OTTAWA — This year’s winners of the annual Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) Greenest School in Canada competition are Lacombe Composite High School in Lacombe, Alta. and Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ont.
The two schools were chosen for being exemplary demonstrations of sustainable learning environments.
The winners were announced by the CaGBC and the Canada Coalition for Green Schools as part of World Green Building Week.
Launched in 2014, the Greenest School in Canada competition seeks to showcase kindergarten to Grade 12 schools across the country that showcase how sustainability can be woven into the infrastructure, culture and curriculum of a school, states a release.
This year the CaGBC Greenest School jury, comprised of green building industry experts from across the country, could not choose one winner and determined that both Lacombe and Trinity College stood out from other submissions for their commitment to sustainability and “impressive” environmental awareness programs for students and staff, the release indicates. Both schools will receive a $1,000 cash award to put towards a new or ongoing sustainability project.
Lacombe High School sustainability initiatives include:
- an EcoVision environmental club which, over the past 15 years, has raised funds for 32 solar arrays totalling six kW, along with a portable solar array and solar cars for the classroom; a 42-foot, energy-efficient geodesic tropical greenhouse with geothermal heat storage; outdoor gardens with 40 raised beds, 125 fruit trees, 10 picnic tables, birdhouses, bat houses and evergreen trees; and an urban beekeeping program with three hives and over 20 Lacombe residents.
- complete composting of about 25 kilograms of organic waste from its kitchen per month, using three thermal composite systems and half a dozen vermi-composite systems.
- an Adopt a Garden initiative where the school gets community members to help take care of its gardens over the summer months, and local groups are invited to speak about environmental topics in classes.
Trinity College School initiatives include:
- a five-year sustainability plan focused on reducing environmental footprint and the creation of a healthy, sustainable community that provides opportunities for students to develop the knowledge and skills that foster sustainability literacy as part of academic and co-curricular activities.
- a decrease in natural gas consumption by 23 per cent over five years, an achievement it attributes to window replacements and upgrades to its building automation systems and boilers.
- significant efforts to manage its annual energy consumption through: regular electricity audits, a major lighting retrofit and a 220kW solar PV installation with another 180kW planned.
- a “Farm Field Forest” initiative that runs three days a week, enabling students to build a greenhouse and shed and work on a half-acre farm that harvests vegetables for the school’s dining room and the local community health centre.
“Both schools had impressive submissions that set them apart this year, incorporating both physical green building and curriculum changes,” said Thomas Mueller, president and CEO of the CaGBC, in a statement.
“These schools set a great example for their peers and surrounding communities, and will positively impact the current cohort of students, as well as nurturing the next generation of green building leaders for years to come.”
The runners up of the 2018 Greenest School in Canada competition were Westwood Community High School in Fort McMurray, Alta. (second place) and Churchill Community High School in La Ronge, Sask. received an honourable mention.
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