The Honourable Mary Polak, Minister of Environment presented awards recognizing the leadership of North Cowichan and Prince George at the Union of BC Municipalities convention. “B.C. communities are at the forefront when it comes to climate action,” said Minister Polak. “These awards celebrate how local governments are minimizing energy consumption through community planning and implementing innovative projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
North Cowichan won in the Community Planning and Development category for the University Village Sustainable Local Area Plan, developed in collaboration with the City of Duncan, Cowichan Tribes, School District 79 and Vancouver Island University.
Prince George won in the Corporate Operations category for its LEED RCMP facility. The building has been designed to use 64% less energy than a similar building built to the Canadian Building Code and uses solar energy, biofuels and waste heat for heating and an aquifer for geoexchange cooling leading to projected GHG reductions of 235 tonnes per year.
“These projects are excellent examples of how BC communities are taking action to achieve their corporate and community greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and realizing significant economic co-benefits at the same time,” said Darrell Mussatto, Co-Chair of the Community Energy Association and Mayor of the City of North Vancouver. “Action at the local government level is essential to helping the Province reach its GHG emission reduction targets.”
Honourable Mentions were awarded in the Corporate Operations category to:
- Richmond for reducing GHG emissions at the Richmond Ice Centre by 26% and Qualicum Beach for designing their new Fire Hall to reduce GHG emissions by 72%.
The press release and a summary of all applications can be downloaded below.
The awards are organized annually by the Community Energy Association in partnership with the Province of B.C., Union of BC Municipalities, BC Hydro and FortisBC.
Download “CEA-News-Release-2015-Climate-Energy-Action-Awards.pdf” 1321080-2015-09-23-CEA-News-Release-2015-Climate-Energy-Action-Awards.pdf – Downloaded 1212 times – 364.80 KB Download “Applicant-Recognition-2015.pdf” Applicant-Recognition-2015.pdf – Downloaded 1272 times – 492.04 KB Download “2015-CEA-Award-Applications-Summary.pdf” 2015-CEA-Award-Applications-Summary.pdf – Downloaded 1193 times – 255.52 KB