Canadian uni to get North America's tallest BIPV facade

St. Mary's University (SMU) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, will become home to the tallest building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) micro-grid installation in North America, BIPV maker Mitrex announced earlier this week.

As part of the project, the south facade of the student residence will be retrofitted with more than 6,000 sq ft of solar cladding, accented by vertical, semi-opaque solar glass integrated into the windows. The design of the cladding panels combines school colours with "a subtle reveal of solar technology", Mitrex said. Completion is planned for early 2023.

The micro-grid will reduce the university’s emissions and will be able to disconnect from the grid and operate in island mode, if needed. A team including DSRA Architects, Dillon Consulting and BMR Structural Engineering is working on it, with construction being overseen by EllisDon Corporation and Markland Construction.

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