SWR recently co-hosted The Township of Woolwich’s first business engagement event, focusing on climate, energy, waste, water, and sustainability. The ICI stocktake took place at the Bresalau Community Centre and was split between June 22nd for manufacturers and June 23rd for commercial and institutional organizations. It brought together professionals from these sectors to share ideas, compare challenges, and collaborate on practical solutions for managing energy use and reducing footprints across Woolwich.
The agenda began with Anna Harrison, Woolwich’s Climate Action and Sustainability Coordinator, providing an overview of the Township’s community-wide GHG emissions, its targets and its commitment to climate action as part of the ClimateActionWR TransformWR strategy.
Utility Supports Panel on June 23, 2026
One element of the agenda were support and funding panels including Andrew Bennett from Enova Power, Mark Davey and Chinmayee Rindan from Enbridge Gas, Tyler Marshall from the Region of Waterloo Water Services Department and Tina Zhou from BDO. These support panels shared incentives to our attendees on funding programs for sustainability projects at their organizations, including details on incentive types (equipment upgrades, building envelope, etc.).
The sustainability case study presenters inspired our attendees by sharing successes and challenges of decarbonization and efficiency projects at their organization. These organizations included Toyota Boshoku and Veriform Inc., who presented on the manufacturing day. On day 2, the presenters included CHANGE Lifestyle and Apparel, Heizomat Canada, and Enviro-stewards.
Attendees learned that Toyota Boshoku implemented environmental policies and new equipment at their Elmira plant that led to a 25% reduction in electricity consumption $4,500 in cost savings. Similarly, former CEO of Veriform Inc., Paul Rak, shared about how they implemented a series of projects that reduced its facility emissions by 91% between 2006 and 2021 while growing in capacity.
Heizomat Canada’s services in using wood waste for heating saved a customer $80,000 a year in fuel costs, 250tCO2e emissions reduced per year and a 4-year payback period supported by incentives.
Enviro-Stewards offered a valuable example of what can be done within a commercial business’s operations and physical assets. This includes the installation of a living wall which purifies air and reduces the need for external air, a blue smart roof which helps reduce energy demand and control stormwater flow, and other HVAC improvements at their office.
Each day was filled with conversations and activities that prompted attendees to share their own sustainability focus areas, challenges and supports needed to achieve sustainability success within their organizations, and future potential projects they could pursue.
During the conversations, organizations in manufacturing shared:
- A desire for more opportunities for sustainability collaboration and decision making with municipal government agencies
- Needs for additional marketing and cost saving opportunities.
Commercial/ institutional organizations shared:
- Needs for smart metering within their facilities
- Needs for funding incentives for sustainability projects and beyond.
The events ended with a small raffle draw on incentives from Enbridge. Thank you to all who attended the stocktake!