Energia Award for Les Cours Mont-Royal

Les Cours Mont-Royal, an upscale shopping center in downtown Montreal, turned an asset renewal project into an opportunity to improve their financial, operational, and environmental performance. Their bold approach to upgrading their infrastructure was recently recognized with an Energia award from AQME, the Quebec Association for Energy Management.

Faced with the need to replace equipment, Soltron Group – owners of Les Cours Mont-Royal – realized they could leverage the upgrades to increase their bottom line, with reduced energy use and operating costs. To ensure their goals would be met, they selected a contractual model that required bidders to guarantee the project’s performance.

Taking a fresh look at asset renewal

Approaching asset renewal as a guaranteed performance project offers many advantages: it’s an opportunity to aim for greater financial, operational, and environmental goals, while also ensuring the certainty of achieving these targets.

Like many large commercial buildings, asset maintenance at Les Cours Mont-Royal was a major concern. Upgrades were required, as aging equipment was becoming less reliable and efficient, and operation and maintenance costs were increasing. Soltron Group also strove to improve the building’s energy performance.

Through a whole-building analysis of their energy systems, Soltron Group was able to view their asset maintenance issues differently, with a focus on identifying performance targets and achieving them.

Results

The project led to significant improvements in operational efficiency, with operating savings achieving 236% of the initial targets.

Financial goals were also met with savings generated through a combination of heat recovery, reduced energy consumption, and lower operating costs.

Environmental performance was improved due to the building’s 84% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Energia awards recognize best practices and excellence in energy efficiency in Quebec. Two other Ecosystem projects — the Jewish General Hospital and Trois-Rivières University (UQTR) – were also contenders for this year’s Energia awards.

Congratulations to Soltron Group, as well as the other finalists and winners.