School wants to build green energy centre.

Greater Sudbury -- Cambrian College officials say they can save energy, encourage innovation and create jobs by building a $1.2-million sustainable energy centre of excellence on the grounds of their Greater Sudbury campus.

The school held a press conference and forum Nov. 22, outlining its administration's intention to build a new 4,000-square-foot research and development centre between its campus and Lasalle Secondary School. Factoring in pedestrian areas and a parking lot, that area jumps up to about 9,000 sq. ft.

According to engineering dean John Hood, Cambrian also intends to develop a new three-year Energy Systems Technology program. Students would use the proposed centre as a "living lab" for alternative energy technology experiments and models, but they won't be the only ones learning at the centre.

Primary and secondary school students from across Northern Ontario will also benefit. The centre will act as a showcase for them, allowing the students to learn about conservation, sustainability, environmental issues and energy systems technology.

As well, Hood says the centre will focus on assisting academics and industry reps alike to develop prototypes geared toward improving the energy efficiency of residential and small commercial buildings in a Northern climate.

The facility will also act as a modular training centre for businesses and industry. Buildings and prototype elements will be able to be changed around like Lego blocks in order to customize the learning experience.

Entrepreneurs and small businesses will be able to test their prototype energy systems at the facility.

Through that sort of incubation, Hood says the centre will foster economic development and create new jobs for the city.

Cambrian engineering students will monitor the systems and buildings, and evaluate them for efficiency, ease of installation, durability, cost and suitability.

The centre will be accessible via high-speed Internet, allowing stakeholders to monitor and control energy systems and building data on a real-time basis.

Leading by example, the centre's wastewater and sanitary waste will be self-sufficient with backup discharges to the municipal system.

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The college is seeking $910,000 from government and industry partners to make the centre a reality.

According to documents produced by Cambrian, residential users accounted for about 18.2 per cent of all end-use energy demand in Ontario in 2002; commercial users accounted for 18.6 per cent. Hood says the centre will be targeting applications for those two sectors, in hopes of reducing their overall usage in the future.

By comparison, industrial operators burned about 27.6 per cent of all electricity used in 2002, and the transportation sector used 24.8 per cent.

In order to hammer home the importance and growing popularity of alternative design and energy efficiency, Cambrian brought back a Sudbury native to speak on the subject. "We're from the North," Hood quipped. "We didn't know it couldn't be done, so we did it."

Importing inspiration

Former Lasalle Secondary School student Jason McLennan has since become principal director of elements at Kansas City's Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell Architects.

The 100-architect firm has won over 150 awards, and was contracted by President Bill Clinton to re-green the White House and several national park institutions.

Utilizing the technology of Cambrian's cutting-edge e-Dome learning centre, McLennan gave a presentation showing examples of progressive designs for homes and institutional buildings. He says the green energy centre may not be appreciated right away, but in five years will have put the college in an enviable position.

"In the next 10 to 20 years, energy use will completely transform the building industry," he says. "(Energy conservation) is on the agenda now because it is cheaper and the right thing to do. It's also a good way to make money if you're in the right industry at the right time."

The United States, for example, wastes $300 billion every year on power, a figure equivalent to the sum total of Japan's usage over the same period of time.

The new yardstick for success as a society should concern "people, prosperity and planet." He calls that the triple bottom line.

His company is big on "living buildings" that harvest all the water and energy needed from the surrounding environments they are so delicately built into.

"Sustainable design is a philosophy, not a style," he says, "so we need to expand the definition of good design."

A great building is like a flower, he says. It can't move, so it has to be fully self-sustaining from its stationary position. It adapts to the climate at its site, operates pollution-free, promotes health and wellness, is comprised of integrated systems and is beautiful.

It may contain a radiant heat system, which heats the floor instead of the air space above it. It could also feature electrochromic glazing on the windows, allowing users to change the transparency of the glass with a dimmer switch, or program them to react to heat gain or loss from the sun. The roof may have solar panels installed, or a garden, and the composting toilet system could run raw sewage and wastewater through an organic, plant-nourishing purification system (an in-house garden). Cleverly positioned sinks could use wastewater to refill the toilet tanks.

McLennan describes himself as an unofficial ambassador for Greater Sudbury, and says he is consistently surprised at the number of people who have heard of the city.

"I was a summer student planting trees and dragging bags of lime up those rocky hills," he said. "The re-greening effort here is the reason for my passion for sustainability."

www.cambrianc.on.ca

www.bnim.com

By CRAIG GILBERT

Northern Ontario Business