One-of-a-kind applied research centre opens at Lakeland
In 2010, Lakeland College purchased Barrhill Farms, 10 quarters of land (1,449 acres) and a yard that borders the west side of the Vermilion campus. “The proximity of this land is ideal for our college. Much of it is adjacent to our Vermilion campus which ensures we have the land base to expand the college not only in the near future, but really for the next 100 years,” says President Glenn Charlesworth. Initially the land will be used for student labs related to agricultural and environmental sciences programs. The yard will be the site of numerous applied research and renewable energy projects. The Barr family and Lakeland College have strong ties dating back to 1913 when the college opened as the Vermilion School of Agriculture. William Barr, the grandfather of Barrhill Farms owners Dean and Greg Barr, was a student in the college’s first class. Dean and Greg’s parents Jim and Alice met while attending the college in the early 1950s. “The cultivated land and pasture land will be used by many of the college’s 250 agricultural sciences students,” says Josie Van Lent, Dean of Agricultural Sciences. “The oil leases, reclaimed land, native grasslands and wetlands will serve over 220 students in the environmental sciences diploma and applied degree programs”, says Mel Mathison, Dean of Environmental Sciences and Applied Research. “We are excited about the potential of this space for research and teaching. With recent investments from Western Economic Diversification Canada and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, along with our partnerships with Alberta Innovates corporations, our capabilities are growing at an astounding rate,” says Mathison. “Our team has consistently demonstrated high performance and innovation in their problem solving for industry. Distributed energy, whether it is solar, wind, geothermal or bioenergy, is a huge opportunity for rural Alberta and we want to help our students and local companies succeed.”
Open for Research With the help of $2.3 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s College and Community Innovation program and support from Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education, Lakeland College has opened its Centre for Sustainable Innovation, a unique, multi-disciplinary applied research facility. The college renovated one of the houses in the yard into a research lab demonstrating multiple renewable energy systems working together in a building that houses offices, learning labs and research space. This building incorporates a complex control system that integrates geothermal, solar and wind energy for heating and electricity production with an online management and diagnostics system. “we are looking forward to proving that this is a net zero facility, as we monitor and control each source of renewable energy. We have the potential to measure the efficiency of one source over another and multiple combinations of sources. This is crucial to increase technology adoption,” says Rob Baron, researcher and instructor in the renewable energy and conservation program. Last summer the research team developed a single board computer system, several wireless sensors and an operating system capable of monitoring renewable energy systems efficiently. These devices form the core of a mobile diagnostic toolkit for installers. This summer the team will expand the sensor network to test a mobile pyrometer and anemometer and add in additional system control components. “Lakeland’s geothermal reference field is groundbreaking for the geothermal industry in Canada. The embedded sensor system and flexibility to isolate boreholes is going to provide incredibly valuable information to advance borehole performance and national and international geothermal design standards.”
– Dean Turgeon, President & CEO, Vital Engineering, Past President, Alberta Geothermal Energy Association