Champions of Renewable Energy Urge Canadian Government to Use Green Investment

Jan. 21, 2009 - PRLog -- Oakville, ON  -- Days before the Canadian federal budget, Toronto-area green advocates are urging the government to support investment in energy efficient housing and infrastructure to recharge the economy.
In a television show to be aired Saturday January 24th, the expert panel including Oakville’s Catherine Marshall said the opportunity to kick start the economy with green collar jobs will be lost to more progressive jurisdictions, including the United States, unless the government acts quickly.
“It is becoming very clear it is in the interests of the home builders, consumers and businesses to be supportive of government policies that will really bring us forward to this new energy efficient world,” said Marshall, the Vice President of Research and Development of Greenbilt Homes of Oakville (www.greenbilthomes.ca).
Jose Etcheverry, a professor in the Climate and Renewable Energy Solutions department of York University, who travels the world researching renewable energy, echoed Marshall’s comments.  “Politicians need to look at what is working well in leading countries, adapt these ideas to the Canadian reality, and then let’s prosper by doing it,” he said.
Etcheverry said there is a green “industrial revolution” sweeping Europe, led by Germany and Spain.  President Barack Obama is now committed to invigorating the United States economy by building green industries.  This is the time for leadership in Canada to make a similar commitment, or risk seeing the opportunity in North American usurped by the United States, he said.
Michael Gray, President of Indigo Wind Energy Systems of Mississauga, explained that if government policies supported widespread wind power investment, it would naturally create demand for turbine manufacturing here.  This manufacturing shift would help to absorb workers who have lost their jobs in other manufacturing industries, as well as create construction jobs building wind farms.
All panelists on the show, called Champions of Conservation and Renewable Energy, agreed that there will only be a short reprieve from the energy price crunch.  They said investments in efficiency need to be made now, or the economy will be hurt once energy costs escalate.
TV host Arlene Bynon asked Marshall if consumers are showing a strong commitment to sustainable technologies, including green houses.  “There still isn’t widespread understanding of the solutions we need to adopt as a society to become truly sustainable,” said Marshall.  “But I see interest and commitment to these changes growing with education.”  
Marshall said that until the public has enough education to make informed choices, it is important for the government to lead with public policies that support the environment including programs to reduce the cost of energy efficient homes.
Later, after taping the TV show, Marshall remarked that the upcoming federal budget is an excellent opportunity to use government funding to offset part of the cost of energy retrofits of existing homes.  “Residential homes consume 17% of Canada’s energy right now,” she said. “Even if all our new houses were energy efficient - which they is not - new housing is only about 2% of total housing each year.   So we need to retrofit Canada’s existing stock of housing if we want to cut energy demand.
Champions of the Environment and Renewable Energy, Episode 53 of the program “@issue” will be shown on ichannel Saturday, January 24th at 7 a.m.  It will be replayed February 19th at 12 p.m. and 8 p.m., and on February 22nd at 6 p.m.  ichannel is carried on Cogeco as cable channel 136.
About Greenbilt Homes:
Greenbilt Homes was formed in 2008 as a partnership between Michael Manning and Catherine Marshall.  A custom builder of urban infill housing, Greenbilt’s mission is to build green homes with modern conveniences that are highly energy efficient and include sustainable technologies.  Greenbilt is a sister company to Suntech Renovations, a general contracting firm which has operated in Oakville, ON since 1991.
Contact:
Catherine Marshall, Vice President
Greenbilt Homes
905-849-4333
http://www.greenbilthomes.com

# # #

Greenbilt Homes is an Oakville, Ontario based builder of environmentally sensitive custom homes. Greenbilt's motto is "Live in Your Values" and the company's misssion is to build comfortable homes with modern conveniences that reflect the owner's vision of environment sustainability.