Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and the Plenary Properties Gatineau (PPG) consortium in Canada has recently closed a 33-year public-private partnership to design, build, finance, maintain and operate a new preservation facility in Gatineau, Quebec, located directly behind the current Preservation Centre.

In many ways, the new building will set a global standard, following the example of the existing Preservation Centre, which is Canada’s pride and the envy of other memory institutions at home and abroad.

The new preservation centre will be the first 'net-zero carbon' facility dedicated to archival preservation in the Americas, and the first federal building constructed to the requirements of Canada’s Greening Government Strategy. The main features of a net-zero carbon building are:

• minimal carbon emissions from energy consumption, achieved through building design and efficiency measures;
• energy needs met through carbon-free fuel sources; and
• minimal embodied carbon in building materials.

It will also be the world’s largest preservation facility equipped with a high-tech automated archive storage and retrieval system. This means that Canada’s precious national collections will be kept under optimal preservation conditions.

The PPG proposal was selected for this public-private partnership because it meets all of the required technical criteria and can be implemented at the best possible cost to taxpayers. The consortium will:

• design, build and finance the new building;
• optimize storage space in the current Preservation Centre;
• operate and maintain both facilities.