Energy & Climate

The Integrated Energy and Climate Master Plan (IECMP) was developed over 16 months by a team that included operational staff, faculty members and students, mentored by a partner with global reach and expertise. The team was challenged to create an energy plan that met the following goals:

• • • Use at least 50% less source energy by 2030
    • Create at least 60% fewer Greenhouse Gas emissions***
    • Generate an acceptable Internal Rate of Return on the recommended investment
    • Create a campus-wide energy culture
    • Ensure energy supply reliability
    • Be a platform for new energy and waste technologies
    • Use Sheridan as a ‘living laboratory’ to develop competitive sustainability, energy and climate curricula
    • Create a national and community role model with world-class energy performance

Sheridan faculty, staff and students assessed the impact of different energy retrofits and energy management practices using detailed computer models of all the buildings. At the same time, the team evaluated possibilities for more efficient energy distribution and supply throughout Sheridan campuses, particularly in upgrades to heating and cooling distribution and supply.

*** This was an aspirational goal. However, the modelling work showed that a 60% reduction would be challenging to achieve, largely due to factors outside of Sheridan’s control, and that a 40% reduction was more likely.

The team’s evaluation culminated in a set of recommendations that describe an optimum combination of investment returns, efficiency and environmental performance. In early 2013, Sheridan’s Board of Governors formally endorsed the implementation of the Integrated Energy and Climate Master Plan.

Through the IECMP, Sheridan is investing, over the 2013 to 2020 time frame, in a comprehensive energy and greenhouse gas reduction solution that comprises campus-wide control and metering, building efficiency retrofits, upgraded and expanded heating and cooling distribution, on-site heat and power generation and extensive solar PV applications. The IECMP projects provide a long-term platform for ongoing continuous improvement through world-class energy management; provide a robust foundation for even deeper emissions reductions through extended heat recovery and the possible use of biofuels; and are a powerful platform for faculty to develop world-class sustainability, energy and climate curricula. New buildings are built to at least LEED® Gold standards with a separately-specified energy performance requirement consistent with global best practice.

To ensure the investments deliver their full potential for years to come, the IECMP also underlines the importance of engaging the entire college population – students, staff and faculty – in energy and climate management on a continuing basis.

For complete Integrated Energy and Climate Master Plan, please CLICK HERE

For Sheridan’s reporting on its energy consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions for the Green Energy Act, please CLICK HERE.