June 7, 2007, Caledon Citizen
Caledon announces initiatives at Smog Summit
Marolyn Morrison
June 7, the City of Toronto hosted the annual Smog Summit. This annual event gathers GTA representatives from all levels of government, industry, and the community. It allows for municipalities to share air quality actions, while providing recognition for concrete actions that governments have taken to reduce air pollution and to encourage these practices throughout and beyond the GTA.
This year I had the distinct pleasure to once again present to the attendees at the Summit during the Energy Panel. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you, what I shared with them.
The Town of Caledon was pleased to announce two major initiatives at this year's Smog Summit: a community energy project at the Caledon Wellness Centre and the Mayfield West community development. Collectively, these announcements will result in energy efficiency and reduction, and the Town's first renewable energy installation. A reliance on renewable energy and increased energy efficiency is critical for addressing more complex environmental issues such as climate change and air pollution.
Just recently, the Town of Caledon announced a new community energy project at the Town's largest and most visited recreation facility. The Caledon Centre for Recreation & Wellness in Bolton will be the site for a natural gas cogeneration unit and a solar project. This project has been made possible by a grant through the Province of Ontario's Rural Infrastructure Investment Initiative.
Cogeneration, which is also commonly referred to as combined heat and power generation, is an established technology that uses a single process to generate both electricity and usable heat suitable for space heating, domestic hot water and possible space cooling. The Wellness Centre is an ideal location because it demands a significant amount of heat for pool and hot water needs. The Town's cogeneration unit will be powered by natural gas, allowing the Wellness Centre to operate under reduced electrical load in the event of a power outage.
Environmentally, cogeneration offers superior benefits versus traditional forms of electrical generation due to its efficient nature. According to Environment Canada and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, cogeneration produces significantly less emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen. For example, the cogeneration component will eliminate approximately 539 tons of carbon dioxide per year - the equivalent to removing 92 cars from the road.
The secondary component of the community energy project is a pilot solar thermal project for domestic hot water. Solar water heating is one of the most economical renewable energy applications and is wellsuited to a swimming pool setting. Given that more than 400,000 residents visit this facility annually, it will serve as a community demonstration project. It may also help catalyse other community renewable energy projects. Tours of the solar application could be offered to residents and local business owners, and educational displays could be situated in the Caledon Wellness Center to explain how the installed system works.
During the Summit, I briefly mentioned the development of the Town's newest community- Mayfield West.
Mayfield West will incorporate a number of council endorsed sustainable design planning principles: pedestrian based design; mixed housing; protection and regeneration of natural habitats; utilization of sustainable energy systems; development of local economy; conservation and protection of water; and provision for extension of public transportation.
In summary, the project at the CCRW is very unique because it helps the Town fulfill a variety of emergency, community and environmental service accountabilities. Furthermore, it demonstrates the Town's leadership in alternate technologies to solve operational challenges in our community facilities. Mayfield West will be a community that is admired and desired as a result of our efforts.
