(Montreal) The city of Montreal will ban gas-powered appliances such as heating systems and furnaces in new buildings, a move welcomed by various observers that aims to “stop adding new sources of gas emissions to the greenhouse effect.”
Posted at 6:00 p.m.
What there is to know
Montreal will ban gas-powered appliances such as heating systems, furnaces and water heaters for swimming pools and spas in new buildings.
The measure applies to all buildings of three floors or less and not more than 600 square meters constructed from October 1, 2024, and to larger buildings constructed from April 1, 2025.
The ban is welcomed by several observers, who accuse Hydro-Québec of slowing down Montreal’s decarbonization efforts.
The ban will apply to any building with three floors or less and a maximum of 600 square meters built from October 1, 2024, and then to larger buildings built from April 1, 2025, the administration will announce this Wednesday.
“This is really the first milestone of the roadmap [vers des bâtiments zéro émission dès 2040] », Marie-Andrée Mauger, responsible for ecological transition and the environment in the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal, told La Presse.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
The person responsible for ecological transition and the environment on the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal, Marie-Andrée Mauger
The measure affects residential, commercial and institutional buildings; The industrial sector is excluded, especially because it is already subject to the carbon market, explains Ms. Mauger.
However, there is a significant exception for buildings with more than three floors: the installation of gas appliances is permitted provided they only use gas from “renewable sources”.
However, the gas sold by Énergir currently contains only 1% renewable natural gas (RNG), i.e. methane produced from organic material, meaning that the majority of the gas used will continue to come from fossil sources.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
“Today it is 1%, but in the long term it will be 100%,” explains Marie-Andrée Mauger, referring to Énergir’s commitment to only distribute RNG in 2050.
Hydro-Québec’s “concerns” about winter peak periods led the Plante administration to include this exemption in its draft regulations.
In Montreal, there are real challenges to electricity capacity during extreme cold. […] There has been a lot of discussion about this in the last few months. [avec Hydro-Québec].
Marie-Andrée Mauger
Further exceptions are also planned: Restaurants can use gas cooking appliances and temporary solutions such as the use of a generator in the event of a failure or heaters for a construction site will be permitted.
What will be forbidden?
- Device for heating water and air by combustion
- Gas stove for private households
- Barbecue connected to a gas distribution network
- Indoor gas fireplace
- Water heater for swimming pool or spa connected to a gas distribution network
What will be allowed
- temporary heater used during construction work
- Commercial stove in a restaurant
- Grill connected to a removable cylinder
- Emergency generator
- Wood fireplace approved in accordance with the wood heating regulations
Criticism… towards Hydro-Québec
This draft regulation deserves applause, says Normand Mousseau, scientific director of the Trottier Energy Institute and professor of physics at the University of Montreal, who, however, deplores “Hydro-Québec’s systematic resistance” to such measures.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESS ARCHIVE
Normand Mousseau, scientific director of the Trottier Energy Institute and professor of physics at the University of Montreal
The state-owned company “has not made the necessary investments to ensure sufficient electricity for Montreal,” he fumes, emphasizing that decarbonizing buildings is essential to achieving Quebec’s climate goals – and the easiest measure.
Hydro-Québec “hides behind top management problems [qui surviennent] Greenpeace Canada’s climate-energy campaign director, Patrick Bonin, adds that “the cost is about a hundred hours a year” to hide that the need to decarbonize buildings has been underestimated, and also welcomed the ” “excellent initiative” from the city of Montreal.
The Montreal draft regulation should also serve as a model for the Legault government, emphasizes Andréanne Brazeau, climate policy analyst at Équiterre.
“We hope that the government will take note that it is being significantly outpaced by the cities and that it should consider adopting a state regulation [similaire] », which has already banned heating oil, she said.
The tip of the eisberg
The greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by new buildings are just “the tip of the iceberg,” recognizes Marie-Andrée Mauger, pointing out that “97% of the buildings that will make up the real estate stock in 2040 have already been built.”
“That’s the big part,” she says, quick to point out that the decarbonization of existing buildings follows a “gradual and predictable approach” that was set in motion in 2021 with the mandatory declaration of heating appliances that use one fuel – oil appliances are already subject to a separate ban for 2030.
“Performance limits” will then be gradually introduced for large buildings.
“We would have liked to have information on the city’s plan on existing buildings, because that is where greenhouse gases are currently concentrated,” explained Andréanne Brazeau, recalling that half of the municipality of Montreal’s emissions in 2021 came from buildings, as La Presse reported Monday .
All measures resulting from the roadmap for zero-emission buildings from 2040 will make it possible to move closer to Quebec’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from building heating by 50% by 2030, points out Marie-Andrée Mauger.
“We may not be at 50% in 2030,” she says. [mais] We know we will be at zero in 2040.”
The draft bylaw must be ratified by the City of Montreal’s executive committee on Wednesday and will then be presented to city council in November, with the prospect of adoption in December.
Learn more
$1,000 Amount of the fine to which any natural person violating the prohibition is liable for each day that the violation continues
Source: City of Montreal
$2,000 Amount of fine to be imposed on legal entities violating the ban for each day that the violation continues
Source: City of Montreal