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Mohawk College receives the second Zero Carbon Building – Design certification

June 1, 2018 — Mohawk College has been awarded the Zero Carbon Building - Design certification from the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) for the Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation.

June 1, 2018  By  Ellen Cools


The Joyce Centre is the second building to receive the certification. The first was a multi-tenant office building in Waterloo, Ont.

In 2017, the Joyce Centre was one of 16 projects chosen as a pilot project for CaGBC’s new Zero Carbon Building Standard. New construction projects earn Zero Carbon Building – Design certification by modeling a zero carbon balance, efficient envelope and ventilation systems to meet a defined threshold for thermal energy demand intensity, and onsite renewable energy systems capable of providing a minimum of 5% of building energy consumption.

Project teams are required to evaluate energy use holistically, including impacts on peak electricity. Both new and existing buildings can obtain the standard.

The Joyce Centre will house high-tech labs and classrooms specializing in fields such as clean and renewable energy, sustainable design, technology automation, cybersecurity and materials manufacturing, among others.

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The Centre was designed using Mohawk’s curtain wall technology, which the school says offers better insulation value than typical curtain walls. Additionally, the building uses no natural gas onsite, but an all-electric set-up. Moreover, nearly 500 solar panels will be mounted to canopies on the Centre’s roof.

Campus-wide, the college is installing nearly 2,000 solar panels as part of a clean energy retrofit. This solar panel system will produce 550,000 kW of clean energy per year, says Mohawk.

The Joyce Centre also features 38 geothermal wells that draw energy from 600+ feet below the building.

“We’re honoured to receive the Zero Carbon Building – Design certification. The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation will not only be a showcase for green construction but also a living lab that will teach future generations how to build better, more sustainable buildings,” said Ron McKerlie, Mohawk College president.


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