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Reducing emissions

Last updated on August 4, 2023

B.C.’s public sector organizations (PSOs) are taking action to cut greenhouse gas emissions from their operations and to achieve the government’s carbon neutral commitment. 

Clean fleets

CleanBC, B.C.’s climate change strategy, establishes the Province’s pathway to a more prosperous, balanced, and sustainable future. Within CleanBC, government made two commitments related to public sector fleets:

  • Annual greenhouse gas emissions will be 40% below 2010 levels by 2030
  • Provincial government ministries will have 10% of light duty vehicle purchases be zero emission vehicles (ZEV), where an available ZEV meets operational needs

Efforts to transition the public sector fleet support the overall government plan for all new cars sold in B.C. to be ZEVs by 2040. Because vehicles are operational for up to 10 years, transitioning public sector fleet to ZEVs now will be critical to meeting the commitments.

Learn more about ZEVs and transitioning your fleet below.

Incentives and rebates

Resources

Guides

Corporate supply arrangement for electric vehicle charging stations

A corporate supply arrangement has been established to streamline public procurement of electric vehicle charging stations. This arrangement allows the provincial public sector, First Nations and local governments to purchase electric vehicle charging stations directly from suppliers, often with favourable pricing. It covers either supply and/or installation of the charging station.

Learn more about the public sector organizations and vendors eligible to use this supply arrangement.

Read Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: Buyer Resources (PDF, 350KB) or email the Procurement Services Branch for more information.

Low carbon building materials

PSOs are encouraged to promote the use of low carbon and renewable building materials in the design and construction of public sector infrastructure.

Building new PSO facilities to a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®)  Gold, or equivalent certification by a green building rating system, helps to assure building owners that their investment in a new facility yields superior performance in a variety of areas including: energy and water efficiency, storm water management, indoor environmental quality and materials usage.

This kind of leadership makes a difference. Approximately 30% of all LEED Gold and Platinum building projects registered in Canada since 2007 are located in B.C.

The use of low carbon materials reduces the amount of embodied carbon in infrastructure. Embodied carbon represents the emissions released beginning with extraction or harvesting through to the end of a material’s life cycle.

The Canada Green Building Council has highlighted the use of low carbon building materials, such as wood, wood products and Portland-limestone cement (PLC), as one of four key strategies to achieve a zero carbon building.

  • Wood and wood products not only have low embodied carbon, they also store carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere for the life of the product
  • During its manufacturing process, PLC produces 10% less carbon emissions than regular Portland cement

To learn more about the use of low carbon materials and opportunities to earn LEED credits, please review the following resources:

Low Carbon Building Materials and LEED v4: A guide for public sector organizations (PDF, 2.12MB)

  • An overview on how to earn LEED v4 credits using wood, wood products and PLC in new public sector building projects
  • Created for PSO building owners/lessees, facility managers and executive decision makers

LEED v4 and Low Carbon Building Materials: A comprehensive guide (PDF, 2.88MB)

  • Provides a detailed review on how low carbon building materials can be used towards earning LEED v4 credits
  • Created for building sector professionals 

Additional information on low carbon materials