TORONTO, February 27, 1998 -- A new, environmentally sound cogeneration facility at York University is bringing light and heat to the second largest physical plant in the City of Toronto and saving the University millions of dollars in the process.

By switching energy consumption from relatively expensive electricity to natural gas, York's cogeneration facility is projected to achieve a general reduction in annual energy costs (for electricity, heating and cooling) of approximately 20 per cent in the first year. The annual cost savings promise to pay off the project loan of approximately $7 million within five years.

Assistant Vice-President (Facilities and Business Operations) Peter Struk praised the cogeneration facility's performance as "trouble free." York's Director of Facilities Management Khursh Irani, who oversaw the tendering process and installation of the facility, agrees. Since the cogeneration facility went into operation in November 1997, "it has been purring like a cat,"he said.

At the heart of the facility is a gas-fueled turbine. It drives a generator that can produce five megawatts of electricity, and is able to supply approximately one-third of York's peak electricity requirements in summer. This reduces the amount of electricity York purchases from Ontario Hydro. The hot exhaust from the turbine is recovered to produce steam.The steam travels through the existing, underground distribution system to assist in heating the campus in winter and generating hot water. The resulting steam production is approximately one-third of the University's peak steam demand in winter.

The facility is so efficient that even the excess thermal energy from the exhaust gases is put to use. It preheats the water used by the boilers to produce steam.

York has the second largest physical plant in the new Toronto, and supplies heating and cooling for buildings totaling approximately 5 million square feet.

** There will be a photo opportunity with York President Dr. Lorna Marsden and Board of Governors Chair Charles Hantho at an Open House at the cogeneration facility on Monday, March 2 at 12:30 p.m. The facility is next to the Central Utilities Building, on Chimneystack Road (west off Keele Street, south of Steeles), on the York University main campus. **

For more information, please contact:

Alison Masemann
Media Relations Officer
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: masemann@yorku.ca
YU/019/98