Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 60.05
Liaison Beverley Ayeni
Submission Date Dec. 11, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Toronto Mississauga
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.38 / 6.00 Ahmed Azhari
Managing Director, Operations, Sustainability & Asset Management
Facilities Management & Planning
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Electricity use, performance year (report kilowatt-hours):
kWh MMBtu
Imported electricity 40,182,358 Kilowatt-hours 137,102.21 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 0 Kilowatt-hours 0 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 177,287.21 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
314,389.41 MMBtu

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
218,527.07 Gross square meters

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 17,737.74 Square meters
Healthcare space 422.27 Square meters
Other energy intensive space 3,797.94 Square meters

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
258,645.03 Gross square meters

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 3,828 Degree-Days (°C)
Cooling degree days 496 Degree-Days (°C)

Total degree days, performance year:
4,324 Degree-Days (°C)

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period Jan. 1, 2018 Dec. 31, 2018

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
0 Btu / GSM / Degree-Day (°C)

Electricity use, baseline year (report kWh):
kWh MMBtu
Imported electricity 31,065,741 Kilowatt-hours 105,996.31 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 0 Kilowatt-hours 0 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, baseline year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 160,017.71 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
266,014.02 MMBtu

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
126,430.76 Gross square meters

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period Jan. 1, 2005 Dec. 31, 2005

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

n/a


Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
2

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0 MMBtu per square meter 0 MMBtu per square meter
Baseline year 0 MMBtu per square meter 0 MMBtu per square meter

Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:
29.78

Documentation 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:
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A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:

Many of UTM's newer buildings use occupancy sensors to ensure that lighting is turned off in unoccupied areas. Occupancy sensors are installed in areas such as classrooms, offices, and hallways. Some areas also have daylight sensors that turn off artificial lighting when natural light is sufficient.

The campus has a large number of sub-meters that track energy use in individual buildings. Data from these meters is fed into a central system that displays electricity, gas, and water use for each building. Tracking energy use in the system allows spikes in energy use to be flagged and issues to be rectified quickly.


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

UTM has undertaken numerous lighting retrofits over several years to ensure that lighting uses the least amount of energy possible. Several buildings, including the Instructional Building, Innovation Complex, Health Sciences Complex, Deerfield Hall, and Maanjiwe nendamowinan were constructed using mostly or entirely LED lighting.

We have retrofitted existing campus buildings to LED as budgets have allowed. Buildings that have been renovated to date include the William G Davis Building, Communication, Culture, & Technology Building, Erindale Studio Theatre, Student Centre, Recreation, Athletics & Wellness Centre, and Central Utilities Plant.


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

The Instructional Building at UTM is 100% heated and cooled by a ground-source heat pump (geothermal) system. The geothermal field, which is underneath the sports field adjacent to the building, consists of 177 boreholes at 168 meters deep each. The geothermal system ensures the LEED silver certified building stays cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. The building does not use natural gas.

A solar thermal system was installed on the rooftop of the Recreation, Athletics, and Wellness Centre in the summer of 2019. The system uses evacuated tube collectors to pre-heat water for the boilers, which provide both space heating and water heating for showers and the swimming pool. An HVAC retrofit to more efficient equipment took place alongside the solar installation.

The LEED gold certified Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Complex has a high number of windows to provide abundant natural light to the building. These windows are high-performance windows that are argon-filled and have a special coating that allows natural light to pass through, but blocks heat from escaping the building.

White roofs have been installed on many buildings at UTM. Whenever an end-of-life roof needs replacing, a white rock ballast is used as a matter of practice. These high-albedo roofs reflect heat instead of absorbing it, reducing the need for air conditioning in the summer and mitigating the urban heat island effect.


A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:

n/a - we do not use co-gen at the moment


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

UTM has replaced old, energy-inefficient fume hoods with new, low-flow fume hoods in the William G Davis Building. Fume hoods are huge energy users, with each one using about 3 times more energy annually than a house. These upgrades resulted in significantly less energy use by these fume hoods, by decreasing the amount of air exhausted from the hood when they are not in use.

In 2016, the University of Toronto Mississauga undertook a project to drastically reduce the amount of energy used in laboratory spaces. Under normal conditions, lab spaces undergo 8 or more air changes per hour, where air is exhausted from the lab and replaced with fresh air from outdoors. In addition to the energy needed to run the fans, all of this air needs to be heated, cooled, humidified, or dehumidified to keep the space at a temperature which is comfortable for occupants and appropriate for research. This is one of main the contributors to labs’ extremely high energy intensity. UTM has installed systems that monitor the air quality in labs, and are able to automatically adjust for the optimal level of airflow. This has allowed UTM to reduce the number of air changes per hour when the space is unoccupied to 4 or fewer air changes per hour. This results in significant savings, particularly on nights and weekends when research is not taking place. Implementation of this type of system typically results in energy savings of 40-60%, with commensurate reductions in greenhouse gas pollution.

The old, inefficient chiller at Oscar Peterson Hall residence was replaced with a much more energy-efficient model. The new chiller will provide the same level of comfort for residents with a much lower energy consumption.

HVAC upgrades -as part of the government of Ontario's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program, UTM undertook several projects to upgrade heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in multiple buildings. This included replacing rooftop units, upgrading fans to variable frequency drives, and various other energy-saving retrofits.


Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Conversion from m3 of natural gas to BTU was done using the conversion factors given here: https://www.uniongas.com/business/save-money-and-energy/analyze-your-energy/energy-insights-information/conversion-factors


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.