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BOMA Toronto Dims Lights for Earth Hour - Environmental Communication Options/Huff Strategy

BOMA Toronto Dims Lights for Earth Hour

Mar 26th, 2009 11:20 AM

BOMA Dims Lights for Earth Hour (March 26, 2009) Saturday, March 28th, marks the third annual Earth Hour. For 60 minutes, buildings all over Canada will dim their lights to show support for the need to conserve energy. This year the Building Owners and Managers Association is a proud local sponsor of Earth Hour in Ontario through the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada. It is anticipated that a significant number of its members will participate in the Earth Hour event and ancillary activities. "BOMA members are committed to sustainable buildings and effective property management," said BOMA Executive Vice President Chuck Stradling. "We're a perfect fit for Earth Hour, and happy to lend our support. I'm proud of our members for embracing the project so enthusiastically." "This is a powerful demonstration of how much energy we use every day, how much we waste and how much we can conserve, if we try," Stradling continued. "Based on last year's response, and the visual displays in building lobbies, we're anticipating huge participation from our membership." BOMA Toronto's Conservation and Demand Management (CDM) Program incentive initiative has $60 million dollars in 'green' capital available to commercial buildings for energy retrofits, in the City of Toronto. The CDM Program is currently managing over 200 projects, delivering the equivalent of 10,700 Ontario homes of electricity savings, eliminating 19,000 tonnes of emissions with approximately 1100 Ontario jobs created or not lost. The commitment from the BOMA professionals equals in excess of $71 million in capital investment. Mr. Stradling observed that, while lights left on are a visible sign of energy use, the average BOMA certified building consumes roughly 11 per cent less energy than it did a decade ago. Some BOMA buildings have adopted energy management strategies and undertaken building retrofits to reduce their energy use by as much as 30%. BOMA is a strong supporter of environmentally sustainable building and energy conservation which is evident through its BOMA BESt Program. BESt stands for Building Environmental Standards. Launched last year as an enhanced version of its Go Green/Go Green Plus Program, it not only provides building managers with an environmental management tool and detailed recommendations for areas of improvement but also with its four levels of building certification and an online assessment tool, provides detailed benchmarking data and guidelines for operating their properties in a sustainable and energy efficient manner. Stradling continued, "I'd like to point out that with over 328 buildings in the GTA and beyond going through the BOMA BESt progam, it is a clear indication of the support commercial property owners show for sustainable development & management. Energy conservation is a year-round commitment for us and I am very proud of the efforts being put forward by our members." Details about BOMA Toronto are available at: www.bomatoronto.org. Details about BOMA BESt are available at: www.bomabest.com/about.html Details about BOMA CDM are available at: www.bomacdm.com/ Details about Earth Hour are available at: www.wwf.ca/earthhour For further information, or to arrange interviews, please contact: Tina Siegel, Environmental Communication Options 416.972.7401 or tsiegel(at)ecostrategy.ca BOMA TORONTO Established in 1917, the Building Owners and Managers Association of the Greater Toronto Area - BOMA Toronto - has grown along with the evolution of the institutional, commercial and industrial building sector. Its territory includes all of Ontario except for the Ottawa Capital Region. BOMA Toronto has grown to over 800 real estate professional members representing 80 per cent of all commercial and industrial real estate companies in the GTA and beyond. These individuals are the leading building owners, property and facility managers, developers, leasing agents, and service providers. BOMA Toronto is also prominent on the national and international stages. It is an affiliate of the 17,000-member BOMA International organization, a federated member of BOMA Canada, and the second-largest local BOMA Association in North America.