The solar wall is located on the south side of 1.4 hectare (3.5 acre), 11150 m2 (120000 sq. ft.) building which serves as the City of Saint John’s Transit Centre bus garage or bus barn. Along with several other energy saving and environmentally sustainable features this building has earned a LEED Silver standard and has received several environmental awards.
Other energy saving and environmentally sustainable features of the Transit Centre include 44% reduction in energy consumption saving $130000, an annual reduction of 900 t (1000 tons) of CO2, passive solar heating of the administrative offices, rainwater harvesting for use in the bus wash bay, high efficient in floor hot water heating system, heat exchangers to capture heat from large amounts of heated exhaust air, and 50% recycled building materials such as steel used in the original construction.
Under the city’s Sustainable Energy Management program, there are several construction and retrofit projects that are employing and investigating the use of renewable energy technologies and systems including solar hot air and water, PV, low-energy LED lighting, wind, and heat recovery systems. The City is planning a Green Thermal Utility, a district heating and cooling system using renewable resources such as harbour water for cooling, waste heat recovery from building HVAC systems and industrial waste and sewage treatment, and underground thermal energy storage for heating in winter and cooling in summer.
