The Bioenergy Plant at the University of Northern British Columbia’s (UNBC) Prince George campus has achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certification from the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). It is the first LEED platinum facility in northern B.C., and the first university building in the province to achieve this status.

The bioenergy plant began heating buildings on the Prince George campus in March 2011. Featuring gasification technology supplied by Nexterra Systems of Vancouver, the facility uses sawmill residue provided by Lakeland Mills Ltd. of Prince George. Approximately 4,100 tonnes of hog fuel were used in 2012, producing 62,000 gigajoules of energy and offsetting close to 90 per cent of UNBC’s fossil fuel consumption for heating the buildings connected to the district energy system.