the OPS had their power management settings adjusted between July 2009 and March 2010. The remaining 17 per cent of devices were exempt because they provide critical services and business operations. Effectively, all existing eligible computers within the OPS had their desktop settings adjusted under the Power Management Strategy. Furthermore, all new computers will use these settings as required by GO-ITS 93, a Government of Ontario Information Technology Standard. Under GO-ITS 93, all computer clusters and ministries are to report annually, by September 30, on the status of Green I&IT improvement. Reporting includes outlining the date of each computer installation, and the power settings that are and are not implemented. MGS will record, verify, and report on power management implementation and the resultant energy savings annually. The ministry estimates that this initiative could result in 19 million kWh per year of saved energy, which is enough energy to power about 1,700 homes for one year. It should be noted that this initiative supports the government’s commitment to reduce electricity in its facilities by 20 per cent by 2012, as discussed in section 3.4 of this report.
OPS Unplugged
The first annual OPS Unplugged information campaign ran from late August until November 2009. Its purpose was to promote energy conservation in the workplace while reducing standby power consumption in non-networked office devices. The campaign specifically targeted electricity reduction, since unplugging the equipment would reduce electricity demand. Targeted devices included televisions, DVDs, VCRs, projectors, stand-alone printers and scanners, fax machines, and paper shredders. Similar to the OPS Power Management Strategy, this initiative also supports the government’s commitment to reduce electricity in its facilities by 20 per cent by 2012, as discussed in section 3.4 of this report.
A two-week inter-ministerial challenge took place from September 28 – October 9, 2009. During that time, 2,000 devices were unplugged permanently. The estimated electricity saved from the 2009 campaign was 47,200 kWh per year. The fall 2010 campaign will be the last year this program is offered as an inter-ministerial challenge through MGS. For each year beyond 2010, individual ministries are expected to develop and implement their own programs for non-network office devices.
