The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) honoured City of Toronto’s Exhibition Place at the SMG-Managed Direct Energy Centre with a Pollution Prevention Honourable Mention in the Greenhouse Gases Reduction category.
The Ontario Government is committed to pollution prevention and energy efficiency and appreciates public facilities such as Exhibition Place for the great work that is accomplished. Exhibition Place at the SMG-Managed Direct Energy Centre demonstrates great environmental leadership and is focused heavily on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and energy conservation across its grounds. The Exhibition Place GREENSmart program encompasses all environmental initiatives and lays the groundwork for Exhibition Place to serve as a model for other organizations and municipalities across the province.
Exhibition Place at the SMG-Managed Direct Energy Centre is committed to be a world leader in energy-efficient technologies and implemented a goal of energy self-sufficiency by 2010. Initiatives include: waste-diversion recycling, and composting programs rendering the site 80% waste-free by 2010; a wind turbine producing 1.2 million kilowatt hours of energy annually; geothermal and photovoltaic arrays; an urban forestry program including lake-water irrigation of the site; venue naming rights for Direct Energy Centre with fees earmarked for energy conservation projects.
About Exhibition Place at the SMG-Managed Direct Energy Centre
Exhibition Place is Canada’s largest entertainment venue, attracting over 5.2 million visitors a year. The 192-acre site is an integral component of Toronto and Ontario’s economy, particularly with respect to sport, festivals, recreation, culture and tourism. The SMG-Managed Direct Energy Centre is located at Exhibition Place, owned by the City of Toronto and governed by the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place. Direct Energy Centre’s over 1 million square feet of space available is the largest exhibition and convention centre in Canada and the sixth largest in North America. Designed for maximum efficiency, hi-tech service delivery and the optimum range of configurations, the venue is supported by a regional population of seven million in a diverse and dynamic economy. Exhibition Place has won several awards such as the Platinum Waste Minimization Award from the Recycling Council of Canada. Exhibition Place is a member of Ontario's Environmental Leaders (OEL) Program. The OEL program is a voluntary leadership program that offers incentives to leading companies that commit to beyond compliance environmental improvements."
