Town shrinking its ecological footprint

August 17, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Nick Fernandes
Caledon has taken a lead in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent staff report to Town council.
The report was on annual energy use and greenhouse gasses from 2011.
“This shows that we are committed to reducing our ecological footprint,” Councillor Rob Mezzapelli said about the findings, which stated that Town facilities have consumed less on average than their counterparts in many other communities in the province, and are in a position to meet the requirements in Provincial regulations, which stipulate that municipalities must put together a report on their energy and fuel consumption. The next phase, after meeting these requirements, will be to pursue federal funding to put together an energy plan to further the Town’s goal of minimizing its footprint, according to the report.
To this end, the Town approved the creation of Caledon’s Corporate Energy Management Plan (CEMP) in 2010, which opened with an energy management system to better keep track of the Town’s energy use. Among the findings of this system is the fact that the vast majority of electricity and natural gas among public buildings is consumed by recreation complexes, such as public pools. CEMP will also take measures for a greener Caledon that include the installation of exterior LED lights, adoption of heat recovery ventilation and the implementation of the Corporate Green Building Standard.
In 2011 the Town consumed about 9,202 megawatt hours of electricity, 1,014,637 cubic meters of natural gas and 8,121 litres of fuel oil.