For immediate release: Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
 
Media Advisory
 
TDSB to launch Green Grid renewable energy initiative at Toronto public schools
 
Solar panels will soon energize school rooftops throughout city- educating students while saving tax dollars and the environment
 
(Toronto) The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) will launch its Green Grid initiative, installing solar panels on school rooftops and creating green, renewable energy, at Hillcrest Community School on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 11am.

 
The Hillcrest solar thermal system will provide 80% of the heat for the school’s pool and the domestic hot water within the school. This groundbreaking project is supported by both the school and local community. Trustee Josh Matlow and City Councillor Joe Mihevc will join TDSB staff, the school’s principal and staff, parents and students local residents along and other partners at this exciting event.
 
When: Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 11:00am
 
Where: Hillcrest Community School (44 Hilton Avenue, one block west of Bathurst, south of St. Clair)
 
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Interview, photo and video opportunities available
 

For more information: cell numbers available on original copy of advisory

Trustee Josh Matlow: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Richard Christie, Program Coordinator, Ecological Literacy and Sustainable Development: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

BACKGROUND

Trustees will consider a staff report at its May 27 Board meeting that recommends the installation of solar PV projects at 11 schools to begin with, eventually increasing the “Green Grid” throughout Toronto. The pilot projects alone will produce about 132,000 kWh of electricity a year - the equivalent of taking a small elementary school off the grid;
 
This report also recommends that the TDSB start working on a project to turn its existing schools into “carbon neutral” schools through aggressive energy conservation and renewable energy measures.

The Ontario Power Authority’s new “Feed-in Tariff” (FIT) program practically doubles the premium for the generation of electricity from rooftop solar PV projects. The new payments range from $0.802/kWh for 10kW projects, $0.71/kWh for projects between 10 and 100 kW, $0.63 for 100-500kW projects and  $0.539 for projects larger than 500kW, up from a flat rate of $0.42/kWh.

For the first time, by virtually matching Germany’s very successful green power incentives program, the Ontario government has removed the financial barrier to installing rooftop solar projects in the province.

The Toronto District School Board: Canada’s Greenest School Board
 
The TDSB, with its 558 schools serving 280,000 students:
 

• Reduced its electricity consumption by 18.5% (67.5 million kilowatt hours) and its natural gas by 8.3% (7 million cubic meters) since the 2000/01 school year;

• Developed the ground breaking and award-winning EcoSchools program (ecoschools.ca) that has since been adopted by more than 20 school boards in Ontario. The TDSB has certified 264 of its schools as bronze, silver and gold EcoSchools, out of a total of 540 certified EcoSchools province-wide;

• Leads the country in the design and construction of high performance green schools as certified by the Canadian Green Building Council under its LEED program;

• Has transformed more of its school grounds more than any other school board.  Its partnership with the non-profit organization Evergreen–supporting schools in the greening of their grounds–has since been replicated in many school districts across the country; and

• Provides its schools with a greater range of green products than any other school board in the province (e.g., cleaning products, appliances, and 100% recycled copy paper)