The Joyce Center is a sustainability-focused learning hub having seven stories of labs, student study spaces and collaboration areas with the building itself being highly energy efficient with enough renewable energy to offset the annual carbon emissions associated with operations. According to the Mohawk College website, Joyce houses a: “cutting-edge Digital Creativity Center and labs specializing in digital health, avionics, renewable energy resting, sustainable design, energy and power management, physics and metrology, industrial automation and cyber security”. Alongside these labs there are two lecture halls, cafe and gallery that hosts events and a Center for Climate Change Management to help drive research.

Within the design of the building no detail was overlooked with the envelope of the budding designed to be air tight to prevent heating and cooling loss, increase thermal comfort for the occupants, green areas and surfaces that reflect heat from the sun. Renewable energy was a major consideration when designing the building and taking into account the Zero Carbon Build Standard with a 1,980 panel solar array generating roughly 730,000 kWh of energy annually. The building also has an all electric set up that allows the building to decrease the amount of carbon that it would emit over the course of a year. One of the most interesting aspects of this building is the geothermal system that is generated and stored in the 18 geothermal wells that are drilled to a depth of 605 feet. This allows the Joyce Center to take advantage of the Canadian climate but storing heat extracted during cooling season into the ground and drawing that heat for the building to use.