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BOMA Toronto CDM receives first Tenant Incentive Program application

TORONTO, ON — The Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Toronto (BOMA Toronto) Conservation and Demand Management (CDM) Program has received and approved the first application for its new Tenant Incentive Program (TIP). Stikeman Elliot, LLP, Canada's first national carbon neutral law firm, applied for BOMA Toronto's CDM TIP as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandate. The firm plans to install 263 occupancy lighting sensors in its offices at Commerce Court West in downtown Toronto.

The new TIP initiative, introduced earlier this summer, allows tenants who occupy all or a portion of a qualified building, and who would like to improve their energy efficiency, to apply for BOMA Toronto's CDM incentives. TIP subsidizes electricity conservation capital costs at a rate of $400 per kW or $0.05 per kWh, up to a maximum of 40% of the tenants' eligible project costs.
 
Stikeman Elliot's GoingGreen CSR initiative was launched in 2008 and includes recycling, energy and resource conservation initiatives, strategic supplier selection as well as carbon footprint benchmarking and reduction plans. GoingGreen was an immediate success and, in April 2009, made Stikeman Elliot the first carbon neutral national law firm in Canada. BOMA Toronto's TIP is a natural fit to advance Stikeman's efforts.

"BOMA Toronto is very pleased to be able to contribute to Stikeman Elliot's successful GoingGreen program. We're looking forward to helping more commercial tenants reduce their electricity bills and carbon footprint." says R. Wayne Proulx, Director of BOMA Toronto's CDM Program. "With the installation of occupancy sensors, Stikeman Elliot's offices will be equipped with an automatic light switching system, turning lights on when someone walks into the room, and then off again when the office is vacated. It is estimated that in one year, an excess of 450,000 kilowatt hours will be saved, equalling the electricity use of more than 45 Ontario homes."

Michelle Taylor, Director of Facilities and Office Services for Stikeman Elliot, LLP says "we are very eager to add energy conservation to our GoingGreen program agenda. Stikeman Elliot is proud to be certified carbon neutral, and we hope we've begun a tradition. BOMA Toronto's TIP will help us achieve that goal."

BOMA Toronto's CDM Program has already helped reduce electricity use in many office buildings in the Toronto. The Program, on behalf of the Ontario Power Authority (OPA), was recently extended to December 2010. Commercial building owners, managers and tenants with properties over 25,000 square feet are encouraged to apply.

For further information, visit www.bomacdm.com.

August 31, 2009  By Newswire