Halton Hills Council Approves our Local Action Plan

Last year, we started a project in collaboration with Indeco to work with Halton Hills on their local action plan. SSG managed and wrote the Community Energy Plan, Indeco the Corporate Energy Plan. Using GHGProof, we examined community wide energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from transportation and land use. Here is the recent release issued by the Council:

Taking Action on Energy Conservation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Council approves draft Local Action Plan
Building on the Community Sustainability Strategy (Imagine Halton Hills) and its long-standing commitment to energy conservation, Town Council approved the draft Local Action Plan (LAP) component of the broader Mayor’s Community Energy Plan. This marked a major milestone towards the completion of the Energy Plan. Once completed, the Mayor’s Community Energy Plan will consist of two closely related parts. The first, through the Town’s Corporate Energy Plan, will ensure that new and existing Town facilities are built and operated as efficiently and sustainably as possible. The second component, the Local Action Plan, will take into account local land use and transportation patterns (among other factors) to examine community-wide energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Mayor Bonnette said: “The Town has been a leader in energy conservation and greenhouse gas reductions. Aligned with our Community Sustainability Strategy, we have taken countless steps in this direction, including the implementation of a Corporate Sustainable Building Policy, Green Development Standards and completion of a wide range of facility energy upgrades. The Mayor’s Community Energy Plan will continue our efforts and leadership by outlining practical actions that are designed to generate measurable financial benefits, efficiencies, reduced operating costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions. I invite the community to browse the draft Local Action Plan.” The draft Local Action Plan fulfills the Town’s commitments as a long-time member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Partners for Climate Protection program. Specifically, the Local Action Plan is designed to complete the following three milestones of the Partners for Climate Protection program:

  • Creation of a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory;
  • Setting of a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target;
  • Development of a Local Action Plan which outlines actions that can be taken towards achieving the selected greenhouse gas reduction target.

Accompanied by a series of recommendations, the draft Local Action Plan recommends the following greenhouse gas reduction targets for Halton Hills:

  • 35% reduction in per capita greenhouse gas emissions by 2031 – compared to 2011 levels.
  • 14% reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions by 2031 – compared to emissions modelled for Scenario 1 (Moderate Energy Efficiency).

The draft Local Action Plan and the broader Mayor’s Community Energy Plan are being prepared in a context where North American municipalities are increasingly focused on energy as a strategic priority to reduce operating costs, support of economic development, mitigation against rising utility costs, and sustainability commitments. The Energy Plan also responds to the challenges posed by climate change such as more frequent and more severe extreme weather conditions. According to a 2012 report prepared for the Insurance Bureau of Canada by the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction titled “Telling the Weather Story”, in Canada alone, the financial impacts caused by severe weather between 2009 and 2011, are estimated to be about $3.6 billion. For additional information on the Mayor’s Community Energy Plan, including the Local Action Plan, please visit: http://haltonhills.ca/initiatives/CommunityEnergyPlan.php To provide any comments on the draft Local Action Plan, please contact Damian Szybalski (Manager of Sustainability) by April 30, 2015.

ENDS

About the Town of Halton Hills The Town of Halton Hills, with a population of approximately 60,000, consists of two urban centres, Georgetown and Acton, the Halton Hills Premier Gateway employment area, three hamlets – Glen Williams, Stewarttown and Norval – and several smaller settlements. Halton Hills has long been recognized for its natural beauty, active agricultural community, high quality of life and proximity to major centres, including Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto. The Town is the 2013 recipient of the National Municipal Environmental Award from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators and is ranked as one of the Top 5 small communities in Canada by a national magazine.

For further information contact:
Damian Szybalski Manager of Sustainability,
Office of Sustainability Planning and Infrastructure Services
905.873.2601 ext. 2289 damians@haltonhills.ca
To download the press release, please visit:
http://www.haltonhills.ca/media/2015/1429103932.pdf