Member of Parliament for Guelph, Lloyd Longfield, on behalf of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, announced an investment of approximately $640,000 from the Low Carbon Economy Fund to support the University of Guelph’s heating system upgrades.
“Local climate action in Guelph is getting a boost from our Government’s Low Carbon Economy Fund. Even through a pandemic, we are focused on creating clean jobs and fighting climate change,” said Longfield.
The expansion of the campus flue gas heat recovery system will reduce emissions by decreasing the natural gas used for heating the university centre building and improving heat recovery efficiency through the installation of heat pumps.
Over the lifetime of this project, the university will see a cumulative reduction of about 62,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – equivalent to removing approximately 19,000 passenger cars off the road for one year.
The university will also connect the university centre building with the main campus heating system using low-temperature hot water piping, making use of underutilized capacity to reduce the consumption of natural gas for heating. Heat pumps will also be installed at the central plant, increasing the use of electricity for heating and improving the efficiency of the heat recovery process.
The funding comes from the Partnerships stream of the Government of Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Challenge, which invests in projects that reduce carbon pollution, reduce costs, and create good jobs.
“We are pleased to partner with Environment and Climate Change Canada to expand the University’s flue gas heat recovery system,” said Martha Harley, University of Guelph vice-president (finance, administration and risk). “It is a win-win for the environment and for our campus to have greater use of this system. The generous support from the federal government helps make improvements like this possible.”
