City of Richmond's "Green Fleet" makes it the first municipality to receive a Platinum Award from E3 Fleet

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - November 29, 2016) - The City of Richmond has become the first municipality to receive a Platinum Rating from E3 Fleet, a national program that recognizes excellence in fleet management and environmental performance.

"An E3 Fleet Platinum Rating is the highest mark of achievement for fleet management in Canada," said Colin Hansen, Chair of the Fraser Basin Council, a charitable non-profit organization that founded and managed the E3 Fleet Program over the last 10 years. "The City of Richmond has shown exceptional leadership by earning this rating, thanks to an unwavering commitment to making its entire fleet cleaner and more efficient."

"Richmond has long been committed to energy use reduction through innovation and conservation," said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie. "Our Green Fleet program provides tremendous benefits for our community including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs."

The Green Fleet Action Plan is a component of Richmond's Corporate Energy and Emissions Program that addresses all greenhouse gas emissions from City operations. To optimize the performance of its fleet, the City of Richmond Fleet Operations Department took several key steps:

• adopted a green fleet plan;
• implemented better tracking and analysis of fleet data, including data on fuel use;
• "right-sized" the fleet in all vehicle classes (light, medium and heavy duty) by choosing more efficient vehicles suited to the task;
• trained staff on fuel management and fuel-efficient driving practices; and
• replaced vehicles when due for replacement, to minimize repair costs and fuel use.

The department has installed 10 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations across Richmond. It is also now retrofitting some vehicles with solar panels; supporting an interactive anti-idling campaign; piloting GPS use to manage fuel consumption; and supporting and using car-sharing services.

Richmond's Fleet Operations Department maintains over 595 vehicles and specialized pieces of equipment in servicing a geographic area of 129 square kilometres and population of over 213,000 residents.

About E3 Fleet

E3 Fleet is a Canada-wide program designed to assist trucking, utility, urban delivery, courier, government and other fleets improve their fuel efficiency, reduce emissions, manage expenses and incorporate new technologies. The first such program of its kind, E3 Fleet offers organizations the opportunity for a comprehensive review of their fleets, as well as an opportunity to receive Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum ratings for fleet performance. Visit www.e3fleet.com.

The not-for-profit Fraser Basin Council founded the E3 Fleet program in 2006 and managed it to late in 2016. Management responsibility for E3 Fleet was recently transferred to the not-for-profit Richmond Sustainability Initiatives (RSI), which manages the Fleet Challenge program and a range of sustainable fleet transportation programs.

About City of Richmond

Richmond City Council has adopted a number of goals, strategies and performance targets to advance initiatives in response to climate change and energy efficiencies. Key among these is a community target of 33% greenhouse gas reductions by 2020 and 80% reduction by 2050, based on 2007 levels. The City of Richmond achieved a 6 per cent reduction in GHG emissions from 2007 levels by 2012, even as the population of Richmond grew by 6.5 per cent during the same time period. Between 2007 and 2014, per capita consumption of natural gas has declined by 13 per cent, while per capita electricity use has declined by 9 per cent.

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