From a distance, it's easy to pick out Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place. Just look for the 30-storey wind turbine producing 1 million kilowatt hours of energy per year. It's the first of its kind in North America and the first permanent turbine in the City of Toronto. It also stands as a one of the more visible examples of Direct Energy Centre and Exhibition Place's commitment to reduce emissions and waste. This commitment has been formalized in the Environmental Plan which forms part of the Development Concept Plan for Exhibition Place.... and is called GREENSmart.

If you look a little closer though, you'll find that the turbine is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Centre's environmental stewardship. With the goal of environmental responsibility, in terms of energy production and waste reduction, by 2010, Direct Energy Centre has adopted a number of innovative green projects. Among these you'll find:

• Venue Naming Rights fees of $7M for the 10-year sponsorship of Direct Energy Centre are earmarked for environmental initiatives.

• We Recycle. The program has seen the introduction of initiatives on the premises to separate and recycle waste materials (including glass, paper, wood, plastic and food waste). Direct Energy Centre uses and recycles 100% PC hand towels for all of our public washrooms, and has recycling and safe disposal programs for special items such as batteries, fluorescent lamps, paint and toner cartridges. To date, the facility is already diverting 60% of its overall waste.



• Keeping It Green, Exhibition Place is launching a new green energy program to assist our clients in organizing more environmentally friendly shows and events.  The program called “Keeping It Green” allows shows and events at Exhibition Place to offset their energy use through the purchase of Renewable Energy Attributes from Direct Energy Business.
  
  
• TREC's Wind Turbine, TREC's Wind Turbine, the first permanent turbine in the City of Toronto. Capable of generating 1 million kilowatt hours of power per year, the turbine also helps to displace some of the harmful chemicals that are responsible for smog and acid rain, moving up to 1,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
 


• Direct Energy Innovation Centre. A permanent educational exhibit located in the east Galleria of Direct Energy Centre, which explores energy use and the environment. Interactive displays showcase sources of energy and methods of energy conservation.



• Lighting retrofits to decrease energy consumption and improve exhibit halls' overall light levels. The installation of energy efficient ballasts and lamps in Direct Energy Centre's main Exhibit Halls and public spaces will result in an annual reduction of 2.3 million kilowatt hours of energy use. LED-technology was utilized in our exterior building naming signage for its superior energy efficiency. These projects were completed in June 2006.



• A major Trigeneration project that will use a natural gas fired generator to satisfy approximately 30% of Direct Energy Centre Complex's electricity, heating and cooling needs. The project will also provide an energy reduction of 7,400 tonnes of equivalent CO2 emissions by the end of 2006. The highly efficient space conditioning and electrical system, which should be on line late this year, will also lower energy costs and provide greater energy security.



• Utility vehicles with hydrogen-powered fuel cells that are employed on site. Two John Deere fuel cell powered utility vehicles are part of Direct Energy Centre's emission-less fleet, which uses a hydrogen station on site to refuel.



• Linen-free meeting rooms. Classroom set-ups feature linen-free tables as a standard set at Direct Energy Centre. New T-leg classroom tables with an attractive melamine finish will serve to conserve water, and reduce environmentally harmful dry-cleaning of table linens.



• A Green Roof pilot project atop the adjacent Horse Palace building. Green roofs reduce HVAC costs in underlying structures, improve site storm water management and on a larger scale, help to reduce the urban heat island effect and ultimately cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.



• S-M-A-R-T Movement employee trip reduction program that was implemented to limit single occupancy vehicle trips. The program challenges employees to cycle, use transit, walk or carpool in an effort to reduce emissions.



• Perishable food donations and organic recycling. Direct Energy Centre's Food & Beverage department works with local agencies to donate perishable foods to shelters and food banks in the City of Toronto. Food waste is donated to local farmers.



• A proposed photovoltaic plant initiative that would use the adjacent Horse Palace's 130,000-square-foot flat roof to collect solar energy. Once completed, this 1 to 2-megawatt photovoltaic generation plant would be the largest in Canada and one of the largest in the world, and would reduce CO2 emissions annually by 1,906 tonnes. View our SolarCity Technology Assessment Partnership report.

• An urban forestry program, which preserves and renews the urban forest. There are over 2,750 trees across the site and the Sakura Tree Project and the naturalized garden are recent initiatives. The site is watered using lake-water irrigation piped from nearby Lake Ontario.

• Use of LED streetlights at Exhibition Place The new LED streetlights at Exhibition Place will dramatically reduce city lighting costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions.  Each streetlight comprises 117 LEDs to produce the same intensity as a conventional streetlight. LEDs, however, use 50% less electricity and last 5 times longer.
  

• Compostable Food Packaging Recycling Program Direct Energy Centre's caterer; Centerplate launched a compostable packaging recycling program which included compostable: hot and cold cups, lids and straws, plates, napkins, utensils, salad packaging & dressing containers, and wraps & sandwich packaging in all of the venue’s concession stands.  Direct Energy Centre complimented the additional recycling efforts by rolling out a new 4-stream recycling bin which can accept; paper, plastic & cans, compostable food waste and litter.   
  

• Use of (Forestry Stewardship Council) FSC paper products. The office staff of Direct Energy Centre utilizes 100% Post consumer recycled paper printed with soy vegetable inks for letterhead, business cards, printed materials and envelopes. Printing of these materials was handled through a FSC certified printing company. Photocopy paper is also recycled.