This Request for Proposals (the “RFP”) is an invitation by the Corporation of the City of Peterborough (the “City”) to qualified prospective proponents to submit proposals for Pathway to Decarbonization of Community Buildings Feasibility Study (the “Study”), as further described in Section D.1 of the RFP Particulars (Appendix D) (the “Deliverables”).

The Study will enable the City of Peterborough to plan how to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced from a portfolio of public-facing corporate facilities. The Study will critically evaluate the best approach to decrease intractable GHG emissions from facilities by revealing how to lower emissions through costed, stepwise energy improvements over a multiple year time horizon.

In 2016, the City adopted a corporate Climate Change Action Plan, which identified the need to reduce GHG emissions from facilities through improvements to building envelopes, mechanical systems and loads, and incorporating renewable energy systems. In 2019, Peterborough City Council passed a Climate Emergency Declaration that directed staff to accelerate climate action project timelines and develop new projects to achieve the new mandated mitigation target of 45% by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. As a result, the City must reduce emissions stemming from its facilities due to this sector comprising 18% or 3,206 tCO2e of total corporate emissions.

The City was successful in receiving funding through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Green Municipal Fund’s Community Buildings Retrofit (https://greenmunicipalfund.ca/funding/study-ghg-reduction-pathway-feasibility) (CBR) initiative. The CBR requires applicants to develop multiple decarbonization pathways for each identified facility to reduce per site GHG emissions by 50% in 10-years and 80% in 20-years after the completion of the study. The results of the Study will be shared with FCM as required through participation in the CBR as well as giving the City a roadmap to decarbonize, identify short-term priorities and inform capital planning.