The Office of Energy Efficiency is mandated to strengthen and expand Canada’s commitment to energy efficiency in order to help address the Government of Canada’s policy objectives. The SmartWay Transport Partnership aims to reduce energy use and emissions from transportation in Canada. Included under this program, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) will be delivering a Canadian version of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership (SmartWay) initiative, which encourages freight companies to make their operations as energy efficient as possible.
SmartWay is an international network that was launched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2004, to connect freight shippers and carriers with an interest in reducing their fuel use and emissions. Shippers and carriers join the network by submitting information relating to their fuel use and transport activity through the SmartWay tools. Carriers are then benchmarked against each other, and this information is displayed publicly on the SmartWay website, allowing carriers to see how energy efficient their firm is as compared to other firms.
Since freight transportation is on a North American-scale, NRCan intends to provide SmartWay tools that are consistent with the US EPA SmartWay program, who updates their tools annually. However, since the tools are developed for an English-speaking and American audience by the US EPA, the EPA’s versions are only available in English and in US customary units (e.g., US gallons, short tons). To allow for Canadian transporters to use the tools, it is necessary that they are converted into metric and that French language versions of the tools are made available. In addition, NRCan works in coordination with the US EPA to develop Canadian versions of the SmartWay Excel Air, Barge and Rail Tools, as well as online versions of the Truck, Logistics, Shipper Tools, and the online Ocean-Going Vessel (OGV) calculator tool.
The objectives of this work are to developing and maintaining Canadian versions of the SmartWay tools, consistent with U.S. EPA’s tool roll-out schedule. Tasks are to:
- Make updates to the online versions of the Canadian tools for Truck, Logistics, and Shipper partners, as well as technical background documentation (in English).;
- Update the Canadian versions of the US EPA’s SmartWay tools for Barge and Air carriers in Microsoft Excel, and update the accompanying user guides and technical documentation (in English);
- Develop the Canadian version of the US EPA’s SmartWay tools for Rail carriers in Microsoft Excel, and prepare accompanying user guides and technical documentation (in English);
- Continue development of the Canadian version of the EPA Ocean Going Vessel (OGV) calculator tool, to be integrated with the online shipper tool; and
- Host and update the SmartWay Database and Partner Portal to accommodate all changes made within the above task assignments.
