Montreal, QC - Gèrald Tremblay, Mayor of Montrèal, Helen Fotopulos, Executive Committee Member responsible for Mount Royal Park, Nature parks and the Nature Museums, and Charles-Mathieu Brunelle, Executive Director of Montrèal's Nature Museums, announced yesterday an energy saving program that will enable the BiodÙme, Insectarium and Botanical Garden to reduce their annual greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent and cut their energy costs by about 30 per cent. The central feature of the program is the installation of geothermal systems at the BiodÙme and Insectarium.

More specifically, the Ecosystem company will be installing geothermal-type heat recovery systems at the BiodÙme and Insectarium, making it possible to convert heat into energy and power the air-conditioning and heating systems. At night, the Botanical Garden will use an electric boiler to produce the necessary energy, thereby reducing its use of natural gas and at the same time its greenhouse gas emissions. The program also includes work to optimize ventilation systems and upgrade to more efficient lighting systems. In addition, the future Planetarium, to open in summer 2012, will meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum criteria.
   
Mayor Tremblay noted that "sustainable development is a goal that we are pursuing on a daily basis in Montrèal. This project is an important step in implementing our strategic sustainable development plan, with the aim of offering Montrealers a healthy environment, an essential ingredient in optimal quality of life." Helen Fotopulos, Executive Committee member responsible for the Nature Museums, said she is proud that "Montrèal's Nature Museums are showing their true nature and leading by example, by adopting environmentally responsible behaviour."
   
The Executive Director of the Nature Museums, Charles-Mathieu Brunelle, pointed out that this project is part of an extensive overall plan that will allow Montrèal's Nature Museums to focus on helping people enjoy nature to the fullest. "This energy saving program will move us closer to our ultimate objective, which we can sum up simply as "zero waste," and further reflect our philosophy of maintaining a natural balance."

Fact sheets on the whole project and illustrations of the technologies used are available on the Montrèal Nature Museums Website, at museumsnature.ca.   

The city of Montrèal will be contributing $7.5 million to the project, while Hydro-Quèbec ($900,000), the Federation of Canadian Municipalities ($350,000) and the Natural Resources Canada EcoENERGY Retrofit program ($10,500) are all project partners. Once the work is completed, in September 2010, a five-year performance guarantee will take effect. The project will pay for itself over eight to nine years, thanks to lower energy consumption.

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