PM's residence scored 28 out of 100 in 2005 energy efficiency rating
The prime minister's residence at 24 Sussex Drive overlooks the Ottawa River.
Photograph by : Ottawa Tourism
William Lin, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The prime minister's home has so many leaks -- no, not from whistleblowers -- that in the winter, the equivalent of a one-square-metre hole is punched through the wall.
That's the amount of air leakage inspectors found at 24 Sussex Drive, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 34-room, limestone mansion, according to a 2005 energy audit done by National Resources Canada and obtained by the Citizen.
Natural Resources Canada gave the building an EnerGuide energy efficiency rating of 28 out of 100, said a National Capital Commission review of the report.
The NCC review, dated April 12, 2007, confirms what many already suspect of the building -- it's an energy laggard.
The energy audit and review of recommendations were obtained by the Citizen through an Access to Information request.
Since the evaluation was done, the NCC said it planned renovations, from insulating walls to replacing windows and installing ground-source heat pumps capable of providing heating and cooling.
As a result, the more than 20 energy-guzzling, window air conditioners will no longer be necessary, according to the report.
A residence with a 28 rating consumes nearly three times more energy than a top energy-efficient home on the market, estimated Louise Roux, an NRC technical co-ordinator who helped draft the evaluation.
Three years ago, former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin complained that the house was too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. There were reports that the Martins' sunroom had to be wrapped in plastic during the winter to block wind.
Major leaks were discovered around a window, exterior doors, a bathroom fan and basement electrical room wall panels, the report found.
Since then, the NCC has singled out three high-priority recommendations: insulation of the attic, the interior of some basement walls and sunroom floor; replacement or rehabilitation of windows; and weatherstripping of doors, windows and sealing joints.
The NCC review said these renovations would decrease energy use by 15 per cent, while raising the energy-efficiency rating to 39.
Five windows in the second-floor family room have already been replaced with more energy-efficient windows, the review said.
Suggestions have been made to install ground-source heat pumps that can provide cooling and heating.
The existing boilers will remain as backup, NCC spokesman Mario Tremblay said.
Replacing the boilers would hike the efficiency rating to 49, the report said.
For the year ending in January, the heating and electricity costs at 24 Sussex were $57,000.
Mr. Tremblay said the energy-efficiency rating for the prime minister's residence was consistent with similar stone-clad buildings.
But Stephen Hazell, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, called the rating "terrible."
"That's really bad. The whole issue with energy efficiency, we didn't dream this up last week. Where have they been the last 20 years?" Mr. Hazell said.
Mr. Tremblay said he did not know how much the renovation would cost or when they would be completed.
In 2004, the NCC said $2 million wasn't enough to renovate 24 Sussex Drive and Harrington Lake, the prime minister's country residence.
The NCC is responsible for maintaining the 140-year-old building, which became the official residence for prime ministers in 1951.
An old, stone-clad residence like 24 Sussex Drive would be difficult to retrofit because of its status as a heritage building, Ms. Roux said.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2007
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