Sheridan College Oakville and Brampton campus buildings will receive $21.4 million in upgrades as part of a initiative to develop district energy capacity with municipal services.
The investment from the province and the federal government will support the construction of efficient, flexible and modern district energy and combined-heat-and-power systems, the provincial government said in a news release.
“More than 100 students, faculty, staff and partners were involved in the initial planning phase of the project,” the announcement said. “Implementing the upgrades will increase energy efficiency and create further cooperative education opportunities, curriculum course offerings and research opportunities for Sheridan students.”
The federal government, through Canada’s Strategic Investment Fund, is providing $9.9 million, the collage is contributing $8.9 million, and the provincial government is adding an additional $2.6 million.
“The Partnering Across Boundaries project evolved from our award-winning Integrated Energy and Climate Master Plan, which aims to reduce energy and carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2020,” Jeff Zadbusky, president and vice-chancellor of Sheridan College, said in a statement. “With this funding, we will work with our local municipalities to share our district energy expertise and develop a model for academic-municipal collaboration that can be shared nationwide.”
The project will see Sheridan build on its established district energy expertise and infrastructure by reaching beyond its campus boundaries to partner with municipal and public partners in Brampton and Oakville, Sheridan College reported on its website.
The goal is to extend Sheridan’s networks into community district energy nodes, establish appropriate governance, and validate a replicable and scalable model for academic-municipal collaboration on district energy.
Before the early-October announcement, federal, provincial and municipal elected representatives toured the District Energy Centre, which is housed in the new Skilled Trades building at the Davis Campus, slated to open in January, 2017. The Energy Centre will showcase modern systems for the simultaneous production of thermal and electrical energy, and will also be used as an educational tool for engineering technology programs, as well as a training facility for the numerous trades programs delivered at Sheridan. A similar facility, slated for completion in early 2017, is under construction at the Trafalgar Road Campus in Oakville.
“A modern district energy network provides tremendous benefits in reliability, sharing and transferring heat from location to location, and efficient central generation of energy,” said Herb Sinnock, Sheridan’s manager of sustainable energy systems and the lead researcher for the Partnering Across Boundaries Project. “With this investment, we’ll build on our own district energy project to reach out to our communities in Brampton and Oakville to work together in developing neighbourhood district energy plans, the first step in establishing municipal thermal district energy utilities.”
Image: A view of the District Energy Centre at the Davis Campus (From Sheridan College)