By Adam Hortop
I get curious when I see construction in my neighbourhood. Is it going to be a tower, a mid-rise, a parking structure, or perhaps some row-houses? But sometimes the construction happens and then nothing appears. The cranes and trucks disappear and all that is left is fresh sod.
You may have noticed a few of these in Lowertown recently – for example, along the Ottawa River shoreline between the Rideau Falls and the Mint. These are actually part of a very exciting infrastructure project for the Ottawa-Gatineau area. In fact, at the time of writing, this is the 23rd largest infrastructure project in Canada. And most of it is pipes in the ground, hence the sod.
The suspense must be killing you…
The National Capital District Energy System, which began operation in 1918, is being modernized, expanded, and made carbon neutral. But what is a district energy system? Well, in this case a few large facilities will produce hot and cold water, which will flow in a network of pipes to 80 buildings throughout the national capital area. The buildings themselves are being upgraded with smart energy systems that can transfer the energy to or from the water in order to heat or cool the building. The district energy model for heating and cooling works out to be more cost effective and energy efficient than even modern heat pumps. This means that reducing the carbon footprint of the heating and cooling for all 80 buildings can be done by upgrading just a few facilities, which is what will happen between now and 2030. And it isn’t just federal buildings that will benefit from the expansion. The Adisoke Library – the new Ottawa Public Library and Library and Archives Canada joint facility – will be the first new client of the modernized system.
District energy systems have been around for ages. Some cities have systems such as these serving most of the residential apartments too. I lived in Berlin for a few years. If you pass through the centre of that city, not far from Alexanderplatz, there is a coal-fired power plant. The heat that couldn’t be used to produce electricity was used to warm water that flowed to apartment buildings throughout the city. A “heat transfer” meter, like a hydro meter, would tally up the heating bill each month.
Back home, the national capital system is focused largely on institutional buildings. However, there are new smaller district energy systems sprouting up that will serve residential buildings. Right beside the Adisoke Library is the future site of two large towers, called Dream Lebreton. This innovative development is working with the City of Ottawa to use a wastewater energy transfer system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with heating. The Dream Lebreton site is right on top of a huge sewer pipe. Before you get grossed out, I will assure you that nothing but heat is transferred out of the sewer. Another example is right around the corner. The Zibi development uses pipes to transfer waste heat from the industrial process at the Kruger paper site. Using this heat means that it doesn’t go to waste and emissions associated with producing heat can be avoided. These are the kinds of large systemic changes that need to proliferate quickly and broadly so that we are all moving towards carbon neutrality, regardless of our will, education, or capacity for individual action.
As the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” We tend not to think about the stuff under the sod after the cranes and trucks are gone. And so, it will likely be with the district energy system. If it works well it will go on operating for another hundred years with most Lowertowners never needing to think about it. But for those who do, we can be thankful that some good people are making things better for future generations.