With 150-metre solar-panel-covered walkway, an alternative energy lab, and a new student residence clad on three sides by thermal panels, Red Deer College is aiming to be the most green-energy friendly education facility in Canada.
So far, RDC appears to be achieving this goal.
Jason Mudry, RDC’s director of campus management, said he did a Google search. And his number-crunching showed Red Deer College has the largest installation of alternative energy features in the country — “outside of utilities,” he qualified.
The latest RDC initiative has meant installing 2,500 solar modules on one of the campus rooftops. The modules are expected to produce enough equivalent energy annually to power 135 homes for one year.
The newly constructed walkway between the Arts Centre and new Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre is covered with 176 solar panels. They not only keep students dry, but help power the campus, said Mudry.
The Alternative Energy Lab, opened last spring, contains equipment, by Eco-Growth Environmental, that converts food waste to energy.
And, when it’s completed in 2019, the new students residence will come close to being “net zero” — in other words, in producing almost all of the energy required to operate it.
Along with converting lights to LEDs, the college annually makes up more than $800,000 in energy savings — which means this money can go into programs and classrooms, said Mudry.
The Red Deer Chamber of Commerce held a panel discussion on the energy deficiencies on Tuesday at RDC. Monica Curtis, CEO of Energy Efficiency Alberta, a government corporation, praised the college for being “absolutely a leader” in the field.
Some chamber members asked why RDC, in oil-rich Alberta, has so fully embraced renewable energy? RDC president Joel Ward summed it up by saying, “The kids are coming.”
He believes young people are aiming to make a real difference to the planet. As they start entering job fields, sustainability is their priority, and “businesses that don’t adapt to new innovations and don’t diversify, won’t make it,” predicted Ward.
Curtis said Red Deer, as a community, has a good record for adapting.
This city had one of the highest participation rates in a the Residential No-Charge Energy Savings program, which upgraded Smart thermostats, power bars and LED light bulbs. The city was also one of the top in Alberta for adding insulation, replacing windows, installing tankless hot-water heaters and doing other home improvement under an online incentive program.
As well, nearly 200 Red Deer businesses took advantage of $1.4 million in energy-saving incentives in a program aimed at businesses.
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