April 30, 2009 -
The McGuinty government is investing over $12 million in energy efficient retrofits for our four local school boards, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci announced today.
"A vibrant school environment starts from the ground up. By retrofitting our schools we’re creating jobs while saving energy and money, and teaching our kids about greener ways to live," said Bartolucci.
More than 1000 publicly funded schools across the province will be made more energy efficient to give Ontario students better places to learn and help boards save energy and money. Construction will start as soon as this summer.
This two-year investment will help improve existing schools across Ontario, while creating and sustaining more than 5,500 jobs. Of the $550-million investment, $400 million will be allocated to:
• Conduct energy audits to help manage and conserve energy
• Retrofit buildings with new energy efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and boilers.
Locally, these investments will save school boards money by reducing energy bills and will create jobs in our new green economy:
• Conseil scolaire de district du Grand Nord de l’Ontario - $1,796,375
• Conseil scolaire de district catholique du Nouvel-Ontario -$3,610,099
• Rainbow District School Board - $4,521,874
• Sudbury Catholic District School Board - $2,343,330
The remaining $150 million will be allocated on a project-by-project basis to improve the learning environment for students currently in energy inefficient portables and schools.
Ontario schools are also teaching kids how to be more environmentally friendly. Starting in the fall of 2009, environmental education will be added to the curriculum in every subject, in every grade. Programs such as EcoSchools are teaching students about conserving energy, minimizing waste and greening school grounds.
"Making our school facilities more energy efficient promotes better, greener learning environments — a key ingredient to building the best possible publicly funded education system in the world, and one that inspires confidence in our communities and success in our students," concluded Bartolucci.
Learn More
• Find out more about the greening of Ontario’s schools.
• Learn more about Ontario EcoSchools.
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