SAANICH - The District of Saanich has reached its 2010 climate action goal a full two years ahead of schedule.
In its annual progress report to be presented at the Council meeting of June 22, 2009 Saanich will reveal that the municipality exceeded its targeted 10% reduction in annual Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by the end of 2008.
This GHG reduction means that 10.6% or 579 fewer Tonnes of GHG were emitted by municipal operations in 2008 than in 2004.
“This is great news,” said Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard. “It shows that taking immediate local action on climate change can produce some very positive short term results”.
The GHG inventory is calculated by adding up all the sources of energy used in municipal operations and assigning a standard conversion factor to each one. The results are then tracked to assess the performance of energy reduction strategies.
Vicki Sanders, Chair of Saanich’s Environmental Advisory Committee, adds, “When the 10% target was set in 2007, we knew we were headed in the right direction, but we weren’t exactly sure how soon we would reach it. This early result will spur Saanich staff on to keep finding ways to save energy and reduce our carbon footprint.”
Saanich’s GHG reduction strategy works in the tandem with its unique, Provincially-recognized Carbon Neutral Program which internally offsets each Tonne of GHG emitted annually by municipal operations.
In the Summer of 2009, the District intends to introduce its Climate Action Plan, which will contain climate change adaptation strategies plus more aggressive energy and GHG reduction performance targets.
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For more information contact:
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Mayor Frank Leonard
Office: 250-475-5510
Cell: 250-361-7441
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Russ Fuoco
Director of Planning
250-475-5470
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Mark Boysen
Sustainability Coordinator
250-475-5494 ext.3466
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Backgrounder: Saanich Carbon Neutral and Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
Reduction Program
The 2004 to 2008 GHG Reduction:
The following municipal initiatives are credited with achieving the 10.6% reduction in GHG emissions between 2004 and 2008:
1) Introduction of LED traffic signals in 2002 --- reduces energy consumption per fixture by 90%.
2) An Energy Service Company (ESCO) energy retrofit programme that has been underway in all municipal facilities for the past 4 years is producing impressive energy savings.
3) Fleet anti-idling programme was introduced in 2006.
4) Implementation of the E-3 Fleet Programme in 2007 which focuses on right-sizing of the municipal fleet to maximize efficiency and energy savings.
5) Replacement of twelve older gas fleet vehicles with Honda Hybrids (2003-2009)
6) General energy awareness raising at the operational staff level and at the budgeting level through the Municipal Green Building Policy, the Carbon Neutral Initiative (2005-2009), Environmental Management System and Saanich involvement in programmes like Hydro's Community Energy Manager, Power Smart, and Solar BC.
The specific steps leading toward Carbon Neutral municipal operations and GHG reductions have involved the actions of all municipal departments over many years. However, since 2005, action on energy and climate change has accelerated considerably.
The key municipal steps on energy reduction and climate change can be viewed at the following web link:
For more on Saanich's 2008 UBCM Carbon Neutral Award, go to:
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