Heart and Solar is a not-for-profit organization and CRA-registered charity founded by a group of young BD&P lawyers in 2015 that is off the ground with its first signature project to provide renewable energy to a Calgary charity and support vulnerable populations.
Heart and Solar's mission is to utilize government incentives and programming, build corporate partnerships and secure funding from stakeholders to donate renewable energy systems to other Canadian charities while also engaging the community with education and outreach initiatives.
BD&P lawyer and co-founder, Nigel Behrens explained: "We wanted to use our expertise in the energy sector gained at BD&P out of the office to help local charities, and so Heart and Solar was born. By providing charities with solar power we are able to reduce their long-term operating costs and operate more sustainably."
Heart and Solar's current project will provide a 50-kilowatt turnkey solar energy system to Horizon Housing Society, a charity which provides homes to vulnerable people, who may not otherwise be able to afford them.
The Glamorgan project is Horizon Housing Society's most recent development due for completion in the winter of 2018, which will provide homes to over 200 Calgarians in need of accessible housing. Heart and Solar is facilitating the purchase and installation of solar panels for the project with their installation partner, SkyFire Energy Ltd.
Randon Slaney, co-founder and BD&P lawyer commented: "Operating costs can be one of the largest financial burdens charities can face. We are really pleased to be able to help Horizon Housing with this project and provide them with a large solar energy system that will allow them to free up funds for future initiatives and in turn do even more help our community."
Aside from Nigel Behrens and Randon Slaney, Heart and Solar was initiated with the support of several former BD&Pers, including Jack Schroder, Sheena Josan, Kim Nusbaum, and John Alex MacDonald.