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Herald of a Sustainable Future
February, 2011
Underserved Region Welcomes New University Presence
By Matthew Bradford
It's hard to ignore the enthusiasm for Lakehead University’s freshly minted LEED Platinum campus in Orillia, Ontario. Depending on who's talking, the campus is trumpeted as a leader in environmental design, a saving grace for southern Ontario's post-secondary education sector, or a catalyst for economic growth in Simcoe County. Truth be told, it's probably all three.
Built on 85 acres of the historic Horn Farm property in Orillia, Lakehead's newest campus in Simcoe County is widely regarded as an accomplishment on many fronts. Perhaps one of the most notable for the construction industry, however, is its LEED Platinum designation which, aside from enriching the lives of its students and staff, makes it the first campus of its kind in the entire country.
"There's been lots of discussion about why we built a LEED Platinum facility and I think the answer for us is that it was the right thing to do,” says Brian Jeffs, Lakehead’s Assistant Vice-President of Administration and Finance, and one of the key players in Lakehead's Orillia move.
LEED PLATINUM LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Running down a list of the school's LEED Platinum attributes, Jeffs is quick to highlight features such as: green roofing; extensive use of natural lighting; the widespread employment of passive solar glass on the outer walls; and windows built with ceramic discs designed to reflect heat in the summer and retain it over the winter.
Internally, the facility relies on a complex geothermal system for heating and cooling; rainwater storage and retention ponds that collect and reuse water throughout the facility; and a fully integrated building automation system that controls the facility's HVAC via occupancy sensors.
All totalled, Lakehead University's Orillia facility is a testament to clean, energy-efficient and sustainable operations, and the University’s administration plans to apply these features to future campus expansions.
Moriyama & Teshima Architects – an architectural firm responsible for past projects such as the Canadian War Museum, Ontario Science Centre and Scarborough Civic Centre as well as numerous university buildings, governmental facilities and entertainment complexes across Canada – was at the helm of the new school's design. Using open concepts and environmentally conscious design, the notable firm was able to make Lakehead's vision for a subtle, yet uniquely modern university campus come to life.
“We were blessed with our team,” Jeffs reflects. “They did a terrific job with the initial design of this facility. We also had EllisDon construct it, so we were honoured to have two pretty premier organizations helping us get through this.”
Lakehead's new campus in Orillia is also winning praise from its most important critic – the students.
“Students don't love it because they're being told it's a LEED platinum building. They love it because what a LEED Platinum building does. It's just a place that students want to come to and they want to stay,” says Kim Fedderson, the Dean at Lakehead Orillia.
CATALYST FOR A KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY
He also points to the outpouring of support the new campus has received from the people and municipal governments in the area. The introduction of a campus in a part of Ontario that has consistently fallen behind the average for participation in post-secondary education (13% compared to the provincial average of 26%), has brought opportunities for local students and community stakeholders alike.
“I've been in this business a long time, but never have I experienced a community with an appetite for a university like the City of Orillia and Simcoe County. Both have stepped up to the plate and invested heavily in the University because they see the benefit of having a university and, therefore, they're the strongest proponents of the University,” Fedderson observes. “There's all these spinoff economic benefits that people are excited about – and rightly so – but, as an educator, what I'm delighted about is that the community sees that the University is going to provide a sustainable future for their children.”
Gradual erosion of the area's traditional manufacturing sector has placed new emphasis on the benefits of fostering a knowledge based economy, and Lakehead is viewed as one of the key components of that strategy. “The University is now one of the major employers in Orillia, so the City is really pinning its hopes for the future on the hospital, the university and on Georgian College, the community college here,” Fedderson adds.
The new LEED Platinum campus, which had its official opening in September 2010, isn’t Lakehead’s first toehold in the community. The University established its presence four years ago in a downtown facility that now houses about 400 students enrolled in the MBA program and other programs designated as a professional year of education.
The new campus accommodates about 500 students enrolled in four-year baccalaureate programs. These will be augmented with the addition of media studies and criminology to the curriculum by 2012. Approximately 95 faculty and support staff also work at the two Orillia campuses.
Future plans call for the construction of a new residence building 150 metres away from the current LEED Platinum facility, while requests for proposals will soon be released for a new on-site cafeteria and bookstore.
Fedderson, Jeffs and the entire Lakehead team are still settling into their new surroundings, but are pleased with the progress they've seen thus far.
“The building is really the instrument by which we do the really important stuff, which is having these kids walk out with a post-secondary education and be able to enter the world better than when they arrived,” Jeffs asserts.
“Universities aren't in the business of building buildings for the sake of building buildings,” Fedderson concurs. “We build them to house a great learning environment for our students and a great research facility for our faculty, and by all accounts we've succeeded in spades.”
Matthew Bradford is an Editor with MediaEdge Communications. For more information about Lakehead Orillia, see the web site at www.orillia.lakeheadu.ca.
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