George Brown College breaks ground for new facility to develop best practices in sustainable building

George Brown College hosted a ground breaking ceremony this morning marking the start of construction on a new facility that will support the growing Canadian green and smart building market. When completed in 2014, the building will house full-scale applied research development projects in partnership with local businesses and train students in advanced construction systems, green energy and computer-enabled, efficient buildings.

“This new facility expands on George Brown’s expertise in construction, allowing us to take on more ambitious applied research projects,” said Laura Jo Gunter, senior vice president, Academic, George Brown College. “Its unique focus on sustainable building will prepare our students to become leaders in this growing area, while creating space for industry to develop and test new products, services and techniques.”

The building is supported by a Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) $6.6 million Prosperity Initiative contribution, matched by George Brown’s own investment of $6.8 million.

“By supporting the growing green building market, our Government is not only helping to create more energy efficient buildings while creating jobs in southern Ontario, but we are also solidifying Canada’s leadership in the sustainable building industry on the world stage,” said the Honourable Peter Van Loan, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

Located within George Brown’s Centre for Construction and Engineering Technologies, the facility will offer a range of services, including business development, intellectual property management, venture creation, as well as product development and testing through the Business Accelerator and Entrepreneurship Centre, Advanced Prototyping Lab, and Building Science Lab.

As part of its focus on ensuring the innovation economy has the right skills, George Brown has made it a mission to support and advance industry- and community-problem solving through excellence in applied research, commercialization and scholarship. The college also provides enhanced training programs to ensure that more job-ready graduates enter the market and advance the building sector’s adoption of new approaches, methods, standards and technologies.