The certificate was awarded to Chair of the Board Carl Pitman by Peter Love, Ontario’s first energy conservation officer, Ontario Power Authority. The presentation was made during the public Board meeting.

Chair of the Board Carl Pitman remarked: “The students have really caught on to energy conservation both in the classroom and also at home through EarthCARE activities and lesson plans, which create lessons to last a lifetime. It is important that we conserve energy in our buildings as many ways as we can to reduce the impact on our environment.”

According to Peter Love, “Schools provide an environment for learning, and the more they can lead by example, the better. The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board is proving its commitment to conservation by undertaking this massive energy efficiency project. It will improve the learning environment for students and their teachers, it will save taxpayers a lot of money, and it will help to instill respect for the environment and energy efficiency in the broader community.”

The awards presentation celebrated the board’s energy conservation results recognized the environmental achievements of students involved in EarthCARE™ (EC). With energy and school-renewal partner Ameresco Canada Inc., the district has spent approximately $24 million to date to upgrade facilities and conserve energy. HPEDSB will invest an additional $28 million to complete the school upgrades. The district has saved over $1.3 million on utility costs, primarily gas and electricity, thus far this year. An added environmental benefit is that it has reduced greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions by 8,050 tonnes, or 35 percent—which is beyond the Kyoto target—by making school buildings more energy-efficient.

In addition, the district has further boosted energy savings through promoting behavioural changes inspired by EarthCARE: simply by turning off lights and computers, students have helped their school board save an additional $150,000 per year on energy costs. Other complementary programs underway in schools, such as recycling and reducing garbage, are also helping staff and students make a difference.

Tim Cresswell, Vice President, Ameresco Canada, stated, “We take great pride in working with the HPEDSB as a partner in conservation and renewing schools. They have inspired students to take energy conservation to new heights through EarthCARE.”

“Schools have the power to influence others by leading through example,” added Love. “They have an important role to play in making change and in leading students to make change—at home, in the community and among their friends.”

Veronica Ford, EarthCARE project co-ordinator, said, “I am pleased to see that the students’ commitment to environmental stewardship is growing at the HPEDSB.”

As the leader of the EarthCARE initiative, Ford chose to focus on global warming in 2006-07. She says that two schools, Park Dale School and Prince Charles PS (Trenton), now have a special program in place to reduce CO2 emissions in the pick-up and drop-off area of their parking lots. Students distribute brochures and post signs that encourage parents to turn off car engines while they wait for their children—sending a strong message about the importance of helping to protect the planet.

The Better Schools Partnership (BSP) retrofits ageing schools with new equipment and systems to make them more energy-efficient, healthier and comfortable places to work and learn. The HPEDSB’s mandate is to enhance facility quality to improve overall student and teacher effectiveness, which are part of the Board’s system plan, AiM—Achievement in Motion for Student Success.

EarthCARE is the occupant-behaviour component of the Better Schools Partnership, and was recently launched in 2006 with Ameresco Canada. EarthCARE’s ground-breaking environmental education program encourages students, teachers and staff to participate in conservation activities at school and in the community to help protect the environment.

Ameresco Canada Inc. is a facility-renewal and asset-planning company that has worked in partnership with education clients for 34 years to create customized, innovative and reliable programs that meet or exceed client expectations. With offices nation-wide, the company helps institutional clients renew ageing facilities, and reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through innovative, integrated facility-renewal and asset-planning solutions. These solutions are designed to promote efficiency, and are cost-effective to implement. Ameresco Canada boasts over 30 years of experience in the K-12 education market alone in Canada. The company has completed more than 150 projects covering over 1,200 schools and generated over $450 million in facility-related savings to date, helping to reduce greenhouse emissions by up to 35 percent.

The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board has 46 elementary and eight secondary schools serving 18,400 students, employing 1,070 teachers and 705 support staff. The Board covers a wide geographical area of 7,221 square kilometres bordered by Maynooth to the north, Deseronto to the east, Prince Edward County to the south, and Quinte West to the west.

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For more information, contact:
• Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, (613) 966-1170 or 1 800 267-4350, extension 2354

For more information about EarthCARE, please contact Rose-Marie Batley, Executive Director, EarthCARE at (613) 868-0721 or at rmb@earthcarecanada.com or visit www.earthcarecanada.com

For more information about the Better Schools Partnership, please contact: Tim Cresswell, V.P., Ameresco Canada Inc. at 1-888-483-7267, or at tcresswell@ameresco.com

For more information about the Ontario Power Authority contact Tim Taylor, Manager of Communications, Ontario Power Authority, 1-800-797-9604 or tim.taylor@powerauthority.on.ca

R - Better Schools Partnership is a registered trademark and property of Ameresco Canada Inc.

TM – EarthCARE, An Environmental Education Partnership is a registered trademark and property of Ameresco Canada Inc.