Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in this session, Mr. Speaker, I started off with a statement on energy related issues, and I would like to continue on that same theme today. In fact, it was just today, at noon hour, that I had the pleasure of, at the invitation of the NWT Architects' Association, having a brief discussion with them about energy related issues. They are having a work-up here in Yellowknife, on best energy practices in designing northern buildings.
Mr. Speaker, this organization is made up of professionals in the design, architecture and engineering practices from both the public and the private sectors. They have years of good work behind them in designing and building structures here in the NWT. Something that I have learned more about, and this Assembly should be paying a lot more attention to, is not just how to build a building so that it looks good and functions well, but that in the years that it will be up and running, we are paying attention very closely to the lifecycle operating costs of that.
It is politically expedient in this environment, Mr. Speaker, to want to build something big, build it quick, and take advantage of maybe being there to help cut the ribbon and take the credit for it. But we have got to be much more cognizant of stepping back and making sure that the departments and agencies include our boards and agencies in this, because they are big consumers of building space and utilities. They have got to be incorporating the very best practices in building design and operating costs.
One of the messages that the architects would have for us, Mr. Speaker, is that, in the NWT, if we had incorporated best building practices and technology for everything we built in the last five years, we could have saved enough money to build a whole school. If we add about five percent on to the upfront costs of putting up a building, it will pay for itself many times over.
Mr. Speaker, we need to look at policy and, potentially, legislation to help reinforce what is already going on in our design and build world. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause