While the buildings may still have its historic charm, there is nothing old-fashioned about the environmentally-friendly initiatives being implemented in the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation’s rental properties.
In the coming weeks, the largely volunteer-run organization will be distributing its first self-published “green guide” to tenants, featuring tips on energy conservation, waste reduction, shopping locally, and sustainable transportation.
The guide will be tailored towards low- to mid-income renters, a demographic which some at the organization say has been overlooked by similar publications already available through the government.
“The booklet that we’re putting together is very focused on what’s within [our tenants’] power to change,” says Meg McCallum, the corporation’s membership and communications coordinator.
The organization is midway through its year-long process of spending a $100,000 grant from the provincial environment ministry’s Community Go Green Fund, aimed at reducing carbon footprints in communities across Ontario.
With many of the organization’s tenants paying rent and utility bills on low incomes, energy efficiency is not only an environmental concern for the organization, but a financial one.
A recent study conducted with a sampling of the organization’s tenants revealed that 100 per cent of the tenants surveyed have taken at least one step to reduce power consumption. While this is a clear indication that efforts to educate tenants about energy efficiency are paying off, executive director Catherine Boucher says the next goal is to target the older buildings themselves with constructive – and costly – upgrades to make the structures more efficient.
“Some of our buildings are 120 years old, and obviously they have their advantages, but they were not built to be energy efficient,” Boucher says. “Those are the things that require a bit more money.”
With an innovative compost program, recycling facilities, bicycle cages and garden terraces in place at various properties, the corporation’s grassroots efforts to reduce their environmental impact have already produced visible results. Boucher says significant improvements to building efficiency will be difficult to achieve, but the group hasn’t lost sight of that goal.