August 16, 2006—The City of Toronto, Canada, recently announced recipients of the 2006 Awards of Excellence and the 2006 Green Toronto Awards. A sampling of the facilities-related awards follows.
Awards of Excellence
Energy Conservation:
- Enbridge Gas Distribution: Over the last 11 years, Enbridge’s design, delivery, and evaluation of customer demand-side management programs have saved Toronto residents 645 million cubic meters of natural gas.
- Unilever Canada Rexdale Plant: Unilever’s Green Team put in place a wide-ranging program addressing natural gas, electricity, steam, compressed air, water use, and waste reduction.
Water Efficiency:
- MintoUrban Communities: Radiance at MintoGardens is the first condominium in Toronto to have each suite individually metered for hot and cold water use; as a result it reportedly uses less than half the water of a typical new condominium built today.
- Upper Canada College: After an “eco-footprint” assessment of their water use, Upper Canada College has implemented improvements throughout the school, including the arena, pool, kitchen, boilers, toilets, urinals and showers, cafeterias, and its irrigation system.
2006 Green Toronto Awards
Environmental Awareness:
- EcoSchools Program: The program provides a framework to over 17,000 classrooms across Toronto to plan and measure school greening initiatives. The program has helped reduce greenhouse gases and the impact of waste on landfill.
Tree-planting initiatives shade buildings and save energy.
Green Design:
- Toronto Botanical Garden: The Garden, under the design leadership of architect David Sisam, created an energy-efficient green roof covering for the George and Kathy Dembroski Centre for Horticulture. The new roof has decreased stormwater discharge by 37% and, once drained into a rainwater cistern, it can provide an efficient water supply for the site irrigation system.
Market Transformation:
- Bullfrog Power: Launched in 2005, Bullfrog Power sources its electricity from wind and low-impact hydro facilities that inject clean power onto the Ontario grid, reducing the need for electricity from polluting sources.
Water Efficiency:
- Upper Canada College: By collaborating with the City of Toronto’s WaterSaver Program for Schools, UCC has minimized its impact on the municipal water system. It has reduced combined sewer overload by maximizing the infiltration of storm water on campus. UCC also introduced waterless urinals, low-flow taps, and opportunities for students to learn life-long skills for practicing environmental stewardship.
