Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 73.23
Liaison Michael Chapman
Submission Date Dec. 8, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Nova Scotia Community College
OP-8: Building Energy Consumption

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.94 / 6.00 Michael Chapman
Environmental Engineer
Facilities & Engineering
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total building energy consumption, all sources (transportation fuels excluded):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total building energy consumption 166,503 MMBtu 205,257 MMBtu

Purchased electricity and steam:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Grid-purchased electricity 74,372 MMBtu 87,737 MMBtu
District steam/hot water 4,832 MMBtu 8,271 MMBtu

Gross floor area of building space::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 2,768,416 Gross square feet 2,630,560 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year::
Floor Area
Laboratory space 171,933 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space

Degree days, performance year (base 65 °F)::
Degree days (see help icon above)
Heating degree days 7,406
Cooling degree days 339

Source-site ratios::
Source-Site Ratio (see help icon above)
Grid-purchased electricity 2.05
District steam/hot water 1.20

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or 3-year periods)::
Start Date End Date
Performance Year April 1, 2015 March 31, 2016
Baseline Year April 1, 2008 March 31, 2009

A brief description of when and why the building energy consumption baseline was adopted:

2008 / 2009 academic year was the first year NSCC began documenting energy demand and tracking emissions in one centralized public location. By using this baseline comparing energy usage becomes easy, as this is the baseline used in the Annual Sustainability Report. The report can be found on NSCC’s sustainability webpage.


A brief description of any building temperature standards employed by the institution:

All of our campuses are controlled by their own central building automation system. The central building automation system controls the temperature according to the peak occupancy hours of the building. Winter temperatures are regulated to 20°C in occupied areas, and 16°C in unoccupied areas.


A brief description of any light emitting diode (LED) lighting employed by the institution:

Every NSCC campus has an application of LED lighting, whether it is the exterior light or various areas inside the buildings. At least one building on every campus contains LED lighting. Roughly 40% of Campus lighting is LED. It is estimated that 80%-100% of the lighting in the NSCC buildings are “high efficiency”.


A brief description of any occupancy and/or vacancy sensors employed by the institution:

Every NSCC campus across Nova Scotia has buildings that have motion sensor lights installed. For example, at the NSCC Waterfront campus all of the bathrooms have motion sensor lights in them. In areas without sensors many campuses regulate lights automatically using an automation systems, which will turn the lights off after peak hours, and keep lighting minimal during the summer.


A brief description of any passive solar heating employed by the institution:

Pilikan House at the Middleton Campus in Annapolis Valley was built facing South, allowing for optimum solar gain. The windows let in natural light which helps increase the home's ability to capture and store thermal energy in the form of heat. All new construction has passive solar heating taken into consideration.
The Centre for the Built Environment has a south facing solar wall, to feed heat into the HVAC system. Similarly, the Pictou Trades and Innovation Centre that is currently under construction will also utilize similar solar wall technology.


A brief description of any ground-source heat pumps employed by the institution:

Cumberland Campus in Springhill Nova Scotia employs a geothermal system, which uses heat from the underground mine shafts to heat a refrigeration shop. Waterfront campus in Dartmouth also has a ground source heat pump.
The Pictou Trades and Innovation (currently under construction) will obtain 60% of its heat through a geothermal system.


A brief description of any cogeneration technologies employed by the institution:

NSCC is currently working with a third party company "Bridgewater Renewable Energy Work" (BREW). BREW is currently working towards having a biomass energy plant constructed and operating at Lunenburg Campus in Bridgewater Nova Scotia.


A brief description of any building recommissioning or retrofit program employed by the institution:

NSCC strives to recommission its campuses every 5 years, recommissioning is currently in progress.


A brief description of any energy metering and management systems employed by the institution:

Every NSCC campus has a centralized energy management system. For example our Middleton Campus uses Honeywell’s Enterprise Buildings Integrator and our Lunenburg Campus uses Sieman’s Building automation System.

All Campuses energy demand is monitored using Smart Meters, and reviewed monthly via a web based software. Monthly reports on energy trends and recommendations for improvement are distributed to each campus.


A brief description of the institution's program to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment and systems with high efficiency alternatives:

NSCC sustainability policy states that NSCC recognizes that one of the primary methods of exercising its commitment to sustainability is through its purchasing choices. When doing any purchasing, and replacement of equipment NSCC's policy is to chose products with low environmental impact.


A brief description of any energy-efficient landscape design initiatives employed by the institution:

NSCC chooses native vegetation thus reducing irrigation requirements and other energy intensive maintenance.


A brief description of any vending machine sensors, lightless machines, or LED-lit machines employed by the institution:

Many Campuses across the province utilize vending machine misers, these will detect the occupancy levels and temperature levels in the area. This allows lights in the machines to shut off when nobody is in the area, and limits the compressor cycles so the machines are not running when not required.


A brief description of other energy conservation and efficiency initiatives employed by the institution:
---

The website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Other energy intensive space includes shops and computer labs

Details of annual energy consumption can be found at:
http://www.nscc.ca/sustainability


Other energy intensive space includes shops and computer labs

Details of annual energy consumption can be found at:
http://www.nscc.ca/sustainability

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.