University of Toronto
Summary
The University of Toronto is accelerating efforts to decarbonize its St. George campus through a massive, $138-million infrastructure project that will cut emissions in half within three years.
Project Leap will begin phasing out natural gas in favour of electricity in the campus’s central steam plant and carry out deep energy retrofits to some of the most energy-intensive buildings.
Kickstarted with more than $50 million in Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) financing, the public-private sustainability project is among the largest in the higher-education sector. It will speed up the university’s efforts to make the St. George campus climate-positive, reducing more greenhouse gases than it emits, ahead of an original 2050 goal.
Ron Saporta, U of T’s chief operating officer, property services and sustainability, said the university is moving rapidly in response to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s call to halve global emissions by the end of the decade.
“With 2030 just around the corner, we need to act immediately and decisively to tackle climate change,” Saporta said.
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