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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER W e dn es da y, D ec em be r 8 , 2 01 0 1 0 By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Town showed off Oakvilles embrace of green building Thursday during a special sum- mit held at Town Hall. The summit entitled, Building a Greener Oakville, unveiled a guide documenting various commercial, industrial, residential and institu- tional examples of local buildings, which have gone green. Some of the examples listed included the Bank of Montreal at 2356 Third Line, the LCBO at 321 Cornwall Dr., the Pine Glen Soccer Centre and St. Mildreds-Lightbourn School. The reason were hosting this summit is to showcase green building in Oakville, said Suzanne Austin, the Towns energy conservation officer. We were really looking to attract realtors, developers, builders because we want to move forward with green building in Oakville. We also wanted to provide information to the communi- ty about what green building is. Green buildings, Austin said, are sustainably designed homes with many green features, which are geared towards reducing energy usage. Austin said green building is important because using less energy combats climate change, saves money and eases the pressure on the energy supply, preventing blackouts. There is no single way to build a green build- ing, she said. St. Mildreds-Lightbourn School, for exam- ple, features a geothermal heating system, a rain water harvesting system, national/indigenous plantings to limit watering requirements, oper- able windows to promote passive solar heating, regional and recycled materials used in its con- struction and low-VOC paints and low-emitting carpeting to ensure good interior air quality. The Bank of Montreal, 2356 Third Line, has different sustainability features including ero- sion and sediment control, bicycle racks to encourage reduced dependence on vehicles, highly reflective roofing to moderate the year round indoor climate and lightweight recycled plastic form to elevate branch flooring. The bank was also able to reduce its energy consumption by 57 per cent by reducing light density in task lights, installing efficient fixtures and using insulated concrete forms for walls and the roof. The average green building, Austin said, will reduce energy use by 30-50 per cent, carbon emissions by 35 per cent, water usage by 40 per cent and solid waste by 70 per cent. Those present at the Town Hall summit also heard how the Town is moving forward with green building. Manager of the Towns Facilities, Maintenance and Repairs Nicole Wolfe said green building initiatives implemented at Town Hall, through the recently passed Sustainable Building Design Guidelines, have shaved $30,000 off next years operating budget. We added light motion sensors, so when you come into a room it turns the lights on or turns them off as you leave. We insulated some exteri- or walls and a few areas that were poorly insulat- ed. We replaced weather stripping and caulking. We replaced some old pneumatic controls for the automation system and incorporated effi- cient controls on the hot water heating system, said Wolfe. The biggest change we did was real- ly combining all the building control systems under one increased building automation sys- tem. Were able to slow the speed of the air han- dlers between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. on all business days, so that were not heating or cooling a space that has no one in it. This has been implement- ed for the past year. Wolfe said knowledge of and use of the Sustainable Building Design Guidelines is now mandatory for all construction projects done by the Town. During the summit, the featured speakers also talked about solar installations, straw bale construction and more. For more information about Green Building, visit www.cagbc.com. Summit showcases green building in Oakville