Red Deer Polytechnic's Committed to Energy Innovation

Through the Alternative Energy Lab, and the Energy Innovation Centre, RDP students can explore and uncover the future of sustainable energy.

Sustainable energy is a cornerstone of the research being done by students, faculty, and industry, with help from Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), a public college in the heart of Alberta.

Learn more about what RDP is doing to make sustainable energy a reality. Interested in energy? Dream big at RDP!

Red Deer Polytechnic's Alternative Energy Lab

The Alternative Energy Lab (AEL) was built as a "physical and virtual platform for learning about alternative energy systems." It's a huge facility, designed as an open learning lab for students, constructed as part of RDP's ongoing Green Campus Initiative.

The lab is adorned with hundreds of solar panels, allowing students and industry researchers to study data and information about energy generation by replicating real-world conditions, such as installation and seasonal variance. Students and researchers also learn from and analyze data generated by RDP's other alternative energy sources.

The AEL is rated LEED Silver (a method of rating a building's sustainability), allowing students to discover both active and passive solar strategies with the help of a teaching Combined Heat and Power unit.

Equipment within the AEL has been designed with mirrored technology in mind, replicating and simulating systems associated with alternative energy production units. RDP has combined heat and power units, one which produces energy for the campus and is located just outside the lab, and another smaller unit inside the lab, where students can learn on similar technology.

Students in the AEL

As a teaching and learning lab, RDP students learn in, and from, the facility. More than 1,000 students engage within the AEL each year, and learners in programs such as Electrician, Instrumentation and Control Technician, Carpenter, and more benefit from the facility.

A living laboratory for data management, big data integration of various alternative energy systems, and machine learning, the AEL provides real-time, applied learning opportunities to RDP students, interdisciplinary research and study, as well as work-integrated learning.

The Energy Innovation Centre

RDP works with industry leaders to educate the next generation of energy experts. The Energy Innovation Centre is both a physical and virtual hub, demonstrating the potential use and integration of new energy systems technologies and applications. RDP aims to:

• Increase understanding and awareness in the community
• Exemplify the use and integration of alternative and renewable energy systems
• Provide access to relevant and local data and information
• Support industry in developing new solutions
• Make our state-of-the-art facilities available for industry and student training purposes

The EIC hosts a network of knowledge around the design and efficacy of alternative and renewable energy sources. We fill the research and development gap for companies interested in integrating or pursuing alternative energy, and can provide them with applied research services.

Students benefit from these industry partnerships, ensuring RDP students are on the cutting edge of renewable, sustainable, and alternative energies.

Curious to learn more? Read all about sustainability at RDP! And if you'd like to explore sustainable and alternative energies with us, explore RDP programs on our website.