Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 63.22
Liaison Jessica Russell
Submission Date Oct. 17, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Mount Royal University
OP-5: Building Energy Consumption

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.25 / 6.00 Jessica Muraca
Project Analyst
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Figures needed to determine total building energy consumption:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Grid-purchased electricity 90,999 MMBtu 87,540 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site renewables 0 MMBtu 0 MMBtu
District steam/hot water (sourced from offsite) 0 MMBtu 0 MMBtu
Energy from all other sources (e.g., natural gas, fuel oil, propane/LPG, district chilled water, coal/coke, biomass) 197,711 MMBtu 163,305 MMBtu
Total 288,710 MMBtu 250,845 MMBtu

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or 3-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2016 June 30, 2017
Baseline Year July 1, 2014 June 30, 2015

A brief description of when and why the building energy consumption baseline was adopted (e.g. in sustainability plans and policies or in the context of other reporting obligations):
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Gross floor area of building space:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area of building space 243,702 Gross square feet 208,413 Gross square feet

Source-site ratio for grid-purchased electricity:
2.05

Total building energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Site energy 1.18 MMBtu per square foot 1.20 MMBtu per square foot
Source energy 1.58 MMBtu per square foot 1.64 MMBtu per square foot

Percentage reduction in total building energy consumption (source energy) per unit of floor area from baseline:
4.13

Degree days, performance year (base 65 °F / 18 °C):
Degree days (see help icon above)
Heating degree days 4,853.35 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 31.10 Degree-Days (°F)

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 179,574.32 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
625,583.72 Gross square feet

Building energy consumption (site energy) per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
94.48 Btu / GSF / Degree-Day (°F)

Documentation (e.g. spreadsheet or utility records) to support the performance year energy consumption figures reported above:
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A brief description of the institution's initiatives to shift individual attitudes and practices in regard to energy efficiency (e.g. outreach and education efforts):

Facilities Management and Marketing and Communication rolled out a Do the Right Thing campaign in 2017/2018 - 2019/2020 to influence individual attitudes and behaviours. Targeted messaging around energy efficiency included prompting staff to turn off lights when not using a space and close blinds on hot days as well as shutting down computers to save energy.


A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution (e.g. building temperature standards, occupancy and vacancy sensors):

Mount Royal upgraded to an intelligent boiler management and control system that continually searches for opportunities to better balance the oxygen feeding the boiler fire. This keeps the air-to-fuel ratio optimized for a highly efficient, low-fuel waste burn. The update will save Mount Royal 2,469,515 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 37,530 gigajoules of natural gas over five years. Greenhouse gases will also be reduced to 3,400 tonnes.

Building automation technology currently controls aspects of Mount Royal’s ventilation, air conditioning, heat and lighting, which reduces energy consumption and operating costs and prolongs the life of equipment. Occupancy sensors, consumption and control dashboards, load shedding (the intentional shutdown of power to prevent total loss) and some heating through solar panels are being considered for implementation.

Building Operations also analyses and schedules when lights come on and go off and install occupancy sensors with all new projects.


A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:

Between 2013 - 2017 Mount Royal underwent a $1,000,000 Main Campus lighting retrofit. New LED lighting and controls were installed to upgrade the 1986 and 1988 lighting to be more energy efficient and practical.

Each year, funding is allocated for a lighting upgrade program to continue changing outdated lighting to LEDs and improve energy efficiency.


A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:

In 2018, the first solar panels to generate electricity at Mount Royal were installed on the rooftop of E-Wing. They generate 144 kW of electricity to reinforce power supply to the University's IT data centre. The panels will serve as a backup power source for IT infrastructure to minimize risks if a power outage should occur.


A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution, e.g. combined heat and power (CHP):

A combined heat and power (CHP) unit was installed at the central plant in 2018.

CHP is 30 per cent more energy efficient than conventional electricity production because it uses natural gas to produce both heat and electricity. Natural gas is considered to have the smallest carbon footprint of all the fossil fuels. The ‘waste heat’ that is produced as a result of the generation of electricity is captured and routed into the central HVAC system to provide heat and hot water throughout campus.

The CHP unit is projected to decrease the University’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2,000 tonnes (equivalent to taking 425 vehicles off the road for a year) and, when combined with central plant upgrades, save $700,000 a year.


A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment and systems with high efficiency alternatives (e.g. building re-commissioning or retrofit programs):

Facilities planners procure Energy Star compliant appliances when appropriate during renovations.

Numerous retrofit programs are ongoing in Building Operations including self-learning smart pumps for hot water.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

IC-2 data was not carried forward as the performance year lags one year behind the data reported in this section.


IC-2 data was not carried forward as the performance year lags one year behind the data reported in this section.

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.