Romi Levine
News Reporter

Humber has no intentions of replacing the 28 vehicles it owns with energy efficient alternatives any time soon, said manager of purchasing services and sustainability, Emily Eyre.
“Sustainability is a big deal for us. We do lots of stuff, but not a lot in the vehicle arena,” she said.
Eyre said when the time does come to buy new modes of transportation, energy efficiency will be considered if it’s cost effective.
The vehicles owned by the college range from fire trucks to vans used to transport sports teams and the newest addition to the fleet was made in 2008, said manager of maintenance and operations, Spencer Wood.
Eyre said she doesn’t see a need to buy new vehicles any time soon.
“Humber doesn’t desire to purchase or own a lot of vehicles. For the most part, when we transport students we do it by bus,” she said.
“We would analyze what’s out there, what’s the best way to go.”
Program co-ordinator for sustainable energy and building technology Kerry Johnston said a green transformation is necessary but he isn’t sure how quickly people will embrace sustainable options.
“I’m not particularly optimistic,” he said. “We have all the technology available to make a significant change towards a sustainable future. The big challenge is changing people’s behaviour.”
Though Humber may not be following Toronto’s green fleet plan – the city’s internal mandate to reduce fuel use, fuel costs and emissions of greenhouse gases and smog pollutants – the industrial design program considers sustainability an important part of its curriculum, said instructor and Prius owner, Ken Cummings.
Students from the program have won numerous awards for green automotive designs and have displayed their work at consumer events such as the Green Living Show, he said.
The program also intends to partner with Toyota in order to acquire a Prius of their own to explore different design and packaging capabilities, said Cummings. It is holding off for now due to the lack of studio space.