Richmond Earns Solar Community Title From the Province
02 June 2010
The future is indeed bright for Richmond as the City looks to promote the clean, green benefits of harnessing the sun’s energy to heat our homes and our water. Richmond is once again being recognized for its commitment to sustainable communities by being named a Solar Community by Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Blair Lekstrom during BC's inaugural Solar Days celebrations on May 28, 2010.
"The City is committed to creating a more sustainable community and the Solar Community designation marks another step in achieving this goal," explains Mayor Malcolm Brodie.
Along with six other Solar Communities in BC, Richmond was awarded $5,000 to help promote solar hot water heating which reduces reliance on fossil fuels, helps the community become energy self-sufficient, saves money over the long-term, and helps prevent climate change.
For the homeowner, a solar hot water system can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one to two tonnes per year for a single family home using natural gas for water heating, and result in considerable savings on energy bills. The increased use of solar energy technology is part of a broader sustainable community energy planning process that is expected to help Richmond reach its new target of curbing community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 33 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.
As a Solar Community, Richmond will work to raise awareness of solar energy among residents and businesses and investigate ways to increase the uptake of solar hot water heating as part of its Community Energy and Emissions Plan. Recognizing the potential for solar energy, the City is looking at ways to add solar hot water heating systems at several of its facilities to reduce energy costs and GHG emissions. Residents are being encouraged to learn more about the technology and available incentives by visiting www.solarbc.ca.
