WATERLOO NORTH HYDRO SITE DEMONSTRATES A NEW WAY TO HEAT AND COOL A BUILDING
Innovia GEO Corp. (Innovia GEO), Waterloo North Hydro Inc. (WNH), and Grand River Energy Corporation (GRE) are pleased to announce the commissioning of a Geothermal Pile demonstration system at the WNH’s Eby Rush Transformer Station.
The demonstration system consists of 8 piles installed between 50 and 60 feet deep, connected to the building's heating and cooling system. As part of the project, the building’s mechanical system was also upgraded with a new variable speed heat pump. Detailed testing of the system will be conducted throughout the year with winter season testing underway.
“WNH is pleased to be hosting such an innovative project and we are excited [to] support the advancement of a technology we have direct experience with,” said Rene Gatien, President, and CEO of WNH. “A key component of our LEED Silver certified Main Office and Service Centre is a geothermal system that provides most of the heating, hot water heating and cooling for the building.”
Typical geothermal systems, which use the temperature of the ground to efficiently heat and cool buildings, have high up-front costs due to the requirement to install plastic piping in the ground. The Innovia GEO system integrates the geothermal capabilities directly into the building’s steel foundation pillars.
“By enabling the dual use of a building’s steel foundation pile, we can increase the adoption of clean and efficient geothermal heating and cooling by dramatically cutting the upfront cost,” said Andrew Lee, President of Innovia GEO.
“As a company focused on the Distributed Energy Resources “DER” market, GRE is particularly interested in geothermal systems because of their potential to “electrify” heating and cooling systems in buildings,” said GRE’s President and CEO, Mike Savel.
For more information on the project, please visit https://www.innoviageo.com/projects.
Acknowledgments:
This project was made possible through the financial support of the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). The IESO Grid Innovation Fund advances innovative opportunities to achieve electricity bill savings for Ontario ratepayers by funding projects that either enables customers to better manage their energy consumption or help reduces the costs associated with maintaining reliable operation of the province’s grid.
Innovia GEO would also like to thank the following organizations for their help in implementing the project: Dr. Seth Dworkin and his team from Ryerson University for their research on system characterization and optimization, WalterFedy for engineering services, HC Matcon for pile installation services, Arcadian Projects for mechanical and electrical services, American Pile Driving Equipment for the piles, and Argentum Electronics for the control system.
About Innovia GEO:
Innovia GEO provides energy-efficient geothermal heating and cooling solutions to owners, developers, and other stakeholders involved in the design, construction, and operation of buildings and homes. Our mission is to support the sustainable development of our world by developing innovative ways to increase the use and adoption of renewable thermal energy systems. For further information please visit https://www.innoviageo.com/.
About Waterloo North Hydro:
At Waterloo North Hydro, we touch the lives of our customers every day, providing the electricity needed for their homes, schools, and businesses. We deliver electricity safely and reliably, at the lowest reasonable cost. Serving more than 58,000 customers, we deliver energy across a large urban and rural service area spanning 683 square km. We do so with employees all focused on quality service and customer satisfaction. For further information please visit https://www.wnhydro.com/.
About Grand River Energy:
GRE is a sustainable energy solutions company, passionate about helping organizations create their own power, use less energy, optimize energy usage, and benefit from government incentives to drastically reduce their operational costs and carbon footprint. GRE offers energy installation design-build services with a complete in-house team of contract administration, design technicians, project managers, and certified skilled trades with over 20 years of electrical, mechanical, and project installation experience in industrial systems and renewable energy. For further information please visit https://grandriverenergy.com/.
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