Enerlife has been working with the Board since 2007, guiding its progress from median energy performance to reaching the top ten in the 2015 Sustainable Schools’ Top Energy Performing Boards report. From 2009 to 2013, average energy intensity of the Board’s 105 schools was reduced by 10%, delivering over $3,000,000 in utility cost savings and almost $1,000,000 in utility company incentives. A growing number of the board’s schools are now among the most energy efficient of their kind in North America. Our integrated services combine benchmarking and target-setting to identify high-potential schools, design and implementation of site-specific retrofits and operational measures to achieve savings, and continuous monitoring of actual savings to drive ongoing improvement. We have established high-performance design standards for lighting, mechanical systems and building automation in the construction of new schools and retrofits of existing buildings, and delivered workshops with design teams, board staff and service contractors which get everyone working together towards a shared vision of making every building the best it can be.

Building on this success, the Board engaged Enerlife to prepare its 5-year Energy Conservation and Demand Management (ECDM) Plan as required under Ontario Regulation 397/11. The ECDM plan identifies 28 schools with high energy savings potential and sets out the business case, strategy and work plan for implementation. Enerlife is currently guiding the ECDM plan implementation, which is projected to move the Board close to the top of the most energy efficient school boards in Ontario.