UNBC's Wood Innovation Lab is built with 50cm-thick walls filled with insulation and was designed to be as airtight as possible. (Image Credit: UNBC / City of Prince George)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

low-carbon future

Wood innovations keep downtown Prince George buildings toasty during cold snap

Feb 20, 2021 | 10:21 AM

PRINCE GEORGE — The City of Prince George and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) say a recent cold snap proved just how effective wood can be to keep buildings warm, and energy-efficient.

In a joint release with the City, UNBC says its Wood Innovation Research Lab is considered to be one of the most energy-efficient buildings of its kind in the world. The lab is built almost entirely out of wood, and when temperatures dropped to almost -40 degrees overnight last week, it easily withstood the cold.

“Over the course of the first two weeks in February, when temperatures fluctuated between -1 and -37 degrees Celsius in Prince George, the heating demand in the Wood Innovation Research Lab only fluctuated 3.5%. We barely noticed any change at all,” says UNBC Facilities Director David Claus. “In comparison, when the temperatures got really cold, the heating demand for the main campus buildings doubled.”

The release notes that despite being nearly 10,000 square feet, the lab’s heating bill is about the same as a 1,600 square foot house.

Elsewhere, the City’s Downtown Renewable Energy System (DRES) operated with 100 per cent renewable energy using sawmill residuals from Lakeland Mills. The materials are burned to heat hot water and provide heat to nearly a dozen buildings downtown – including City Hall, the Library, the RCMP Detachment, and the Law Courts.

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The City cites a 2020 Natural Resources Canada study which shows the Prince George system is one of the largest of its size that operates with no help from fossil fuels – even when temperatures drop near -40 degrees.

This means greenhouse gas emissions that come from heating city buildings with natural gas have dropped 30 to 40 per cent since the system began operating in 2012. The Downtown Renewable Energy System is now the city’s single greatest contributor to reducing emissions.

The release goes on to say both the DRES and the Wood Innovation Research Lab are “excellent examples of local innovation and local economic development.”