DEB SMILSKI, BA BID CFM CPM ISFE
VANCOUVER ISLAND – As the unprecedented wildfire season and recent floods have shown, BC is facing increasingly powerful climate events. Although little is yet mandated for businesses on lowering climate-changing emissions, it is likely environmental regulations are coming. Now is the time to be proactive with your sustainability practices and put your Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) plan into action.
If you are looking for ideas to amp up your plan, I’ll share Coastal Community Credit Union’s ongoing project for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging installations. As Coastal Community’s AVP, Procurement & Premises, I am overseeing this important environmental project and ensuring it follows sustainable and effective procurement and construction practices.
A key action on the BC government’s Clean-BC Roadmap is requiring light-duty vehicle sales to be 100 per cent zero emission by 2035. As a community-based organization, our members and clients increasingly expect Coastal Community to find ways to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and to help others to do so. We decided to be an industry leader by being the first financial institution on Vancouver Island to install EV charging stations at six of our locations—which will be free to use for our employees, members, clients, and the community.
We began by sourcing a Canadian product, choosing Hypercharge. The installations were done by an Island firm, Kobalt Systems.
Cool facts:
- To date, we’ve installed charging stations at our locations in Port Alberni, Parksville, and Qualicum Beach—and our Harbourfront location has charging stations as part of city parking.
- Our roadmap includes installations at our Chemainus and both Courtenay locations over the next year.
- Over two months at our Parksville and Qualicum Beach locations, we saved a total of 870.53 kg in CO2 going into the environment.
We see this project as a significant investment in our locations, our communities and our future. As the world evolves, it’s never been more important for businesses to consider how to adapt to the changing needs of our beautiful islands and the people who live here.
Deb Smilski is AVP, Procurement & Premises for Coastal Community Credit Union.