The leaders of Sheridan College, Ontario, Canada and Henry Ford College, Michigan, USA, recognize that the global energy transition creates major opportunities for their institutions. Over the last decade, their mutually benchmarked Energy Master Plans are transforming energy use, distribution, and supply on four campuses in Canada and USA. Each campus becomes a Living Classroom for new educational programs. Collaboration continues in developing educational offerings and teaming with host communities. To be implemented at scale and speed, successful community energy transition calls for deep changes in awareness and competencies. The Living Classrooms are configured for engagement of students and visitors, and for energy focused education and training. Each is effectively a Near-Net Zero Neighborhood exemplifying the benefits of integrating control, efficiency, heating and cooling distribution, and flexible supply mix. All sites include new District Energy networks built to global standards serving retrofitted buildings and supplied by flexible clean and renewable sources and thermal storage. Municipal scale DE is rare in North America with potential for major growth. Each campus is an accessible community example to understand DE’s contribution to decarbonising heating and cooling, and its world-class technology, cost, installation, and operation. Sheridan has already teamed with host communities to develop plans that include potential for large-scale DE services.
Useful links here.
Download the project’s PowerPoint here.
