Last Monday, our team had completed the GEC proposal! The final proposal can be found in the Our Past Report section. The video below provides an overview of what the team had done this year.
We want to thank everyone that helped us during this year’s GEC. A huge thanks to Orde Street Public School for partnering with us for the GEC. Thanks to the school principle and teachers who worked with us online during the COVID-19 restrictions. Also, a thank you to our team of dedicated students for their hard work on the project. We appreciates all the support from our faculty advisor, our industry partners at CECA, and the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering.
For past weeks, we’ve be doing a series of blog posts highlighting specific Green Energy Challenge (GEC) teams, what they’re all about and the people involved in the teams. Finally, we have the Community Engagement (ComEng) Team!
The Community Engagement Team
The Community Engagement Team engages with the community within Orde Street Junior Public School to raise awareness about environmental issues and the need for energy efficiency and conservation. Due to COVID-19, in-person engagement sessions had to be moved online. The team successfully transitioned to online learning, including targeted lesson plans for different age groups, interactive activities and videos!
This year, the Community Engagement Team has 3 members: Kin Hey Chan, Alexa Tumaneng, and Pavani Perera. The Team Lead for Community Engagement is Kin Hey Chan.
Community Engagement Team 2020: (from left to right) Kin Hey Chan, Alexa Tumaneng and Pavani Perera
What has the Community Engagement Team Done?
The ComEng team has developed a series of grade-appropriate educational videos, blog posts and worksheets to educate the students at the school about sustainability and green building concepts.
The ComEng team has created a game that encourages players to optimize their energy usage.
In-game photo showing the map layout of the game world
Thank you for sticking around for all the team showcases! I hope you enjoyed them all!
For the next coming weeks, we’ll be doing a series of blog posts highlighting specific Green Energy Challenge (GEC) teams, what they’re all about and the people involved in the teams. Next up is the Project Management (PM) Team!
The Project Management Team
The Project Management Team is responsible for the cost estimation required for the recommended retrofits, finding applicable rebates and incentives and scheduling the installation of the various components. They bring the work of the BEP, Solar and Lighting Teams together and develop a comprehensive costing strategy for the client.
This year, the Project Management Team has 5 members: Mahia Anhara, Nicola Liu, Keziah Nongo, Jade Huangfu and Bo Zhao. The Project Management Lead is Mahia Anhara.
Jade Huangfu
Bo Zhao
Nicola Liu
Mahia Anhara
Keziah Nongo
So far, the PM team has began cost estimation for the project and scheduling. For scheduling, the tasks and their respective timelines have been determined and placed on a Gantt Chart. In terms of financing, applicable rebates, incentives and funding sources will be determined to help realize the project. As part of the PM team’s task, a cash flow analysis and a payback period will be determined for the project.
Stay tuned for the next team spotlight post on the Community Engagement Team!
For the next coming weeks, we’ll be doing a series of blog posts highlighting specific Green Energy Challenge (GEC) teams, what they’re all about and the people involved in the teams. Next up is the Lighting Team!
The Lighting Team
The Lighting Team is responsible for doing photometric analysis to determine the ideal amount of illumination in an indoor space. A photometric analysis involves inputting the locations for the lighting retrofits and sizing them appropriately for ideal illumination in each part of the room. They are also responsible to recommend energy efficient lighting upgrades, such as conversions from incandescent lighting to light emitting diodes (LEDs). All these improvements help to increase the energy efficiency of the building and increase occupant comfort.
This year, the Lighting Team has 3 members: Jason Wang, Mahia Anhara and Chelsa Lou. The team lead for the Lighting Team is Jason Wang.
Lighting Team 2020: (from left to right) Jason Wang, Mahia Anhara, Chelsa Lou
What have they done so far?
In the beginning, the Lighting Team focused on collecting the existing conditions of the building. This included going around the building and measuring the level of light available in each room with a mobile app. They also captured images of the existing conditions and any problematic areas. The retrofits that are made will not only improve energy efficiency, but also occupant comfort.
Members of the Lighting Team auditing existing conditions
The Lighting Team is hard at work to improve lighting energy efficiency and occupant comfort! So far, they have successfully completed their product selections and related calculations. In the next coming weeks, they will do their technical analysis including, the photometric analysis and the ceiling plan.
Stay tuned for the next team spotlight post on the Project Management Team!
In major cities, like Toronto, thousands of buildings line the street, each built with tonnes of material, and with a total of 157 skyscrapers proposed, built or in progress, Toronto is on track to be only behind New York in number of skyscrapers, across North American cities. It is easy to focus on the sounds of construction when it wakes you up in the morning, but more thought-provoking discourse arises when discussing building materials, brought to light through life cycle analysis.
Building a Building
Of many important factors in building materials, seven logistical ones stand out: aesthetic, structural, thermal control, moisture control, air leakage control, cost and safety. An obvious critical factor is cost. While cost between materials can be small in magnitude, extending costs to skyscrapers can make a dollar per square footage an incredible and determining factor.
Aesthetics are not only important to the average consumer for pride in their home, but can also be extended to real estate and investment strategy. The material selection follows the aesthetic design principles in architecture, such as texture, symmetry, contract and colour balance. In addition to appearance, though important for buyers and sellers, material needs to be strong and durable to ensure safety, as well as easy to fabricate.
Structural and logistical aspects are critical, and can be conflicting. Another selection criteria is heat insulation, which conflicts with structural capacity, as the need for low density (as to maintain low thermal conductivity) reduces the structural capacity of most insulation, such as concrete. Similarly, air and moisture control measures are critical in choosing materials; the introduction of moisture and air can lead to mold and material degradation, while holes that allow for air leakage may lead to increased heating and cooling costs and pollutants, an important aspect in downtown Toronto. Beyond this, decreased heating and cooling demands also lowers the amount of greenhouse gases needed and produced.
Above all, the health and safety of inhabitants is of the utmost importance. Ageing buildings, with asbestos and other harmful chemicals, have brought to the forefront the importance of designing for safety and the future in choosing building materials, and in designing building materials.
Making Choices: Sustainability-driven Design
In recent years, a focus on sustainability has risen in building circles. With building materials’ contributions comprising 11% of global emissions of greenhouse gases, any shift can make a difference in climate change. Various companies have gotten creative, like CarbonCure Technologies, a Canadian company that uses industrially produced carbon dioxide in their concrete mixture, which then mineralizes, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The University of Toronto has announced plans to build a timber building, therefore avoiding materials that require creating a large amount of carbon emissions in production.
Mock-up photo of planned timber building sent to the City of Toronto
It is this shift in focus toward sustainability that has drawn attention to life cycle assessments (LCA) in various sustainability accreditations, like the LEED rating system, when choosing various building materials. Life cycle assessments allow for designers to fully understand environmental impacts along the life of materials, from material recovery to disposal, and other waste produced, like greenhouse gases.
Life cycle assessments and a focus on sustainability has drawn other forms of creative sustainable solutions, other than designing new materials, like retrofitting existing buildings and salvaging materials. For example, Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), salvaged timber from the bottom of rivers for their Ottawa store, and repurposed steel beams. Another trend is deconstruction, a retrieval of reusable structural components (eg. bricks) from existing buildings, to avoid the whole stream going toward landfills, while possibly bringing down the costs compared to buying newly produced materials.
As an important tool in discovering environmental impacts, life cycle assessments are critical in shaping buildings of the future, and the materials that make them. The current discourse of environmental sustainability with respect to global construction calls for creative action and holistic design with the future in mind.
An example of creative building material use, with salvaged materials, at a smaller scale
For the next coming weeks, we’ll be doing a series of blog posts highlighting specific Green Energy Challenge (GEC) teams, what they’re all about and the people involved in the teams. Next up is the Solar Team!
The Solar Team
The Solar Team is responsible for designing the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System to reduce electricity usage from the electrical grid. This will help reduce the impact of pollution from electricity production and contribute towards a net-zero energy goal for the building.
This year, the Solar Team has 6 members: Keziah Nongo, Jason Wang, Sarah Garland and Chelsa Lou. The team lead for the Solar Team is Keziah Nongo.
Keziah Nongo
Jason Wang
Sarah Garland
Chelsa Lou
Solar Team 2020: (left to right) Keziah Nongo, Jason Wang, Sarah Garland and Chelsa Lou
The solar team is excited to design a grid-direct PV system that utilizes the school’s large roof space to develop an affordable renewable energy system!
GEC Solar Team 2020
What they have done so far!
The Solar Team is hard at work to deliver a cost effective and efficient solar system network to Orde Street Junior Public School! So far, they have completed the shading analysis and assessed PV system requirements according to the building and client needs. Through these analysis, they drafted a modular PV system design that is scale-able to different performance needs. They are looking to finalize their PV system design soon, as final electricity and heating data with the projected retrofits become available.
Sample of the Shading Analysis for Order Street Junior Public School
Stay tuned for the next team post of the Lighting Team!
For the next coming weeks, we’ll be doing a series of blog posts highlighting specific Green Energy Challenge (GEC) teams, what they’re all about and the people involved in the teams. First up this week is the Building Energy Performance Team, or the BEP team!
The BEP Team
The BEP team has two jobs during the GEC. The first job is energy analysis, and the second is building retrofit design. This year, they are analyzing Orde Street Junior Public School located in downtown Toronto.
This year, the BEP team has 6 members: Bo Zhao, Ashley An, Binuji Liyanage, Jade Huangfu, Nasteha Abdullahi and Paul Go. Bo Zhao is this year’s BEP Team Lead.
Bo Zhao
Jade Huangfu
Paul Go
The Building Energy Performance Team 2020: (from left to right) Jade Huangfu, Bo Zhao, Paul Go (not pictured) Ashley An, Nasteha Abdullahi and Binuji Liyanage
The BEP team was responsible for identifying the existing building conditions. Since Orde Street Public School is located within an old building constructed in 1914, it is ripe for building energy upgrades! The BEP team gathered information about insulation, window quality, HVAC loads and vampire loads. This data helps to identify problem spots for building energy improvements
A member of the BEP team takes a photo of a window
Energy Analysis
Energy analysis involves conducting an energy audit of the building. This includes plug loads, HVAC loads, electricity usage and any potential natural gas demands. Using this data, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) Building Energy Tool can by calibrated to provide a building score that includes the building’s existing score and potential score.
Screenshot from Building Model Created in DoE Buidling Energy Tool
Building Retrofit Design
Using the results of the DoE Building Assessment, numerous energy efficiency improvements can be recommended for the building. Efficiency upgrades such as more efficient boilers, improved windows, wall insulation and thermostat upgrades are considered.
Stay tuned for the next team post on the Solar Team!
Welcome back everyone! As we wrote in our previous blog, for this year’s Green Energy Challenge (GEC) competition, we are working with Orde Street Junior Public School in downtown Toronto to create a proposal with net-zero energy retrofits as well as volunteer our time to give back to their community.
What is an Energy Audit?
An energy audit is done at a facility to analyze the flow of energy and find opportunities to reduce energy input without reducing the facility’s ability to meet energy demands. It gives insight into how the building can save energy and be more energy efficient, which saves a lot of utility costs and environmental damage.
Orde Street Junior Public School kindly hosted us for our energy audit last month. Our team split up into small groups and gathered information on lighting, solar, building envelope, plug loads, and HVAC systems from the three floors of the school.
Lighting
Our lighting team inspected natural and artificial lighting in each room, hallway, and staircase of the school. Some of the data they were interested in was different lighting types, wattage, and the lighting layout. Also, lux readings were taken using a cell phone app to figure out lighting luminance at different distances from light sources. With this information, the team can calculate how intense lighting in each area is and figure out possible ways to save energy, improve efficiency, and enhance the user experience.
Solar
With the help of the facilities managers at the school, the solar team was able to get access to the structural blueprints of the roof. We could not do site visits to the roof, but these drawings are helpful in assessing the solar potential of the school and designing a roof mounted solar PV system.
Building Energy
Our building energy team noted different types of windows and doors in each room and if they sensed any heat leakage. Additionally, the model number and energy consumption of the air conditioners in each room were noted, which would help us to come up with innovative ways to cool the building. To gather plug loads data, the team recorded the energy consumption and user habits for any devices or equipment that use electricity. We are working with the school to get information on the mechanical system, since we cannot go inside due to safety reasons. With the mechanical systems, we would be interested in thermal efficiency, standby losses, recovery rates, floor ventilation systems, and the functioning of the radiators.
Looking Ahead
Since the energy audit, our team has been busy analyzing the gathered data to design improvements to decrease the energy consumption in the building. These improvements can range from efficient lighting and appliances to better insulation that reduces heating demand. In addition, we will design a solar PV system that will generate enough energy to offset the consumption by the building through the years. In the meantime, our community engagement team is coordinating with Orde Street Junior Public School to create a campaign focused on sustainable buildings and healthy living. Stay tuned for future blogs on the GEC!
CECA U of T is gearing up for our sixth round of theELECTRI 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:
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!
