MONTREAL/April 12, 2007—
Hydro-Quèbec announced an $8 million donation to Concordia University's Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science (ENCS) today. The announcement was made at a reception attended by Concordia University President Claude Lajeunesse and Thierry Vandal, President and CEO of Hydro-Quèbec.
$4.8 million of these funds will be used to create two new multi-disciplinary research chairs in Electrical Energy Conservation and Distribution Automation and Integrated Building Design and Operation. Areas of research for the first chair will include distribution automation, demand-side management, economic factors, environmental issues, consumer profiling and human behaviour. The second chair will focus on multidisciplinary research to develop energy efficient, high-performance sustainable buildings at lower costs. The remaining $3.2 million will be used for scholarships and fellowships (Bourses Hydro-Quèbec) for Concordia students.
ìEnergy efficiency is one of Hydro-Quèbec's top priorities. We plan to reduce consumption by almost 5 billion kWh by 2010. Concordia University is a reputable institution that we are proud to count as a partner in our energy efficiency effortsî, said Thierry Vandal, Hydro-Quèbec's president and CEO.
ìThis announcement marks the latest step in a long and fruitful partnership between Concordia's Engineering Faculty and Hydro-Quèbec,î said Concordia president Claude Lajeunesse. ìThis is also an important day for research into energy conservation and integrated building design. These research chairs, together with other work being done in the Faculty, make ENCS a leader in
this field.î
Concordia University and Hydro-Quèbec are collaborating on a number of successful projects. Hydro-Quèbec is a partner in The Solar Buildings Research Network, a nationally accessible research and development base headquartered at Concordia University that works on the adaptation and innovative integration of new and existing solar and building technologies for the Canadian climate and marketplace. The two organisations have also worked together on other research areas focusing on energy savings using electricity in buildings, the vulnerability of nuclear power plants against man-made hazards, evaluation projects, energy analysis programs and various other research projects.
Concordia is the only university in Canada to offer an engineering program dedicated to building design and operation that is focused on improving energy efficiency. The Faculty has one of the largest schools of graduate engineering studies in Canada and upholds some of the highest standards of teaching.
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Source :
Tanya Churchmuch
Senior Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University
