Mohawk College's Net Zero Energy and Zero Carbon Building—a Living Lab for High Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technologies in Buildings

In recent years, large high efficiency and Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) are becoming a reality that are setting construction and energy benchmarks for the industry. As part of this significant effort, in 2018, Mohawk College opened the 8,981 m² (96,670 ft2) Joyce Centre for Partnership and Innovation (JCPI) building in Hamilton, Ontario; becoming Canada's largest NZEB and zero-carbon institutional facility. The building integrated a high-efficiency design, construction materials, and technologies; as well as renewable energy technologies to significantly reduce ist annual energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the JCPI building was also designed as a living lab where students, faculty, researchers and industry are able to monitor and validate the performance of this state-of-the-art facility. The building was designed to have an energy use intensity of 73 kWh/m²·year (0.26 GJ/m²·year); hence, potentially consuming approximately 80% less energy than the average educational service building in Ontario. This paper gives an overview of the design criteria and technologies that were considered to achieve this innovative building.