“Our residents value safety, quality of life, environmental stewardship and preserving the character of our ‘Village in the Park.’”
This is Cloverdale Community League; they are working to make their community hall reflect what their neighbourhood stands for.
Reg Kontz, Cloverdale Community League’s President, knows the value of putting your money where your mouth is to make this happen. Following this, the community league works to maintain and enhance these aspects in continue to honour the residents and draw more people to the community.
One of these aspects is the need for environmental stewardship. Their annual River Valley Clean Up always draws neighbours together. But recently, Cloverdale has a goal to do more with a focus on their well-used hall. They view energy efficiency as not only being a model of sustainability but also as a method to make their hall cheaper to manage, increase the comfort of the hall, and increasing the lifespan of the building. This then means that volunteer time and community league resources can be reinvested into the other things that the community loves, like sports and programs.
Cloverdale is well on their way to seeing their dream of energy efficiency become a reality. Last year they installed 96% high efficiency furnaces, insulated their hot water pipes, and draft-proofed their attic, crawlspace and electrical outlets. But that is just the beginning. Since then Cloverdale has replaced their windows with triple paned ones and updated their HVAC system. They plan to install new doors, replace the roof, improve insulation, and get solar PV panels on their roof later in 2018.
When you talk to Reg, these solar panels are the most exciting part of this project because they are a outward sign of their incredible progress. The Cloverdale Hall is located in Gallagher Park which is used year-round but most excitingly during big festivals like the Folk Fest which happens every year on the second weekend of August. This clear sign shows the community and the visitors alike just what the community values. Neighbours can see and spread information about the solar panels, thus encouraging their neighbours to go solar as well. More than that, Cloverdale is a part of a bigger movement joining with other neighbourhoods to contribute to Edmonton and the global movement too.
And for those that want to start a project like this? Reg suggests the first step is to create a community vision about what your community represents. In knowing what your community residents’ values, you can protect, enhance, and promote your neighbourhood. This vision brings in volunteers and keeps them motivated and focused. Knowing where you’re going helps everyone focus on the benefits. An energy assessment is a cost-effective way to identify deficiencies and create a ‘shopping list’ of energy efficiency measures that can add value to your community league facilities, reduce operating costs and have a measurable positive impact on the community and the globe.
Just start! Today is the day that you can make a difference.
This spotlight was written by the EFCL’s Energy Transition Officer, Charlotte Grandy.
