Inglewood Community League is a leader in integrating green elements into their operation
3 major ways they’re implementing sustainable practices:
1.) Solar Project
Inglewood Community League wanted to build a solar power generating system as large as possible!
The amount of energy Inglewood Community League used in 2018
*Dictated the size of their system
The solar project was led by Justin Smalley, communications director at League. He did the majority of the legwork to get the system, designed and installed by Generate Energy out of Sherwood Park.
Monitoring Progress
With his background in software engineering, Justin Smalley has been monitoring the performance of the solar system since it went up. He even designed his own monitoring software to analyze performance!
Justin detailed the journey in a series of articles discussing the performance of the system and the economic benefits the Community League is experiencing.
The Savings from the first year of Solar
As the solar panels continue to be utilized into 2020 and beyond, the League earns money from the power generated.
Justin’s recommendations for Community Leagues pursuing solar:
- Get started early
- Spread the work among a group
The process can take longer than you might think, and navigating the City of Edmonton’s process can be challenging.- Talk to your Neighbourhood Resource Coordinator (NRC) for more details about this process
You have to coordinate contractors, monitor costs, apply for grants, and go through the City’s Community Group Led Construction Process
2.) Community Energy Assessment Program funded by EFCL
Through participation in the EFCL’s Community Energy Assessment Program, the League received a free energy assessment from Internat Energy Solutions. The audit of the hall provided insights on how the League could reduce its energy consumption. The detailed recommendations for energy savings upgrades will help guide the League’s greening work on-going.
Being detail-oriented to go green
Inglewood also began to regularly monitor the energy use at the hall, down to the individual circuit.
Volunteers then went through the hall turning on and off their electrical devices and lights, to see the effect each load would have on their energy use. Now they know how much electricity is used by each piece of equipment, and they can tell if something has gone wrong based on a sudden unexplained change in their electricity.
Discovery of Energy Wasting
Through this process, volunteers discovered a floorboard heater that was left on all through the summer!
No one has known it was there or when it was last turned off.
By monitoring their electricity usage to note unexplained electricity consumption, the League discovered an unnecessary electrical load that was costing them a significant amount of money and was able to address the problem.
Inglewood’s electricity consumption fell by 53% in 2020 to 9.9 MWh
While 2020 was obviously a unique year due to temporary hall closures resulting from COVID-19 restrictions, the League estimates that about half of that savings was due to energy conservation measures at the hall.
Rob Ritchie, the former Sustainability Director at Inglewood, continues to work hard to reduce energy consumption at the hall.
3.) Attending Green Leagues’ Workshops
Volunteers at Inglewood Community League have attended and even presented at Green Leagues workshops.
Rob Ritchie and other members of the Sustainability Committee at Inglewood attended a workshop hosted by the EFCL in partnership with the City of Edmonton in 2019 on Climate Adaptation, where Community League volunteers learn what to expect from Edmonton’s changing climate and how they can prepare their communities.
In June of 2020, Justin was a guest speaker at another Green Leagues workshop, in the Solar PV session of our Energy 101 series.
Recording of Justin’s presentation
Inspiring Others
While there isn’t space here to describe all the fantastic work Inglewood Community League is doing, the EFCL recognizes the achievements of the League.
They continue to encourage their community members and other Community Leagues to adopt green energy technologies.
We look forward to seeing them continue on their path to energy transition in the future!
