Conservation projects to receive funding

May 19th, 2006 12:02 PM

Conservation Fund 2006 1st Quarter Media Release Pilot projects provide testing ground, says Chief Energy Conservation Officer (Toronto, May 16, 2006) Seven pilot conservation projects across Ontario will receive core funding from the first 2006 awards of the Ontario Conservation Bureau’s Conservation Fund, it was announced today. The seven successful projects, chosen from among 21 applications, received a total of $716,880 from the Fund. The projects represent all sectors of the province’s economy. The Conservation Fund supports projects that, if successful, can be duplicated across the province. “It provides us with a testing ground for conservation projects with the potential for province-wide replication,” says Peter Love, Ontario’s Chief Energy Conservation Officer and head of the Conservation Bureau. “We developed the Fund as a tool to assist us in evaluating the effectiveness of energy efficiency and conservation initiatives.” The Fund also leverages funding from other sources. “Over the last two years, the total value of the projects we’ve supported is over $5 million,” says Love. “Creating a culture of conservation in Ontario is an important part of the McGuinty government’s energy plan,” says Ontario’s Energy Minister Donna Cansfield. “By investing in local communities and innovative projects such as these, the Conservation Bureau is helping to make a culture of conservation a reality in Ontario.” The Bureau is also calling for applications for the second round of awards. The application deadline for the next round is May 26, 2006. Complete details of the application criteria, the application process and other successful projects, can be found at www.conservationbureau.on.ca. The successful projects in the first round are: • Agricultural Learning Locations: A demand-side management program with AgEnergy Cooperative Inc., involving up to 10 learning locations in an intensive farm energy audit program. This will include data collected through the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs at 65 farms. Locations include Guelph, Alfred, Spencerville, Cambridge and Plantagenet. www.agenergy.coop • Skills for Energy Efficient Construction: The Clean Air Partnership, working with the Canadian Urban Institute, will examine the capacity of the Toronto workforce to engage in a large-scale program of new energy-efficient construction, energy retrofits of existing buildings and the integration of renewable energy systems in building. This project is based in Toronto. www.cleanairpartnership.org • Greening Health Care: The Toronto Region Conservation Authority will develop and roll out an on-line action planning template that provides hospitals across the province with a standardized, practical approach for the preparation of energy conservation plans. Locations are Toronto and Markham. www.trca.on.ca • Efficient Sudbury: Earthcare Sudbury will develop and implement an innovative market transformation program to increase retailer and consumer awareness of products and services in Sudbury that enhance energy conservation and efficiency. www.greatersudbury.ca • Greening Sacred Spaces: Faith and the Common Good and the Toronto School of Theology will work with the increasing number of faith communities endeavoring to “green” their sacred spaces by reducing their energy consumption and promoting a greener, less energy-intensive lifestyle to their members. Faith organizations in the GTA and Ottawa are targeted for this project. www.faith-commongood.net • Rewire: The Sustainability Office of the University of Toronto will pilot community-based social marketing tools as part of an electricity conservation campaign aimed at students in residences and staff working in campus offices. http://rewire.utoronto.ca • The Ontario Mining Association will develop a compressed air leak management program based on the mapping and auditing of compressed air systems in three leading Ontario mines. 4 locations: Sudbury, Timmins, Red Lake and Marathon. www.oma.on.ca For further information about the Fund, current projects and grant criteria, visit the Conservation Bureau website at www.conservationbureau.on.ca or email conservationfund@powerauthority.on.ca. -30- Media Inquiries: Barton Sala Corporate Communications Ontario Power Authority 416-969-6009 Background: The Conservation Fund is a program of the Conservation Bureau, initiated by Ontario’s Chief Energy Conservation Officer, Peter Love, in 2005. It funds promising, small-scale, replicable electricity conservation action and awareness projects that are candidates for broader deployment with other funding. Ontario’s Conservation Bureau was established in 2005 to develop, coordinate and stimulate electricity conservation and demand management programs and initiatives across the province. The Conservation Bureau is a division of the Ontario Power Authority, a statutory, not-for-profit corporation governed by an independent board of directors. It reports to the Legislative Assembly through the Ministry of Energy, and is licensed and regulated by the Ontario Energy Board. Responsibilities span four areas: Conservation Bureau, Power System Planning, Generation Development and Electricity Sector Development.