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BOMA Toronto CDM Program helps city keep cool and save money - Environmental Communication Options/Huff Strategy

BOMA Toronto CDM Program helps city keep cool and save money

Jun 24th, 2009 5:24 AM

Media Release Beat the heat with BOMA Toronto's CDM Program Electricity demand and management program keeps cool and saves cost (Toronto, June 24, 2009) Today, electricity use is expected to hit its highest level in 2009, as temperatures hit 29oC. Today peak electricity use is projected to be 21,945 MW (5:00pm EDT) in Ontario compared to approximately 21,000 MW yesterday. Peak electricity, has become a significant issue in the province, particularly in the downtown core of Toronto. Increases in air conditioning use during hot summer afternoons challenges Ontario's electricity grid supply. The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Toronto's Conservation and Demand Management Program (CDM) program is aiming to mitigate the problem though its Ontario Power Authority (OPA) funded program. Since March 2007, BOMA Toronto's CDM program has reduced the electricity consumption in the City of Toronto (416) by 31 million KWH or 7.1 MW. The electricity saved can power 3,100 homes for one year. Completed BOMA projects targeted for air conditioning has reduced 2.0 KW of electricity use, equivalent of powering 260 houses in downtown Toronto for one year. "The BOMA Toronto CDM Program gives building owners in a chance to retrofit their properties and reduce load in the electricity grid serving the '416' area," said Wayne Proulx, Director of the BOMA Toronto CDM Program. BOMA Toronto CDM Program funds buildings of 25,000 square feet or larger located in the '416' telephone exchange area. To date, 238 projects have been approved. When completed, this will result I 19.5 MW of electricity savings. Projects designed to reduce electricity use in the summer include deep lake water cooling, Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) re-design and "roof top chiller" replacements. The program is available to commercial properties such as office buildings, hotels, retail stores, industrial structures, private institutions and nursing homes, with incentives being paid to property owners/operators and tenants alike. Although BOMA Toronto's CDM Program is currently limited to the '416' area code, many building owners and tenants looking to enhancing their real estate and their social responsibility efforts in the '905', '519' and '613' exchange area codes, have already expressed interest in this project. For further information, please visit www.bomacdm.com or email us at info@bomacdm.com. -30- The BOMA Toronto CDM Program has been contracted to deliver electricity conservation to the large Ontario commercial ral estate market as part of the OPA's larger plan to deliver 6300 megawatts of electricity reduction in Ontario from various sources. The available incentives, which are capped at 40% of the eligible projects costs, are for peak demand, consumption or cooling ton reduction, at a rate of $400 per kilowatt, $0.05 a kilowatt hour or $250 per ton (for geothermal space cooling systems), respectively. The Program is designed to maximize participation by the quick delivery of incentive payments and the avoidance of both 'process' and 'contractual' paralysis.