| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.05 |
| Liaison | Manon Raby |
| Submission Date | May 26, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Concordia University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Chantal
Forgues Sustainability Coordinator EHS |
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Is the institution utilizing the campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in the following areas?:
| Yes or No | |
| Air & Climate | No |
| Buildings | Yes |
| Dining Services/Food | Yes |
| Energy | Yes |
| Grounds | Yes |
| Purchasing | No |
| Transportation | Yes |
| Waste | Yes |
| Water | No |
| Coordination, Planning & Governance | Yes |
| Diversity & Affordability | Yes |
| Health, Wellbeing & Work | Yes |
| Investment | No |
| Public Engagement | Yes |
| Other | Yes |
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Air & Climate and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Buildings and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- Laser precipitation sensor: A specialized sensor is to be installed on the uppermost roof of the EV building to measure the size and speed of water particles and snow in the air. The data collected is related to research at the university into resilient building envelope design.
- Weather Station: Specialized sensors were installed on the EV's 17th floor weather station pole to perform high-accuracy measurements of temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction and solar irradiance. Data is used by the building control system and researchers at the university, as well as being fed to Environment Canada.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Dining Services/Food and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- Concordia "Farmers' Market" is a student initiative that originated from a course project related to sustainable food systems. During the academic year 2014/15, the Farmers' Market activities was supported by the University's Green Space, a sustainability community space where the market’s activities took place.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Energy and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- Solar Irradiance Measurement: A solar irradiance sensor grid was installed on the 16th floor balcony of the EV building. The data is fed to researchers in their Solar-Daylighting lab of the 16th floor of the same building, related to solar power and zero-energy buildings.
- Building Energy Modeling: Using energy consumption data provided by Facilities Management, the goal of the research is to develop a heuristic modeling system for building energy performance based on space usage and other factors.
- Hybrid Natural Ventilation: Fans and sensors were added to the natural ventilation system of the building to boost the air flow and measure it more precisely. Energy savings are expected as soon as it is in operation. Additionally, the data is to be fed to researchers, who will help to develop improved control strategies for the building.
- Natural Ventilation Strategies: As a continuation of the hybridization of the EV's natural ventilation, additional sensors will be added to the control system to measure slab temperature, air temperature and air flow rates at various locations of interest to the natural ventilation system. The data will then be fed to researchers who will use it to develop advanced control strategies for thermal management of the building.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Grounds and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- Campus Potager: As part of courses SOCI/ANTH 398J “Political Economy of Food” (in 2014) and SOCI/ANTH 384 “Food and Sustainability” (in 2015), students have been engaged in the “Campus Potager” (campus vegetable garden) project. In collaboration with the department of Facilities Management, students have identified and transformed many underused green spaces on campus into vegetable gardens. These gardens are managed in a sustainable manner through a permaculture mindset, as well as enhance habitats for pollinating insects. In addition, perennial fruit bushes have been planted on the Mackay street.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Purchasing and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Transportation and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- A student’s class project was centered on researching electric bus options for the Concordia shuttle bus. The student presented his research to Facilities Management as the contract for the shuttle bus service was coming up. The research paper and references will be used for further investigation into electric bus options.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Waste and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- Anaerobic digester: A research project from researchers at the Faculty of Engineering to use the food waste at the university and convert it in biogas for heating purposes.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Water and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Coordination, Planning & Governance and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- New Sustainable Ambassadors Training Program: As part of the course ADIP 541 Design of Adult Learning Projects, a training program was proposed based on a previous “sustainability ambassador” program. This new training program was designed from discussions with Concordia’s sustainability staff and the ensuing report is intended as a reference for the university’s operational sustainability committee.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Diversity & Affordability and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- “Refundable Project”: Recycling operations related to containers with a refund system (e.g. pop cans) create a fund that is donated to the Department of Creative Art Therapies in order to fund academic art projects involving people with physical or mental disabilities.
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Health, Wellbeing & Work and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- As part of a Safety Awareness Campaign, the department of Environmental Health & Safety partnered with a faculty member from the Department of Design & Computation Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts for the design of laboratory safety awareness posters. Students enrolled in a special topics course DART 398F Designing Print for Professional Practice competed to design a series of posters dealing with laboratory safety.
More information: https://www.concordia.ca/campus-life/safety/awarenesscampaign.html
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Investment and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory for Public Engagement and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- Design outreach DART 481 class - “Concordia dans la rue” project: The DART 481 Special Topics - Design Outreach course is instructed by a faculty member, who is also in charge of creating new outreach programs with local youth educational and empowerment centres. For the Design department ‘being on the street’ literally means to put into practice the program's philosophical directive of creating links to and engaging with Montreal communities via student internships, collaborative projects, and public artworks. See: http://danslarue.concordia.ca)
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A brief description of how the institution is using the campus as a living laboratory in Other areas and the positive outcomes associated with the work:
- Graduate Symposium in the Department of Education 2015: The Department of Education graduate students host at Concordia an annual interdisciplinary symposium on the theme Breaking Barriers: Language, Culture, and Technology in Education. This interdisciplinary event brings together approximately 150 students, staff and faculty from three provinces and seven universities for a day of presentations, panels and discussions on current social, cultural and sustainability issues facing our educational systems, and the innovative research being done to support and address these topics.
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The website URL where information about the institution’s campus as a living laboratory program or projects is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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