KWL Wins CCE Award of Excellence
KWL received the Award of Excellence for its Central at Garden City District Energy System Mini-Plant at the 2017 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards gala held on October 24 in Ottawa.
The Central at Garden City District Energy System Mini-Plant is Phase 4 of the Alexandra District Energy Utility (ADEU), the largest ambient heating and cooling district energy system in North America. The mini-plant was developed to service a new 284,000 sq. ft. shopping mall, while also integrating with the main ADEU system.
The ADEU is the first district energy system in Canada to provide heating and cooling to large-format retail buildings using low-carbon air-source heat pump (ASHP) technology. Buildings at Central at Garden City can share energy through the central heating and cooling mini-plant. An energy transfer station links the mini-plant to the main ADEU system, allowing the ASHPs to either back-feed the entire Alexandra neighbourhood and share excess cooling energy or heat captured from the outside air with the larger neighbourhood, or recharge the geoexchange loop.
The ADEU has an estimated 25-year life cycle. When it reaches full capacity (in about 2025), it will eliminate 800 t CO2e per year.
Kerr Wood Leidal Associates designed and administered construction of this project for the City of Richmond.