A comparison of greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector of major Canadian cities

Mohareb, E. A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0344-2253 and Mohareb, A. K. (2014) A comparison of greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector of major Canadian cities. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 41 (4). pp. 285-293. ISSN 0315-1468 doi: 10.1139/cjce-2013-0465

Abstract/Summary

One of the most significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada is the buildings sector, with over 30% of national energy end-use occurring in buildings. Energy use must be addressed to reduce emissions from the buildings sector, as nearly 70% of all Canada’s energy used in the residential sector comes from fossil sources. An analysis of GHG emissions from the existing residential building stock for the year 2010 has been conducted for six Canadian cities with different climates and development histories: Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax. Variation across these cities is seen in their 2010 GHG emissions, due to climate, characteristics of the building stock, and energy conversion technologies, with Halifax having the highest per capita emissions at 5.55 tCO2e/capita and Montreal having the lowest at 0.32 tCO2e/capita. The importance of the provincial electricity grid’s carbon intensity is emphasized, along with era of construction, occupancy, floor area, and climate. Approaches to achieving deep emissions reductions include innovative retrofit financing and city level residential energy conservation by-laws; each region should seek location-appropriate measures to reduce energy demand within its residential housing stock, as well as associated GHG emissions.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/44981
Identification Number/DOI	10.1139/cjce-2013-0465
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of the Built Environment > Energy and Environmental Engineering group
Publisher	NRC Research Press
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