SFU reduces GHG emissions by 85% with biomass centre on Burnaby Mountain

Simon Fraser University says a biomass energy centre established two years ago has succeeded in reducing the carbon footprint of its Burnaby campus by 85%—smashing its goal several years ahead of schedule.

The BC government’s 2007 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act set a goal for the province to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 33% over 2007 levels by 2020, and 80% by 2050.

In order to achieve that goal, the university needed to cut GHG emissions by 40% by 2025.

SFU said the biomass energy centre, which provides heat and hot water to the university campus on Burnaby Mountain and to the UniverCity residential neighbourhood, was critical to its success in reaching those targets.

The $33-million centre—known as the Burnaby Mountain District Energy Utility—opened in October 2020, but was in the works since 2009 with a feasibility study exploring thermal energy solutions for both SFU and UniverCity. It was built in partnership with BC-based company Corix Multi-Utility Services and the SFU Community Trust.

An information sheet presented to UniverCity residents in 2019, before construction began, estimated that the energy centre would reduce GHG emissions by about 80% at full buildout, or a reduction of 11,600 tonnes of CO2 annually.

SFU said shortly after operations began that the GHG emissions reduced are equivalent to the emissions from 900 homes annually.

The plant reduces emissions by burning clean wood waste diverted away from landfills—including wood chips, shavings and other construction waste from around Metro Vancouver—rather than the natural gas-heated system that was in place before it.

“At peak times, such as in the winter, we will be able to provide heat to the Burnaby campus and UniverCity almost entirely using this greenhouse-sustainable source rather than burning natural gas. In the summer, this system will be throttled down significantly to only provide domestic heating (for example, hot water for showers),” the university said in an FAQ about the project.

SFU says it has one of the smallest GHG footprints of any university in Canada.