Climate Positive Campus

Topic

Subheadline

Project Leap, a public-private project, is believed to be the largest sustainability effort in the higher education sector

The ��Ƶ is accelerating efforts to decarbonize its St. George campus through a massive, $138-million infrastructure project that will cut emissions in half within three years.

Project Leap will begin phasing out natural gas in favour of electricity in the campus’s central steam plant and carry out deep energy retrofits to some of the most energy-intensive buildings.

Kickstarted with more than $50 million in Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) financing, the public-private sustainability project is among the largest in the higher-education sector. It will speed up the university’s efforts to make the St. George campus climate-positive, reducing more greenhouse gases than it emits, ahead of an original 2050 goal.

Ron Saporta, U of T’s chief operating officer, property services and sustainability, said the university is moving rapidly in response to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s call to halve global emissions by the end of the decade.

“With 2030 just around the corner, we need to act immediately and decisively to tackle climate change,” Saporta said.

“This timeline wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Canada Infrastructure Bank. We are grateful to them for acknowledging U of T’s commitment to helping forge a more sustainable future for Canada.”

He added that Project Leap’s ambitious scope is also driven by a recognition that U of T is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the broader public sector in Ontario, with the St. George campus accounting for more than 80 per cent of the university’s operational carbon footprint. Put simply, he said, it takes a lot of energy to run a research-intensive campus that serves roughly 100,000 students, faculty and staff a day – let alone one with a large collection of heritage buildings in a challenging climate characterized by cold winters and hot, humid summers.

“Upgrading aging infrastructure at the ��Ƶ’s St. George campus will ensure future performance and accelerate a low-carbon campus,” said Ehren Cory, CEO of the CIB. “Through the CIB’s Building Retrofits Initiative, our partnership with U of T will enable emission reduction efforts towards becoming climate-positive for students now and into the future.”

A significant portion of the St. George campus’s emissions come from the central steam plant, where gas-fired boilers produce steam that is used to heat most buildings on campus – as well as some off-campus properties including the Royal Ontario Museum. As part of Project Leap, one of the plant’s primary boilers will be converted from gas to electric.

Elsewhere, active heat recovery technologies will be used to reduce energy consumption by 40 per cent in the university’s most energy-intensive buildings – mainly by capturing and re-using heat that is normally lost to the surrounding environment as exhaust. Thirty-five buildings will also have their lighting upgraded to energy-efficient LEDs.

(photo by Johnny Guatto)

Several buildings will also be connected with the newly built geoexchange system beneath Front Campus, which is set to begin operations this spring. The system uses underground boreholes to store excess heat generated in the summer (thereby helping to cool spaces) for use in the colder months, utilizing heat pump technology with deep roots at the university.

Taken together, the measures will make it possible to reduce the campus’s greenhouse gas emissions, calculated at 91,000 tonnes last year, by more than 50 per cent by the end of 2027 – the year of U of T’s bicentennial.

“As the university approaches its 200th birthday, we want to make sure our energy systems are ready to meet the demands of the next 200 years, and we’re committed to doing so in an environmentally responsible manner,” Saporta said.

With the CIB’s financing contingent on the participation of a private lender, Project Leap establishes a novel framework for large-scale sustainability projects that could serve as a model for other institutions. The project received grants from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), as well as financing from the Royal Bank of Canada, which was selected from a field of 11 bidders following a public procurement process.

“The ��Ƶ is stepping up with their Climate Positive Campus plan, which is aligned with Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan,” said Steven Guilbeault, minister of environment and climate change. “They're leading the pack in global sustainability and making smart decarbonization investments. The Government of Canada will continue to support the ��Ƶ in pursuing and achieving their ambitious targets.”

“Through Save on Energy, the IESO offers programs and incentives to help individuals, businesses and institutions to use energy more wisely,” said Tam Wagner, director, demand side management at the IESO. “The Industrial Energy Efficiency Program, which Project Leap was a successful applicant, supports investments in efficient electrification. This, in turn, makes lasting contributions that reduce long-term energy costs.”

The lower-cost financing achieved through the innovative model, Saporta said, amounts to more than $40 million in savings, allowing the university to complete retrofits – much earlier than would have otherwise been possible – of the Dentistry Building, Rehabilitation Sciences Building, Health Sciences Building, Old Administration Building and the Exam Centre.

U of T, which recently placed first in the 2024 QS Sustainability Rankings, is working with the Toronto Region Board of Trade to create a playbook that will help organizations in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario to pursue and fund similar strategies to reduce carbon emissions.

The university previously collaborated with Universities Canada to host an event that presented Project Leap to university presidents from across the country.

Saporta’s team is also organizing workshops with counterparts at the University of California, Berkeley to exchange knowledge and best practices.

“What U of T has done with Project Leap is take lessons learned from other sectors and implement them into the higher education context – a campus that delivers research and education,” Saporta said. “This allows us to, quite literally, take a leap forward in realizing our climate-positive plans.

“It also creates a playbook that we hope others can draw on, so that we can together spur transformative sustainable infrastructure renewal beyond U of T.”

U of T named most sustainable university in the world

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 14:06:41 +0000

U of T named most sustainable university in the world

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 12/05/2023 - 09:06

Cutline

(photo by David Lee)

Topic

Global Lens

QS World University Rankings

UTogether

Meric Gertler

Subheadline

The QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024 placed U of T first out of more than 1,400 institutions across 95 countries

The ��Ƶ has been named the most sustainable university in the world by the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024, which evaluates post-secondary institutions for their environmental impact, social impact and governance.

The ranking, released today by London-based Quacquarelli Symonds, placed U of T first overall out of more than 1,400 institutions across 95 countries – up one place from the inaugural edition of the ranking last year.

U of T did particularly well in two of the three main areas comprising the overall ranking: environmental impact, where it moved up one spot to second globally; and social impact, where it ranked fourth in the world – up three spots. The university also tied for 15th place in the newly added category of governance.

“The ��Ƶ community is absolutely delighted by this recognition of our global leadership in sustainability,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “It is a wonderful tribute to the innovation and commitment of the many U of T faculty, students, staff and alumni who are dedicated to meeting every aspect of this great challenge of the 21st century.

“They are demonstrating that effective action is possible on our campuses, in our communities and around the world.”

The QS sustainability ranking evaluates universities based on data used in the QS World University Rankings. That includes information from reputation surveys and research output related to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. It also considers the availability of institutional policies, operational data, alumni impact and national data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and World Bank.

The ranking uses more than 75 data points, grouped into nine lenses, to rank institutions in its three main categories. For environmental impact, the ranking examines environmental education, research and sustainability. For social impact, it looks at employability and outcomes, equality, health and well-being, impact of education and knowledge exchange. And for governance, the ranking evaluates indicators of good governance such as student representation and transparent financial reporting.

New data points introduced this year include net-zero commitments, renewable energy generation and citations of scholarly research in policy documents.

U of T’s exceptional global performance headlined a strong showing by Canada, which had two universities in the top five and three in the top 10 – more than any other country (the University of British Columbia ranked fourth and Western University ranked 10th).

The QS sustainability ranking comes amid several high-profile sustainability initiatives across U of T’s three campuses in recent years.

On the St. George campus, U of T has implemented a number of infrastructure projects aimed at achieving the goal of becoming climate-positive by 2050 – a goal it now expects to reach well ahead of schedule and has since been expanded to U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough. These include the construction of Canada’s largest urban geoexchange field beneath Front Campus, set to be operational in spring 2024, and plans for a significant retrofit of its district energy systems via Project LEAP, an effort supported by the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

At U of T Mississauga, sustainability is embedded into academic programs, research and campus operations per the Sustainability Strategic Plan. The campus has a high-tech geothermal system beside the Instructional Centre and is actively expanding the use of solar energy across its buildings. U of T Mississauga also launched Project SHIFT, an initiative to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to electricity.

U of T Scarborough, too, has placed sustainability at the forefront of curricula, partnerships and planning through initiatives supported by its Sustainability Office. This fall, U of T Scarborough opened a new student residence that meets Passive House standards for energy-efficient construction and is also proceeding with new climate-responsible constructions including the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) and the EaRTH (Phase 2) complex, part of the collaborative EaRTH District initiative that includes plans for a net-zero vertical farm. It's also the host of SDGs @ U of T, an institutional strategic initiative working to advance the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Nearly 30 per cent of all undergraduate courses at U of T in 2023-24 have a sustainability orientation, up from 25 per cent the previous year, and there are more than 100 graduate and PhD programs with sustainability-related content. Undergraduate students in all programs can participate in the Sustainability Pathways program, which allows them to explore sustainability from various disciplinary lenses and perspectives. Undergraduate and graduate students alike can also contribute to real-world sustainability initiatives on- and off-campus via the Campus as a Living Lab and Community-Engaged Learning initiatives.

The university is also making significant progress toward its 2021 commitment to divest from fossil fuel investments in its endowment fund and now collects a fee on all university-funded air travel to fund decarbonization and biodiversity projects on campus.

And researchers across the three campuses – such as those working with Climate Positive Energy, another U of T institutional strategic initiative – are generating new discoveries, technologies and knowledge that are contributing to a more sustainable future.

In a press release announcing the ranking, QS noted universities’ sustainability credentials play an increasingly important role in students’ decisions on where they want to study.

“Our 2023 Sustainability Survey revealed a striking trend: 79 per cent of prospective international students view an institution’s sustainability practices as extremely or very important. Additionally, 82 per cent actively seek information on these practices while researching universities,” wrote QS’s CEO Jessica Turner.

“This demonstrates a clear shift in priorities among today’s students – they are increasingly weighing the social and environmental impact of their future alma mater alongside academic excellence.”

Overall, U of T is ranked first in Canada and among the top 25 universities globally in the five most closely watched international rankings: QS World University Rankings, U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities, Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities and National Taiwan University World University Rankings.

U of T’s plan to become climate positive expanded to all three campuses

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 15:54:25 +0000

U of T’s plan to become climate positive expanded to all three campuses

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 12/04/2023 - 10:54

Cutline

(photos by Nick Iwanyshyn, David Lee and Sean Liliani)

Alexandra Gillespie

Climate Positive Energy

Subheadline

The commitment builds on an earlier pledge to have the historic St. George campus reduce more greenhouse gases than it emits

All three of the ��Ƶ’s campuses are committing to reduce more greenhouse gases than they emit in the years ahead, an ambitious goal that goes beyond carbon neutrality and targets a climate-positive future.

The commitment expands on an earlier pledge to make the St. George campus climate positive by 2050 – a milestone the university now says it will reach well in advance – and is an extension of U of T’s Low-Carbon Action Plan, which looks to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 37 per cent relative to 1990 levels by 2030.

It comes as the United Nations COP28 climate conference gets underway in Dubai, where the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change & Sustainability (CECCS) and Climate Positive Energy, a U of T institutional strategic initiative, are scheduled to host a variety of events and panel discussions that highlight the role of universities in supporting a clean energy transition.

“U of T is determined to lead by example in addressing climate change – a strategic priority of the university and one of the most pressing issues of our time,” said U of T President Meric Gertler.

“The goal of becoming climate positive on all three campuses is bold and befitting of our mission as an educational institution that strives to make the world a better place.”

President Gertler noted the pledge aligns with U of T’s commitments to the University Climate Change Coalition (UC3), which include climate resilience, and the U7+ Alliance of World Universities, whose priorities include championing sustainability and climate action.

“As a large and globally top-ranked public university, U of T has a responsibility to play a leadership role on this issue by taking actions that will be felt across our three campuses and beyond,” he said.

The tri-campus pledge is the latest step by the university to realize its longstanding goal of building a more sustainable future. That includes its 2021 commitment to divest its endowment fund of fossil fuel investments and make the St. George campus – the oldest, largest and most energy-intensive of the three campuses – climate positive before 2050, as outlined in the campus’s carbon and energy master plan and accompanying technical report.

Among the major initiatives on the St. George campus is Canada’s largest urban geoexchange field beneath Front Campus. Part of the Landmark Project, the geoexchange system is set to become fully operational in spring 2024 and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15,000 metric tons annually.

The campus is also modernizing what are some of Canada’s oldest district energy systems via Project LEAP, an effort supported by the Canada Infrastructure Bank. The project comprises a number of retrofit projects – including the replacement of gas boilers with electric alternatives in the St. George campus’s central steam plant – that will help curb greenhouse gas emissions by over 50 per cent by decade’s end.

“The renewal of this infrastructure – much of which is out of sight for the 100,000 people served by the campus each day – offers a chance for us to embed sustainability into the very backbone of campus,” said Ron Saporta, U of T’s chief operating officer, property and sustainability.

Saporta said the expanded, tri-campus scope of the climate commitment “offers opportunities for us to collaborate and share best practices as we work to deliver on key milestones along this journey,” noting U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough will publish details of their roadmaps to becoming climate positive in the coming months.

He pointed out that many of U of T’s tri-campus sustainability efforts double as experiential learning opportunities for students through the Campus as a Living Lab initiative, which are part of CECCS.

At U of T Scarborough, sustainable infrastructure efforts include both existing and upcoming projects.

The campus’s oldest building, the Science and Humanities Wing, has been undergoing deep energy retrofits since 2018 – work that will be accelerated in the coming years. Elsewhere, the campus’s geothermal system, which comprises 350 boreholes, will be expanded to 450 by the end of 2024.

U of T Scarborough is also proceeding with new climate-responsible construction projects such as the recently announced Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) and the EaRTH (Phase 2) complex, part of the collaborative EaRTH District initiative with Centennial College.

This fall, U of T Scarborough opened a new student residence, Harmony Commons, that meets the rigorous Passive House standard for energy-efficient construction. The building is equipped with eco-friendly features, including mechanical systems that can capture and re-use heat generated by sunlight, cooking and even body heat. In addition to being energy-efficient, the complex is designed to inspire students to carry forth sustainable thinking into their careers and spheres of influence, and drive change in construction and related sectors.

Wisdom Tettey, U of T vice-president and principal at U of T Scarborough, said the climate-positive commitment is a testament to the university’s global leadership.

“We are delighted to be a part of this tri-campus commitment to a climate-positive future,” said Tettey. “Sustainability is a core consideration in every aspect of U of T Scarborough’s mission of facilitating world-class learning, scholarship and innovation that supports flourishing communities in the eastern GTA and beyond – while protecting the health of the world we all inhabit.”

Tettey added that he’s confident the commitment will be met even as the campus experiences significant growth in the years ahead.

“We are very confident that the tremendous talent of our faculty, students and staff will be harnessed, in collaboration with partners, to deliver on our goal through ground-breaking research, transformative learning and operational excellence.”

At U of T Mississauga, a key element of the clean energy transition is moving away from natural gas as the primary energy source for heating, hot water and research processes. To that end, the campus launched Project SHIFT, an initiative to carry out deep energy retrofits in the central utilities plant to hasten the shift from fossil fuels to electricity.

The campus is already home to a cutting-edge geothermal system, situated beside the Instructional Centre, and is working to expand solar energy projects across numerous buildings.

U of T Mississauga also recently completed campus-wide energy audits, following which some 240 energy conservation measures were devised for the short, medium and long term.

Alexandra Gillespie, U of T vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga, said the campus is on track to exceed the targets set by the Low Carbon Action Plan, and is ramping up work towards becoming climate positive.

“Our community is developing efficient LEED-certified buildings, accelerating our transition to renewable energy and realizing our sustainability goals,” said Gillespie, echoing comments she made in U of T Mississauga’s Climate Positive report. “We have strengthened this work through outstanding programs in research and teaching, which continue to extend the power of sustainability learning from our campus into the wider world.”

She added, in the report, that the university has a responsibility to future generations to help forge a more sustainable future.

“I look forward to achieving this goal together and to opening a path to go beyond net zero. It’s the right and good thing to do – for our lifetime and for lives to come.”

Can AI help make our buildings more sustainable?

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 29 May 2023 18:00:57 +0000

Can AI help make our buildings more sustainable?

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 05/29/2023 - 14:00

Cutline

Seungjae Lee, a professor in the department of civil and mineral engineering, is using U of T buildings as models to design deep learning algorithms that could optimize the operations of building heating and cooling systems – significantly reducing energy use (supplied image)

Selah Katona

Topic

Climate Positive Energy

Artificial Intelligence

Research & Innovation

Subheadline

Assistant Professor Seungjae Lee is working on a pilot project aimed at reducing U of T’s climate footprint by using machine learning to optimize heating and cooling systems in existing buildings

We know we should switch the lights off when we leave a room – but what about the furnace, or air conditioning? In studying how unnecessary heating and cooling of buildings wastes a lot of energy, Seungjae Lee, an assistant professor in the ��Ƶ's department of civil and mineral engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, has found that artificial intelligence (AI) could offer a better way forward.

Lee’s latest research project, Grid-Interactive Smart Campus Buildings, is a three-year pilot project that aims to reduce U of T’s climate footprint by leveraging AI to optimize the heating and cooling systems in existing buildings. The project is carried out in partnership with Chi-Guhn Lee, a professor in the department of mineral and industrial engineering and is jointly funded by the Climate Positive Energy and Climate Positive Campus initiatives at U of T.

“Buildings account for around 25 to 30 percent of total energy consumption and energy-sector greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and worldwide,” Lee says.

“Given that people spend an average of 90 percent of their lives indoors, ensuring comfortable and healthy indoor environments is a critical function of building systems. But we could be a lot smarter about using the resources we have.”

This schematic describes how deep learning could be used to create customized algorithms for optimizing energy use in buildings (illustration by Seungjae Lee)

Lee’s research applies AI solutions to building science to tackle this issue. In the first year of the project the team is focused on creating a digital twin – or virtual representation – of the Exam Centre at 255 McCaul St.

In the next stage, the researchers will develop a deep reinforcement learning algorithm for the optimal control of the heating and cooling systems. This algorithm will be pre-trained with the digital twin to avoid putting excessive stress on the actual building.

The algorithm will then be implemented in the real Exam Centre and further fine-tuned through interactions with the building. If successful, Lee hopes to use the same approach to convert more campus buildings to smart buildings, contributing to U of T’s Low-Carbon Action Plan.

“60 percent of campus energy consumption on the St. George campus comes from heating and cooling buildings,” he says.

Lee’s research group is also investigating how humans interact with their buildings in an NSERC Discovery-funded project on scalable systems for intelligent and interactive buildings, which is an emerging area of study with relatively little published research – something Lee hopes to change.

Where previous methods relied on data such as the correlation between thermostat setpoint temperature and other parameters (such as the time of the day), Lee and his team are instead using causal relations – for example, the factors affecting occupants’ decision-making on thermostat setpoint temperature – to develop reliable human-centric smart solutions.

“Once we understand how humans interact with their buildings in the light of causation, we can realize more intelligent and human-interactive buildings,” says Lee.

While Lee is not the only researcher interested in using machine learning and AI techniques in buildings, the sector has lagged behind other sectors such as the automotive or health-care industries, because of how different the energy consumption profiles and needs of individual buildings can be.

“A solution customized for one building is not necessarily fully transferable to another,” Lee says.

“This is a major roadblock in the path of making our buildings smarter. If we can seamlessly combine existing building-science domain knowledge and AI, we can build scalable and reliable solutions to create sustainable buildings.”

To tackle this issue, the team is partnering with PLC Group, along with funding from the Ontario Centre of Innovation, to develop a scalable digital twinning tool for building energy systems. If the tool is effective, it will equip the building industry with a solution to create intelligent, interactive and more sustainable buildings around the world.

“The use of AI in building management systems not only has the potential to significantly improve the sustainability of our built environment, but also the way in which we interact with it,” Lee says.

U of T President Meric Gertler calls for cross-sector collaboration at Climate Economy Summit

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 19:00:08 +0000

U of T President Meric Gertler calls for cross-sector collaboration at Climate Economy Summit

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 12/01/2022 - 14:00

Cutline

U of T President Meric Gertler delivers remarks at the Climate Economy Summit, which was co-hosted by the university’s Climate Positive Energy initiative and the Toronto Region Board of Trade (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Adina Bresge

Topic

Climate Positive Energy

Geoexchange

Climate Change

Faculty of Arts & Science

Meric Gertler

Philosophy

Partnerships between the public and private sectors are crucial to help the Toronto region capitalize on its strong cluster of clean energy companies, ��Ƶ President Meric Gertler says.

He issued the call for collaboration at the recent Climate Economy Summit, co-hosted by U of T’s Climate Positive Energy initiative and the Toronto Region Board of Trade, which brought together business leaders and experts to discuss the challenges – and opportunities – of investing in a sustainable future.

Home to Canada’s largest cluster of clean-tech firms, the Toronto region is positioned to become a leading centre of sustainable growth, President Gertler said in his opening remarks.

But it will take a concerted effort to unlock this potential, he said, urging governments, public institutions, not-for-profits and private firms to work together to find homegrown solutions to the global climate crisis.

“U of T and its partners are collaborating to move the needle quickly,” said President Gertler.

“In the face of barriers to progress at the international level, it's important to be reminded that progress at home is possible.”

For example, the university is set to receive $56 million in financing from the Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to advance the university’s plan to reduce more emissions than it emits on the St. George campus by 2050. The plan, which includes building Canada’s largest urban geoexchange system under King’s College Circle, is just one of the ways the university prioritizes sustainability initiatives across its three campuses, with ongoing initiatives at U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough.

In particular, the CIB partnership will support sustainable infrastructure initiatives under Project LEAP, including deep energy retrofits for university buildings and labs, and the installation of energy-storage solutions.

U of T – recently ranked second in the world in the inaugural QS Sustainability Ranking – has leveraged this federal financing to secure an additional $70 million in loans from the private sector on very attractive terms, said President Gertler.

He said these investments will accelerate the university’s progress towards its climate targets by a decade, with emissions projected to drop by nearly 60 per cent before 2030.

Moreover, he said, U of T will continue to tap into the expertise of its researchers at the Climate Positive Energy Initiative, launched earlier this year. The institutional strategic initiative brings together researchers from across disciplines to devise clean-energy solutions that are guided by political, human and societal considerations.

Their work could help Canada address competitive pressures that are emerging and being closely watched by the federal government. This month, the Standing Committee on International Trade is studying how the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which invests US$369 billion in supporting clean energy, will impact the development of Canada’s clean-tech industry.

Some of the faculty members involved in the Climate Positive Energy initiative shared their insights at the summit, including academic lead David Sinton, a professor of mechanical engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and Canada Research Chair in microfluidics and energy.

Among the other U of T speakers at the summit were: Ali Hooshyar, an assistant professor in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering and Canada Research Chair in electric power systems; and Shoshanna Saxe, an associate professor in the department of civil and mineral engineering and Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Infrastructure.

Hooshyar is leading a proposed $20-million grid modernization testing and simulation centre. The proposed centre would be the first of its kind in Canada, convening stakeholders in the electricity sector to accelerate the integration of renewable energy solutions, energy storage and electric vehicle charging infrastructure into the grid.

The Climate Economy Summit brought together business leaders and experts to discuss the challenges – and opportunities – of investing in a sustainable future (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Saxe, for her part, told a panel that the goal of retrofitting buildings toward net-zero emissions is well within reach – but that the greatest impediment North America faces is a “deficit of imagination” about how to develop infrastructure for a sustainable society. “Our emission goals are totally achievable. We just have to be willing to achieve them,” said Saxe. “The tools are waiting there for us to grab them.”

Representing the Ontario government at the summit were Energy Minister Todd Smith, who spoke about how the province is championing energy innovation, and Vic Fedeli, minister of economic development, job creation and trade, who spoke about how Ontario’s auto sector is shifting to electric vehicles.

On the eve of the event, Joseph Heath, a professor in U of T’s department of philosophy in the Faculty of Arts & Science, made the case for optimism about the potential of innovation to address climate change, suggesting that with the right policy incentives, the next energy revolution could be on the horizon. “A lot of environmental pessimism looks as though it has a grounding in science. Whereas, in fact, what it really is when you scratch the surface is pessimism about human ingenuity,” said Heath.

The Toronto summit came on the heels of the United Nation’s COP27 climate conference in Egypt, where U of T helped co-ordinate a meeting of university networks that collectively represent more than 900 institutions.

Kristy Faccer, director of the President's Committee on the Environment, Climate Change & Sustainability, said this “network of networks” facilitates the exchange of knowledge among academic institutions in order to amplify sustainable innovation on a global scale.

“What we’re really interested in is collective impact,” Faccer told a side panel convened by the U7+ Alliance of World Universities. “You can imagine the kind of scaling opportunity and the influence that these networks can have.”

U of T partners with Canada Infrastructure Bank to boost climate positive efforts

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 15:06:10 +0000

U of T partners with Canada Infrastructure Bank to boost climate positive efforts

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 07/19/2022 - 11:06

Cutline

Ehren Cory, the chief executive officer of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, speaks at an event to announce a $56-million financing partnership with U of T to complete deep energy retrofit projects on campus (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Mariam Matti

Topic

Scott Mabury

Meric Gertler

The ��Ƶ will receive $56 million in financing from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to accelerate the university’s plans to achieve a climate positive campus.

Through the launch of Project LEAP, U of T will use the CIB financing to complete deep energy retrofit projects – such as converting gas boilers to electric boilers and installing energy storage solutions – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 per cent, or 45,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents, by the end of the decade.

The project will also involve private sector partners that will provide additional financing while meeting stringent performance requirements.

It’s all part of U of T’s ambitious Climate Positive plan to achieve emissions reduction targets on the St. George campus that exceed the emissions physically produced by 2050. The infrastructure-focused strategy complements efforts to advance sustainability across U of T’s research, innovation and teaching missions – including the development of cleantech innovations that will aid Canada’s efforts to fight climate change and transition to a green economy.

“The ��Ƶ is a global leader in addressing the urgent challenge of climate change,” U of T President Meric Gertler said. “Our Climate Positive plan is transforming energy sources and reducing energy consumption on our historic St. George campus. This will help us ensure we can deliver on our mission of excellence in research and learning more sustainably for generations to come.

“We are grateful to the CIB for recognizing and supporting our commitment to Canada’s net-zero targets and to harnessing the innovation of cleantech startups on our campuses and beyond.”

Ron Saporta, U of T’s chief operating officer, property services and sustainability, takes Ehren Cory, CEO of CIB, Karina Gould, families, children and social development, and U of T President Meric Gertler on a tour of the university’s central steam plant (photo by Johnny Guatto)

To date, CIB has funded more than 35 projects across Canada to develop the next generation of clean and connected infrastructure, including $2 billion for energy efficient building retrofits.

CIB’s agreement with U of T represents the infrastructure bank’s first partnership with an academic institution. It’s part of CIB’s Public Retrofits Initiative, which provides financial support for building retrofits to achieve significant energy savings from infrastructure owned or managed by the public sector.

The financing partnership is expected to save U of T more than $13 million over 25 years via lower interest rates on the CIB-financed projects.

Ehren Cory, CIB’s chief executive officer, hailed U of T and its commitment to addressing climate change at an event held at the university Tuesday to mark the collaboration.

“We hope this is a call to action for others in the public institution space,” said Cory noting that CIB also recently announced a partnership with Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. “We, as the broader public sector, own a lot of the building stock in this country – and a lot of the aged and less energy efficient building stock in this country.”

“This announcement is a major milestone, but it’s just a step in your journey and we’re excited to be with you the whole way.”

U of T’s planned retrofits include replacing gas boilers with electric boilers in its central steam plant and installing a supplemental steam turbine. U of T also plans to use the CIB financing to undertake deep energy retrofits of two labs and the Earth Sciences Centre, and to establish a local low carbon energy source that supplies renewable energy through technology such as solar.

“Underneath our campus, we have one of Canada’s largest and oldest district energy systems,” said Ron Saporta, U of T’s chief operating officer, property services and sustainability. “It’s over 120 years old and it’s the primary contributor to a lot of our carbon emissions because it heats and powers up buildings.

“This project allows us to modernize that system and to start to migrate away from fossil fuels as the primary heating source. We can upgrade energy-intensive buildings to reduce the amount of carbon they emit.”

From left to right: Meric Gertler, Karina Gould, Ehren Cory, Scott Mabury and Ron Saporta (photo by Johnny Guatto)

There are also plans to pilot green technology solutions such as carbon capture, utilization and a waste-to-fuel “digester” that would take the more than 500 kilograms of organic waste and convert it into fuel to heat buildings.

“The impact will be massive – it will not only improve what happens inside those buildings, but our academic mission, too,” said Saporta. “We have classes and courses across campus that are studying these types of retrofits, but this is an opportunity to see it in real life.”

The President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability has set a target of 1,000 students annually participating in sustainability-oriented projects and 5,000 students participating in community-based projects with partner organizations.

Karina Gould, the federal minister of families, children and social development, said CIB’s partnership with U of T sets an example for students.

“Whether they go on to build infrastructure, communities or businesses, the first thing they must consider is how they can leave our planet better than they found it,” she said. “So together we can support our communities to take climate action, strengthen our community and build a strong future for everyone.”

U of T’s effort to become a climate positive institution has been years in the making.

In 2019, the university unveiled its Low Carbon Action Plan, which set a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 37 per cent from 1990 levels by the year 2030 and putting it on a path to becoming a climate positive institution.

One particularly high-profile project is the urban geoexchange system being built on the St. George campus. It involves drilling boreholes deep into the ground to store surplus heat generated by nearby mechanical systems in the summer for use in the winter. It’s estimated that the system – installed alongside U of T’s Landmark Project to make the St. George campus greener, more walkable and more accessible – will reduce the university’s greenhouse gas emissions by 15,000 metric tons per year. Buildings around King’s College Circle will need to be retrofitted to take full advantage of the new system.

The central steam plant on the St. George campus is the hub of one of Canada’s largest and oldest district energy systems (photo by Johnny Guatto)

U of T’s efforts to reduce emissions today are part of a responsible growth plan that will see it double its infrastructure footprint on the St. George campus even as emissions continue to decline well below current and historical levels.

“U of T is an engine of economic growth and prosperity for its region and for Canada,” said Scott Mabury, U of T’s vice-president, operations and real estate partnerships. “The demand for university space that supports teaching, advanced research, collaboration with industry, and startups to scale continues to grow.

“The CIB’s commitment to the university’s deep energy retrofit projects will assist U of T to meet this demand while reducing our carbon footprint and helping build a green economy.”

CIB’s $56-million financing partnership with U of T, an innovation leader, also promises to help Canada reach its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Saporta said the partnership marks an exciting milestone on U of T’s climate positive journey.

“It’s driving all of us to get to that climate positive goal as fast as we can.”

U of T geoexchange project to reduce emissions, boost sustainability learning: National Observer

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 16:35:50 +0000

U of T geoexchange project to reduce emissions, boost sustainability learning: National Observer

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 04/25/2022 - 12:35

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A student walks by the site of a massive geoexchange project on Front Campus, where more than 300 wells have been drilled to depths of over 250 metres (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Topic

The geoexchange field being built in the historic core of the ��Ƶ’s St. George campus is unique both in the scale of its potential environmental impact and in its utility as a learning tool for sustainability-minded students.

A recent National Observer report that was republished in the Toronto Star explores how the facility, connected to U of T's Landmark Project, will contribute to the St. George campus’s ambitious goal of becoming climate positive by 2050.

Ron Saporta, U of T’s chief operating officer, property services and sustainability, told the Observer that more than 300 geoexchange wells have been drilled to depths of over 250 metres, where they will enable the storage of excess heat produced in the summer for use in the winter. “The ground is acting like a battery of sorts, but a thermal battery instead of an electric battery,” Saporta said.

Saporta added that the emissions-reducing project has also “been a focus of several courses" – and that a proposal by engineering students to have some of the wells drilled at an angle has been implemented. “What we’re trying to do is also use this project to enable more hands-on experiential learning,” Saporta said.

Read the story in the National Observer

Turning CO2 into shampoo and lawn furniture? U of T startup doing what ‘no one has done before’

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 17:07:09 +0000

Turning CO2 into shampoo and lawn furniture? U of T startup doing what ‘no one has done before’

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 03/08/2022 - 12:07

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Christine Gabardo, co-founder and technology director at U of T startup CERT Systems, is using electrochemistry "to tackle one of our world’s biggest challenges, which is climate change” (photo by Schatzypants Inc)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Entrepreneurship Week

Climate Change

Entrepreneurship

Research & Entrepreneurship

Research & Innovation

Startups

ThisIsThePlace

When Christine Gabardo joined CERT Systems in 2019, she found herself in the midst of a five-year global competition to address rising greenhouse gas with breakthrough technologies.

The team had reached the semi-finals of the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE thanks to a process that fuses chemistry, materials science and mechanical engineering to transform CO2 into ethylene – used to make an assortment of everyday items, from shampoo to fabricated plastics and mattresses.

Gabardo took a lead role in helping CERT – which grew out of research in the ��Ƶ’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – advance all the way to the finals by scaling up their reactor, originally the size of a Rubik’s cube cell, by more than 10,000 times to process 100 kilograms of CO2 per day.

“I found it really interesting that electrochemistry could be used to tackle one of our world’s biggest challenges, which is climate change,” says Gabardo, the co-founder and director of technology at CERT and a former U of T post-doctoral researcher.

“It’s exciting to get to work with cutting-edge technology, especially on something no one has done before.”

At present, fossil fuels are used to produce an estimated 158,000,000 tons of ethylene per year.

CERT, by contrast, uses water and electricity to turn waste CO2 into ethylene and other carbon-based fuels using an electrocatalyst operating at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The catalyst is able to break and reform CO2 into larger, valuable molecules with electricity and protons from water. The process allows CERT to make a chemically identical ethylene otherwise produced from fossil fuels.

“If we can decarbonize ethylene production, then we can decarbonize all of the materials that are downstream from it,” says Gabardo, who is also a research associate in the Sinton Group.

“That will help tackle CO2 emissions from the chemical industry all the way down to consumer goods.”

Co-founded by Gabardo and Alex Ip, CERT is backed by research from two engineering lab groups; the Sinton Group, led by David Sinton, a professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering, and the Sargent Group's Ted Sargent, who was then based in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering.

CERT is also supported by Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada, which brings some of the nation’s top clean energy leaders and investors together to accelerate companies offering new solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For Gabardo, balancing the worlds of science, technology and entrepreneurship has always been in the cards. She says she’s been fascinated with the idea of inventing things since childhood.

“I’ve always been interested in starting a company,” says Gabardo. “I just didn’t know when in my career that would happen.”

“I thought, ‘I just want to join a startup,’” Gabardo says.

Like fellow co-founder Ip, Gabardo came from a technical background. She studied electrical and biomedical engineering at McMaster University, where she developed electrochemical devices for point-of-care diagnostics for infectious diseases. While her technical skills were transferable to scaling CERT’s CO2 conversion technology during the XPRIZE competition, the company also needed support to grow the business beyond academia and into commercialization.

So, CERT leaned on U of T's entrepreneurship community – in particular, the ��Ƶ Early Stage Technology Program (UTEST). The program supports U of T entrepreneurs who are building research-based companies and offers a range of services, including investment capital, business strategy and mentoring. That includes providing startups with educational and networking support through MaRS, an intensive entrepreneurial education program that connects entrepreneurs with a range of local professionals and investors.

“It’s not obvious how you even start a company,” Gabardo says. “We were able to tap into the startup community at U of T and ask valuable questions. Just being honest about what you need help with and asking for resources will accelerate how you can get started.”

With a lab currently under construction on U of T’s downtown campus, CERT will soon be able to continue their work where their journey first began. The pilot unit will allow CERT to continue to refine their process in order to improve their efficiency and produce ethylene and other products (such as ethanol) at a meaningful scale.

For Sinton, the move couldn’t come at a better time, particularly with the university’s plan to achieve a climate positive St. George campus by 2050.

“U of T has been hugely supportive of the project,” Sinton says. “They’ve embraced us and looked at this pilot plant as a U of T facility – and one that is now coming home.

“CERT and the team are in an exciting place. They’re really mature for a startup company and have the opportunity to grow quickly because of all the work they’ve done with their technology.”

Gabardo says CERT is currently focused on growing its team, exploring raising seed funding, as well as forging more strategic partnerships. In the next five years, Gabardo hopes to increase the capacity of CO2 that CERT’s pilot reactor can process per day, scale into a commercial unit and work with industrial partners to produce valuable products.

She makes it a priority to mentor and support other women in the lab and co-op students who work for CERT, saying it is important to ensure women see themselves in leadership roles.

“It’s hard to enter a field where it’s typically male-dominated and there aren't that many people you can relate to,” Gabardo says. “Trying to be that example for other people is something that I think is important.

“If you’re interested in something and have the passion to pursue it, don’t let people’s opinions stop you. Continue working on it no matter what.”

Adams Sustainability Celebration 2022: Four key events focused on building a sustainable future at U of T

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 21:20:40 +0000

Adams Sustainability Celebration 2022: Four key events focused on building a sustainable future at U of T

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 02/22/2022 - 16:20

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(Photo by Johnny Guatto)

Topic

Adams Sustainability Celebration

Sustainable Development Goals

Climate Change