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Peterborough secures $9.3 million for new zero-carbon fire station

January 27, 2024 – The City of Peterborough, Ont., is getting $9.3 million from the Green Municipal Fund to construct a new net-zero fire station, replacing the existing Fire Station 2 on Carnegie Road.

Of the total amount, approximately $1.2 million will be in grants, and the remainder will be roughly $8.2 million in loans.

Fire Station 2 is over half a century old, reports Natural Resources Canada, and no longer able to meet the city’s needs.

“The new Fire Station 2 will be the city’s first building that is designed, built, and certified as a Zero-Carbon Building [through Canada Green Building Council] for both performance and design categories,” said Mayor Jeff Leal.

The new station is designed to employ renewable energy to achieve net-zero emissions. It will include automated control systems, ground-source heat pumps, solar panels on the rooftop, and a heat-recovery system.

To achieve a lower carbon footprint, the building will be constructed from mass timber instead of concrete, steel, or aluminum. It will also incorporate water-saving features and be re-situated to reduce flood risk and meet operational standards.

The design is expected to save the city an estimated $24,270 per year in operational costs, says NRCan.

Administered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), the Green Municipal Fund is funded through an endowment by the Government of Canada. The GMF’s “unique mix of funding, resources and training gives municipalities the tools they need to build resiliency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions”, says FCM.