Ontario invests in green schools

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

Greater Sudbury's three post-secondary institutions will receive an infusion of provincial money to renovate their buildings and make them more energy-efficient.

Cambrian College is getting $665,000 for energy efficiency projects and $413,290 to upgrade essential infrastructure. College Boreal will receive $396,000 for energy efficiency projects and $377,090 to upgrade essential infrastructure.

Laurentian University will receive $501,100 to refurbish classroom and laboratories, improve energy efficiency and complete renovations.

“We feel, and so do the post-secondary institutions, that by increasing the energy efficiency there's obviously a payback very, very quickly, which can be re-invested into programming,” says Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci, who made the announcement Tuesday.

“It also provides for a better setting for students to learn in, for teachers to teach in, and positions us internationally with the reputation of having facilities that are very, very congnisant of the environment.”

The administrators of the post-secondary institutions will decide for themselves how they want to spend the money earmarked for renovations, he says.

The buildings at Cambrian College and Laurentian University are decades old and need preventative maintenance so they will remain usable for students, he says. College Boreal, which was built in the 1990s, is still relatively new.

Although Cambrian and Laurentian are both facing major space shortages, and need new buildings and renovations, Bartolucci says the province is spending enough money on infrastructure at post-secondary institutions.

About $70 million has been earmarked province-wide this year to improve energy efficiency, refurbish classrooms and laboratories, improving accessibility and upgrading heating and ventilation systems, he says.

Construction work at post-secondary institutions in the city will create jobs, he says.

“There's construction and refurbishing jobs that wouldn't be there if you didn't have the money to do the upgrades,” he says.

“The other side of the coin is when you're teaching people in facilities that have been upgraded and meet the needs that are demanded by industry over the long run, obviously you're creating longer-term jobs there as well."