Greening Government Operations

Guidance for Organizations Developing Sustainable Development Strategies (2007-2009)

MESSAGE FROM THE ASSOCIATE DEPUTY MINISTERS

Public Works and Government Services Canada, Environment Canada, and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

As champions for the Greening of Government Operations Initiative, and on behalf of our colleagues across the federal government that have contributed to its development, we are pleased to provide you with: Greening Government Operations Guidance for Organizations Developing Sustainable Development Strategies (2007-2009).

Greening of government operations is a critical component of the Sustainable Development Strategies that 35 departments and agencies table in Parliament every three years. This year, as we prepare the Sustainable Development Strategies for 2007–2009, we have yet another opportunity to collectively renew our commitment to sustainable development. With departments and agencies pulling together to make a concerted effort, the Government of Canada can make significant, measurable progress and achieve demonstrable results in the greening of its operations.

The guidance is aligned with, and forms a key component of the proposed federal sustainable development strategy being developed by Environment Canada. Further, it focuses on a smaller number of government-wide priorities, helping to ensure that the Government of Canada makes significant progress in these areas.

Please be sure to clearly reflect the government-wide targets and performance measures in your strategies. We anticipate that by doing so, we will achieve one of our best collective efforts yet in the greening of our operations.

Yvette Aloïsi
Associate Deputy Minister
Public Works and Government Services Canada

Cassie Doyle
Associate Deputy Minister
Environment Canada

Linda Lizotte-MacPherson
Associate Secretary
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank all departments and agencies that helped us develop this guidance document.

INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT

The Government of Canada’s commitment to sustainable development continues to drive its efforts in greening government operations. Such greening efforts offer an opportunity to help protect and conserve the environment, as well as to contribute to the economy.

The federal government is one of the largest service providers, landowners and employers in Canada. It manages more than 45,000 buildings and operates approximately 26,000 vehicles in more than 500 communities across Canada. The size of its operations positions the government to become a leading practitioner of environmentally sound management in Canada. By leveraging its predominant position and by being recognized as a model of environmentally and economically sustainable government operations, the federal government will be better positioned to lead Canada to a long-term competitive advantage based on environmental sustainability.

To this end, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), Environment Canada (EC), and Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariat (TBS) consulted widely with other departments and agencies and are united in promoting a focused, results-oriented, government-wide approach to the greening of government operations.

Background

The federal government’s journey to sustainable development began in earnest with amendments to the Auditor General’s Act in 1995, which created the position of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD). The Act also required that departments and agencies table Sustainable Development Strategies (SDS) in Parliament and update them every three years.

The first strategies were developed in accordance with the Guide to Green Government and tabled in 1997. Since these first strategies were tabled, inter-departmental efforts have been undertaken to share information and to coordinate the direction, objectives and performance measures of the SD Strategies. As the CESD has pointed out, Canadians want a clear picture of how the government as a whole is progressing in terms of greening its operations. An outline of the chronology of greening operations in the federal government can be found at Appendix A .

Governance for Greening Government Operations

In April 2005, the Office of Greening Government Operations (OGGO) was created in PWGSC to lead and facilitate the implementation of a government-wide approach to the greening of government activities. OGGO works closely with EC and TBS as well as with six interdepartmental steering groups representing key operational sectors. These groups help set the agenda for government-wide action and facilitate the sharing of information and development of enabling tools.

The Deputy Ministers’ Policy Committee for the Environment and Sustainability provides oversight to the greening of government operations initiative, while the associate deputy ministers of PWGSC, EC and TBS provide senior-level direction. This governance structure helps ensure that the initiative is given the appropriate level of leadership so that there is a solid foundation for government-wide coordination, collaboration and links to other government priorities.

Governance, strategic objectives, a logic model and common targets and performance measures are essential elements of any management framework. To this end, TBS has developed a common performance management framework for Greening Government Operations. The framework provides a governance structure for the six operational sectors covered under the greening government initiative, inventories related programs and identifies various output and outcome measures currently in use.

Chapter 7 of the September 2005 Report of the CESD recommended that government focus on fewer goals. In response to that recommendation, this guidance document will focus on three key priorities for SDS (2007–2009).

• Building Energy
  Goal: To be a leader in the reduction of greenhouse gas and other air emissions through the optimization of energy efficiency and conservation, and the implementation of renewable energy technologies.
• Vehicle Fleet
  Goal: To be a leader in fleet management, so that planning, acquiring, managing and disposing of vehicles minimize negative effects on the environment.
• Green Procurement
  Goal: To be a leader by integrating environmental performance considerations into procurement including planning, acquisition, use and disposal.

This document recognizes that due to the varied nature of their mandates, many departments and agencies will have additional environmental priorities to address. This document identifies further opportunities based on best practices in the federal government and other jurisdictions. Likewise, not all three of these priorities will apply to all departments and agencies.

CONTENT OF THE GUIDANCE DOCUMENT

This document offers guidance in each of the three priority areas, using the following format.

• Objective(s) describes where departments and agencies should focus their efforts so that the Government of Canada can meet its stated objectives.
• Government-wide Targets for SDS (2007–2009) Provides the targets that all departments and agencies are expected to include in their SDS. Note: should a department or agency not be able to incorporate certain government-wide targets in its SDS, a written explanation should be provided in the SDS.
• Performance Measures Identifies the essential performance information that departments and agencies will need to collect to demonstrate progress against the government-wide targets and to enable consistent reporting of results to parliamentarians and all Canadians.
• Enablers Identifies tools that are available or will be available to help departments and agencies achieve government-wide commitments.

For the three priority areas, departments and agencies are expected to commit to the “government-wide targets” and to use the recommended performance measures provided in this guide. All departments and agencies are required to report their performance annually through the Sustainable Development Performance Report section of the Departmental Performance Report. Reporting in a consistent manner on the three priorities will make it easier to develop a government-wide report on these aspects of our operations.

Note: Departments and agencies are strongly encouraged to include in their SDS a commitment to participate in the most significant and relevant steering group(s) for their department or agency. This will help ensure that all departments and agencies interested in a priority area are involved in the direction setting and coordination.

For these objectives to be realized, this guidance must be supported and driven from the most senior levels. Successful implementation will require the support of necessary human and financial resources, the alignment of policies to support their delivery, and the identification of associated authorities and accountabilities. In general, employees must be “enabled” to follow this guidance.

PRIORITY AREA: BUILDING ENERGY

The federal government has one of the largest real estate portfolios in the country. It owns approximately 25 million square metres of floor space — and leases another 6 million ¹— in a variety of types of buildings, including special-purpose buildings, across the country. The government consumes significant energy to heat, cool, light and power its facilities. In addition, federal buildings contributed 81% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Government of Canada operations in 2002–2003. ² As a whole, this portfolio provides the government with an important opportunity to reduce energy demand and air pollutants, to enhance energy efficiency and to drive the demand for new technologies.

Objective

The objective is the reduction of greenhouse gas and other air emissions from buildings owned and occupied by the federal government.

To meet this objective it is critical to regularly review and pursue cost-effective opportunities to reduce the energy demand of buildings and related equipment. Doing so is particularly important in light of current concerns related to energy supply and the detrimental effects of increased levels of air contaminants on the environment.

The federal government has two related programs that help achieve building energy objectives: the Federal Buildings Initiative (FBI) ³ and the Federal House in Order (FHIO) initiative. ⁴ The FBI promotes private and public sector partnerships to plan and implement innovative and cost-effective facility upgrades and retrofits. Through the FHIO initiative, the government is tracking, monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions from federal operations.

Government-wide Targets for SDS (2007–2009)

To make rapid progress on building energy objectives, it is recommended that departments and agencies commit to the following targets.

¹ Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariat. Directory of Federal Real Property. (Ottawa: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat).

² Federal House in Order Annual Report on Emission Reductions from Federal Operations (Ottawa: Natural Resources Canada, October 2004).

³ For details, see http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/communities-
government/buildings/federal/federal-buildings-initiative.cfm.

⁴ For details, see http://www.fhio.gc.ca.

⁵Under the FHIO, eleven departments that account for 95% of federal emissions agreed to collectively meet the target of 30.6% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and vehicles (rounded to 31%). In 2002, buildings contributed roughly 81% of the federal emissions. The eleven departments are: Department of National Defence, PWGSC, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Correctional Services Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, National Research Council, Natural Resources Canada, Parks Canada, Transport Canada and Environment Canada.

Recommended Activities

To achieve these targets, departments and agencies should undertake the following:

• Update or conduct a review of departmental facilities (i.e. building information database including number and total area of general-purpose buildings and special-use buildings such as laboratories). Assess opportunities for improving energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions. The review would also establish activity and data baselines for energy demand, as well as operating costs for evaluation, reporting and improvement purposes. Based on this review, establish departmental targets.
• Update or develop and implement a comprehensive energy management framework with departmental targets and timeframes covering the amount of energy used and conserved, cost savings, and audit and reporting information.
• Take steps to maximize participation in existing building energy initiatives and opportunities such as the Federal Buildings Initiative and the potential to “bundle” ⁶ opportunities inter and intra-departmentally.
• Design all new office buildings to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Standard. Build all new federal housing to comply with either the R2000 Standard or the EnerGuide for Houses 80 energy efficiency level.
• Set building temperatures at the limits of the acceptable temperature range. The TBS Occupational Safety and Health Directive of January 1, 2006, indicates, “In office accommodation, air (dry bulb) temperatures during working hours should be maintained within the 20^o C–26 ^o C range, which is the ideal temperature operating range.”
• Build capacity within building operations and maintenance staff to enable a “continuous optimization” approach to recommissioning buildings. This approach will help improve building energy systems in an integrated and continuous fashion.
• Participate in the Building Energy Steering Group, which is established to help departments and agencies achieve government-wide targets for building energy.
• Participate in the Green Stewardship Steering Group which is established to share information and ideas to help raise awareness among employees and building occupants about their environmental roles and responsibilities.

⁶ The term “bundling” refers to consolidating opportunities with in small projects in order that the overall (consolidated) project would be eligible for participation in the Federal Buildings Initiative.

PRIORITY AREA: VEHICLE FLEET

The Canadian transportation sector is responsible for 25% to 30% of Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and this share is continuing to increase. Passenger vehicles, trucks and buses in Canada are a major contributor of contaminant emissions to the atmosphere and to negative impacts to our health and the environment.

The Government of Canada operates approximately 26,000 vehicles, namely light-duty vehicles such as cars, pick-up trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles, and a few medium and heavy-duty trucks. It also operates an executive fleet of more than 70 vehicles used by ministers, and deputy ministers. A fleet of this size presents an opportunity to save money as well as establish leadership in improving the environmental performance of the government fleet. The Government of Canada is committed to improving the way it acquires, manages and disposes of its vehicle fleets.

Objective

To improve the environmental performance of the Government of Canada’s vehicle fleets.

Government-wide Targets for SDS (2007–2009)

To make rapid progress on greening the Government of Canada’s vehicle fleets, it is recommended that departments and agencies commit to the following targets.

Recommended Activities

To achieve these targets, departments and agencies are strongly encouraged to do the following.

• Undertake a review of departmental vehicle fleet emissions and operating costs to establish activity and data baselines for evaluation, reporting and improvement, according to the EC Case Study outlined below (review excludes the executive vehicle fleet). The review should examine the following:

• ✓ timely replacement and renewal of older vehicles;
• ✓ right-sizing the fleet for operational requirements;
• ✓ rationalizing vehicle sizes;
• ✓ using life-cycle costing in all vehicle purchasing decisions; and
• ✓ preventative maintenance programs.

• Design and implement a robust vehicle fleet management framework and system. When designing the framework, consider centralizing, within the department or agency, all or some components of fleet management, such as authority, scrutiny, decision-making and auditing.
• On the basis of the departmental fleet review, and based on best practices and a life-cycle approach, establish additional targets for reducing air contaminants, GHG emissions and fuel usage, as well as for adopting such green fleet practices as mandatory driver training, anti-idling, and preventative maintenance program.
• Purchase the fuel-efficient vehicle models that meet operational requirements.
• Report annually on the purchase of ethanol green fleet practices as mandatory driver train blends and on departmental fleet reviews ing, anti-idling, and preventative maintenance through the Sustainable Development program. Performance Report. Doing so enhances accountability and provides a more comprehensive view of environmental performance for each department and agency

⁷ On April 5, 2005, the Government of Canada and the Canadian automotive industry (Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada) signed a major agreement on climate change. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, the Canadian automotive industry will take actions to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% from light-duty vehicles (cars, minivans, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks) by 2010. For the three -year period for the next round of SDS from 2007-2009, Departments and Agencies are asked to achieve half the 30% GHG emissions target set by the auto manufacturers. They would be able to achieve this through updating and right-sizing their fleets respectively.

Case Study: Environment Canada
A recent review by Environment Canada (EC) suggests that EC's vehicle fleet emissions and operating costs could be reduced by several key strategies: updating vehicles, taking a more strategic approach to fleet management practices through the centralization and “professionalization” of the function, investing in hybrids and high-efficiency vehicles, and rationalizing vehicle sizes. The review conservatively estimated that an additional investment of $100,000 to $500,000 in vehicle purchase funding over six years could potentially save $815,000 or more annually in operating costs after a six- year phase-in implementation period. Assuming that these lessons learned are applicable to other departments and agencies, there is a significant potential for greening the overall federal vehicle fleet, reducing operating costs and strengthening the environmental performance of the fleet.

PRIORITY AREA GREEN: PROCUREMENT

Green procurement is a priority area in the development of Sustainable Development Strategies. Its purpose is to mitigate the impact of government procurement of goods and services on the environment, support the greening of government operations and stimulate innovation and market development of, and demand for, environmentally-preferred goods and services, making these available to other sectors of society.

Objective

The application of the Policy on Green Procurement
is intended to contribute to the Government of Canada’s environmental objectives, including:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air contaminants;
• Improving energy and water efficiency;
• Reducing ozone-depleting substances;
• Reducing waste and supporting reuse and recycling;
• Reducing hazardous waste; and
• Reducing toxic and hazardous chemicals and substances.

The Government of Canada is committed to achieving environmental objectives by systematically embedding sustainable development considerations in its operations. A major step in reaching this objective was the adoption of the Policy on Green Procurement, effective April 1, 2006. The policy’s objective is to advance the protection of the environment and support sustainable development by integrating environmental performance considerations into the procurement decision-making process.

Recognizing that procurement is an instrument used to achieve program and project objectives, departments and agencies are required to determine the opportunities within their organizations where procurement can effectively be used to green operations and to set green procurement targets accordingly.

Government-wide Targets for SDS (2007-2009)

As part of their SDS commitments, and consistent with the Policy on Green Procurement, departments and agencies will set green procurement targets tailored to reflect their mandates, departmental buying patterns and the environmental risks/impacts of acquired goods and services. Departmental strategies tabled in 2006 must:

In response to the recommendations on green procurement training made by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development in September 2005, departments and agencies are encouraged to commit to the following:

Examples

The examples of green procurement targets that follow are provided in an effort to assist departments and agencies. The examples attach importance to the planning and requirement definition stage of the procurement process where there is the most opportunity to consider environmental issues. It is at this stage that departments and agencies can not only plan the purchase of environmentally preferred goods and services, but also plan the management of how purchases are used, maintained and disposed.

Example 1: The leases on several photocopiers in Department “X” are about to expire and they are looking to replace them. Also, the departmental printers are getting old and often breaking down. The easiest thing to do would be to replace these devices on a one-to-one basis with like equipment; however, because the department is looking for savings as well as looking to green its operations, it commissions a review of its printing and copying requirements. As a result, the department initiates the purchase of multi-function equipment that can print, facsimile, copy and scan, that are Energy Star-compliant, to save energy costs and have duplex capacity to reduce paper consumption and paper costs. The department decides to lease the equipment in order to reduce maintenance costs and disposal issues. The review may also show that the department's paper consumption is significant, most of which is non-recycled or virgin alkaline copy paper. Accordingly, the department commits that by 2008-09, 90% of its office paper will have environmental attributes, such as x% recycled content.

Example 2: Department “W” spends a significant amount of dollars on the maintenance of buildings in the regions. While the management of these buildings is decentralized (each region is responsible for the buildings within its territory), the department issues a directive on the replacement of light bulbs and fluorescent tubes. The department commits to purchasing low mercury and high-energy efficiency items and to recycle these items at a certified facility at the end of their life. In addition, in recognition of the numerous service contracts issued in support of maintaining buildings such as janitorial services, the department commits to greening technical specifications, wherever appropriate, by requiring, for example, all cleaning products be EcoLogo or equivalent.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

In addition to the three key priorities outlined above, we can also green government operations through waste management, facilities and land use management, regulatory compliance, and green stewardship. As well, all government departments and agencies should continue to work on ongoing, complementary environmental and sustainable development targets that match their mandates.

Waste Management

The federal government holds one of Canada’s largest portfolios of office property and as such generates significant amounts of office solid waste, including recyclable materials such as paper, cardboard, metal and glass. Municipal, provincial, territorial and federal governments all have a hand in managing waste.

The federal government needs to reduce the solid waste it generates and to divert more waste from landfills. Departments and agencies are accountable for managing office waste and many departments and agencies have included this consideration in previous Sustainable Development Strategies, with a particular emphasis on waste diversion. All departments and agencies can also reduce waste, even as they divert it through recycling.

In addition to diverting waste, departments and agencies should also use their procurement opportunities to reduce waste comprehensively and systemically. For example, departments and agencies should buy and use printers and photocopiers that have default options for double-sided printing and photocopying.

From a risk management perspective, office waste management requires a comprehensive government-wide approach when it comes to such electronic waste as computers, monitors, printers and peripheral items. Approximately 80% to 90% of all such waste is transferred to Computers for Schools. The rest is primarily disposed of through PWGSC, Crown Assets Distribution, and sold by the pallet to recyclers and scrap dealers.

Waste reduction can mean having more employees per printer and using more multi-purpose electronic equipment. Or it can mean greater use of Computers for Schools, although surplus electronic equipment must meet the program’s minimum standards. For surplus equipment that does not meet these standards, the federal government will develop an effective and environmentally sound management approach for timely disposal. Green procurement can also mean requiring suppliers to take back materials and seeking electronic equipment that is easily disassembled.

Facilities and Land Use

The federal government has significant land holdings and operations across the nation and must minimize the environmental risks associated with its operations. This task includes managing contaminated sites, pesticides, storage tanks, as well as complying with federal environmental laws.

Land Use Management – Contaminated Sites

The Government of Canada is committed to effectively managing the approximately 4,400 sites that have been reported to the Federal Contaminated Sites and Solid Waste Landfill Inventory (maintained by TBS), to date. Although some of these sites have been remediated, most require further work. A contaminated site is defined as one at which “substances occur at con-centrations (1) above background levels and pose or are likely to pose an immediate or long-term hazard to human health or the environment, or (2) exceeding levels specified in policies and regulations.”

The Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan was established in 2003–2004 to help departments and agencies identify and manage federal contaminated sites. The annual departmental contaminated sites management plans helps departments and agencies to establish and update their targets annually. Targets should address the contaminated sites for which the custodial department is responsible, and the department should manage unacceptable risks associated with those contaminated sites.

To increase the public visibility and accountability for action on federal contaminated sites, custodial departments and agencies should include in their Sustainable Development Strategy relevant targets from their departmental contaminated sites management plan. Further, they should report progress towards these and other targets in their Sustainable Development Performance Report, thereby providing a more comprehensive picture of the organization’s environmental performance.

Regulatory Compliance

Canadians expect the federal government to conduct its business in an ethical and environmentally responsible manner. They expect their government to comply with federal laws and regulations. According to the Code of Environmental Stewardship, adopted by the Government of Canada in the early 1990s, departments and agencies are expected to “meet or exceed the letter and spirit of federal environmental laws and, where appropriate, to be compatible with provincial and international standards.”

Each federal department or agency is expected to manage its environmental regulatory obligations as it would its financial obligations and to demonstrate that, in its own operations, it is knowledgeable about, and meets the requirements of, all applicable federal environmental laws, regulations, guidance and standards. Departments and agencies should indicate in their SDS their plan to review compliance with all applicable federal environmental regulatory obligations and to report internally on gaps and progress, as well as on their progress in meeting the aforementioned commitment set out in the Code of Environmental Stewardship.

Green Stewardship

Incorporating sustainable development into the Government of Canada involves changing the culture—a challenging task for any large organization. One of the first steps taken by the Government of Canada in this process was the Code of Environmental Stewardship. Established in 1992, it commits the government to integrating the principles of sustainable development into all aspects of its operations and activities. It also specifically commits the government “to improve the level of awareness throughout the public service of the environmental and health benefits and risks of operational decisions and to encourage and recognize employee actions.” Since the Code was established, much has been done to improve the environmental performance of the government’s operations. However, more can be done.

Green stewardship is a primary enabler for achieving objectives and targets for the three key priority areas in this guidance document. Success in these areas to a large extent depends on the over 200,000 employees that work for the federal government.

It is critical for departments and agencies to focus on building employee awareness and engaging them in the greening challenge. Departments and agencies should indicate in their SDS specific plans for encouraging and supporting all employees to incorporate environmental responsibilities into their work duties and their everyday decision-making.

At a minimum, departments and agencies are encouraged to establish a green stewardship committee for their department, reporting to senior management. Departments and agencies should promote existing initiatives such as Environment Week, Clean Air Day, One Tonne Challenge, and the Commuter Challenge. They could also encourage greening of offices, major conferences, events and meetings; promote telework, active transportation, green business travel, and the use of green hotels; and, support eco-commuting by extending the EcoPass program beyond the National Capital Region.

The Green Stewardship Steering Group will be instrumental in helping to share best practices and to coordinate a government-wide approach to help engage federal employees. For instance, the Group is considering how training and orientation systems across the government can be used to help ensure that every employee is aware that greening operations is a government priority and that employees are expected to do their part. Some activities that departments and agencies may wish to implement can be found on the Web site of the Office of Greening Government Operations (OGGO)

CONCLUSION

The establishment of OGGO, the narrowing of environmental priorities and the development of this document are important milestones on the road to a government-wide approach to greening government operations. This approach will provide Canadians with a focused and coherent government-wide report on results achieved by individual departments and agencies.

The next step now greatly depends on departments and agencies adopting the common targets and common performance measures for the three priority areas and reflecting them in their next SDS. Alternatively, departments and agencies that have not yet built the capacity to do so are strongly encouraged to take this necessary first step in their SDS. Mechanisms are in place to help organizations do so.

We know, for example, that a government-wide approach to reporting will be achieved most efficiently and effectively through collaboration. To this end, departments and agencies are again encouraged to participate in the interdepartmental steering groups and annual workshops that share information, tools, best practices and lessons learned from pilot projects. OGGO is looking forward to working with organizations to continue to green our collective government operations.

References and enabling tools are available on the OGGO Web site: We are interested in receiving your feedback on this guidance document.

APPENDIX A: HISTORY

The Government of Canada has taken numerous steps to improve the environmental footprint of its own operations, as outlined below.

• 1990 – The Green Plan was established.
• 1992 – The Code of Environmental Stewardship was established.
• 1995 – Amendments to the Auditor General Act made it a legal requirement for a number of departments and agencies to produce a Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) and update it every three years. The amendments also established the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD), reporting to the House of Commons on departmental SDS. Encouraging the government to be more accountable for greening its policies, operations, and programs is a key to the Commissioner’s mandate.
• 1995 – A Guide to Green Government was released to assist departments and agencies in preparing their SDS
• 1997 – The first SDS were tabled in Parliament.
• 1998 – The CESD issued the first SDS Report Card.
• 2000 – Sustainable Development in Government Operations (SDGO): A Coordinated Approach was released to help departments and agencies set consistent and coordinated targets in seven key priority areas.
• 2001 – The Federal House in Order initiative was launched to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in government operations.
• 2001 – The second SDS were tabled in Parliament.
• 2002 – Second report of the CESD released.
• 2003 – The FHIO mandate is extended in the areas of buildings, vehicles, outside emissions and green power.
• 2004 – Third round of SDS were tabled in Parliament.
• 2005 – Third report of the CESD released.
• 2004–05 – Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, in consultation with many departments and agencies, developed a performance management framework for the greening of government operations. The framework outlined the management and governance structure for the greening of government operations initiative.
• 2005 – Creation of the Office of Greening Government Operations,
  PWGSC.

APPENDIX B: POLICY AND PROGRAM DRIVERS

Building Energy

• Federal Buildings Initiative
• Federal House in Order

Vehicle Fleet

• TBS Motor Vehicle Policy
• TBS Executive Vehicle Policy
• Alternative Fuels Act (1995)
  Where cost effective and operationally feasible, 75% of the motor vehicles operated by all federal bodies and Crown corporations will run on alternative fuels, thereby promoting the replacement of petroleum-based fuels for transportation.
• Federal House in Order

Green Procurement

• Policy on Green Procurement (2006)

SUMMARY

Building Energy

⁸ Under the FHIO, eleven departments that account for 95% of federal emissions agreed to collectively meet the target of 30.6% reduction in green house gas emissions from buildings and vehicles (rounded to 31%). In 2002, buildings contributed roughly 81% of the federal emissions. The eleven departments are: Department of National Defence, PWGSC, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Correctional Services Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, National Research Council, Natural Resources Canada, Parks Canada, Transport Canada and Environment Canada.

Vehicle Fleet

⁹ On April 5, 2005, the Government of Canada and the Canadian automotive industry (Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada) signed a major agreement on climate change. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, the Canadian automotive industry will take actions to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% from light-duty vehicles (cars, minivans, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks) by 2010. For the three-year period for the next round of SDS from 2007-2009, Departments and Agencies are asked to achieve half the 30% GHG emissions target set by the auto manufacturers. They would be able to achieve this through updating and right-sizing their fleets respectively.

Green Procurement

¹⁰ These outcomes are as follows: reducing GHG emissions and air contaminants; improving energy and water efficiency; reducing ozone-depleting substances; reducing waste and supporting reuse and recycling; reducing hazardous waste; and reducing toxic and hazardous chemicals and substances.