CECA U of T is gearing up for our sixth round of the ELECTRI International/NECA Green Energy Challenge (GEC)! This year, we are excited to build on our second place finish from the 2019 GEC with new team members and a new client.
For GEC, we compete with universities from across the US by creating a proposal on energy conservation and efficiency for a local community facility. It involves analyzing their energy consumption, designing retrofits that can realistically be implemented, and integrating an energy efficiency program that aligns with the public services at the facility. Through GEC, our students gain practical knowledge of sustainable buildings and strengthen their skills in leadership, communication, and team collaboration.
Why is Building Energy Important?
Buildings use a significant amount of energy throughout their life cycles, and they contribute to 45% of greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto. Also, we spend a majority of our day in them. With that said, it is quite important to reduce building energy usage in order to save energy costs, reduce environmental impacts, and make the indoor environment comfortable for occupants. For new buildings, energy efficiency measures can be implemented from the planning stages. For older buildings, retrofits must be done in order to gain these benefits, which is what the focus of the GEC is.
You can learn more about building energy at these links:
https://www.usgbc.org/articles/green-building-101-why-energy-efficiency-important
https://blog.livegreentoronto.ca/2019/02/half-way-to-our-2030-target-torontos.html
Partnering with Orde Street Junior Public School
For the 2020 GEC, we will be working with Orde Street Junior Public School. Located in downtown Toronto right beside our U of T campus, Orde is a kindergarten through grade 8 school with about 500 students. This facility was built back in 1914 to support the growing diverse community in Toronto. Today, it is proud to welcome students from more than 30 countries and offer additional community services, such as daycare and international language classes on Saturdays. The school is also committed to providing a learning experience that integrates technology into traditional teaching methods, such as through their Learning Commons in the library. We are excited to get this opportunity to work with them to find out ways the school can become more energy efficient and teach their students more about the importance of building energy.
Next Steps
Stay tuned for our upcoming blog posts about our GEC project, starting with the energy audit at Orde Street Junior Public School and our volunteering efforts, as well as other team events we are holding!
