Consumption of Energy Survey for Universities, Colleges and Hospitals, 2003

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A. Universities

The survey population of university campuses was defined using North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 611310 and extracted from a list of university campuses provided by Statistics Canada's Public Institutions Division, with the university campus as the statistical unit. The survey covered 123 university campuses. Viewed regionally, the CES covered 23 campuses in the Atlantic region, 22 in Quebec, 37 in Ontario, 30 in the Prairies, and 11 in British Columbia and the Territories.

Table 1 presents a breakdown of the university energy consumption data – in gigajoules – by region.

Table 1: University energy consumption (GJ), 2003

Region	Atlantic	Quebec	Ontario
Electricity	1 011 100A	2 452 002A	3 881 060A
Natural gas	x	3 671 017A	10 005 331A
Heavy fuel oil	2 137 846A	369 294B	74 774D
Diesel	15 548D	1 193B	9 710C
Other middle distillates	428 298B	65 222B	38 162D
Propane	9 124A	10 878B	x
Steam	26 511C	51 864B	99 265B
Wood	x	x	x
Total	3 628 427A	6 621 471A	14 108 302A

Table 1: University energy consumption (GJ), 2003 (continued)

Region	Prairies	British Columbia/ Territories	Total
Electricity	3 103 865A	1 025 850A	11 473 877A
Natural gas	6 289 870A	1 864 731A	21 830 950A
Heavy fuel oil	F	45 628C	2 705 318A
Diesel	7 782B	1 186B	35 418B
Other middle distillates	18 186D	x	549 867A
Propane	F	19 772C	83 922C
Steam	F	2 924C	243 408A
Wood	x	x	x
Total	9 604 469A	2 960 091A	36 922 760A

The letter to the right of each estimate indicates its quality, as follows: A – excellent, B – good, C – acceptable, D – use with caution, F – too unreliable to be published, and x – not reported in compliance with the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act.

In 2003, the universities consumed nearly 37 million GJ, an amount equal to the annual average consumption of approximately 320 000 Canadian households, or of all the private dwellings in the metropolitan area of Québec. The main source of energy for universities was natural gas at 59 percent, followed by electricity at 31 percent and heavy fuel oil at 7 percent.

Regionally, the universities in Quebec used proportionally less natural gas (55 percent) than those in the other regions, excluding the Atlantic region. In Ontario, natural gas represented 71 percent of university energy use, compared with 65 percent for the Prairies, and 63 percent for British Columbia and the Territories.

In the Atlantic region, heavy fuel oil represented 59 percent of university energy use. This fuel is used mainly for space heating. When compared with the other Canadian regions, the Atlantic region alone accounts for nearly 80 percent of all the heavy fuel oil consumed by universities.

Energy Intensity

In addition to the numbers on energy consumption, the survey collected data on total campus floor area and the number of enrolled students. These data were used for establishing energy intensity ratios.

Many factors have a direct bearing on energy intensity. One of the leading factors, the weather, affects energy consumption in different ways across Canada's regions. Its impact is noticeable especially in regions where heating and cooling account for a significant portion of energy consumption. For example, the Prairies are relatively cooler than British Columbia, and the quantity of energy used for heating in the Prairies is accordingly greater.

Energy intensity also depends on the age of the building, the energy source,^b the physical characteristics of the building, the air-conditioning settings, the floor area, the type of facilities, the degree to which energy conservation measures are implemented, and so forth. Each factor affects the level of energy intensity independently and in its own complex way. In this study, each individual factor is not dealt with.^c Moreover, none of these factors can alone explain the variations among the energy intensities of the Canadian regions, as described in the following sections.

Graph 1 shows, for each region, the energy intensity of universities, expressed in gigajoules per square metre (GJ/m²). Floor area is the total area of all the buildings of a sector, excluding indoor parking and mechanical areas. The average energy intensity of Canadian universities was 2.04 GJ/m². British Columbia and the Territories, and the Atlantic region, had the lowest ratios (1.64 GJ/m² and 1.69 GJ/m², respectively). The universities in Quebec had a ratio of 1.94 GJ/m², compared with 2.19 GJ/m² for Ontario and 2.26 GJ/m² for the Prairies.

The data gathered through this survey can also be used to calculate energy intensity ratios per full-time and part-time university student. These results are presented by region in Graph 2.

The average energy intensity for all universities was 49 GJ per student. The region with the lowest ratio was Quebec, with 28 GJ per student, followed by British Columbia and the Territories, with 37 GJ per student, and Ontario with 56 GJ per student. Although the Atlantic region was among the least energy intensive in gigajoules per square metre, it was one of the most energy intensive by this measure, with a ratio of 66 GJ per student. The Prairies had the highest ratio, with 75 GJ per student, more than two and a half times that of Quebec.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The survey did not directly gather data on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, for each of the energy sources, an emissions factor can be used to calculate the GHG emissions stemming from the energy consumption of each of the sectors.^d The quantity of GHG emissions depends not only on total energy consumption, but also on the GHG intensity of each of the energy sources. In this report, three types of GHGs are considered: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O).

Table 2 shows, for each region, the total GHG emissions of universities associated with their three main energy sources, namely natural gas, electricity and heavy fuel oil. In 2003, the energy consumption of universities alone produced more than 2 million tonnes of GHG emissions, which is equivalent to the average annual emissions of approximately 595 000 compact cars or 389 000 sport utility vehicles.^e Ontario universities accounted for 37 percent of the total emissions, compared with 25 percent for the Prairies, 18 percent for Quebec, 12 percent for the Atlantic region, and 8 percent for British Columbia and the Territories.

Table 2: GHG emissions (thousands of tonnes) by energy source, universities, 2003

Region	Natural gas	Electricity	Heavy fuel oil	Total (all energy sources)
Atlantic	x	62A	156A	251A
Quebec	183A	150A	27B	366A
Ontario	500A	237A	5D	746A
Prairies	314A	190A	F	514A
British Columbia / Territories	93A	63A	3C	160A
Total	1 090A	701A	198A	2 037A

Graph 3 shows the percentage of GHG emissions attributed to each of the energy sources. The use of natural gas accounted for 54 percent of the universities' GHG emissions, compared with 34 percent for electricity and 10 percent for heavy fuel oil. Regionally, the use of natural gas accounted for 67 percent of the universities' GHG emissions in the Prairies, 57 percent in British Columbia and the Territories, 52 percent in Quebec and 50 percent in Ontario. The use of heavy fuel oil was the main source of emissions for the Atlantic region, as it accounted for 62 percent of this region's emissions.

^b For example, natural gas and heavy fuel oil are by nature more energy intensive than electricity. Their energy conversion losses are included in the CES data, but when considering electricity, the energy losses are accounted for at the primary energy use level and, accordingly, do not appear in this report. The Canadian regions using mainly natural gas (e.g. the Prairies) will therefore tend to present higher levels of energy intensity than those using mainly electricity.

^c Each year the OEE publishes Energy Efficiency Trends in Canada. This report describes how energy use is affected by the level of activity, weather, structure, level of service and energy efficiency.

^d To calculate the volumes of GHG emissions, we used the emissions factors calculated on a national, not regional, basis. These factors are set by Environment Canada (see Canada's Greenhouse Gas Inventory, 1990-2001, Environment Canada, August 2003). The GHG emissions described in this report are indirect emissions (they include emissions stemming from electricity use).

^e These equivalents are based on the OEE's 2004 Fuel Consumption Guide. The GHG emissions of a compact car are calculated based on the fuel consumption of an automatic-transmission Honda Civic (Honda Canada Inc.); the emissions of a sport utility vehicle are calculated based on the characteristics of an eight-cylinder, automatic-transmission Ford Escape 4x4 equipped with a 4.6-litre engine (Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited). The estimated GHG emissions are based on travelling 20 000 kilometres annually, of which 55 percent is city driving and 45 percent is highway driving. With these parameters, a Honda Civic annually uses 1393 litres of fuel and thereby produces about 3.4 tonnes of GHGs. A Ford Escape annually uses 2129 litres of fuel and produces about 5.2 tonnes of GHGs.

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