Federal Buildings Initiative

The Federal Buildings Initiative (FBI) is a voluntary program that helps facilitate energy efficiency retrofit projects in buildings owned or managed by the Government of Canada. Developed and administered by Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency, it enables federal organizations to implement these projects through third-party energy performance contracts without necessarily using their own capital funds.

The FBI offers the following set of services and products to help you simplify and remove much of the risk of implementing a retrofit project:

Opportunity assessments and facilitation services to help federal organizations get retrofit projects off the ground;
Advice and consultation on environmental assessments, project planning, tendering, awarding of contracts, staff training and project monitoring;
Assistance in customizing the model performance contracting documents;
An on-line list of pre-qualified energy service companies (ESCOs) that can bid on federal retrofit projects;
Consultation with ESCOs and federal organizations on evolving policy and operational issues;
Customized approaches to training and workshops through reliable industry contacts;
Employee awareness, celebration and recognition opportunities through the FBI’s case studies, technical guides and the Heads Up Energy Efficiency online newsletter.

Benefits

Many federal organizations have successfully completed a retrofit project because they are motivated and excited by the rewards of improved energy efficiency. This is a smart investment that pays off through important and tangible benefits including the following:

Guaranteed energy savings – often more than 20 percent – which are retained after successful completion of the EPC;
Low risk since the pre-qualified ESCOs assume virtually all risk;
Private sector financing with no up-front costs;
Turnkey implementation that takes advantage of the ESCOs engineering and energy management expertise;
Healthier, more comfortable and productive working environments;
Reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions;
A demonstrable contribution to sustainable development.

For a detailed look at the various stages and activities of implementing a successful energy efficiency retrofit, visit our Energy Performance Contracting Process Web page.

Results

The FBI is working with representatives from numerous federal organizations to help them implement successful retrofit projects. To date, there have been over 86 retrofit projects, attracting $320 million in private sector investments and generating over $43 million in annual energy cost savings. These FBI projects have demonstrated on average a 15-20 percent energy savings and have also helped reduce the impact of operations on the environment – cutting GHG emissions by 285 kilotonnes.

Other levels of government, institutions and private sector firms also draw on the FBI's experience for help in designing their own energy efficiency programs.