Earth Rangers is the kid’s conservation organization. We educate kids about protecting animals and their habitats, so it makes sense that we are constantly pushing to save energy with our building.
In 2012, we operated the Earth Rangers Centre (ERC) at an energy conservation level of 9 ekWh (equivalent kilowatt hours – combines gas and electric energy consumed) per square foot, which is less than a quarter of the average Canadian office building. Our previous blog post highlighted ways in which we hope to conserve energy with a goal of ‘net-zero’. The premise of a net-zero building is to generate as much energy as it consumes on an annual basis.
The ERC consumes most of its energy during the winter months, when our geothermal system pumps thermal energy into the building from the earth beneath the parking lot. In the summer, we ‘free cool’ through the earth, and our energy consumption drops to roughly half of winter levels.
Energy generation from our two solar arrays follows the opposite pattern – generation in January falls to around 15% compared to peak times in May and June. How can generation meet all consumption needs when they are clearly not happening at the same time? A connection to the province’s power grid is the typical way to meet these needs. Our goal is to generate as much power as we consume, and so far we are 25% of the way there. In 2012, we generated 113,855 kWh. To reach our goal, we need to generate 455,000 kWh over the year to reach net-zero status, assuming we are unable to conserve additional energy.
Ontario’s grid is relatively clean compared to other areas, with 36% of power from nuclear sources, 28% from natural gas, 22% from hydroelectric generation, 9% from coal and 4% from wind sources. On average, Ontario generates 100 grams of CO2 per kWh, compared to Alberta at 880g CO2/kWh and British Columbia at 50g CO2/kWh. The actual output of greenhouse gas emissions varies by time of day and the electrical energy demand from users. The higher the load, the more chance that carbon intense sources are in operation.
In order to ensure we are using the least carbon intensive power sources, we purchase green energy through Just Energy’s JustGreen™ Power program. This means that Just Energy purchases renewable energy credits on our behalf from certified renewable energy producers that are grid connected and produce power from low-impact energy sources such as wind or hydroelectricity. This helps to keep the carbon impact of our energy use as low as possible. This purchasing policy earned us all six renewable energy points for our LEED Platinum certification.
We hope to increase our energy generation through the addition of another photovoltaic array on our roof and through various other conservation efforts, with a goal of net-zero status for the ERC. However, even if we do attain this annual balance, we will still be connected to the grid to help manage the annual balance between consumption and generation.