Prince George, B.C.-  Today is Bio Energy Day, and  the University of Northern B.C.  is celebrating.

Known as  Canada’s “green ” university,  UNBC   recently  renovated the Neyoh student residence  to be  linked to the  new Sustainable Communities Demonstration Project (SCDP) a district energy system  on campus.

In  just two months,  the  connection has  resulted in reduced consumption of electricity and natural gas.

Consumption of electricity is down by 40% and  it’s estimated that in one year,  the new system will  reduce natural gas use by 7 thousand GJ  or $25 thousand dollars..

The energy system is  similar to that used to  heat  several buildings in the downtown  of Prince George.   In the case of UNBC,  a pellets are used to heat a boiler and the  hot water  is then   distributed to the buildings.

The Keyoh residence and the UNBC Childcare Centre are both slated to be connected in 2017. The IK Barber Enhanced Forestry Laboratory is also part of the project.

The total cost of the capital project is $2.2 million, with $1.1 million coming from the Province of British Columbia. The Omineca Beetle Action Coalition, TransCanada Corporation and the BC Bioenergy Network have also made funding commitments. Pacific BioEnergy is donating the wood pellets that will fuel the system.