City of Richmond Wins District Energy Award

KWL congratulates the City of Richmond, winner of the 2016 IDEA System of the Year Award for the Alexandra District Energy Utility, which is the largest ambient heating and cooling district energy system in North America. It uses ground heat as an energy source, and has an ultimate capacity of 13.4 megawatts of heating and 5.8 megawatts of cooling for 3.1 million square feet of space. KWL designed the Phase 3 expansion of the utility.

IDEA (the International District Energy Association) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1909 to facilitate the exchange of information among district energy professionals. IDEA has over 2,000 members in 25 countries and works to foster the success of its members in providing reliable, economical, efficient and environmentally sound district heating, district cooling and cogeneration.

The IDEA System of the Year Award is the highest honour that IDEA can confer on a district energy system. It recognizes an exemplary district energy system providing high-level performance and service that further the goals of the district energy industry. The award was presented to the City of Richmond at the 107th Annual Conference and Tradeshow held in St. Paul, MN, June 20-23, 2016.