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LiveSmart BC

2010 Carbon Neutral Action Reports: School Districts

Emissions & OffsetsSuccess Stories reports 

In the K-12 education system, there are 60 school districts and over 1,800 facilities. Each school district’s carbon neutral action report is as unique as the district itself – from remote districts with few students covering areas the size of Nova Scotia to large urban districts with growing school populations. Even with this variety, it was clear that school districts have been focussed on the energy efficiency of their buildings and fleets for years.

2010 Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Offset Investment

School districts GHG Emissions by Source - 2010

In 2010, school districts produced a total of 198,387 tonnes CO2e from all sources covered by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act.

In order to become carbon neutral for the 2010 calendar year, school districts invested $4,416,798 in 176,672 tonnes CO2e of carbon offsets from Pacific Carbon Trust. 

Please note that school bus emissions must be reported but are not required to be offset under section 4(2)(c) of the Carbon Neutral Government Regulation of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act.

2010 Highlights from this sector:

  • 95% of school districts are working on an anti-idling policy and/or are raising anti-idling awareness for fleet drivers
  • 95% are posting materials online that were previously printed
  • 87% have installed power management software which shuts down computers outside of regular business hours
  • 82% are installing web-conferencing software to reduce the need for travel
  • 80% have completed energy retrofits on existing, owned buildings
  • 75% are implementing a sustainable purchasing program

Carbon Neutral Action Reports

*All Carbon Neutral Action Reports are available as PDFs.

Many public sector organizations already have existing sustainability reporting mechanisms that provide significant detail on their programs, so the Carbon Neutral Action Reports were designed to meet regulatory requirements without requiring duplicate reporting.

Success Stories

2010 SolarBC School of the Year

Two-years of hard work paid off for students and staff at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School in Vancouver. They raised the profile of solar, garnered support and attracted both in-kind donations and funding. Sustainability club members obtained support from their facilities department for the installation of the bases for solar-photovoltaic (PV) arrays that convert solar radiation to electricity and received the donation of a power inverter from Xantrax Corporation. They fell short of the total funding needed, but this changed when they were selected by SolarBC and the province, as one of only 10 schools to receive $20,000 for a solar-photovoltaic system.

Being selected as a SolarBC School of the Year for 2010 was icing on the cake for Tupper Secondary. It will now have both solar thermal panels for hot water and solar-PV panels. The school will be integrating SolarBC lesson plans and engaging the school community in raising awareness about solar energy and the benefits of renewable energy systems.

Renewable interest at Comox Valley schools

Students and teachers in the Comox Valley do not take their energy for granted. They are active in reducing energy, sharing their learning and putting their own green brand on their schools. By combining retrofit projects and behaviour change they achieved enough electrical savings to power at least 50 homes and they reduced GHGs by 201 tonnes. Solar projects include:

  • Solar hot water at Highland Secondary School in Comox with funding from ecoENERGY, SolarBC, and PSECA;
  • Solar hot water at Mark Isfeld Secondary School in Courtenay with funding from FortisBC and SolarBC; and
  • Solar-photovoltaic at G. P. Vanier Secondary School in Courtenay with SolarBC support.

Additionally, students designed and installed a small PV system to power a lighted sign at G.P. Vanier School. The district is also actively promoting conservation through green teams in 100 per cent of their schools, a district-wide energy blog, GHG education and an “energy bear” mascot. They are committed to expand their use of renewable energy through solar-PV and hot water panels in addition to solar air and exploring adding wind generation to the mix.

SD 44 – "LEED"ing the North Shore

“Throughout the world, environmental education is now understood as a vital necessity in raising generations of citizens who not only appreciate nature but can contribute solutions to the pressing sustainability challenges of our time,” said John Lewis, Superintendent of the North Vancouver School District.

In April 2011, North Vancouver School District broke ground for the construction of the North Shore Credit Union Environmental Learning Centre near Squamish. The building is targeting a LEED Platinum rating, and is striving to become a truly carbon neutral facility and demonstrate the systems described by the Living Building Challenge.

The school district also has a number of LEED Gold projects in planning or underway including a replacement of Carson Graham Secondary School and renovations to both Ridgeway and Queen Mary Elementary. 

Richmond Green Teams growing like weeds

Like spring flowers, “green teams” have grown across the B.C. Public Service – educating and motivating their peers, Richmond School District took a similar approach to engagement and is a leader at fostering sustainability in students. The district has active green teams in 60 per cent of its schools and a dedicated “green fund” created from savings through energy conservation. These teams developed and executed initiatives from anti-idling campaigns to school composting programs. One initiative is the monthly Sustainability Café networking event, targeting a different sustainability theme each month, with insight from experts in the community.

Invermere enjoys clean and renewable fuel for local food

Focusing on climate change makes the interconnected nature of our world clear and demonstrates the co-benefits of different actions. Working with the Groundswell Network and the community, David Thompson Secondary School in Invermere created a solar-heated greenhouse that puts energy back into the grid and provides an opportunity for students to gain experience growing their own food. 

In a unique partnership with the Groundswell, a 3,000 sq ft food-producing greenhouse was developed. The greenhouse incorporates passive solar heat, solar hot water heating and electricity production. Surplus heat from the solar hot water and air systems is pumped into the ground and stored for use during shoulder seasons.

Education programs increase public understanding of the use of solar energy. Students plant, cultivate, and harvest food and prepare it for serving in the school cafeteria. "Food draws people into a discussion about the greenhouse, but once they’re there they become interested in the energy and water systems, the way it's been built. They realize that the sustainable design features can also be applied to their homes or businesses,” said Bill Swan, Groundswell Associate.

Students see the energy future in Dawson Creek

The northeast part of B.C. is energetic – from hydroelectricity, to natural gas – and now wind farms are becoming part of the clean and renewable energy mix. Students and teachers know how vital energy is to their communities and so building understanding on where it comes from and how we can reduce our use makes a lot of sense. That is why students from the Funky Monkey Recycling Club and some of their classmates at Crescent Park School, along with two classes from Tremblay Elementary in Dawson Creek visited the Bear Mountain Wind Park.

“In the South Peace, we have a beautiful advantage over areas of the province in terms of our close connection with our energy sources,” said teacher Joanne Duek. “We can actually see the turbines turning and teach the children this is where those electrons begin their flow.”

Saving water contributes to bottom line

Water connects us all – it generates our electricity, irrigates our crops, supports our industry, provides our recreation and quenches our thirst. Rivers and lakes dominate our landscape and provide for the communities that have developed along their shores. Fifty-nine per cent of B.C.’s public sector organizations are becoming effective stewards of the resource. Here are a few examples:

  • School District 68 in Ladysmith installed field irrigation controls at both Departure Bay and Chase River schools and are realizing savings of at least 14 per cent with further savings as the system is expanded to other sites; and
  • School District 39 in Vancouver installed 75 urinal sensors – saving approximately 34 million litres of water.  
Reducing the energy demand of existing buildings

Richmond School District has a comprehensive energy conservation program, including computer power management. Computers now automatically go into sleep mode when not in use and are powered off after business hours. The initiative saved 878,000 kWh (the equivalent of powering 80 homes for a full year) and was recognized by B.C. Hydro.

Building capacity through energy managers saves school operating costs

Rocky Mountain School District in the Kootenays began an energy management program in 2009 by hiring an energy manager. While annual energy use for the school district had been trending upwards, energy consumption over the first year of the energy manager program decreased by 14 per cent for all energy types compared to the previous year. Greenhouse gas emissions from combustion of fuel decreased by 275 tonnes, or 11 per cent compared to 2008.

Innovation dramatically cuts energy use and funds programs

As the classroom, the lab, the library and the workplace become increasingly digital, energy managers are looking to solutions that make it easier to power down. Take the Vancouver School District, which installed power management software on 10,000 school computers. The software will save 2.5 Gigawatt-hours of electricity this year, equivalent to eight per cent of the district’s total electricity bill. "We are proud to be recognized for our energy conservation efforts,” said Vancouver School Board’s Manager of Facilities for Climate Action, Kirthi Roberts.

The school district also piloted a program with Gladstone, John Oliver and Windermere schools and removed 25 inefficient refrigerators. The schools qualified for 11 new Energy Star-rated refrigerators to replace the outdated units. The schools received an incentive based on the energy they helped save the district, which they will use for other energy conservation programs.