Municipal Emissions

Climate Action Strategies

  • Big Move 6: Organizational Leadership

Not only is the District working to lower community emissions in Squamish, we are also aiming to reduce emissions from municipal operations. The Municipal Energy and Emissions Plan outlines how we manage our operations, which includes 20 buildings and 80 fleet vehicles. Using a sustainable approach helps reduce costs, improves services, and contributes to community-wide climate goals.

Near-term priorities

The greatest opportunity lies in current and future District facilities.

construction

Retrofit Existing Buildings

Electric car

Fleet Electrification

construction

Construct Efficient, Low-Carbon Facilities

organic waste

Solid Waste Collection

Long-term priorities 

In the future, the District will look at how to offset our remaining community carbon emissions by sequestering (or capturing carbon). Conserving and restoring natural areas like the Skwelwil'em Squamish Estuary can help to accomplish this. Carbon emissions from transportation, manufacturing, and disposing materials (known as embodied emissions), is another opportunity for climate action that the District is responsible for. 

warming

Carbon Sequestration

construction

Embodied Emissions

What We Are Doing

The District is converting its municipal fleet to electric or low-emission vehicles. This includes electric cars, hybrid vehicles, and even an electric ice resurfacer. Nearly all new vehicle and light-duty truck purchases are electric or low-carbon. The District is also expanding EV charging infrastructure for fleet use, such as the charging stations at the Squamish Public Library. 

The District is upgrading buildings it owns to reduce energy use and emissions. For example, upgrades at the Brennan Park Recreation Centre will cut energy use by 42% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly by improving heating, cooling, and energy systems.

When municipal buildings reach the end of their life, the District is replacing them with more efficient, low-carbon facilities. Two new fire halls are a prime example of new facilities designed to cut emissions dramatically, in some cases, reducing energy use by 90–95% compared to older buildings.

The District participates in the Local Carbon Registry (LCR), a platform used by municipalities to track and report emissions reductions from local projects. Projects like organic waste diversion and EV charging stations are examples of actions recorded in the registry. Squamish also offsets its corporate emissions to reach carbon-neutral status, focusing first on reducing what it can before using offsets. 

Resources

MEEP explainer PDF

Real Estate & Facilities Master Plan

Learn more about climate action in Squamish