Calgary Composting Facility
Location: Calgary
Status: Operational
Value of Partnership: $163 million (including $125 million in capital costs)
Type of P3: DBF-OM
Handback: 2027
Awards: 2017 Silver Award for Infrastructure, National Awards for Innovation & Excellence in P3s
The Calgary Composting Facility, which went into operation in 2017, is the first P3 composting facility constructed in Calgary. It is enabling the city to divert a minimum of 145,000 tonnes of organics and dewatered biosolids from landfill each year.
The three buildings spanning over 500,000 square feet (46,452 square metres) were developed under a unique DBF-OM agreement, which enabled the city to obtain the benefits of fully integrated operations, maintenance and life cycle renewal over 10 years without the cost implications of long-term financing.
The project also utilized a P3 performance bond that enabled contractors to overcome the normally onerous capital cost of using traditional securities such as letters of credit to demonstrate liquidity in the event of cost or schedule overruns.
While ultimately environmentally friendly, the composting process itself requires a significant amount of water. In order to increase the facility’s resilience and reduce its reliance on the City of Calgary’s utility services and associated water costs, the team came up with a unique design solution.
All rainwater on the 25-hectare (62-acre) site is collected in a pond on the property. The team designed a force main system to take that rainwater from the pond back into the facility, where it can be used in the composting process. This design innovation has increased the sustainability of the entire site, including a reduction in the facility’s utility costs. In August 2018, the project’s Administration and Education building became Canada’s first certified project under the LEED v4 Building Design and Construction rating system, attaining Gold certification.
Partners: City of Calgary and Chinook Resources Management General Partnership
Other Participants:
Public Sector: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP – Legal Advisors; P1 Consulting – Fairness Monitor, CH2M – Technical Advisor; Deloitte – Financial Advisor
Private Sector: Bird Capital Limited Partnership – Developer and Equity Partner; Maple Reinders PPP Group Ltd. – Developer and Equity Partner; Nason Contracting Group Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bird Construction Inc. – Design-Builder; Maple Reinders Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Maple Reinders Group Ltd. – Design-Builder; Stantec Consulting Inc. – Lead Design; Christiaens Group – Process Design and Technology; Aim Environmental Group – Facility Operator; Balzer’s Canada Inc. – Mechanical Subcontractor; Canem Systems Ltd. – Electrical Subcontractor; McMillan LLP – Legal Advisor; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP – Lenders’ Counsel
