If Canada's federal government has sometimes appeared ambivalent about the need for green technology, the provincial jurisdictions have been more aggressive in investing in alternative energy sources. The three educational institutions profiled below, one in Nova Scotia and two in Ontario, have all incorporated advanced solar technology as renewable energy solutions while two have also done so to generate income and to provide sophisticated teaching tools.
Bluenose Academy: Harvesting a sometimes elusive sun
If you intend to build within the boundaries of a UNESCO World Heritage District, an acute sensitivity to the existing built environment is a must. The distinctive maritime vernacular architecture of Lunenburg N.S. is justifiably renowned. The town's vibrant colours and intimate scale, as well as the nearby and very visible presence of the historic Lunenburg Academy (1906), presented John Crace of Halifax-based WHW Architects with a challenge when designing the Bluenose Academy, a new grade 1-9 school. In replacing a bland 1960s structure, however, the design hill was made even steeper by a requirement to obtain LEED Gold certification. By integrating SolarWall, a Canadian-invented solar heating technology, the school is a fine contextual yet modern addition to the heritage village that unobtrusively integrates its impressive green technology.
The approach, say the architects, was to respect Lunenburg's character "by taking cues from the domestic wooden buildings...and interpreting them in a contemporary way." The 80,000-sq.-ft. school is composed of a split, single- and double-storey block containing administrative services, a gym and a cafeteria on the first level that all encircle a double height, light-filled atrium. Above, a library boasting an impressive glazed corner wall overlooks the Lunenburg harbour where the school's namesake can be seen at its mooring. A bridge across the atrium joins the library to the three-storey academic wing at level two. To approximate residential scale, each pair of classrooms is staggered so that the wing's façade reads as a series of bays that relate to those found in many local historic buildings. Double hung, black framed windows arranged in the same 1:2:1 pattern found in the nearby historic Academy, masonry treatment of the first level and flashes of strong Lunenburg red in the glazing are just some of the devices used to tie the otherwise modern building back into the community.
To respond to its green agenda, the building's envelope uses enhanced insulation and large, high performance windows to increase available natural light. Occupancy sensors minimize electricity use and a back-up heating system employs local renewable wood pellets. Despite the region's notorious reputation for cloudy days, however, the real star is the sun. At a modest level, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels provide energy for hot water and a modest "solar television" demonstrator. The school has also been hardwired to generate electricity from the sun once it becomes economically viable. But the use of SolarWall (in red of course), on the south wall provides the most significant solar punch.
This solar air heating system, invented and successfully commercialized by Conserval Engineering starting in the 1980s, has helped propel Canada into the world lead for solar heat, says Heather MacAuley, principle of My Generation Green Technology Solutions in Halifax and a consultant on the school. Perforated metal collector panels are installed several inches from the south facing wall allowing solar radiation to heat the panels. Ventilation fans create negative pressure in the cavity to draw in the heated air, which is then drawn off at the top and distributed by the HVAV system. Since the school wanted 100 per cent fresh air turnover, a demand that brings in lots of cold air, says MacAuley, this system was ideal. With average winter temperatures in the 0 to -5 degrees Celsius range, SolarWall will raise the incoming air temperature by approximately 20 degrees C despite only indirect (cloud) and reflected light. Conversely, in the summer this unique and very effective rain screen prevents solar radiation from hitting the south wall. Warm air created in the cavity is vented through holes at the top. Meanwhile, fresh air enters the building through by-pass dampers.
Although not used at Bluenose, Conserval also markets a SolarWall/PV combination that produces a win-win situation. By racking PV modules just above the SolarWall surface, the excessive heat generated by the panels is drawn off to be used to heat the building. At the same time, this cools the panels and by so doing increases the PV's efficiency by 10 per cent. "The cooling effect allows the PV panels to operate at their rated electrical output and also prevents damage to PV modules caused by overheating," states the company.
By integrating solar thermal heat technology seamlessly into the school as an appropriate red wall, the architects have been able to avoid jarring components that might have otherwise compromised their interpretive design.
St Lawrence College: Using solar technology for profit and education
"It's getting easier to be green -- at least when it comes to a career," wrote Jacqueline Louie last May as the introduction to her article, Future looks Bright for those Seeking Green Careers, a profile of the environmental careers organization ECO Canada. Ontario's St Lawrence College, with campuses in Kingston and Brockville, has embraced this belief that green technology jobs have a bright future. "We are building a cluster of programs around careers in green technology and renewable resources," states Blayne MacKey, Director of Facilities Management Services at the College. An ambitious initiative, now in implementation, to install a large solar energy generation system at its two campuses, would seem to indicate that St Lawrence has also bought into Ted Turner's 2008 statement that "Solar is the greatest business opportunity in the history of humanity." As the David Suzuki Foundations notes, Germany has almost 80,000 employed in solar technology while Canada lags far behind. Thus, not only will the system generate significant income for the college, it will provide a state-of-the-art student training resource.
In 2009, St Lawrence College became Ontario's first college to offer a Wind Turbine Technician/Industrial Electrician Co-op Diploma Apprenticeship program. The new training facility constructed for the program included not only a full-size wind turbine but also employed SolarWall on its south wall to assist with heating. SolarWall was also used for the plumbing shop building as an applied research experiment for radiant floor heating and more conventionally in a student residence. A year later, in October 2010, the college announced its intention to install the largest PV rooftop installation at any post-secondary institution in Canada at its Kingston and Brockville campuses. This system will join more modest solar power projects already in place including two VP panels on the wind turbine building used in a joint experiment with Queen's University to study the impact of snow loads on panels. Two panels on the college's Energy House, an off-grid "living lab," uses solar for hot water and lighting.
At Kingston the system will generate 250 kW from more than 1,200 solar modules installed on three separate flat rooftops, while 442 panels on the campus's main building in Brockvile will produce100 kW. A large television screen in the main building foyer at Kingston will provide a constant read out of how many tonnes of green house gas emissions have been displaced by the clean output of the new solar panel system. The total expected revenue generated by both operations is estimated at $280,000 annually based on a now-signed agreement with the Ontario Power Authority Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) Program. This program ensures an Ontario government commitment to purchase energy generated by the system over the next 20 years at a fixed rate. For the St Lawrence College operation, the agreement sets the rate at 72 cents per kW hour. "There will be a six to seven year payback," reports MacKey.
Ainsworth Inc., a Canada-wide, single-source contractor for supply and installation of technical building services with an increasing focus on green technologies, is responsible through a design build relationship for putting the system in place. The three-busbar cell panels selected by Ainsworth will be provided by Conergy of Cambridge, Ont. with over 70 per cent Canadian materials. Installation began this fall. (In November 2010, it was announced that Ainsworth would also be installing 2,000 PV panels on nearby Belleville's Qunite Sports Centre under the FIT program.)
In addition to providing a significant income stream, the new PV solar generation system will serve double duty as an interactive student learning resource. "Students in our Energy Systems Engineering program will be able to gather real-time solar data and learn how tilt angles, flat versus sloped rooftops, different types of inverters and different geographic locations impact the generation of solar power" states MacKey. This data will assist students in learning how to optimize the design of solar systems. This is a rare situation in the college curriculum where students will work with analytical research to assist with applied technology. Not incidentally, it will also provide the solar industry with information on design efficiencies in the sometimes harsh eastern Ontario climate.
Within the college's cluster of green technology programs, solar is part of a three year Renewable Energy Systems Program. In addition, at the Brockville campus a three year "Sunnyside" partnership involves St. Lawrence College with Upper Canada Solar Limited, the local Employment and Education Centre and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. It will train 48 to 60 installers for their Solar Photovoltaic System Installer Certificate and the Installer/Manufacturing Certificate. Trillium is providing a $503,300 grant for this mixed, in-class and paid intern program but the college will continue the courses on a cost recovery basis after the partnership agreement ends. In line with the new economy, it is hoped the availability of a trained workforce will attract solar technology businesses to locate or expand into Eastern Ontario. Supporting this objective, St Lawrence students have a partnership with SWITCH Kingston in a social marketing program for the "Solar Rooftop Challenge." The objective is to make the city the most sustainable in Canada, in part by having the city, businesses and institutions install roof top solar systems.
David Suzuki Public School: Living up to its name
If you are going to name a school after an internationally renowned scientist and environmental advocate, it better be green and then some. The Dr. David Suzuki Public School in Windsor, Ont., the first LEED Platinum certified educational institution in Canada, meets that standard. The 60,000-sq.-ft. school boasts solar PV panels for hot water and electrical generation, a windmill, grey water recovery and reuse systems, non-potable rain water capture and use, light harvesting through GPS tracking skylights and solar light tubes, custom designed high-efficiency widows, natural light sensors to moderate artificial light use, a highly reflective white and green roofs and a pre-heat ventilation SolarWall system. These are just some of the means used to achieve an energy consumption level 60 to 65 per cent less than the current building code.
According to the David Suzuki Foundation, "the most promising solar technologies in the short term are those that capture the energy of the sun's rays to heat indoor space or water and use the sun to generate electricity." It is clear that harvesting the sun plays a key role in his namesake school. The integration of these solar technologies has been extensively used with funding from the Ontario Green Schools Initiative. As in the Bluenose School and at St Lawrence College, the Canadian product SolarWall has been incorporated. A 172-sq.-ft. SolarWall has been seamlessly blended into the school's striking façade on the south-facing exterior of the second level science classroom. A duct connection with one of the air handling units draws outside air in through the sun-heated perforated metal wall, thus warming the air before entering the unit. An assessment based on an alternative electric boiler in place suggests an annual savings of 5,200 kWh.
Solar PV panels have been used for two purposes. On the roof, two south-facing 30 square foot solar collectors developed and installed by London, Ont.-based Smylie & Crow Associates heat fluid servicing a 4.5 kW electric hot water heater, and generates an annual savings of 4,280 kWh. The largest component, however, is the 165 Sharp 224W PV modules installed by Carmanah Technologies Corporation, Canada's largest solar integrator headquartered in Victoria, B.C. Able to generate an estimated 50,000 kWh of electricity annually, the system is tied into the grid through the FIT program and able to meet 10 per cent of the facility's total energy needs. Annual savings are estimated to be 50,359 kWh. With a FIT buy fee of 71 cents per kWh, the system will generate approximately $34,000 annually allowing for a 10 year pay back period. By considering the solar panel requirements from the start, the architects were able to integrate the system as a dramatic blade that seems to slice down through the south-facing façade while acting as a partial canopy to the entrance. Thus, it serves as both a design element and a very public reminder of the school's objectives. As at St Lawrence College, students will be able to monitor performance from the lobby.
The Future is Bright
With such technologies so conspicuously used in our education systems, one can expect an emerging generation that is solar and environmentally savvy; and who will expect -- even demand -- green in their entire built environment.