The LiveSmart BC: Small Business Program partnered with BC Agriculture (Climate Action Initiative and ARDCorp) and hired Prism has as the Business Energy Advisor (BEA) for the agricultural sector.
As the BEA, Prism offered energy management coaching support and energy assessments for eligible farms and supported the implementation of energy efficiency upgrades.
Lack of resources was the most significant obstacle for agricultural producers considering energy efficiency improvements. To address this, we engaged in farm outreach and delivered over 150 energy and GHG assessments.
As the BC Agriculture Energy Advisor, we also assisted agricultural producers with implementing energy saving measures, providing follow-up support, project management and coaching.
Our responsibilities included:
- Farm Outreach: marketing and outreach to recruit farms to complete assessments. This has involved the following tactics:
o Attending and presenting at sector specific tradeshows and conferences.
o Developing relationships with grower’s associations across BC.
o Producing clear and concise marketing and promotional material, including flyers, brochures, fact sheets, and case studies.
o Energy and GHG Assessments for eligible farms across BC, including walk through audit, analysis, and reporting back to each farm with recommendations. - Follow-up Support for farms which have completed assessments to assist with understanding, and technical support for implementation. This also includes linking farmers with rebates and assisting with product selection and finding suitable contractors.
- Coordination and Reporting
Prism also developed an Excel-based BC Farm Energy Assessment (FEA) tool to help streamline the assessment process by identifying energy saving opportunities through a series of questions asked about the farm. A downloadable copy of the BC FEA tool, in addition to fact sheets developed by Prism can be found here: https://www.bcagclimateaction.ca/overview/why-mitigation/saving-energy/
Throughout the program, over 2 GWh and 14,000 GJ of annual energy savings have been identified, with approximately 50% of these savings implemented.
Although the LiveSmartBC program has now ended, Prism continues to offer farm energy assessments to agricultural producers across BC through the Environmental Farm Plan Program offered by ARDCorp.