Energy Efficiency, Finance  -  November 2, 2020

U of BC receives $974K in funding for heat waste recovery project

The University of British Columbia received additional funding from the Canadian government for the progression of an energy efficiency initiative that is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 14,600 tons.

The university is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, mainly through climate-action initiatives. One such program is its District Waste Heat Recovery Project, which was just granted approximately $974,000 in funding from the Low Carbon Economy Fund and is expected to save the university $1 million in heating costs annually.

The project aims to reduce the university’s natural gas use by installing heat-recovery systems and redirecting the heat recovered to the campus’s hot-water district energy system, which supplies the majority of its buildings with heat and hot water. The university previously received $7.6 million in funding from the Low Carbon Economy Fund in 2019 for its biomass-expansion project.

“Canadian universities are leading by example with climate-change solutions through research, technology, and innovative ideas,” Jonathan Wilkinson, the Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said in a statement. “Our government will continue to invest in projects that support clean energy in educational institutions like the University of British Columbia so that students can live and work in cleaner, more sustainable environments for generations to come.”