Feasibility Study Verification for an ESCO Project at the Canadian Forces Base Valcartier

One of the objectives of the sustainable development strategy of the Department of National Defence (DND) consists of improving energy efficiency in government facilities. In support of this strategy, the Valcartier Garrison, located in Quebec City, sought to reduce its energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from operating and using its facilities. One of the planned actions was implementing energy conservation measures (ECMs) in buildings through an energy performance contract (EPC).

The objective of the EPC project was to invest significant efforts in achieving the targets of the Defence Energy and Environment Strategy (DEES) pursuant to the Greening Government Strategy.

In this context, the DND asked Defence Construction Canada to call upon the services of a technical assistance consultant to conduct a verification of a prefeasibility study prepared by an energy service company (ESCO) for the implementation of ECMs at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Valcartier, which comprises 15 different sites. The area of the studied sites totalled 10,500 hectares, the majority of which was located on the base.

Defence Construction Canada called upon the services of Econoler to carry out a third-party verification of the CFB Valcartier feasibility study prepared by the ESCO. Activities consisted of verifying and confirming the financial and technical feasibility of all 26 ECMs proposed in the feasibility study. The proposed measures were targeted at, among other things, a thermal plant, lighting upgrades, heat recovery, control optimization, and recommissioning.

Under the mandate, Econoler carried out the following tasks: 

• Verify the accuracy of the data used to establish the proposed energy savings, capital costs, cost savings, and payback period. This verification involved reviewing, determining, and commenting on the accuracy, coherence, and impacts of measurable units on the proposed solutions;

• Ensure that the proposed hypotheses were practical, feasible, realistic, and validated;

• Ensure that the risks associated with operations and implementation were correctly defined and that risk mitigation measures and how other industrial stakeholders managed said risks were discussed in detail;

• Clearly define the methodology used to verify the proposed feasibility study, summaries, and calculation tables justifying the results obtained;

• Evaluate the measurement and verification plan associated with each ECM to determine whether it met contractual obligations and complied with the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol.

Econoler issued recommendations on each evaluated ECM and, more generally, on the feasibility study to reduce uncertainties and confirm that calculations were valid.

The recommendations issued by Econoler provided substantial proof to Defence Construction Canada that the implementation strategy would enable them to validate the technical and financial feasibility of savings opportunities proposed by the ESCO.