Citadel & Sidewalk

Assembled by Mike Soron for personal research & communal use

Filed under: simon fraser university

SFU's Burnaby Campus to get biomass district energy system

A new neighbourhood energy utility on Burnaby Mountain will supply enough heat for the entire Simon Fraser University campus and future homes in the acclaimed UniverCity residential development.

SFU is partnering with SFU Community Trust, Corix Utilities, and BC Hydro on the community-based sustainable district energy system. The project involves a high-efficiency heating plant using biomass – recycled wood waste from construction sites – as the primary fuel source.[]

SFU Burnaby’s aging natural gas boilers, which are at the end of their useful life, were responsible for 85 per cent of the university’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2007. Under B.C.’s Bill 44, which imposes penalties for carbon emissions by public bodies, these GHG emissions cost the school approximately $1 million each year.

The estimated cost for the combined heat and power system is $39.1 million, with a $4.7 million contribution from the public sector. Expected completion is winter 2012. The project has a total capacity of 36 MW and should eliminate 11,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

London's Urban Morphology: SFU Vancouver Speaking Event

Simon Fraser University's Urban Students Department is presenting a Visiting Lecture by Noel Isherwood, a Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Urbanism at the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment.

The topic is London's Urban Morphology:

Urban Morphology is the study of the growth and change of the built form of settlements. It draws on insights from urban history and archaeology, but also from architecture, geography, history, sociology, urban design, spatial analysis, space syntax and town planning. In this lecture Noel Isherwood, a consultant with the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, explores the City of London from Iron Age to 21st century.

This May, Noel will be returning to Vancouver to co-teach a sustainabile community design workshop at SFU's UniverCITY project. More details to come.

I met Noel at the Traditional Building and Urbanism summer school I attended with the Prince's Foundation last summer and am excited to see him speak on this topic.

I'll be attending his upcoming lecture at SFU Harbour Centre on March 11, at 7 pm. You can also attend by RSVPing here. 
Posterous theme by Cory Watilo