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Aerial view of the New Science Building, consisting of two tiers, with a rooftop garden on the lower tier and rows of solar panels on top of the higher tier
Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn

UTM’s New Science Building Is a Model of Sustainability

Inside and out, the building is designed to shrink its carbon footprint while inspiring the next generation of researchers Read More

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It’s not often you have to weed inside a building,” says Rob Eidukaitis, senior manager of grounds and property management at U of T Mississauga. “But it’s all part of a new way of thinking about sustainability.”

This approach is on full display at UTM’s New Science Building, which opened last fall. With four storeys of state-of-the-art lab space spanning 90,000 square feet, the facility is designed not just for research but also as a model for how universities can shrink their environmental footprint.

The building’s green features extend from top to bottom – from a rooftop solar array to a rainwater storage tank underground. Together, they make the New Science Building one of the most energy-efficient biological and chemical labs in North America.

The facility consumes 65 per cent less energy than a typical research building and has earned Silver certification from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). As part of its green commitment, U of T Mississauga plans to design all new buildings to a minimum LEED Gold standard – a key step toward cutting campus carbon emissions 37 per cent by 2030 compared to 2005.

Built for the Future

UTM’s New Science Building blends cutting-edge labs with green design to save energy and water, and reduce CO2 emission

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Two workers holding bundles of plants in a garden enclosed by walls of glass. A lobby and desk stations can be seen through the glass.
Gardens sit inside at the base of glass columns stretching from lobby to roof. All photos by Nick Iwanyshyn
Ant's eye view of the open sky at the end of a tunnel of glass columns
These open-top light wells bring natural illumination into labs and collaboration spaces, reducing the need for electric lighting.
A large room containing red and black interconnected pipes and machinery
For heating and cooling, the building draws from UTM’s geothermal field, installed under the building to curb campus carbon emissions. The field contains pipes filled with fluid that extracts heat from the building in summer and stores it underground, then returns the heat to the building in cooler seasons.
Two people working on one of three grey cylindrical structures, with the label
The geothermal field works in tandem with the building’s high-efficiency HVAC system, which includes heat-recovery pumps, ultra-low velocity fume hoods and a rooftop exhaust system to remove hazardous air from labs with minimal energy and noise. The lab ventilation system runs only when needed to reduce energy consumption.
Aerial view of rows of solar panels lining the roof of a glass-panelled section of a building surrounded by a rooftop garden
Rows of solar panels line the roof and generate up to 70kW of electricity (enough to power 200 computers or 2,800 light fixtures) to help offset the building’s demand.
Three people crouched down, working on a rooftop garden, consisting of different types of plants
A green roof (UTM’s ninth) collects storm water, while native plants help cool the building and its surrounding.
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About The Author

Author image: Kate Martin

Kate Martin

Senior Staff Reporter, Office of Communications, U of T Mississauga

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  2. Pete Bulas says:

    Political whims come and go and political parties may rise and fall but science has much greater staying power. Science will always answer more questions than politics. Beautiful building. I hope much good work and research is conducted there and we learn a lot along the way.

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