Above: From left, Welland Hydro’s CDM and Key Projects Manager Jason Biesma and Director of Customer Service and Employee Relations Perry Orosz present a $226,000 RETROFIT PROGRAM incentive payment to NC’s Vice President, Corporate Services Teresa Quinlin and Acting Director of Facilities Management Services John Gittings.
New high-efficiency chillers at the Welland Campus have produced cold cash for the College, courtesy of Welland Hydro’s energy conservation incentive program.
Representatives of the local utility were at Niagara College on February 28 to present NC with more than $200,000, which the College earned through the RETROFIT PROGRAM, an incentive funded through the Ontario Power Authority and administered locally by Welland Hydro. NC’s payment is the largest that Welland Hydro has made under the program.
“The RETROFIT PROGRAM provides important incentives for organizations, and in Niagara College’s case has supported a major upgrade that will dramatically reduce its energy use,” said Jason Biesma, CDM and Key Projects Manager at Welland Hydro. “While Niagara College will benefit from lower energy use, it’s important to note that our distribution system also benefits when major energy users take steps to reduce consumption.”
The $1.3 million chiller replacement, part of NC’s multi-million dollar Master Plan project that was completed in 2011, saw the Welland Campus’s older, less-efficient chillers replaced with two highly-efficient 600 tonne chillers that cool the 500,000 square-foot main complex at the campus.
The new, Canadian-made chillers also use cutting-edge oil-less technology, with magnetic bearings that reduce friction and increase efficiency. The project also included the installation of two new 600 tonne cooling towers.
“Energy-efficiency and sustainability are key priorities at Niagara College, and were an important part of our campus redevelopment,” said Teresa Quinlin, Vice President of Corporate Services. “The RETROFIT PROGRAM’s incentives made it easier for us to pursue a project of this size. Rather than adding additional chillers to cool our new buildings, we were able to install highly-efficient chillers in our existing physical plant that can cool our entire expanded main-complex.”
The Chiller replacement was one of many energy efficient/environmentally sustainable initiatives incorporated into Niagara College’s campus redevelopment. Other aspects include the incorporation of geothermal heating and cooling in the expansion of the Rankin Technology Centre, motion-activated lighting, the installation of a wind turbine, the use of green roofs on the Applied Health Institute and Athletic Centre, and the installation of solar panels on the Applied Health Institute and Voyageur Wings. In 2008, Niagara College also replaced the boilers at the Welland Campus with new, energy efficient units.
