Spotlight on... LAC and ESAP

 It's full steam ahead for the Gatineau 2 Preservation Centre and the Energy Services Acquisition Program (ESAP)

You've been hearing about it for weeks -- even months! Prepare to learn more about Gatineau 2 and ESAP, as this issue turns its attention to these two innovative projects and their most recent developments.

What they have in common:

1. The client: In both cases, our client is the Government of Canada. More specifically, in the case of Gatineau 2, the contractor is Library and Archives Canada (LAC). For ESAP, the client is Public Services and Procurement Canada.
2. The region: Over the next few months, the ENGIE brand will be front and centre in the National Capital Region. The construction site will be in Gatineau, while the modernization and operation of a new facility to convert steam to low temperature hot water will spread across the river that separates Ontario (Ottawa) and Quebec (Gatineau).
3. Partnerships: PCL Investments Canada is our leading construction partner for both projects.
4. Implementation model: Both projects are public-private partnerships (PPPs) under contracts covering conception, construction and maintenance financing. 
5. Duration: These are two long-term contracts in a market niche that is of particular interest to ENGIE.
6. Start-up date: No, it's not an April Fools' joke! The two contracts begin April 1, 2020 -- the same day as the launch of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health1-B (CAMH) de Toronto.

Library and Archives Canada – Gatineau 2 Preservation Centre

Night view of the preservation centres - existing (left) and new (right)

It is with great pride that we learned last January 30 that Library and Archives Canada (LAC) had selected Plenary Properties Gatineau, a consortium consisting of PCL, as the lead developer to design, build, finance, maintain and operate the Gatineau 2 Preservation Centre -- the first "net zero carbon" building dedicated to the preservation of archives in America. This new preservation facility will be located adjacent to the existing Preservation Centre in Gatineau and will also be the first Government of Canada building constructed according to the requirements of Canada's Greening Government Strategy. The Centre will also be the world's largest preservation facility equipped with the advanced technology of an automated storage and retrieval system for archival materials. The bid by Plenary Properties Gatineau, composed of Plenary Group (Canada) Ltd., PCL Investments (Canada) Inc., B+H Architects, PCL Constructors Eastern Inc., and ENGIE Services Inc. met all of the government's technical requirements with a price tag that went easy on the Canadian taxpayer. To learn more about the leaders who guided LAC, click here.

The key steps

To preserve the documentary heritage of present and future generations, the Government of Canada is seeking to renew its cultural infrastructure by providing LAC with a specialized, flexible and sustainable physical infrastructure. The federal government is looking to build a new preservation centre while improving some of its current archive vaults at the existing preservation centre. The objectives of the project:

• Provide LAC with appropriate, secure and state-of-the-art archive retention and access capability.
• Promote and equip LAC as a centre of excellence by emphasizing its role as a leader in the archives community.    
• Provide flexible space that can be easily modified to meet LAC's future needs and challenges.
• Maximize building sustainability while respecting collection and access requirements.
• Improve program delivery and facility performance through creative and proven design, construction and operational solutions.
• Build a facility that contributes to Gatineau's landscape by providing architectural quality and functionality that complements existing infrastructure.
• Support the federal government's sustainable development objectives with an Energy and Environmental Design Leadership (LEED) certification tailored to building functions and offering the best possible compromise between sustainability goals and costs.
• Plan and build a project that protects the surrounding natural environment through environmental monitoring and mitigation measures.

Chronology:

• 2015: LAC is authorized to plan and manage a new preservation facility adjacent to the existing centre in Gatineau.
• 2017: LAC launches qualification appeals process.

ENGIE teams up with Plenary (developer, financial partner) and PCL (designer, builder).

• 2018: LAC launches bid for proposals process.

ENGIE and Stantec engineers work closely with ENGIE's Axima and Cofely to prepare a proposal by focusing on ENGIE's expertise widely recognized through such projects as the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Archives nationales de France and the British National Archives.

• 2019: On January 10, the Plenary Properties Gatineau consortium delivers its proposition.

On January 30, LAC names the consortium as the selected developer.

In the spring, the agreement is signed and construction begins.

• 2020: In April, ENGIE takes charge of managing the current facilities during construction of the new building.
• 2022: Planned opening of the new building.
• 2052: End of LAC operations and restitution. 

Role and mandate of ENGIE Services

The ENGIE team played a leading role in the design and development of the consortium's energy strategy, surpassing all of LAC's energy objectives. Our approach introduced clear value savings, allowing the consortium to be more competitive. ENGIE’s international experience in managing critical environmental conditions in preservation centres provided invaluable insight to the design team.  

While ENGIE will not be involved in the business side of the project, it will provide comprehensive facility management, including energy performance and life-cycle rehabilitation works for LAC’s facility throughout the 32-yearterm of the contract.

This contract once again confirms ENGIE's role as an international leader in the highly specialized archives, museums and preservation centres market.

Energy Services Acquisition Program (ESAP)

The consortium was created to respond to the federal government's call for tenders. Several months later, ENGIE and its partners won the contract. As a result, the consortium will contribute to the government’s goal of reducing its energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its own operations by 40% by 2030. Once this objective is met, the government plans to continue to turn to renewable energy sources and convert the base load to more carbon-neutral fuels. The deal's financial details were inked last May 31, and the government's official announcement was made on June 4 by federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna.

The details

By modernizing existing DES assets through the replacement of steam heating systems with an interconnected low-temperature mechanism and promoting the use of natural cooling by river water, the project will achieve several key objectives: a 63% reduction of carbon pollution, the improvement in the overall DES efficiency, millions of dollars in energy costs saved while improving the resilience and safety of employees' working conditions.

To obtain this contract, ENGIE teamed up with local strategic partners, including PCL, Black & McDonald, WSP and BBB Architects. The consortium successfully developed a solution that was specifically adapted to four DES centres that will operate in Ontario and Quebec, while meeting high thermal efficiency requirements. The strategic positioning of ENGIE's global team contributed significantly to this victory because of its dual expertise in DES infrastructure and operations, and maintenance services. In addition, the solution is asset-based, and conforms to ENGIE's strategy of being the world leader in zero carbon transition as a service.

It is important to note at this stage that the consortium's digital strategy has served as a unique selling point in meeting the Canadian government's important requirement to implement a transparent and secure tool for tracing and monitoring CO2 emissions. It's a process that so far has been executed through the collection of a large amount of data submitted to a third party for accuracy verification. ENGIE proposes to use block-chain technology to make the process more efficient by avoiding the costs of gathering information and collecting and verifying data by third parties. This gives operators the option of continuing to implement continuous methods while measuring their impact on CO2 emissions. ENGIE's internal digital platforms have also been leveraged, integrating Smart O&M and NEMO to contribute to the efficient use of energy and renewable energy, thereby enabling effective maintenance strategies while creating a healthy and safe environment for all workers.

Chronology 

• March 2016: The Innovate Energy consortium is formed to include WSP, PCL, Black & McDonald, ENGIE Services, and BBB Architects;
• August 31, 2017: The Government of Canada launches its Energy Services Acquisition Program (ESAP) to obtain proposals for a public-private partnership (PPP). The program also selects a private partnership that can convert an existing steam to low temperature hot water energy system in Ottawa, while building, maintaining and operating the facility through short-term financing. The private partnership is also expected to oversee the future extension of the RES system;
• March 13, 2019: The federal government selects Innovate Energy as the winning consortium, but the announcement is not made public pending budget approval by the Treasury Board of Canada;
• May 2, 2019: The Treasury Board of Canada approves the budget;
• May 31, 2019: Financial closing date.

A contract with major objectives

• 2019-2025: Conversion, within 6 years, of an existing high-temperature steam network to a less energy-consuming, low temperature hot water system.
  • Transition period = June 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020
  • Design and construction phase (PCL) = June 1, 2020 - October 31, 2025
  • O&M (ENGIE) = April 1, 2020 - October 31, 2025
• 2020-2055: Operation and maintenance of the network during construction, validation and end of the 2055 contract. ENGIE will be the exclusive partner of the network expansion project.

This new DES-performance-based federal contract is a landmark reference project that answers an unprecedented need to the challenges of the Ottawa DES network while anchoring ENGIE's international strategy. It is also a demonstration of the team's technical-commercial excellence by working across borders, with groups of qualified people based in Houston, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal and Paris who are combining their technical, legal, commercial, environmental, computer and technical skills to bring success to this project. This venture will contribute to Global DHC's expertise and also attract other similar business opportunities that require relevant DES references. All in all, this is an excellent illustration of our new modus operandi!