Chosen as one of Canada's Greenest Employers for 2012:
By Richard Yerema and Julien Gagnier, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors
(
Apr 19, 2012)
Some of the reasons why Red River College was selected as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2012):
developed an in-house "Environmental Sustainability Policy" that mandates the College to consider environmental, social and economic impacts of its day-to-day operations as well as building renovation and new building construction
maintains a "Sustainability Office" and created the position of "Manager of Sustainability" to oversee the policy as well as raise awareness with employees and students through a variety of initiatives, from hosting presentations to departments on how to reduce their own footprints to regular tours of the College's recycling and composting programs
introduced the "Hall It!" waste reduction and recycling program, which removed all garbage and recycling bins from classrooms in favour of centralized collection points -- the initiative increased the capture of recyclables by 40 percent last year
has also introduced battery recycling and e-waste collection programs and expanded its onsite composting program for organic waste, capturing more than 300 pounds of organics every day
the College's Princess Street Campus is home to Manitoba's largest photovoltaic array -- the architecturally-integrated solar panel array generates the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power five houses, helping to ensure that the landmark building uses roughly half the energy of a conventional building
and the campus' Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre has recently been retrofitted with a geothermal heating system and nine passive "solar wall" panels that preheat outdoor air before entering the ventilation system -- the building is currently pending Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification
in addition to offering secure bicycle parking (and shower facilities), the College subscribes to an online carpool matching service to help reduce the number of single-car commutes every day
operates a sophisticated biodiesel processing facility that converts used kitchen oil from its Food Services and Culinary Arts program, and blends with diesel fuel to power the College's maintenance vehicles -- in addition, a by-product of this process is glycerin, which is made into a special degreasing soap product for use at the College's Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre
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