| dc.description.abstract | Energy consumption at Dalhousie University is a current issue that is in one way being addressed with the implementation of strictly LEED Certified buildings in the future. There are many benefits to LEED Certified buildings, which include not only economic and environmental improvements, but also aesthetic, cultural and social benefits as well. There are many aspects of the buildings that work to improve these benefits such as energy and water use, indoor environmental quality, infrastructure, and leisure/ study space quality (Retzlaff, 2009). Dalhousie University proudly supports LEED certified buildings and is on it’s way to becoming a more sustainable campus. A prime example of Dalhousie’s success is the Mona Campbell building on Dalhousie’s Studley Campus, which is a LEED certified building and is widely recognized as the greenest building on campus. Currently, the building is closed in the evenings and on weekends (8am to 10pm Monday – Friday). If the Mona Campbell is the most sustainable building on campus, we want to discover why it is not used to its fullest potential by being closed on evenings and weekends. This project’s analyzed energy consumption of buildings that are open on weekends across Dalhousie University’s Studley Campus. This energy consumption research determined which buildings are likely consuming the most energy, and then indicated which buildings should be open on the weekends and which buildings should not. From this, our research then determined which buildings are suitable for weekend closure in comparison with the Mona Campbell Building. The satisfaction and potential use of the Mona Campbell building was supported through literature review and surveying of the population who would benefit from our research. Surveys were conducted to gather data on interest and awareness levels of the Mona Campbell’s study space. From these findings we provide the University with structural data to potentially create a more sustainable option regarding weekend operations should action be taken to transform weekend operations. Our suggestion is that university building managers review our findings and discuss a potential weekend closure of a less energy efficient building. Our research suggests that there is potential to improve operational hours of certain buildings on campus between the Kenneth Rowe, Marion McCain, or the Goldberg Computer Science. We also suggest that there is room for further study to be conducted including more intricate analysis of building energy consumption sources to provide a more accurate definition of building comparisons. | en_US |
