A pilot project is showing how drivers can reduce fuel consumption by 10%. Summerhill Impact’s Shuttle Challenge, co-funded with a $150,000 grant from TAF, gave drivers tips to reduce their total number of car trips and to improve the fuel efficiency of their driving. In-car data loggers monitored participants’ performance. The results are encouraging, with 57% of the 500+ participants reducing kilometres driven and fuel consumption by 10% or more. Average levels of reduction translate into a potential cost savings of over $300 per driver per year. Scaled up to a nation-wide level, a similar 10% reduction would eliminate about 8.7 megatonnes of greenhouse gases emissions each year – the equivalent of taking over 1.8 million cars off the road. For more information, please read TAF’s blog.

City gathers input on proposed benchmarking bylaw

The City of Toronto, supported by a consulting team at Integral Group, is consulting with stakeholders likely to be affected by a proposed mandatory energy reporting and benchmarking bylaw (for more info, see our blog post). The proposed bylaw, already adopted by a growing number of US jurisdictions, helps drive greenhouse gas reductions by providing clear information to building owners, purchasers, and tenants about the energy performance in large buildings. The Province of Ontario, which is considering implementing a similar regulation province-wide, is co-sponsoring the consultation process. A Best Practices Summit will be held on March 24, 2015, where industry leaders will share their insights based on experience with reporting and benchmarking programs in other jurisdictions. Consultation workshops will be held in Toronto on April 8 and 9, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to give detailed input on policy design and implementation.

TAF’s Annual Meeting Reception will take place on Thursday, April 23, 2015, in the Rotunda at Metro Hall, 55 John Street, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Please mark your calendars!

TAF is hiring

TAF is looking for a building science specialist and a heat pump researcher (one-year contract positions). Application deadline: March 30, 2015. For more info, please see: taf.ca/jobs.

Several hundred people came out for the first public meeting of the new Parks and Environment Subcommittee on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation on Monday, March 2, 2015. Originally scheduled from 7 pm to 9 pm, the meeting was extended until midnight to accommodate more than 50 deputations. Torontonians offered their suggestions for the future objectives of the subcommittee on issues ranging from human health, public transportation, risks of flooding, local food production and diet, the tree canopy, the urban heat island effect, and more. The meeting minutes are available here.

In 2014, Burlington, Vermont, became the first American city to run on electricity from 100% renewable sources, including hydroelectric, solar, wind and wood biomass. Larger cities such as San Francisco and Skellefteå have set a goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2020. The cities of Munich and Ulm have a similar objective by 2025. To support the growing number of urban centres in the world planning to use renewable sources of energy, Renewable Cities at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver is organizing the Global Learning Forum on May 13–15, 2015. The event will identify the best practices and affordable models for transitioning to renewables and energy efficiency in the electricity, heating and transportation sectors.