An Alternative and Renewable Energy:
Energy House is a matched pair of buildings that are an integral part of the Energy Systems Engineering Technician Technologist Program at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario, as well as being a public and local school board education centre for Alternative and Renewable Energy technologies. It is a facility that makes Alternative and Renewable Energy commercial technologies and demonstration concepts accessible to everyone in the Kingston area -- particularly students. Educating the next generation to the possibilities and opportunities offered by alternative energy supplies is key to the future health of our societies and of our local and global environment. Technology is developing at a very rapid pace and becoming more complex but also more competitive. Energy House focuses on commercialized alternative and renewable energy products that individuals can use today in their homes and in their work such as solar air and water heating, heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, and energy efficiency in construction and in appliance usage.
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Currently, there are a number of converging factors creating momentum in the area of Alternative and Renewable energy. These include rising energy prices, continued degradation of local and regional environments, and the political impetus from the Kyoto Accord that addresses global warming. Protection of the local and global environment and reduction of energy costs are now universally important issues. There is a strong educational basis in Kingston, Ontario with Queen's University, the Royal Military College and St. Lawrence College. There are a number of research projects underway at all three institutions in the Alternative and Renewable energy field.
St. Lawrence College felt, in addition to facilitating the training of its Energy Systems Engineering students, it is important to offer the public, both children and adults, a place where they can see and touch renewable energy in action. Energy House has one of the largest collection of Renewable Technologies available to the public in Canada, if not North America. The college feels this is an important community initiative in support of cleaner energy options.
There is also a 187 MW wind farm development underway on Wolfe Island, directly south of the city of Kingston. This wind farm, a $400 million dollar project, is a collaboration of Canadian Hydro Developers and GAIA power and will feed emissions free wind energy into the eastern Ontario grid. The east end of Lake Ontario is one of the best wind energy sites in the province. To provide a focal point for these and similar activities, an alternative energy cluster called SWITCH has formed. St. Lawrence College is a founding member of SWITCH.
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Even before the construction of Energy House, St. Lawrence College had a great start on Renewable Energy projects. The college installed two SOLARWALL® fresh air heating panels and two Spheral SolarTM photovoltaic panels. With the generous assistance of Conserval Engineering Inc. of Toronto we are conducting research into temperature changes with these panels installed together.
The college also has a SOLARWALL ® on the new 6 story student residence, this solar wall pre-heats ventilation air for the residence, reducing the amount of natural gas used to heat the building.
A new plumbing shop in the school of technology uses a novel arrangement of air heating SOLARWALL ® technology, combined with sensible heat storage in the concrete floor slab of the building. This installation is instrumented to enable evaluation and confirmation of computer modeling efforts in collaboration with graduate engineering students at Queen's University.
The "Green Team" on campus is an initiative of our Physical Resources department to develop awareness in all campus users to the possibilities of simply turning off lights as well as more comprehensive strategies. A monthly email newsletter "Meter Readings" keep staff and faculty aware of energy savings options and activities.
Campus management has also undertaken a comprehensive tri-campus energy audit to uncover options for significant reductions and cost savings in energy use. That audit is complete and decisions about what projects to implement will be made soon.
Through projects and initiatives like these and others on campus, and with Energy House as a learning centre, we are put leading-edge technology in the hands of Energy Systems Engineering students to help prepare them for their future careers. We can also provide information on these technologies to local school students and the general public. Practical applications of renewable energy technologies that can be seen and understood are key to a wider public acceptance and use.
We have formed a partnership with the Limestone District School Board and the Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board to support the Energy House project and to ensure access to students as part of their school curriculum. St. Lawrence College we are the first college in the province to develop new Energy Systems Engineering Technician and Energy Systems Engineering Technology programs based on these technologies. These programs have recently been approved by the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities. The programs began in September 2005.
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Energy House is "off-grid", all electrical energy at Energy House is supplied by photovoltaic panels and small wind turbines.
Below are brief descriptions of various efficient and renewable energy technologies at Energy House . . .
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Energy house has four commercially available Solar Domestic Hot Water (SDHW) Systems installed. These systems are being evaluated for long term operational characteristics and heat output, as well as being used for training purposes. Three systems are glazed flat plate technologies, one is evacuated tube technology. After initial start-up in 2006, the systems will be instrumented for monitoring of energy production. In the winter the heat from the systems will assist in the space heating of Energy House.
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One of the most commercially successful renewable energy systems in the world is the SOLARWALL ® product. This simple system uses the heat of the sun to warm air that is then directed into a building. Several options exist in how solar heated air is warmed and ducted, Energy House is demonstrating two technologies that direct solar heated warm air directly into the building interior space. Come on a cold sunny day and feel the heat in Energy House!
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Electricity for two inverter/battery based AC power systems is supplied by 4 kW of photovoltaic panels. These panels are from a variety of manufacturers and as well as supplying electricity, are used in various course laboratory activities. Some of the panels are configured as 12 Vdc , while the main electrical systems is 48 or 60 Vdc. Storage batteries of 440 Ah at 48 Vdc and 1700 Ah at 48 Vdc are being used to power the two inverter systems. All facility lights, computers, Power Point projectors, etc. are operated from these systems.
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Three small demonstration 400 watt turbines are being used to charge 12 volt batteries, and for training purposes. Activity is underway to obtain local planning approval for a larger 10 kW turbine for installation in 2006.
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One of the most underutilized technologies in Canada is the ground source heat pump. Two 1.5 ton water source heat pumps utilizing a horizontal ground loop heat exchanger are used to supplement the Energy House propane heating system. (Until the larger 10 kW turbine is installed to provide electricity for the heat pumps, it will be necessary in the winter of 2006 to supplement renewable heating energy (from the SDHW systems) with propane heat.) Over the next 12 months it is projected that the heat pump and wind turbine systems will be fully operational and that energy, combined with the SDHW systems hot water, will allow Energy House to be a &net zero& energy facility.
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