Brockville Climate Action Group

Globe and Mail / Andrew Willis / 04 April 2008

Over the next four years, Ron Taylor plans to drop off the grid.

The oil-fired furnace is already gone, replaced by electric heat, and Mr. Taylor is collecting rainwater at the century-old, five-bedroom farmhouse he bought last year near Mushaboom, N.S., a seaside town immortalized by singer Feist. The next step is to put on a new roof with solar panels, then throw up a windmill on the two-acre property.

It sounds like a tree-hugging, back-to-nature renovation. Except Mr. Taylor is no hippie. He's a Toronto-based veteran real-estate developer with a high-end firm called Arcturus Realty. He has worked on monster projects such as London's Canary Wharf and the redevelopment of Halifax's harbourfront. And he is dropping big money to drop off the grid in Mushaboom. The project is budgeted at upward of $40,000.

Drumbeat / aangel / 16-Mar-08

We don't normally think of individuals as running on profit margins, but perhaps a similar table could be constructed that would be meaningful for households instead of businesses.

The City of Brockville continues to be shy in acknowledging the energy-saving steps it is taking.

Residents heard some months ago, through a report in the local press, that an energy audit was to be undertaken on municipal facilities. Since then, there hasn't been a mention of it. You need to load the City website and drill down into the Council / Committees / Agendas and Minutes to learn what has been already been accomplished.