Coal-fired and base-load natural gas power plants often continue to operate at a high capacity even when there is no demand for their electricity, because it is too expensive to reduce output only to increase it when demand picks up. This occurs primarily at night, when excess power needs to be dumped at whatever price […]

Ultraviolet reactors are currently used on a commercial scale to disinfect fluids such as drinking water and secondary effluent. However, current reactor designs are limited in their ability to treat optically thick fluids, due to the short penetration of the UV in these fluids. New reactor designs are required to overcome this problem. This internship […]

This research project will focus on gathering knowledge around policy development related to sustainability and the built environment. By working with a network of organizations (the Green Building Council Network) first hand experiences can be gathered on how Green Building Councils around the world have been able to come together with their national governments and […]

Advanced mathematical techniques will be applied to optimize the design of septic tanks of Clearford Industries. Effective design of these tanks depends on several operational parameters such as flow rate, temperature and location (industrial parks, rural communities or private individual properties) of the tanks. Due to the said parameters, it becomes difficult for the companies […]

Contaminants can become “trapped” in soil over time because of various chemical and biological processes. Trapped contaminants do not cause toxic effects in plants and soil animals even if it is detectible by chemical methods. Therefore, soil contaminant concentration can exceed established safety standards but represent minimal risk to soil organisms if the contaminant is […]

Evapotranspiration is a fundamental component of the hydrologic cycle. According to Environment Canada, on average, as much as 40% of precipitation in Canada is evaporated or transpired. Since evaporation makes up a considerable portion of the water budget, its variability will therefore have proportionally larger impacts on all other related processes. For example, evaporation impacts […]

A rural Saskatchewan resort community has contracted with Erin Consulting, Ltd, to offer environmentally friendly solutions to their wastewater treatment and management challenges. To that end, an intern from the University of Regina has been identified to help offer design options using native Prairie plants that can remove nutrients and pathogens from the water. The […]

The objective of this project is to assess the performance of engineered instream structures and observe changes in bed morphology that occurred on a side-channel restoration project on the Seymour River in British Columbia through field work and 2D modelling. Field work includes the collection of velocities using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), several […]

Through a review of best practices in planning and economic development for sustainable communities the partner will obtain background information on how to move forward strategically with implementing the Green Business Transformation Project. A comparison of existing planning policies in South Simcoe at the provincial, regional and local level with sustainable community models provides Nottawasaga […]

The City of Hamilton and McMaster University School of Engineering and Public Policy are developing a proposal for public policies that will divert disposal diapers from landfill. The project will recommend the most effective and efficient public policies to address the diaper waster diversion initiatives of the city to meet their waste reduction goal. The […]

The City of Hamilton and McMaster University School of Engineering Practice are developing a proposal for environmentally friendly technologies that will eliminate the need to send the soiled diapers to a landfill. The project will recommend the most effective technologies and estimate the costs of building such a facility. The City has set a goal […]

The American marten is a mink sized member of the weasel family. The Cape Breton Island population is believed to consist of fewer than 50 individuals. The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources (NSDNR; partner organization) have already begun efforts to augment the population in association with other partners. Individual based models (IBMs) are used […]