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Cities, School District 43 on track to cut greenhouse gas emissions

School District 43 and the cities of Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam are cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30% with massive retrofits of lighting and heating as well as changes in behaviour.

School District 43 and the cities of Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam are cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30% with massive retrofits of lighting and heating as well as changes in behaviour.

Local governments are required to report on their progress in achieving their carbon neutral goals under B.C.'s Climate Action Charter, and this week many are tallying up their efforts in a bid to meet provincial regulations.

On Monday, the city of Coquitlam announced it was on track to achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gasses by 30% by the end of 2015. SD43 is on the same wavelength with a 26% reduction.

In Port Moody, a major project to retrofit lighting and install a low-emissivity ceiling at the arena resulted in an annual savings of 335,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) and is keeping the ice cooler while using less energy.

BIG GAINS

And in PoCo, similar upgrades at recreation centres and other facilities is saving about 1.2 million kWh, or enough energy to power 117 households for a year, with additional upgrades planned for the city operations centre, city hall annex and parks washrooms.

In Coquitlam, the city's Thermenex energy system helped it achieve its goals while SD43 is in the midst of a five-year plan to shave its carbon emissions so it doesn't have to pay so much money to the Pacific Carbon Trust to be carbon neutral. The cities don't have to pay carbon offsets but SD43 has to find $215,575 in its budget to offset its carbon emissions.

But SD43 is making some significant changes and in five years has made remarkable progress, said Wayne Cousins, BC Hydro's education sector key account manager, who awarded the school district with a top 10 Power Smart customer award at a board of education meeting Tuesday.

"You've more consistently achieved energy savings than other districts," he said, singling out Dave Sands , the district's principal of energy and sustainability, for much of the work encouraging staff and students to change their behaviour and promoting energy-saving upgrades.

NEW PROJECTS IN THE WORKS

Last year, for example, the district cut electricity and natural gas consumption by 7.5% each, paper use by 16% and fleet emissions by 7.5%. As a result, it doesn't have to pay so much in carbon offsets.

The district is also busy on new projects to cut energy use, including six projects to optimize energy use at schools, six heating plant upgrades and 10 lighting retrofits as well as recommissioning schools so they conserve energy better and replacing copiers while also reducing printing.

Sands will soon leave the post he has held four years to head up training for a new student data tracking system. The energy manager's job, partly paid for by BC Hydro, will be taken over by Matt Foley in the district's maintenance department.

@dstrandbergTC