en
years ago, when a group of local citizens and representatives of
various federal and provincial departments conceived of the idea of
Cape Jourimain Nature Centre, environmental issues such as climate
change were not at the fore of public consciousness as they are today.
Nevertheless, from the very beginning of the ambitious project, many
of those involved were determined that the facility would showcase
seldom seen "green technologies." These technologies, it was
hoped, would minimise the environmental impacts of the facility while
serving as a model of environmentally responsible building practices.
The Nature Centre, located in Bayfield NB, was completed in 2000 and
was built to serve a variety of purposes, including a provincial
welcome centre for people arriving to NB via the Confederation
Bridge from PEI, providing environmental educational opportunities
for tourists and residents, and generating tourism revenue and job
opportunities to help offset the impacts of the closing of the PEI -
NB ferry service. One of the main reasons for the environmental
agenda behind the project was the fact that the nature centre was
built within the boundaries of a National Wildlife Area. The project
also faced serious limitations in the supply of freshwater at the
site, a reality that helped push the green building agenda forward.
Composting toilet at Cape
Jourimain Nature Centre
(Photo: Ramsey Hart)
Of the various green technologies at the Centre, perhaps the most
radical, effective, and highest profile is the composting toilets.
Just about everyone who visits the centre makes use of these
water-saving wonders made by Clivus Multrum. Because the toilets use
almost no water, they prevent the use of approximately 1.5 million
litres of water a year, and the need to treat an equivalent amount
of sewage! Rather than flushing waste away with good clean water,
wastes fall into a composting chamber and are naturally broken down
into pathogen-free organic matter and liquid "compost
tea."
Crucial to the design of the toilets is the sloped chamber (which is
also the translation of Clivus Multurm from Swedish) that allows
liquid to drain away from the compost pile and allows the solid
waste to slowly slip down the slope as it decomposes. The composting
process reduces the volume of waste by roughly 90%. The reduction in
volume is so great that, to date, no solids have been removed from
the composters, despite being in service for seven years and used by
hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Sloped chamber that allows
liquid to drain away from the compost pile and allows the solid waste
to slowly slip down the slope as it decomposes.
(Photo: Ramsey Hart)
Though the composting toilets deal with the most problematic of the
wastes created at the centre, grey water (waste water that does not
contain sewage) is still created in the washrooms from hand washing,
and from the Centre's kitchens. These wastes are sent to concrete
septic tanks and then to a treatment system designed and built by
Waterloo Biofilter. This system is made up of four large tanks full
of sponges. The grey water is sprayed over the sponges and a host of
bacteria colonize the sponges providing biological treatment of the
wastewater. The final step in the grey water treatment process is an
infiltration bed where the water is pumped to an irrigation system
laid out on the ground in the woods surrounding the centre. The
physical characteristics of the soil and the soil organisms provide
a final treatment as the water moves down through the soil to help
recharge the groundwater table. Water testing of the greywater
system has consistently shown excellent performance. The only
difficulty has been with the maintenance of the many pumps,
sprayers, etc., that are required to move the water through the
system. Groundwater is further conserved by the collection of
rainwater in a massive 2000-gallon cistern. In all but the driest of
years this provides adequate water for hand-washing, cleaning, and
other non-potable uses, saving the precious groundwater for drinking
and food preparation
Though not as apparent to most visitors as the composting toilets,
the Centre's geothermal heating and cooling system goes a long way
to further reducing its ecological footprint. Geothermal heating is
one of the most efficient ways of heating or cooling our indoor
environments. It makes use of the fact that below the surface, the
earth is at a relatively constant temperature of 8 ºC. This heat
can be used in combination with a heat pump to warm buildings in
winter. Conversely, the earth can be used as a heat sink, to absorb
heat taken out of the buildings in the summer. It has taken the
Centre's staff some time to get the hang of running the advanced
computer system used to manage the geothermal system but now that
they have figured it out, it is operating efficiently in both winter
and summer.
The geothermal system, though efficient, does require electricity
and with the physical size of the centre, it's vaulted ceilings, and
massive windows, it still takes a substantial amount of energy to
heat and cool. Though some interest was expressed in the early
design phase, no use of passive solar technologies were included in
the final design. Fortunately, the final design did include many
windows, which can be opened to help cool the buildings as there is
just about always a breeze along the coast. This is truly a green a
cooling system that doesn't need computers to control it!
In 2006, the Centre installed a thermal solar water heater to
pre-heat water used in the restaurant kitchen. With water heating
being one of the most significant uses of electricity in many homes
and businesses, and the relative ease of retro-fitting panels into
existing structures, thermal water heating is a great way to use
clean, renewable solar power.
Thermal
solar water heater used to pre-heat water used in Cape Jourimain's
kitchen.
(Photo: Ramsey Hart)
With compact fluorescent light bulbs being all the rage today, one
of the more glaring oversights in the construction of the Centre was
the use of very inefficient lighting in much of the facility. While
options may have been limited at the time of construction, the use
of very specialized fixtures with hard to find, expensive, and
energy-sucking bulbs was certainly an oversight. Where possible,
more efficient bulbs are now being used, and as much as possible the
abundant natural light from the many windows is relied upon with
some lights only being used on very cloudy days or in the early
morning and evening. Though these kinds of behavioural changes may
seem like tinkering around the edges, better management of the
complete energy system at the Centre has resulted in substantial
savings, well above and beyond those predicted by a more
conventional engineering approach to energy efficiency.
Though certainly not a perfect model of green building, Cape
Jourimain Nature Centre does represent a significant achievement for
incorporating green technologies into a highly used public building.
Of course we can learn just as well from what worked, as what was
overlooked or hasn't worked so well. A few overall lessons might be:
don't be afraid to do what hasn't been done, as much as possible
keep systems simple and consider the long-term maintenance and
operating costs of every system, and, for a truly green building,
the ethic of efficiency and reducing ecological footprints should
extend to every aspect of the project, from waste handling to
lighting selection. If you are interested in seeing the centre, the
staff members are always thrilled to show off its green
technologies. The centre is open from May to October. More
information can also be found online at www.capejourimain.ca.
