Georgetown chosen to be shaped into P.E.I.'s 1st net-zero community

The P.E.I. government says it plans to make Georgetown the province's first net-zero community.

During a news conference Thursday, the province outlined the first steps it would take to make a non-emitter out of the eastern P.E.I. community, Premier Dennis King's hometown and part of Environment Minister Steven Myers' electoral district of Georgetown–Pownal.

The community will be home to the Georgetown Clean Tech Park, a 25-hectare business hub launched in February 2022 that the province hopes will attract green companies and entrepreneurs. The park will also house the Clean Tech Academy, which will offer a certificate and a master's degree through a joint initiative of Holland College and the University of Prince Edward Island.

Myers said the town will be a role model for the rest of the world.

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"It's all about energy consumption and energy losses… how we can help people consume less energy and how we can help people lose less energy through inefficiencies in their own home — which will inevitably save everybody money," the minister said.

"We're going to make Georgetown a smart town. So we're taking it to net zero, putting a smart grid on top of it. And we're going to show people that you can use energy much differently, much more efficiently, much more effectively."

Running simulations

The province is collaborating with UPEI's Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation and Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering on the project.

It will be divided into two phases, with the university getting $220,000 for the first phase.

"We are trying to formulate... 3D neighbourhood models of Georgetown so that we can take those models and use it for energy modelling and just to analyze how we are using energy," said Kuljeet Grewal, an assistant professor with the faculty and the principal investigator on the project. 

We're going to make Georgetown a smart town.— Steven Myers

"Think of a computer game where you can see how the energy is performing — how your house is performing and what is the energy you are consuming from morning till evening till afternoon — and imagine this on a community scale."

Grewal said they're looking at about two years from now before researchers have a comprehensive report.

"First we have to understand how we are using energy," he said. "The second phase is then how we can save some energy with building retrofits, with updated energy systems, with electrification, and how much emissions we will be cutting down."

2027 is target

Residents may be asked to take part in surveys, as drones collect the required data to map out the neighbourhood. Meanwhile, researchers will be collecting all sorts of data including Maritime Electric bills to determine power usage.

The province aims for Georgetown to become fully net-zero by 2027. The Island's overall goal is to transition to full net-zero by 2040.

"It will be quite a bit of work because we are trying to model the entire neighbourhood and town.... We will be engaging the graduate students and post-doc to help us with the data analysis and modelling," said Aitazaz Farooque, associate dean with the Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation.

With the sensitivity and the climate extremes we are seeing in the face of climate change, I think these type of initiatives need to happen.— Aitazaz Farooque

"It is an exciting initiative and UPEI has been collaborating with the province on various other initiatives. I think these type of initiatives need to happen."

Farooque said they're planning community engagement sessions to talk to residents about the project.

The exact cost of the project is still unknown.

"People from Norway and Italy, they are really interested in that sort of work," Grewal said. "These novel methodologies could be fascinating to everyone else."