Committed to bettering the environment, Toronto's WORLD Salon is one of the top destinations for hair styling in the city. Owner Brian Phillips started to notice the deteriorating air quality in the city when training for a marathon in the early 1990s. After losing a few clients to cancer, he wanted to do something to improve the environment. Today, WORLD Salon has made environmental practices fundamental to its operation and is a model for other small businesses.

Energy audit led the way
With the help of a Greenest City Energy Audit from the Clean Air Foundation in Toronto, Brian discovered a number of measures that could help his business save on energy – turning lights and computers off, switching to compact fluorescent bulbs and using solar power to assist with hot water heating to name a few. Recognized for their expertise in renewable energy, Brian turned to Toronto Hydro Energy Services to see what could be done to reduce the energy required to provide hot water for the salon.

“Painless” process
Toronto Hydro Energy Services evaluated WORLD Salon's needs and proposed an engineering solution that would see the business continue to have reliable hot water while cutting hot water heating costs by as much as 60%. The proposed system would displace the amount of natural gas needed for hot water heating costs by supplying water to the hot water tank that was pre-heated by solar panels. “Toronto Hydro Energy Services made this a painless process,” explains Brian. “They sourced the materials needed and found suppliers, looked after the installation, completed applications for available rebates and arranged for project financing.” The system was implemented in December 2004 with little disruption to the business and is on track to yield natural gas savings of about 30% annually.

Attracts like-minded clients
WORLD Salon has found that its commitment to the environment is winning them a loyal following. Brian says that more and more people are becoming concerned about the environment and looking for ways to do something about it. At WORLD Salon they encounter a business that is making a difference. A member of both Windshare Cooperative (co-owners with Toronto Hydro Energy Services of the Wind Turbine at Exhibition Place) and the Toronto Environmental Alliance, WORLD Salon received a certificate from Greenest City in 2000 for lowering its energy consumption by 20%.

Solar hot water pilot project in the works
WORLD Salon isn't the only one that will be benefiting from using renewable energy to heat hot water. Toronto Hydro Energy Services is planning to extend the use of renewable energy to residential customers in Toronto, with a pilot project using solar hot water tanks in 2006.