Natural Resources committee  That's true, although the other side of it is that as a municipality, you're bound from a liability point of view, from a public safety point of view, if you don't have appropriate illumination levels. We've developed and pushed hard for low-illumination, high-efficiency, reduced

Natural Resources committee  Well, it would be a waste water treatment plant beyond capacity, or a recreation facility in dire need of expansion, a number one community facility. What sort of energy--

Natural Resources committee  The priorities evolved in the community, and from that the opportunities were assessed. The opportunities are influenced by the funding sources that are out there; the solar applications were a result of a very innovative funding program that Alberta put in place. It's a combinat

Natural Resources committee  In our community we'll argue that you'll pay less because of efficiencies achieved. Instead of pumping two million gallons of water--treating it, putting chemicals in it, and distributing it through the community on a daily basis--we're only pumping and treating one million, so y

Natural Resources committee  Do you mean like pollution?

Natural Resources committee  I'll conclude and hand it over to you, Barb. My initial point was with respect to the regulatory and policy framework that needs to evolve over time, and that's the role of government--to allow for these innovations to occur. I couldn't agree more with respect to education; our

Natural Resources committee  I can briefly respond: need.

Natural Resources committee  The initiatives that we've undertaken around energy management have been an evolution. The deregulation of electricity in the marketplace in Alberta has been an evolution. The introduction of innovation has then created the investment climate for entrepreneurs to move in and to c

Natural Resources committee  I have a favourable comment as well. The green municipal infrastructure fund, an enabling fund, has provided valuable dollars, and the contribution of the federal government through the endowment fund has been critical. The administration of that fund through a municipalities ass

Natural Resources committee  Those were tough questions. I can certainly research that; it's an excellent question. Relative to global community energy consumption--what's our percentage and what does that represent in terms of savings--I can't answer that off the top of my head.

Natural Resources committee  Research and development, and the ability to support risk-taking adventures around new technology--I think those are critical. The continuation of funding for upgrades to infrastructure and working through the endowment fund with FCM have been very important factors for our commu

Natural Resources committee  In our case, for example, in the Drake Landing solar community, the investment in the home and the upgrades to turn it into an R-2000 home—putting in the specialized solar thermal hot water heating systems and the air handling systems, which is stuff that's not off the shelf in t

Natural Resources committee  That furnace was in Copenhagen. It was a very big furnace. What we're finding from the research, from what we've done in Drake Landing, where we collect the solar and achieve 90% of the space heating requirements from solar, and from discussions with our technical folks is that

Natural Resources committee  This dates back to 1995, when we began this initiative of managing growth and living within our ecological footprint. There was considerable dialogue in our community and extensive letters from council to the editor. For example, one said: imagine you're in a helicopter and looki

Natural Resources committee  Some of the most successful funding programs we've had have been three-part programs: federal, provincial, and municipal. The real issue, or crux of it, relates to eligibility, as there are core infrastructure needs in municipalities who desperately need to repair and replace the