Reducing our energy use, adding value for customers

Converting the Government of Canada Pension Centre to a net-zero building will add to our understanding of how large commercial buildings can help with climate change goals by changing how they consume electricity.

This landmark building is located at 10 Weldon Street in Shediac. It was built in 1982 to manage Canada’s pension programs for public servants, military and RCMP members. It also manages pensions for retired Members of Parliament, Foreign Service personnel and federal judges.

The three-storey building has capacity for 400 employees and is approximately 6000 m². It is owned and managed by Public Services and Procurement Canada.

A 75 kW rooftop solar panel will provide renewable energy to power the building, with excess stored in a 400 kWh battery located on the property. The Shediac Community Solar Farm will also provide dedicated renewable energy to power the building.

The building will also participate in demand response (DR) research programs via a cloud-based Energy Systems Platform (ESP) developed by Siemens as part of Smart Grid Atlantic, and will also be outfitted with smart technologies such as a communications gateway signalling building controls, and the battery storage unit. NB Power will use these devices to help the grid at times of peak energy use and when forecasting high energy prices, by reducing or shifting electricity usage away from these time periods while not impacting the heating systems. This study will provide valuable research data for future design of these types of programs for commercial building owners.

The Pension Centre as a net-zero building will be operated with the goal of reducing the factors contributing to a changing climate.

Partners for this project include the Town of Shediac and the Government of Canada.