The Factor 4 team started by creating an energy baseline, i.e. a detailed list of the energy consumption at the building level, for all buildings located in the Factor 4 area. This baseline is the cornerstone of Factor 4 as it provides the exact energy reduction target needed to reach a four-fold reduction in energy throughput. More info […]
Students Do Energy Audits As School Projects
As part of a volunteer internship, four students from the first-ever offering of the new Sustainable Energy Management program recently conducted an energy audit of buildings NE2, NE4, NE6, and NE8 on the Burnaby campus. The students assessed equipment in the buildings and compiled an inventory of energy-consuming equipment, including lighting, HVAC systems, power equipment, and […]
Green Team Heat Doctors
Background Launched in 2007 by three dedicated employees, the BCIT Green Team (GT) now includes over 70 members representing schools and departments across the institute. The GT’s mission is to reduce the institute’s ecological footprint by engaging BCIT employees through sustainability initiatives that create awareness, participation, and behavioural change. Launching one green campaign every year […]
Green Team Light Savers Campaign
Lights left on in an empty building is wasted energy. Did you know that there is only one switch for the entire shop floor of the NE02 Joinery building? And that this switch is located on the opposite side of the building from the exit? By working with Facilities to rewire the lighting system so […]
Real Time Smart Metering – Electricity
You can’t manage what you don’t know. In order to understand how much electricity is used at BCIT, meters must be used to better understand use patterns and consumption. New opportunities arise when energy is being metered in real time down to the building level. Examples of such opportunities are:
Smart Grid Compatible Net Energy Producing House (AFRESH Home)
AFRESH Home is a project that showcases innovations in sustainable housing construction. The Home was developed using off-the-shelf technology, a flexible design, health conscious design, and high quality building practices. The house has been continuously retrofitted (in partnership with BC Hydro) since 2007 to make it a net energy producer and a test bed for […]
Efficient Condensing Boilers
Unlike atmospheric boilers, condensing boilers use the waste heat from the flue gas to preheat the cold water entering the boiler. This leads to better efficiencies, up to 98%. The condensing boilers are used for domestic hot water heating and space heating of NE06. The state of the art, energy efficient systems was proposed and […]
LED Lights in AFRESH House
AFRESH House is located on the Burnaby Campus and was built to showcase current state of the art building systems and construction practices. (See: Smart Grid compatible net energy producing house (AFRESH house)) As part of the continuously retrofit (in partnership with BC Hydro), AFRESH has been upgraded with LED light bulbs. These bulbs produce […]
Ecocity Education Workshop
On Friday, February 10th, 2012, Richard Register and Kirstin Miller from Ecocity Builders (ecocitybuilders.org) returned to BCIT, following their inaugural visit in 2009. They presented at BCIT’s Burnaby Campus in a School of Construction and the Environment sponsored Lunch and Learn on Ecocities and Education. The discussion and presentation reflected on progress that had been […]
Montreal Ecocity World Summit 2011
In August 2011, Jennie Moore, BCIT’s Director of Sustainable Development and Environmental Stewardship, and Michel Labrie, BCIT’s Architectural Science Faculty, travelled to Montreal to participate in the International Ecocity World Summit. Delegates from 75 countries were in attended and BCIT’s SoCE was featured prominently in a special session introducing the International Ecocity Framework and Standards […]