Pearson International Airport did a lot better at saving energy during Earth Hour than the rest of Mississauga managed to do.
In a report on its website, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority says that Pearson saved about 3.5 megawatts of power, a 10 per cent reduction, from the same hourly period the week before. And, it did so without drawing a single customer complaint.
In contrast, a new survey shows that Mississauga in total shaved its power consumption by just 3.6 per cent, the fifth-lowest amount of 19 municipalities reviewed. Milton led the way with a 15 per cent drop followed by Newmarket at 14 per cent and Aurora at 10.2 per cent.
It's not much consolation, but Mississauga did beat out its northern neighbour Brampton, which saved 3.2 per cent of its normal power use.
One of those upset about Mississauga's effort is Ward 6 Councillor Carolyn Parrish, a member of the City's environmental advisory committee.
"It's very disappointing," she said of the local results. "I don't think there was a real commitment."
The councillor, who hosted a dinner party by candlelight with food and wine sourced from within 100 miles of the city, said a much greater effort must be made next year to engage the commercial sector and owners of high-rise buildings.
"My daughter said she looked at the skyline of Toronto and it was fairly dark, and then she turned and looked at Mississauga's and it was blazing," said Parrish.
"My competitive spirit has been inflamed. Next year, we're going to go from fifth from the bottom to the top."
Planning for next year's event will start with a discussion at the next environment committee meeting.
The GTAA powered down Pearson through a series of measures, including reduction of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, reduced lighting in Terminals 1 and 3, lower lighting in its central utilities plant, and by operating only one of the two LINK Trains that connect the terminals to offsite parking.
"The impact was significant,” said Craig Rock, GTAA energy management manager, “and there wasn’t a single complaint from travellers or tenants, despite darker terminals with reduced heating.”
Rock credits this to good promotion and awareness of the event across the airport and the city. Airport users were advised of the Earth Hour participation by way of public address announcements and by a scrolling message on the LINK Train platforms.
Some participants liked the idea so much and were so unaffected that they didn’t want to turn the lights back on when the hour concluded at 9 p.m., Rock said.
There will also be ongoing benefit at the airport from what was designed to be a symbolic event, with people around the globe turning off their lights at the same time to acknowledge the importance of the battle against climate change.
Rock said the Earth Hour experience led the GTAA to identify additional ways to reduce energy consumption daily. It noticed certain areas in terminals where interior lighting levels can be reduced permanently.
Other airport businesses also participated.
jstewart@mississauga.net