News Releases

TORONTO, June 23, 2010 - BMO Financial Group today announced a partnership with United Technologies Corporation to implement a groundbreaking Building Management System (BMS) with leading-edge remote environmental technology integrated with upgraded security capabilities for the Bank's facilities.

Through this pilot project, which will start in July 2010, the cooling, heating, electricity and security systems of 15 retail branches across Ontario (including Toronto, Waterloo, Brantford, Lindsay, Thunder Bay, Markham, Whitby, Oakville, Stirling, and Mississauga) will be remotely monitored and controlled from a central location. It is expected that the use of this technology will lead to a 20 per cent reduction in electricity and a 15 per cent reduction in natural gas consumption, along with a cost savings in operational expenses, an increase in the life cycle of the equipment and a reduction in waste.

“We're very excited to partner with United Technologies Corporation to develop this new system in our retail branch network,” said Jim Johnston, Director, Environmental Sustainability, BMO Financial Group. “We are expecting to reap real environmental benefits almost immediately, significantly reducing our heating and cooling consumption and costs to support our goal of reducing our carbon emissions by 5 per cent across the enterprise.”

BMO and the Environment:

BMO is targeting to be carbon neutral relative to energy consumption and transportation emissions in 2010. The Bank is doing this by: targeting emissions reductions; purchasing renewable energy; and using carbon offsets for the remainder.

BMO is one of the initial investors in the Greening Canada Fund, the first-ever voluntary carbon emissions reduction fund aimed exclusively at large Canadian corporations. The Fund will purchase and deliver carbon offset credits from across Canada for its investors. BMO's initial investment in the fund is $10 million, over five years.

BMO is a long-time signatory and respondent to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP); it is also one of the highest scoring companies in the world and the only Canadian bank in the CDP's Global 500 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for 2009. This is the second year in a row that BMO has been included on this prestigious list. Additionally, CDP's Canadian partner, The Conference Board of Canada, has also recognized BMO as a 2009 Canada 200 Climate Disclosure Leader.

BMO is listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, the Jantzi Social Index and the FTSE4Good Series Index. BMO has also been included on Jantzi/Maclean's list of the 50 Most Responsible Corporations in Canada for the past two years.

BMO is a leader in reducing its non-renewable energy consumption. BMO purchases over 115,200 megawatt hours per year of emission-free electricity from clean, renewable sources like wind and low-impact water to power facilities across North America. Together, these purchases will have mitigated approximately 35 per cent of BMO's total enterprise emissions while supporting the development of non fossil fuel based energy sources.

To help customers, investors, employees and other interested parties make sense of it all, BMO's Corporate Responsibility website has a section devoted to addressing climate change (www.bmo.com/environment). The site provides one of the most complete compilations of corporate performance data among its peers.

United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company that provides high technology products and services to the building and aerospace industries.