Group shot holding large cheque from Enersource

UTM recognized for energy conservation

Nicolle Wahl

Heating and cooling the buildings on a campus as large as U of T Mississauga is no small feat, and the energy required is significant. But through new conservation efforts in partnership with Enersource, UTM has reduced its usage by 534,804 kilowatts, which translates to roughly $173,000 in savings.

On June 29, Professor Deep Saini, vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga, welcomed a delegation from Enersource to campus to celebrate this improved energy conservation. Saini was joined by several guests from Enersource: Peter Gregg, president and CEO; Dan Pastoric, executive vice-president and chief customer officer; Doug Morrison, director of customer operations; and Bruce Hanson, energy conservation specialist.

The delegation toured UTM’s central utilities, led by Rick Peters, assistant director of utilities infrastructure. UTM’s main chiller (which creates chilled water that is used for cooling campus buildings) was recently replaced with two new chillers. The old chiller was 40 years old and extremely inefficient. The new chillers are high-efficiency, and use significantly less electricity to provide the same amount of cooling. A metered comparison of power use by the old tower versus the new, more efficient system led to the financial incentive from Enersource, said Peters.

“We’re delighted to welcome our partners from Enersource to UTM,” said Saini. “Like UTM, they share a commitment to sustainability and conservation.

“Not only has Enersource worked closely with our engineering staff to modernize our systems and improve our energy management, but Enersource is also a sponsor of the annual Show Me the Green competition, where students present environmental and economic solutions to real-world problems before a panel of academic and industry judges.”