Greenest Hospital award 2012

Thanks to the hard work of our staff and a significant number of innovative green programs, our organization has won Canada's Greenest Employers for 2012. This is the fourth year that Sunnybrook has earned this title.

This national designation recognizes employers that are leaders in integrating environmental principles into their corporate culture and have developed environmentally friendly programs that are recognized not only within the facility but also throughout the community.

We also recently won the 2012 Green Toronto Award in the Green Business category, which recognizes organizations and individuals who contribute to the greening of Toronto.

We were chosen for these awards based on unique environmental initiatives, such as the Honeywell Energy and Facility Renewal program, that will see Sunnybrook reduce its annual greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 9,000 metric tons - an amount equivalent to taking 1,400 cars off of the road.

Other greening initiatives underway:

• Cool roofs: a cool roof is a roofing system with high solar reflectivity and thermal emissivity to reduce the urban heat island effect. We installed a cool roof in partnership with Atlas-Apex Roofing on B-Wing. Plans are also in place to install green roofs on A Wing, B Wing, C Wing and H Wing this year as part of the infrastructure renewal program.  
• Supporting cyclists: we have 15 bicycle lots for 21 different buildings, covering almost all areas for staff to park their bike as opposed to parking their car.  
• Green waste management: we've implemented various new waste management programs, such as including enhanced recycling and reuse programs (and reduction initiatives), composting programs and use of environmentally friendly cleaning products.