Big cooling units in student residences
On the morning walk we came across a large crane splayed out along West Mall at the foot of Orchard Commons. The workers staffing the equipment explained they were replacing the cooling unit atop the big Orchard tower.
I commented on the immense size of the crane. “It took an entire day to assemble it” the worker said. He point to the top of the tower, “that’s were it’s going.”
I asked Andrew Parr, Associate Vice-President Student Housing and Community Service, what the back story was, was this an upgrade to the system?
Andrew said: “This air handling system replacement is basically like for like, and is part of our cyclical maintenance program. To transition to a larger, more robust / powerful system would require a variety of other system and duct changes within the building, which is beyond the scope of this work. Also worthy of note, the unit being replaced does not service the residential units but instead many of the common areas and the academic wing of Orchard Commons.”
This got me wondering about the extent of cooling systems within the student residences. Last summer (2022), during another heat wave A Campus Resident carried a series of air conditioner stories, one of which focussed on the student residences. That story discussed what students could do to cool their rooms in the absence of air conditioning. So I asked Andrew about the current state of affairs and if there were any plans to bring cooled ventilation to all students.
Andrew shared the following information that highlighted the degree of building cooling in four major categories:
Group 1: No cooled nor heated ventilation
Totem park resident corridors (Nootka Dene, Haida Salish, Kwakuitl Shuswap), Thunderbird, Fairview, Acadia Townhouses, Fraser Hall, Green college, Gage towers.
Group 2: Centralized ventilation air, tempered heating only airflow (into corridors only, corridor pressurization, no air directly into the units)
Marine Drive, Totem Park - c̓əsnaʔəm , Totem Park - həm̓ləsəm̓ , Totem Park - q̓ələχən, Place Vanier, St Johns College, University Apartments.
Group 3: Centralized ventilation, tempered airflow with heating and cooling (air is ducted into each suite/bedroom, and is tempered prior)
Ponderosa commons, Orchard commons, Tallwood house, Exchange, tə šxʷhəleləm̓s tə k̓ʷaƛ̓kʷəʔaʔɬ (except q̓əlɬaləməcən leləm̓, which has full A/C )
Group 4: Mechanical cooling in suites (in suite thermostat allows resident to select specific temperature)
Gage apartments, Brock north, Brock south (future)
There are a number of common areas across our system that have mechanical cooling
Moving forward, all new developments will fall into Group 4 and, over time and aligned with capital renewal projects, existing residences that fall into categories 1, 2 and 3 will be upgraded, with a primary focus on residences with year round occupancy, followed by residences with just winter session occupancy.