John Paul II Catholic Secondary School to Be Canada’s First Carbon Neutral School
$9.7 million project will feature geothermal heating and cooling, solar panel covered carports and roof, energy storage, electric vehicle charging stations and more
The London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB), in conjunction with the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Ameresco and other partners announced a project today that will transform John Paul II Catholic Secondary School (JPII) into Canada’s first carbon neutral school.
Following a successful feasibility study, the approximately $9.7 million project will allow JPII to generate its own energy requirements. Highlights include advanced geothermal heating and cooling, solar panel covered carports and roof, electric vehicle charging stations and more.
Once completed in late 2020 and fully commissioned in early 2021, the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to the energy required to heat, cool and provide electricity to the school to near zero on an annual basis, removing approximately 275 tonnes of Carbon on an annual basis. The only natural gas used in the building will be for science labs and kitchen equipment.
An energy microgrid will include an energy storage system and an integrated building control system that will utilize machine learning and artificial intelligence to reduce energy use to an absolute minimum while maintaining occupancy safety and comfort. The microgrid will also allow the school’s energy systems to provide energy and other energy ancillary services to both the London Hydro and provincial electricity system while providing the school with resilient energy availability during both short- and long-term electrical outages,
Renderings of various aspects of the project are below. The project will be designed, built, owned and operated by Ameresco.
John Paul II is intended to be a showcase model for other school boards across Ontario and the rest of Canada, proving that a carbon free school is economically viable.
Stats
- 50,000 feet of drilled piping (100 x 500 feet) for geothermal heating and cooling system
- 2,300 solar panels providing 804kWDC of power and covered parking spaces for many of the vehicles that park at JPII
- 1.1MW Power – 2.2MWh Energy electrical energy storage system
- 2 electric vehicle charging stations