Major upgrades to Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario for cleaner, healthier air and energy savings

OTTAWA, ON, May 9, 2024 /CNW/ - Canadians are calling for ambitious climate action that keeps the air clean while building a strong and clean economy for the future.

Today, Adam van Koeverden, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, on behalf of the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced an investment of up to $1 million from the Low Carbon Economy Fund to support the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario's (CHEO) Deep Energy Retrofit Program.

Parliamentary Secretary van Koeverden was joined by Alex Munter, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario; the Honourable David McGuinty, Member of Parliament; and City Councillor Marty Carr to highlight the project, which includes the installation of a new energy recovery system and re-engineering of its heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. In addition, two new heat pumps will be used to reduce energy consumption from natural gas-fired boilers. These changes will satisfy the hospital's heating requirements and recover and reuse heat waste, improving efficiency of the hospital's systems and reducing emissions.

In an average year, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario emits over 6,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. With these upgrades in place, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario will be able to reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions by over 2,500 tonnes per year, the equivalent of approximately 600 homes' energy use for one year.

Projects like this, supported by the Low Carbon Economy Fund, will help sectors work toward innovative solutions that will allow them to reduce emissions and create jobs while building a strong, sustainable future for generations to come.

"By working with organizations across Canada such as the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, we are making operating costs more affordable and growing the economy all while fighting climate change. Through the Low Carbon Economy Fund, the Government of Canada is partnering with climate leaders nationwide to cut emissions, so that our children and grandchildren will have cleaner air to breathe. Helping hospitals make these changes just makes good public health sense."

– Adam van Koeverden, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change

"At the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, reducing our carbon emissions helps kids today and tomorrow. Spending less on energy now means we can spend more on patient care. And reducing emissions for good will pay dividends far into the future."

– Alex Munter, President and Chief Executive Officer, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

"It is particularly appropriate that the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario will be able to reduce their energy costs while fighting climate change and investing in the future of the very generation that they serve each and every day."

– The Honourable David McGuinty, Member of Parliament

"The significant investment the Government of Canada is making to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario to reduce emissions is welcome news. This will make an impact equivalent to removing 2,500 passenger cars off our roads. As Vice-Chair of the City's Environment and Climate Change Committee, I couldn't be more thrilled with this investment in both our environment and our health."

– Marty Carr, City Councillor – Ward 18 Alta Vista

• The Low Carbon Economy Fund is an important part of Canada's climate action plans, including helping put Canada on a path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The Low Carbon Economy (LCEF) Challenge Fund is just one of the many ways the Government of Canada is working with partners across the country to cut pollution, build strong, resilient, and healthy communities, and create good jobs across the country.
• The Low Carbon Economy Fund is supporting projects across the country that invest in proven, low-carbon technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The most recent intake of the Low Carbon Economy Fund closed February 8, 2024. The Challenge Fund's application assessment process is underway.
• The Low Carbon Economy Fund also supports climate action by Indigenous peoples with an Indigenous Leadership Fund that invests in clean energy and energy-efficiency projects led by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities and organizations. This call for proposals is open from January 31, 2024, to March 31, 2027.
• Canada launched the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan in 2022, laying out steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

• Low Carbon Economy Fund
  
  
• 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan – Canada's Next Steps for Clean Air and a Strong Economy
• Budget 2024 – Fairness for Every Generation

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SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada