Re-Think Green is helping a few communities around northeastern Ontario find savings on their electricity bills, and in turn save their historical buildings.

The environmental organization, based in Sudbury, has been working with Gore Bay, the Township of Central Manitoulin, Billings Township, Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands (NEMI), Blind River, Township of Sables-Spanish Rivers and Spanish River. The municipality of French River is the latest client to come on board.

First the municipality's carbon emissions are measured, says Chris Blackmore, energy sustainability manager at Re-Think Green.

Then the community is shown its Energy Use Index (EUI), that is the amount of energy per square foot it's using. Suggestions are then offered on specific areas where energy, particularly electricity and heat, could be saved or costs reduced.

"Where you can essentially get the best bang for your buck. What are their major energy loads? Where are a lot of their costs coming from."

According to Blackmore, municipal arenas have high energy costs, due to heating/cooling systems and light. Historical buildings are also high energy users.

"[Past generations] didn't have the technology and it wasn't a main concern for them at the time."

Image | Chris Blackmore

Caption: Chris Blackmore is the energy sustainability manager for the Green Economy North program through ReThink Green. He works with municipalities to help measure their energy use, and then offers suggestions where reductions can be made. (Angela Gemmill)

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With older buildings the problem usually is connected to insulation.

"They didn't put the insulation in the wall or that insulation may have been rotten or may have had to be removed to do actual structural fixes on the building," Blackmore said.

That insulation problem then results in heat seeping out of the building, and from its windows.

Blackmore says their carbon emission measurements found a number of historical buildings, owned by their municipal clients, were not energy efficient, and cost a great deal of money to heat.

Some municipalities even considered selling off these historical properties, as a way to get rid of the cost.

Blackmore says ReThink Green helped to reduce the energy costs at a few museums, a fire hall and even a old school house in northeastern Ontario.

"Especially if a municipality would like to keep a historical building relevant — to be able to keep using it — reducing its major costs, being its electricity and heating, allows that building to continue to be used in the current economy," he said.

The challenge with making energy changes to an older building, is not changing the historical appearance, particularly on the outside.

He used the example of a museum in Kagawong, in Billings Township on Manitoulin Island.

"It was an old stone building and we wanted to reduce its heating costs, but you don't want to change the look of the building."

Blackmore says in this specific case, they sorted out where the municipality could lower its costs "without really changing the look that gave this building its special feel."

"You can't always make major projects, but everybody can turn off lights, turn down temperatures when you don't need it."

The savings for the municipalities are in the thousands of dollars, but Blackmore says the amount is different for each community. However he adds the ultimate savings aren't usually known until about a year after the improvements are made.