Press Release

Print This Page

May 16, 2008

Power Smart recognizes B.C. energy-conscious organizations

VANCOUVER – Premier Gordon Campbell and BC Hydro have announced the recipients of the 2008 Power Smart Excellence Awards, recognizing 16 residential, commercial and industrial organizations from across the province for their enthusiasm and innovation in conserving electricity.

The awards were presented at a ceremony Thursday evening by Premier Campbell, BC Hydro president and CEO Bob Elton and other BC Hydro senior executives.

"The initiatives and projects by the recipients and nominees for the 2008 Power Smart Excellence Awards demonstrate the power of conservation in meeting British Columbia's energy needs," said Premier Campbell. "Conservation is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to reach our BC Energy Plan goals, and at the same time address the global challenge of climate change."

Power Smart Excellence recipients were chosen from more than 50 nominated entries, submitted by companies and organizations from the commercial, construction, education, grocery, government, retail, manufacturing and resources sectors who have demonstrated leadership by implementing conservation measures.

"An increasing number of B.C. companies – and the inspiring leaders within them – are showing a concerted effort and deep commitment to reducing their electricity consumption," said Elton. "As we've seen by the innovation of these organizations and businesses, the benefits go beyond cost savings. Their leadership is making a difference in helping British Columbia meet 50 per cent of future energy needs through conservation."

Now in its sixth year, BC Hydro's annual Power Smart Excellence Awards recognize customers and partners who are leading the way in implementing Power Smart solutions in the design, construction and renovation of buildings, applying innovative energy-efficient process improvements, or providing leadership in environmentally-responsible practices and community involvement.

2008 Power Smart Excellence Awards Recipients

Builder/Developer of the Year

Limona Construction Ltd. is a builder of high-quality energy-efficient homes, and has also shown leadership in creating a more energy-efficient, environmentally responsible construction industry. The company has two Power Smart single-family developments on Vancouver Island, and every home has achieved an EnerGuide for New Homes (EGNH) rating of 77 or better, earning a Power Smart Silver designation.

Energy Champion

Provincial Health Services Authority is responsible for nearly half of the B.C. health sector's 12 gigawatt hours of electricity savings over the last several years. Behind the Provincial Health Services Authority's actions is senior energy & project manager John Percival, who developed a strategic energy management program that incorporates sustainable methods to achieve energy savings. These best practices, combined with energy efficiency projects, have helped the organization to consistently meet annual reduction targets, which increase each year.

Excellence in Energy Management

Catalyst Paper operates five pulp and paper mills in British Columbia. To reduce costs by focusing on electricity conservation, Catalyst developed an energy management program at their Crofton Division. The comprehensive program includes employee awareness and involvement, extensive energy audits, and energy efficiency projects that yielded sustainable electricity savings of over $2 million in 2007.

Kwantlen University College surpassed its previous energy reduction targets and last year set a new target of 45 per cent by 2010 from 2000 levels. To reach this goal, Kwantlen continues its program of rigorous tracking and reporting, benchmarking, energy assessments, and empowering a designated energy manager to measure energy performance progress and keep the institution on a path of continuous improvement.

Overwaitea Food Group, in just one year, completed its first energy management assessment, appointed an energy manager, developed a strategic energy management plan, carried out several lighting, refrigeration and controls retrofits, and completed two store walk-throughs to identify additional energy savings opportunities. Rather than approaching energy efficiency one project at a time, Overwaitea sees it as an ongoing process, with energy management best practices established as a company-wide standard.

Innovation in Sustainable Building Design

Discovery Parks Trust, while planning a new commercial building, participated in BC Hydro's High Performance Building Program design process. The design incorporates comprehensive energy efficiency features, including energy-efficient windows, lighting fixtures and controls, demand-control ventilation, and heat recovery and rainwater harvesting systems. This will result in a building that will consume one-third less electricity than a conventional design, while providing greater tenant comfort and health.

Manufacturer of the Year

Conglom Inc. is a manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting products and was the first manufacturer of specialized ENERGY STAR® compact fluorescent lamps and light fixtures to sign up for BC Hydro's Product Buy-Down Program in both lighting categories. Conglom produced one of the first ENERGY STAR dual-socket GU24 flush-mount ceiling fixtures sold in B.C., then worked with its retail partners to successfully promote the products to thousands of consumers. It ensures rigorous quality assurance through its advanced product testing facilities, where it constantly monitors and improves product quality.

Marketing Partner of the Year

Window and Door Manufacturers Association of BC (WDMA-BC) advises provincial and federal government agencies on how to make energy-efficiency programs and standards succeed within the industry, and has been a major influence in the window industry accepting higher ENERGY STAR standards in the province. In partnership with BC Hydro, the WDMA-BC has promoted a wide range of Power Smart initiatives to its members, including manufacturer funding for product testing, window manufacturer promotions and co-op advertising.

New Technology of the Year

Provincial Health Services Authority became the first organization in Canada to use two new energy-efficient technologies. At Children's and Women's Hospital in Vancouver, it installed light-emitting diode (LED) rooftop lighting powered by wind turbines and photovoltaic panels, completely independent of the BC Hydro power grid. In another application at Children's and Women's and the BC Cancer Agency, the authority installed high-efficiency LED outdoor streetlights. By promoting these two new technologies, the Provincial Health Services Authority hopes other organizations across the province will follow its example.

Outstanding Energy Efficiency Project

Sears Canada Inc., after upgrading lighting in all its B.C. stores, sought additional ways to improve its operational and energy efficiency. It found a solution in upgrading its heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The retailer's Facilities and Operations group worked with Direct Energy and BC Hydro to install variable frequency drives (VFD) on HVAC fan motors in nine B.C. stores. The result was the largest energy-saving retrofit in the retail sector in 2007. Where the fans used to run continuously at 100 per cent speed, they now run at 80 per cent speed during store hours, 60 per cent during cleaning hours and are inactive when stories are unoccupied.

Taseko Mines owns and operates the Gibraltar Mine, near Williams Lake. As part of a mill capacity expansion project, Taseko modernized the flotation cells used to concentrate copper and molybdenum minerals by replacing older technology with state-of-the-art Outotec flotation tanks. Along with the flotation upgrade, Taseko also replaced the mill's blower system. Together, these upgrades have doubled system capacity and will save nearly 38.5 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. In addition, the flotation upgrade project will also boost productivity, reduce maintenance costs and improve copper and molybdenum recovery rates.

Product Incentive Program Achievement

Aberdeen Poultry Ltd. of Salmon Arm became one of the first B.C. farms to pioneer a new technology, while improving the lighting quality in its poultry barns. The company installed 210 cold cathode lights – a technology new to the B.C. poultry market – in two chicken barns through BC Hydro's Power Smart Product Incentive Program. The lights use about eight watts, compared to the 40 watts used by the incandescent lamps popular with most poultry farms. The installation has cut Aberdeen's lighting energy consumption in its chicken barns by more than 50 per cent.

Midland Liquidators, prompted by its lighting contractor, completed a major lighting retrofit through the Power Smart Product Incentive Program. The company upgraded the fluorescent lighting and exit signs on the main sales floor to more efficient technologies. The result is a 69 per cent reduction in lighting electricity use, as well as improved lighting quality, which makes the store more pleasant for customers and staff. The new longer-lasting lights will also provide maintenance cost savings by reducing the frequency of bulb replacements.

Retailer of the Year

Trail Appliances partnered with BC Hydro in the summer of 2007 to design the ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate Program, and then created a pilot promotion for Power Smart Month in October. With the support of Whirlpool and KitchenAid, Trail offered a month-long sale on select ENERGY STAR washers, dishwashers and refrigerators, which was supported by a comprehensive promotional campaign and specialized staff training and incentive programs. These efforts resulted in double-digit growth of ENERGY STAR appliances during October for Trail.

Workplace Conservation Leadership

Catalyst Paper's Greg Olynyk, a trainer in the company's information technology department, is an outstanding advocate for reducing power consumption at Catalyst's Elk Falls Division. Greg's main tool for promoting conservation is the "Power Watchers" website on the mill's intranet. There, employees can find energy-efficient equipment maintenance information, water use charts, mill conservation projects, plus dozens of other topics of information. Olynyk also participated in the BC Hydro Conservation Research Initiative at home, then chronicled his household energy improvement projects on the Power Watchers website, inspiring other employees to follow his example.

City of Victoria's Soki Kaur has become a city-wide champion for energy conservation. A customer service co-ordinator in the city's engineering department, Kaur led Victoria's participation in BC Hydro's Turn It Off Challenge in 2007. Her commitment galvanized the city's 540 employees, from janitors to the mayor, which resulted in Victoria winning its division in the province-wide challenge. Kaur's encouragement and leadership resulted in a change in organizational behaviour toward conservation, a significant drop in the city's energy consumption and the formation of a staff conservation committee. City staff are now pursuing a conservation plan that will be implemented throughout the organization.

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's David Procter spearheaded an energy awareness campaign that used the results of a staff survey to shape a communications program aimed at reaching 24,000 employees across the organization. Led by Procter and his team, a multidisciplinary committee was formed that evaluates energy and environmental opportunities throughout the organization, and that secured funding for $2.1 million worth of energy savings projects. In late 2007, Procter took the grassroots movement to the senior executive team, which endorsed an organization-wide commitment to energy management and reduction.

Larry Bell Award – Advancing Energy Conservation Within B.C.

Upon reviewing the Workplace Conservation Leadership finalists, BC Hydro created a new award, the Larry Bell Award. Named after the former chair of BC Hydro, the award recognizes an outstanding contribution to advancing energy conservation within B.C.

The Larry Bell Award was given to Andrew Pape-Salmon at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. The acting director of energy efficiency for the ministry, Pape-Salmon has made significant contributions to the advancement of energy-efficiency policy in B.C., from helping to develop the BC Green Building Code to developing equipment standards for the Energy Efficiency Act. He has directed the development of educational events and materials, led activities for employee action, and worked with utilities, the building sector and others to instill the conservation ethic throughout B.C. society. His influence reaches far beyond the ministry, through his leadership, commitment and vision in building a more sustainable province for all British Columbians.