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There are many ways you can get involved and join the QUEST Network. Help by staying engaged and to grow the QUEST network of Smart Energy Community thought leaders.
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Join the Conversation
Get the latest news and events about Smart Energy Communities across Canada by subscribing to our monthly newsletter and following us on social media.
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Join a Working Group
QUEST Working Groups are a meeting place for governments, utilities & energy service providers, the real-estate sector, the product and professional service sector, among others to collaborate, learn from one another, evaluate how to implement on the ground solutions.
District Energy Network
The goal of the QUEST DE Network is to advance Canada's DE industry: positioning DE for a changing Energy system and low carbon economy and facilitating project implementation.
The QUEST DE Network operates in part under a Memorandum of Understanding between QUEST and Natural Resources Canada. Participation is exclusive to QUEST Subscribers.
Leaders Dialogue
The Smart Energy Leaders’ Dialogue (LD) is a forum for senior executives and decision-makers from the Canadian energy industry, government, and related sectors to formulate common understanding and develop critical insight on how we use, move and produce energy in communities across Canada with a focus on the development of Smart Energy Communities.
Distributed Energy Resources
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) is a national working group with a regional focus that will review sources of electricity that are connected at the community level to a distribution system. The working group will engage relevant industry stakeholders across multiple sectors to discuss how we use, move, and produce energy as our energy systems evolve.
New Brunswick Municipal Group
Launched in 2016, the NB-PEI Municipal Working Group is a resource for municipalities engaged in community energy planning, partnership-building, and Smart Energy projects to share their experiences, lessons learned, and transfer knowledge about best practices. Participants are leaders in moving toward achieving provincial GHG emissions reduction goals and transitioning toward Smart Energy Communities.
Nova Scotia Buildings Group
The objective of the Buildings Working Group is to advance energy and environmental performance of buildings, while considering integration with other systems such as transportation, land use planning and renewable energy, to create Smart Energy Communities.
Nova Scotia Municipal Energy Learning
Launched in 2016, the Municipal Energy Learning Group (MELG) is a resource for municipalities engaged in community energy planning, partnership-building, and Smart Energy projects to share their experiences, lessons learned, and transfer knowledge about best practices.
Ontario Combined Heat and Power Consortium
The Ontario Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Consortium is the voice of CHP in Ontario. With a focus to encourage a broader debate and understanding of issues surrounding CHP, the Consortium is led by a diverse group of stakeholders from industry, LDC’s, gas utilities, the public/institutional sector, and technology & service providers. Participation is exclusive to QUEST Subscribers.
Ontario Community Energy Planning Implementation Network
By implementing a CEP and using energy more efficiently, a community can keep more money in the local economy, generate opportunities for local energy projects and jobs, and help manage risks from increasing energy prices and a changing climate. In Ontario, the number of communities implementing a CEP is growing each year.
Alberta Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Working to advance combined heat and power (CHP) in Alberta, the Alberta CHP Working Group is a diverse collaborative of stakeholders from gas, electric and thermal utilities, technology and service providers, government, NGOs, and the MUSH sector.
Alberta Municipal Working Group
Information Coming Soon!
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Information is coming soon!
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Attend an Event
Visit our events page for a full list of upcoming events and conferences near you!
Featured Events
QUESTtalks: PCP Implementation – Advancing the Partners for Climate Protection Milestones
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Share your Story
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Tell us why your community is a Smart Energy Community tagging @QUESTCanada or using the hashtag #SmartEnergyCommunities
Plot on the Smart Energy Atlas
Add your smart energy projects, policies, programs, plans, or resources to our atlas
Write a Blog
Want to be featured in the QUEST Newsletter. Submit your Smart Energy Community story to [email protected]
Share an Event
Add your Smart Energy Communities event to the QUEST event calendar
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Access Advisory Services
Smart Energy Communities benefit from improved energy efficiency, enhanced reliability, lower costs, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. As an influencer, connector, and educator, QUEST supports governments, utilities & energy providers, the real-estate sector, and solution providers to grow the Smart Energy Communities marketplace.
Energy Mapping Workshops
Community Energy Planning Support
Custom Services
Resilience Workshops
Energy Mapping Workshops
An integrated approach to community energy planning is needed by governments, utilities, and the building sector to achieve a sustainable energy future – a future with lower energy costs, reduced GHG emissions, enhanced economic development, and greater resiliency.
QUEST’s proprietary Energy Mapping Workshops bring the right stakeholders together for an engaging, hands-on approach to community energy planning. Community energy planning is recognized across Canada as an effective pathway to Smart Energy Communities. It provides a platform for multiple stakeholder groups to convene, coordinate, and implement innovative community energy projects and programs, resulting in more energy efficient, resilient and vibrant communities.
Who Benefits:
QUEST’s energy mapping workshops can be customized for a variety of audiences with a wide range of expertise and can be designed to focus on developing energy literacy, strengthening energy planning alignment amongst stakeholders, or defining energy priorities for:
Governments (municipal, provincial/territorial and federal)
The building sector
Utilities
Professional associations
Local non-profits
Energy service providers
The public
What We Offer:
QUEST specializes in the development of energy mapping workshops focused on educating and inspiring participants to take an integrated, systems-thinking approach to community energy planning. QUEST delivers workshops focused on:
Envisioning the future of energy production, delivery and end use in communities
Educating and building the capacity of emerging energy practitioners to implement community energy projects and programs
Enabling collaboration among key stakeholders to inform a community energy plan and identify local projects
Clients
Biomass North Development Centre
Bioheat Opportunities in Rural and Remote Communities Workshop
When Biomass North was tasked with delivering a workshop to educate Northern Ontario stakeholders on bioheat opportunities for rural and remote communities, it thought of QUEST when it came to educating stakeholders on the importance of Community Energy Planning.
The event was designed to provide a better understanding of the value proposition of sustainable bioenergy, and the unique social and environmental benefits it can bring to communities as well as the economic dividends it yields. The QUEST portion of the workshop informed participants about why Community Energy Planning is an important tool to develop a strategic approach to energy planning, and where bioenergy fits in. QUEST delivered a table-top mapping component that helped participants better understand how to identify local energy resources and GHG emission reduction opportunities.
“QUEST brought concrete and interactive tools and knowledge that proved invaluable for communities in the north in the development of their community energy plans. Their mapping exercise facilitated conversations between different stakeholder groups that may not have happened otherwise.”
Biomass North Development Centre
Community Energy Planning Support
QUEST supports clients to enable Community Energy Plan (CEP) implementation. Our staff and Senior Associates draw on decades of experience and a vast network of community energy planning practitioners to bring your CEP to life.
The successful implementation of CEPs requires the participation of a wide range of community stakeholders. QUEST offers CEP implementation support to all stakeholders engaged in the CEP development and execution, including governments (municipal, provincial/territorial and federal), utilities (gas, electric, thermal and water) product and service providers, and the development community (owners, operators, and builders).
What We Offer:
CEP Preparation Phase Services
Municipal readiness assessments (e.g., administering QUEST’s protocol for CEP implementation to generate an assessment and/or next steps report)
Independent verification of CEPs and their supporting technical materials (e.g., energy maps, procurement instruments)
Utility and product and service provider market validation of CEP services (e.g., evaluation of business platform or product optimization for the CEP marketplace)
CEP Implementation Services
Planning alignment services to integrate plans and processes of CEP enabling and implementing stakeholders to coordinate objectives and accelerate implementation
Tailored engagement practices that allow all voices to be heard and engaged to ensure implementation is realized for a CEP (e.g., decision support processes)
With QUEST’s support, the City of Campbell River has been able put some of the key pieces in place to support the long-term implementation of our Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP). QUEST helped us to rethink the value proposition of our CEEP and helped to foster the internal alignment and buy-in we needed to implement the energy measures identified in the plan.
-Marianne Wade, Development Services Manager, City of Campbell River
Custom Services
Technology disruptors, extreme weather events, and a changing policy landscape are just some of the fundamental changes in the energy sector that present unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Our Custom Services are designed to help you navigate the Smart Energy Communities marketplace.
Retainer Services
The successful implementation of Smart Energy Communities on any scale requires an integrated approach on both the policy side and the technical side. QUEST has pioneered this approach and developed a set of comprehensive policy and technical principles.
We have an experienced multidisciplinary team with over 50 years of combined specialized knowledge in engagement strategies, decision-support processes, and tools designed to advance Smart Energy Communities. Build your custom support package based on the following offerings:
Strategic operations
Planning facilitation & alignment
Land use planning
Decision-support processes
Community consultation & engagement
Public policy development
Public infrastructure investment
Report research and creation
Communications including briefing materials, opportunity summaries, and issue summaries
Group Facilitation
Through our experience providing working group management support for the operation of regional and national Smart Energy Community networks, we create environments where people and organizations know that they have been listened to and can learn from one another, while also remaining an objective convener.
This service benefits working groups, task forces, and communities of practice consisting of all levels of government, utilities, the building sector and other stakeholder groups engaged in energy at the community level.
Project Management
Terms of Reference and work plans
Meeting & task coordination
Communications – listserves, web pages, and other communications tools and visual materials, contact management
Events & Meetings
Content development
Agendas and programming
Marketing and Promotion
Summary reports and follow-up
Resilience Workshops
Understanding climate risks and vulnerabilities is key to planning for safer, healthier, and more resilient communities
QUEST’s resilience workshops engage municipal staff, elected officials, and key community stakeholders using an interactive approach to increase understanding of climate risks and vulnerabilities, identify local strengths and weaknesses, and determine adaptation and resilience measures right for you.
Who Benefits:
QUEST’s resilience workshops are geared towards local governments and utilities but can be customized for other audiences to develop resilience literacy, strengthen climate adaptation planning alignment amongst stakeholders, or define adaptation priorities for:
Governments (municipal, provincial/territorial and federal)
The building and development sector
Utilities
Local non-profits
Energy service providers
The public
What We Offer:
QUEST specializes in the development of resilience mapping workshops focused on educating and inspiring participants to take an integrated, systems-thinking approach to resilience planning. QUEST delivers workshops focused on:
Climate hazard and risk assessment for local government and utility infrastructure
Enabling collaboration among key stakeholders to inform resiliency planning and identify local solutions
Guidance and recommendations for reducing climate risk and building resilience
Our advisory services fall into three categories: Energy Mapping Workshops, Community Energy Planning Support, and Custom Services. All of our services are customizable and designed to help you evolve your business model to succeed in the Smart Energy Communities marketplace. We have a seasoned, experienced, and multi-disciplinary team with over 50 years of combined specialized knowledge in:
Community Engagement & Community Energy Planning
- Community consultation & engagement
- Community Energy Planning and Implementation
- Support
- Planning facilitation & alignment
- Registered professional planning services
- Decision support processes
- Strategic operations
Convening & Partnership Building
- Delivering workshops & providing managing operation of regional and national network
- Creating environments where people organizations know that they have been listened to and can learn from one another while remaining an objective convener
- Collaborative partnership building
Policy & Decision Support
- Energy policy & data
- Land use planning
- Providing decision-support processes & tools
- Corporate strategies for policy development
- Report research and creation
- Public infrastructure investment
- Project Management
- Community energy metrics, indicators and measurements, and target setting and monitoring
Get Involved
Become a Subscriber
QUEST Subscribers enjoy hot-line access to tools and services that position them for success in the Smart Energy Communities marketplace.
For more information about subscriber services contact Helen Platis.
[email protected]
1-866-494-2700 ext. 708
PLUS
Exclusive membership on the Smart Energy Leaders’ Dialogue and a customized package of benefits from QUEST’s products and services offerings
Terms: Contact Helen Platis to learn more
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350 Albert Street, Suite 1220
Ottawa, ON K1R 1A4
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350 Albert Street, Suite 1220
Ottawa, ON K1R 1A4
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Fax: (866) 494-2770