Charging towards fleet decarbonization for school district 42
At a glance
The CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 mandates reduction of all transportation-related Green-House Gas (GHG) emissions by 30% across British Columbia (BC). BC School District 42 is conscious of this mandate, and wanted to leverage the various rebates in BC to fund a feasibility study showing a holistic pathway to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) within the constraints of the school’s budget, operational procedures, and specific requirements.
The challenge
One of the key challenges of decarbonization is understanding the various pathways to carbon neutrality and picking one ideal for the School District’s needs. Additionally, being a Public Service Organization (PSO), schools typically have a limited budget to operate and innovate - GHD had to think creatively about how to maximize their decarbonization potential given this constraint.
Our response
We researched the BC Hydro EV Ready Program and PlugIn BC’s Go Electric Program on behalf of the school district. Our assessment of the grants included an eligibility review and a thorough understanding of the requirements. We provided the school district with the necessary advice and documentation to apply for these grants, enabling the school district to apply for both grants and get pre-approved for up to $20,000 in rebates.
Then, through our proprietary tool ZEVO, we generated various fleet transition scenarios, each with its financial, environmental, utility, infrastructure and energy metrics. Fleet Assessment through ZEVO helped to identify key assets in the fleet which would provide the most significant benefit when converted to ZEVs from both a financial and environmental standpoint. We also conducted high-level range modelling by mapping out the district's various elementary and high schools and simulated 'worst-case' trips. Finally, to validate our assessment, we conducted in-person interviews with key personnel to understand their preferences and constraints in operating the current fleet and a prospective future fleet of ZEVs.
The impact
Through the feasibility project, we identified that the School District would reduce its emissions by 36% through a conservative electrification process and because of the price difference between electricity and fossil fuel, the school district could gain $89K worth of annual savings and reduce the average vehicle OPEX by 18%.
The School District is utilizing GHD’s recommendations to purchase a pilot EV and charging station to start its journey to zero emissions.
“If I could share one lesson learned through this process, it is to get really clear on your organizational goals. Are the CleanBC 2030 targets important to your organization or are they aspirational goals? If so, can your organization leadership get behind these goals financially? Convincing your organization leadership team is key to moving forward with your fleet’s decarbonization plans.” Alexandra Tudose, Manager, Energy & Environmental Sustainability, School District 42.
On our new transition journey, we must accept we are entering the era of piloting new technologies and fleets. It will be an era of testing, trial and error calibration and, ultimately, optimization. This is a cycle that will need to be embedded as a critical part of every successful transition.”