Credit Valley Conservation Presents the Town with Two Awards

On Thursday March 24, 2011, the Town’s commitment to sustainability was recognized by the Credit Valley Conservation. On behalf of the Town, Mayor Rick Bonnette and Councillor Jon Hurst each accepted one “Friends of the Credit” Conservation Award.

The awards program has been active since 1986 and recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the health of the Credit River watershed. The awards are presented on behalf of the Credit Valley Conservation Board of Directors.

The first Conservation Award (Certificate of Merit) presented to the Town recognized the community’s highly successful participation in The Power Pledge Community Challenge, an initiative focused on energy conservation. Through a partnership between the Office of Sustainability, Halton Hills Hydro, Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce and Practically Green Solutions, awareness was raised around energy conservation and sustainability. Nearly 1,400 Halton Hills participants took The Power Pledge, making various commitments to reducing energy use. If all the Power Pledges are fulfilled, significant environmental benefits will be achieved:

• Over 2.7 million kilowatt hours of energy will be saved each year;
• More than $605,000 worth of energy costs will be saved annually; and
• Approximately 283,000 kilograms of annual greenhouse gas emissions will be
  avoided.

Out of about 90 participating Ontario municipalities, Halton Hills ranked fourth overall and highest of the lower-tier Halton municipalities! Within its population category, the Town ranked third! This success was largely due to the participation of numerous local businesses, including: Prosperity One, Fraser Direct, Georgetown Market Place, Purity Life, Communications & Power Industries Inc., Green-Port Environmental Managers, Superior Glove, Georgetown Terminal Warehouse, and Acton BIA and Georgetown BIA businesses.

Having received this Award, Mayor Bonnette said:
“We are truly honored to have received this Friends of the Credit Award. It recognizes the successful collaboration between the Town, and our partners, residents and businesses in promoting energy conservation. It demonstrates that, by working together, we can conserve energy and improve the health of the Credit River watershed.”

The second Friends of the Credit Award, accepted by Councillor Jon Hurst, was an Award of Distinction. Awards of Distinction recognize outstanding projects that reflect a significant contribution to the conservation of the watershed. Such projects provide long-term benefits and reflect a significant contribution of time and resources. The Award of Distinction was presented to the Town for its innovative approach to allocating limited water servicing capacity in order to promote green development. In presenting this award, it was said that the: “…leadership and innovation Halton Hills has shown with this report will improve the quality of future developments within Halton Hills and stand as an example for others within municipal planning.”

Prior to receiving water allocation, applicants are now required to review and complete a Green Development Evaluation Checklist, and demonstrate compliance to the fullest extent feasible. The Green Development Evaluation Checklist aims to elevate the environmental performance of new development. It consists of 23 criteria relating to water and energy conservation, transportation, indoor air quality and other green development practices. The Checklist’s key feature is a requirement for new groundrelated dwellings to be constructed to the ENERGY STAR® standard.

After accepting the second Award, Councillor Jon Hurst said:
“The Town of Halton Hills is committed to sustainability. One important way of implementing this commitment, which is stipulated in the Town’s Green Plan, is to ensure that new development demonstrates higher environmental performance. Our Green Development Evaluation Checklist is intended to achieve this. We appreciate that our efforts have been recognized by the Credit Valley Conservation.”

Additional information on the Town’s sustainability initiatives is available at:
www.haltonhills.ca/sustainability

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