RC114 SeptOct 2024 - Magazine - Page 15
THE FUTURE IS THERMAL
District energy systems show the way to net-zero
by Glenn Miller
ONG BEFORE JUSTIN TRUDEAU committed Canada to achieving net-zero by 2050, cities across the country were
already hard at work devising community energy
plans to reduce generated by urban development.
Many of the boldest plans centred on creating or
expanding district energy (DE) projects4thermal
grids of underground piping, in most cases connected to a
central plant, that distribute hot water for heating or chilled
water for cooling.
Nowhere are plans for expanding the role of district
energy to achieve climate goals more ambitious than in
Markham, Ont., which boasts two separate DE systems operated by Markham District Energy Inc. (MDE). The largest
of MDE9s two DE systems4the fast-growing Markham
Centre4got its start 25 years ago when IBM Canada decided to locate its major data centre there. Markham Centre
today serves nearly 250 buildings, totalling 14.3-million
square feet of development, with the potential to grow to
40-million square feet of industrial, commercial, residential
and institutional space.
L
World’s largest WET project
In July, MDE broke ground on its Low Carbon Energy
Centre (LCEC), which includes what promises to be the
