Project Address

200 Lonsdale Rd, Toronto, ON

Key Contacts

Stephen Thuringer, Director of Facilities, Upper Canada College
Peter Colasante, Operations Manager, Upper Canada College

Project Background

Located in the heart of Toronto, Upper Canada College (UCC) is a 181 year-old independent boys school. The UCC campus is set on 38.5 acres, comprising more than 500,000 sq feet of mixed-use space in 16 buildings, built between 1898 and 2008. The campus includes a twin-pad arena, swimming pool, three gyms and seven sports fields. UCC has a student population of 1,156 with 86 boarders and 16 families living on-campus. The 16 buildings are a challenge to upgrade and retrofit for increased energy efficiency due to the wide range in age and various construction types.

Challenges

 To assist in addressing these challenges, UCC launched its Green School Master Plan in 2001, to renew its facilities while improving energy performance and reducing its environmental footprint as well as integrating sustainability and environmental stewardship into the school’s culture and curriculum.

During the first two years of UCC’s Green School program, many small energy efficiency projects were completed, but it became necessary to focus on larger projects requiring outside sources of funding.

Solution and Results

UCC sought the assistance of the Better Buildings Partnership’s (BBP) MASH program for its larger projects. BBP was a valuable resource for UCC in both quantifying a project’s immediate impact on energy consumption and providing financial support to enable the various projects.

UCC has worked with BBP to complete numerous energy efficiency projects, to assist with its commitment to its Green School Master Plan. UCC’s hockey arena and sports complex was designed to be sustainable, and is working towards gold-level LEED certification. To reduce energy consumption from heating in the arena and sports complex, UCC installed geothermal heating beneath a nearby playing field, which provides the heat supply for the arena and sports complex. Geothermal heating assists in reducing the complex’s energy use by 35 to 40 per cent annually.

BBP also assisted UCC in completing a number of energy efficiency projects, including the replacement of the 1000-watt metal halide lights with 400-watt metal halide lights for three of the school’s gymnasiums. This resulted in reducing energy use by more than 50 per cent. UCC has also undertaken other energy efficient projects, such as the installation of compact fluorescents, LED Lighting, occupancy sensors, and has converted its electric hot wat er heaters to natural gas hot water heaters. As well, the school installed variable frequency drives and implemented energy efficient rooftop heating and cooling units.

“The BBP helps identify potential projects, clarifies the scope of the work, assists in filing the applications,verifies the outcome and provides resources to offset costs,” said Stephen Thuringer, Director of Facilities, UCC. “They are truly a unique enabler for environmental projects that benefit our entire community and beyond.”

With its ongoing commitment to the Green School Master Plan, UCC looks forward to completing further green projects with BBP. 

Project snapshot

New Construction & Geothermal heating

• Project cost: $300,000
• Annual electricity savings: 946,809 kWh
• Annual cost savings: $123,241
• Annual CO₂ savings:  555.13 tonnes CO₂
• Estimated BBP Ground Source Heat Pump Incentive: $50,560
• Estimated BBP New Construction Incentive: $44,040.50
• Total Estimated New Construction Incentives: $94,600.50

Domestic Hot Water Conversion (Electric to Gas), Variable Frequency Drives, Occupancy Sensors, Energy Efficient Roof Top Replacement and Lighting Retrofit

• Project cost: $306,600
• Annual electricity savings: 1,322,999 kWh
• Annual cost savings: $132,299
• Annual CO₂ savings:  1,273 tonnes CO₂
• Estimated BBP Incentives: $ 113,542

About the City of Toronto

Toronto is Canada’s largest city, with the sixth largest government and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. Toronto’s government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and livability for all its residents.

For more information please contact:

Better Buildings Partnership
Tel: 416-392-1500
bbp@toronto.ca

Click here to download this case study in a PDF format