Interactive home audit (energy use)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, March 5, 2007
City launches online energy conservation tool
Approximately 27,000 students and their families in Greater Sudbury will be asked to take part in the c(IHA) over the next few weeks – an innovative and comprehensive education program that will provide a framework for changing habits when it comes to energy conservation.
The Interactive Home Audit was piloted by the Rainbow District School Board last year and has since been extended to all 94 schools in Greater Sudbury. Coordinated by the City of Greater Sudbury and the Dearness Environmental Society, the program features an online tool designed to encourage students, their families, and the general public to reduce electricity, energy and water use in their homes. All students in Greater Sudbury will be asked to complete the Interactive Home Audit. This activity will be positioned as a homework assignment, to be completed by students and their parents.
"This information will serve as an additional incentive for students' families to reduce their ecological footprint, conserve our resources, and improve the air that we breathe. As we all know, a better world begins in the classroom," said Mayor John Rodriguez. "I sincerely hope that everyone accepts this challenge."
The information users will find when completing the Interactive Home Audit includes:• The amount of energy being consumed in their homes• How much money energy use is costing per month• What efficiency measures can be implemented to reduce consumption• Dollar savings after efficiency measures are implemented• The impact that personal actions have on the environment
As a component of the Interactive Home Audit Challenge, a number of youth environmental teams, representing each of the four school boards, will be visiting neighbourhoods in Greater Sudbury during the month of March, to promote the IHA and Efficient Sudbury campaign. The youth teams will be sharing information on these two community initiatives and giving residents a free Energy Star compact fluorescent light bulb.
Tom Tamblyn, President of Dearness Environmental Society, developed the Interactive Home Audit to connect student learning about the environment with actions in our homes and community. As Tom stated recently, "we all have a responsibility to think globally and act locally. The home audit was designed to help students become ‘system thinkers', so they can better understand sustainability principles and the impacts of their actions on their community and their environment."
The Rainbow District School Board was pleased to work in collaboration with the Dearness Environmental Society to develop and pilot the interactive home audit website. "Through the website, we have been able to expand our environmental education and sustainability efforts from the classroom to the community," said Rainbow District School Board Chair Dena Morrison. "We closely monitor our energy use in Rainbow Schools and continue to implement efficiency measures in order to achieve savings. The Interactive Home Audit will give all homeowners an opportunity to model what we are doing in our schools."
The IHA can be found online at http://sudbury.yourhomeaudit.com .
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Media Contact:
Alison TaylorCommunications OfficerCity of Greater Sudbury674-4455, ext. 2513
