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9 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,M ay 12,2022 insidehalton.com Local care for your air An 18-point precision AC tune-up from A1 can help you avoid emergencies, save on energy bills, and increase the lifespan of your air conditioner. We service all makes and models. Our triple-certified A1 Technicians will help keep your equipment in tip-top shape! Peter Messenger, President A1 For a limited time, save $50 off our precision AC tune-up and cleaning* *Regular price $199. Offer expires June 30, 2022. Conditions apply. Thank you for shopping local! A1air.ca | 647-955-1849 1420 Cornwall Road, Unit 3, Oakville ON, L6J 7W5 " " ther almost meeting that or exceeding that in 2021." Hales attributed some of the reductions to street light retrofits and retrofits of lighting in several com- munity centres, arenas and operations centres. She said the updating of town hall's building auto- mation system also played a role, as did the introduc- tion of energy-efficient equipment under the capi- tal replacement program. The COVID-19 pandem- ic also did its part. The town's energy solu- tions nanager, Dave Cano, noted that on the one hand, the shutting down of town facilities and scaling back of transit, which followed the pandemic's arrival, re- sulted in energy savings and emissions reductions. On the other hand, he said, the pandemic in- creased energy use in town facilities by requiring the town to maintain new rec- ommended levels of air ventilation for occupants when the facilities were open. "It's good to see we're go- ing in the right direction," said Ward 4 Coun. Allan El- gar. Elgar said he was par- ticularly impressed with the reduction given the town had opened several new facilities since 2014, in- cluding the Trafalgar Park Community Centre/Fire Hall 3; the Oakville Trafal- gar Community Centre and Fire Hall 8. Ward 4 Coun. Peter Lon- go pointed out the town's overall contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is quite small when com- pared to emissions gener- ated by residents and busi- nesses. He asked what could be done to bring these groups on board. Hales said this area would be looked at as part of a coming strategy. Karen Brock of the Oak- villegreen Conservation Association noted the ma- jority of greenhouse gas emissions are generated by transportation. "We're at a critical turn- ing point," she said. "We have to quickly en- tice people out of cars, but that's only going to happen if we can show folks that walking, safe cycling or public transit is more con- venient, cheaper and better for your health. Widening roads will not reduce grid- lock and will only increase infrastructure costs to the town and taxpayers." In response to recom- mendations made in the re- port, council approved the adoption of a Net Zero Car- bon target for 2050 for all corporate activities, in alignment with the federal Pan-Canadian Frame- work. Cano said the town is al- ready taking positive steps to reach this goal. He said that once fully implemented in 2035, the conversion of the town's transit fleet to electric bus- es will help achieve an ad- ditional 35 per cent reduc- tion (or more) in carbon emissions. He further noted that starting in 2022, the town's building inspectors will start transitioning to a ful- ly electric fleet. The construction of the Oakville Trafalgar Com- munity Centre was also listed in the report as evi- dence of the town's com- mitment to fighting cli- mate change. The centre is built to LEED (Leadership in Ener- gy and Environmental De- sign) standards and fea- tures high-efficiency sys- tems paired with renew- able energy technologies such as rooftop solar pan- els, geothermal heating and cooling and car charg- ing stations. Hales also pointed out that in 2021, there were 23,634 native trees and 4,382 native shrubs planted through the town's wood- land regeneration pro- gram and stewardship partnerships with the com- munity. Brock is calling for the reinstatement of the town's Backyard Treeplanting pi- lot program to boost biodi- versity and further in- crease the canopy tree cov- er. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With the Town of Oakville reporting a major drop in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, we wanted to examine how this has been achieved and what local environmental groups felt about it. NEWS MORE ECO-FRIENDLY MEASURES BEING TAKEN Continued from front Mayor Rob Burton recharges his Chevrolet Volt, his fourth electric vehicle, at one on the charging stations along Lakeshore Road. Graham Paine/Metroland