Dartmouth, NS – Darren Fisher, Member of Parliament for Dartmouth Cole Harbour, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, joined by Assistant Deputy Minister for Defence Research and Development Canada, Dr. Jaspinder Komal, today officially opened the Facility for Intelligent Marine Systems (FIMS). Renovations to the building that houses FIMS took place over four years, with a total project investment of almost $25 million.
Located on the campus of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO), Canada’s largest ocean research facility, FIMS is a collaboration between Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the Department of National Defence (DND) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Scientists and researchers from DFO, DND and NRCan working out of FIMS are pursuing ocean research using state-of-the-art uncrewed surface and underwater data collection platforms.
FIMS is co-located with the DFO Fish Lab, in a fully renovated building that is on track to achieve Green Globes Building Certification. Green Globes evaluates the environmental sustainability, health and wellness and resilience of commercial buildings and portfolios. During the renovation, a 100-kilowatt solar panel system was installed on the roof of the building, which is tied into the larger solar grid for the BIO Campus.
The building is also now being heated and cooled with new air handling systems and the campus’ seawater heat pump system. It is estimated that the renovations have reduced greenhouse gas emissions for the building by an estimated 75 per cent.
(Photo of Bedford Institute of Technology)
