By Caitlin Coombes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Guardian
December 17, 2023
GEORGETOWN, P.E.I. — Plans for converting Georgetown to the province’s first net-zero town are well underway.
On Dec. 12, details of the 100-acre Cleantech business park were revealed at Kings Playhouse in Georgetown, with construction set to begin in 2025.
The park will include the 28,000-square-foot Cleantech Innovation Centre (CIC), which will be home to the Cleantech Academy, a joint initiative by UPEI and Holland College.
Environment Minister Steven Myers told attendees the project is ambitious and necessary to the province and the world.
“Let’s not take 2050 as the goal. Let’s not just get there when everybody else is trying to get there. Let’s get there before everyone else,” Myers said.
Cleantech Innovation Centre
The launch presentations included a speech from Sandra Moore, the new director of the CIC, who said the first two programs at the Cleantech Academy will be taught by UPEI and Holland College, starting in September 2025.
Construction on the 28,000-square-foot net zero building is set to begin in 2024. When completed, it is intended to be a hub for education and innovation for future leaders of green technology around the world.
Information about the cost of the business park construction was not provided at the launch. When contacted on Dec. 13, a spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Energy, and Climate Action did not have cost estimates for the project at that time.
“The centre will be a place for all things cleantech learning,” Moore said.
The first programs will be interdisciplinary post-graduate programs designed to support future innovators and green energy leaders, creating a space for provincial and global innovation towards a greener future.
Greg Keefe, the interim president and vice-chancellor of UPEI, and Sandy MacDonald, president of Holland College, both spoke to attendees about courses and programs to be offered at the CIC.
“The Cleantech Learning and Innovation Centre will be where government, academic and industry partners come together to accelerate our collective efforts in making P.E.I. a net-zero province,” Keefe told attendees.
Courses on green energy innovation will be provided by both UPEI and Holland College, with Holland College beginning classes in September 2024 at the Culinary Institute of Canada and UPEI courses beginning a year later in 2025 at the CIC.
“The building won’t be ready in 2024, so we will start in Charlottetown, and then switch the courses to Georgetown in 2025,” MacDonald told SaltWire on Dec. 12.
Did you know?
Three new streets in the Cleantech business park were announced at the launch, named after influential former residents of Georgetown
- Bea’s Crescent for historian Bea Mair.
- John W. Way for a well-loved resident.
- Jimmy Carroll Crescent for a celebrated Islander.
Upcoming changes
Construction of the Cleantech business park is not set to begin until 2024, but experts are still hard at work in Georgetown gathering data on home energy efficiency.
Community feedback sessions were also held the evening of Dec. 12 with an assistant professor at UPEI’s Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering. Kuljeet Grewal, who is also from the Future Urban Energy Lab, is launching a community-led data collection effort in Georgetown.
Since October, the Future Urban Energy Lab has been collecting drone and historical data on buildings in Georgetown to construct a 3-D digital rendering of the town to assist in net-zero solutions.
Now, Grewal and his team are launching Living Lab to involve residents in the evolution of their town and provide people with opportunities beyond volunteering to participate in research of green energy.
“Energy efficiency will be key for net-zero, we have to accept this. It is not only the generating side of things, it is also about energy efficiency and conserving energy in our buildings,” Grewar told people at the morning announcement.
Residents will be able to measure the energy efficiency of their homes, participating in the Living Lab project alongside volunteers and researchers in Georgetown.
“We don’t want to just give some presentation and answer questions. We also want to engage them in this process,” Grewal said to SaltWire on Dec. 12.
Kits for measuring energy efficiency are now available for residents of Georgetown. They include video instructions on how to use the devices and submit results to the Living Lab project.
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Caitlin Coombes is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter, a position funded by the federal government. She can be reached by email at caitlin.coombes@saltwire.com and followed on X @caitlin_coombes.