Parkdale Cromdale Community League is making sustainable choices, big and little

EFCL Energy Transition Advisor, Michael Barnard spoke with the League’s past President and current Civics Director Kevin Wong.

He explained how the community is reducing energy at their hall, building sustainable and local food systems, plus encouraging sustainable practices in their neighbourhood, all with a focus on supporting local communities and businesses.

1.) Energy Efficiency

In late 2018, Parkdale Cromdale was successful in applying for the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre’s TAME+ program for energy efficiency upgrades at their hall.

With the funding, the League was able to complete:

• full lighting retrofit
• ventilation upgrade
• roof insulation upgrades in preparation for the planned roof-mounted solar installation

 
More upgrades are planned to reduce the hall’s energy use in 2021.

2.) Solar

Parkdale Cromdale decided they wanted to pursue solar energy in 2017.

Making Solar Plans 

After the idea was discussed and approved by the board, the League engaged Evergreen & Gold, a local solar company located in the neighbourhood. The local company brought experience having worked with Community Leagues previously. Evergreen & Gold was heavily involved with the initial pilot solar systems awarded as part of the founding of the Green Leagues program

Kevin says the choice to go with Evergreen & Gold was “a no-brainer” for the League since the company was right in the community and the League is dedicated to growing local businesses whenever possible.

All the grants were confirmed in 2019 and construction began in 2020.

Installation

The 16.5 kW grid-tied solar array went live two weeks after it was commissioned on September 30, 2019.

The system cost close to $46,000.

The League did not need to use any of their own money on the project. It was covered 100% by grants. 

The grants used for the project: 

• Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP)
• Alberta Municipal Solar Program (AMSP)
• Local Food Infrastructure Fund (LFIF)
  A federal grant program dedicated to ensuring food security and sustainable food practices

 
Any and all energy generated funds now go directly back to the Community League.

As per Alberta micro-generation regulation, the system was designed at its maximum size to cover 100% of the building’s electricity (about 18,900 kWh per year).

Kevin’s recommendations for Community Leagues pursuing solar:

• Identify grant streams at the beginning of the process and begin by working on those
  The biggest holdback is waiting for grants to come through, and timing is key.Kevin says if they had to go back and do it again, they wouldn’t do a lot differently.
  “This is not as big of a project as it seems, and it is still quite manageable even with volunteer capacity and there are lots of resources out there to help.” 

• Find a contractor who’s aware of the grant streams and the City of Edmonton process
  This was key to this process. Evergreen & Gold had a lot of prior experience working with Community Leagues.

• Engaged the City of Edmonton early on
  Do this by contacting his Neighbourhood Resource Coordinator.

• Have a Civics Director role at the Community League
  To ensure sustainability remains a focus, the League includes sustainable energy and food practices as part of their Civics Director role.

3.) Food

In 2016, the League was committed to installing a Community Garden, but couldn’t find space for the size of garden they wanted to build. Creative folks that they are, the board came up with an ingenious solution.

The majority of their outdoor space is occupied by their large ice rink, so the League had their garden boxes built on pallets, which they move into the rink space every summer.

The Community Garden provides food for:

• Commercial-scale community kitchen run out of the hall
  Helps to ensure food security for members and other local residents.
• Alliance Jeunesse Famille Del’Alta Society community kitchen program 
  Serves French language speaking residents.

 
League was able to benefit from the Local Food Infrastructure Fund to realize both kitchen upgrades and a third of their solar system.

4.) Future Plans

Kevin shared a big milestone for Parkdale Cromdale to reach net zero electricity in 2019, but by no means in Parkdale Cromdale finished with their sustainability plans.

Upgrading Rink Lighting

They plan to use their next Community League Infrastructure Program (CLIP) grant to replace their current Mercury Vapour rink lights with lower-consuming LED lighting fixtures.

Look closely at Water Consumption

They’ve already purchased an energy efficient dishwasher for their commercial kitchen. They bought a rain barrel with money raised from a fundraiser in 2018 and are looking at configuring their drainage system to collect rainwater for their Community Garden.

Advocating for Sustainability

Kevin says there are a lot of aspects of everyday life that can be done sustainably,  and the League plans to do more with education on selecting sustainable products and voting with your money. We want to “make people aware they have the power to make the choice, however little that is.” He adds the big bright future they envision lies in the little individual actions people do on a daily basis, and the League plans to encourage people to be conscious about their choices.

Kevin Acknowledges it’s Truly a Community Effort

He thanks “all the volunteers who were committed to making this happen” and he encourages other Leagues to take this time during COVID-19 to “have a bigger conversation on sustainability and the overall direction of where they want [their] league to go.” Kevin stresses it’s vital to “make people aware they have the power to make the choice, however little that is.”