Green Economy: GTHA Hubs

NRU
April 25, 2018
Michael Ott

Many small businesses in the GTHA are trying to make sustainable changes and reduce their emissions, benefiting the environment and their own bottom line. Nonprofit Green Economy Canada is helping them do that with funding from the provincial capand- trade program. 

April 20, the province announced it is providing up to $2.55-million in multi-year funding to Green Economy Canada (formerly Sustainability CoLab), to launch, grow and promote Green Economy Hubs across Ontario. These hubs support networks of local businesses to set and achieve sustainability targets. 

“Small- and medium-sized businesses want to reduce their impact, but don’t always have the expertise to know how to do so,” Environment and Climate Change minister Chris Ballard told NRU. With the money raised from Ontario’s cap and trade program, Ballard says green initiatives can be funded and expertise shared. 

Businesses throughout Ontario are joining together to create networks that work toward reducing output and emissions. For example, 14 businesses in York Region have formed the ClimateWise Business Network, through the Windfall Ecology Centre. Focused on reducing carbon emissions, improving profitability and enhancing their brands, the network explores new practices and considers reductions strategies. 

Green Economy Canada offers these networks training on sustainable and green practices, and help the businesses set goals. To start, each business measures its current emissions output. Then an emissions goal is set. These vary depending on each individual business’ goals and capabilities. Specific initiatives to meet these goals can range from replacing lights to installing new heating systems.

Green Economy spokesperson Jennie Tao told NRU the accountability associated with goal setting and annual monitoring “encourages businesses to follow through on their action plans.” She added that when businesses see their competition joining the network, it causes them to join as well. 

Determining what businesses can do to reduce their emissions, depends on their goals. York sustainable building engineer Dennis Poncelot says it takes some outof- the-box thinking. 

“Retrofitting lights can be easy and quick, with a positive reward, but there are a lot of things we don’t give a lot of thought to,” he told NRU. When working on the Bill Fisch Forestry Building, which is LEED-certified for sustainability, Poncelot says the team had to look at things like air-tightness, and reducing natural gas and carbon impacts. 

As an example of something not always obvious, but which can greatly reduce lost energy and heat usage he suggests that “small businesses can look at things like the number of vestibules into the building.” 

One example of a York Region businesses that the minister has seen succeed is Treefrog, a web design group. The firm encourage employees to live closer to the office to increase walking and cycling to work, and provide electric vehicles for staff cars. 

Ballard told NRU that Treefrog joined the ClimateWise Business Network to help the firm keep its goals, and to better monitor and measure its energy usage. 

Jennie Tao says the $2.55-million in provincial funding will help create new partnerships with other businesses. 

“What excites me is seeing how we invest [cap and trade] funds back into reducing emissions,” Ballard said. He says many businesses are “trying to do the right things,” but aren’t sure how to measure their emissions. That’s where the province is hoping to help. 

Green Economy Canada has hubs in seven communities— Durham Region, Hamilton- Burlington, Kingston, Ottawa, Sudbury, Waterloo, and York Region—with plans to expand by four additional communities by 2020.