The town of Dollard-des-Ormeaux has been awarded the Energia 2013 trophy for an innovative technology employed to help heat and cool portions of its civic centre.
The prize was awarded by the Association québécoise de la maîtrise de l’énergie (AQME) in the “Existing building — institutional sector” category.
Every year, AQME honours the best in safe and efficient energy-management practices in both the private and public sectors.
The win was for the use of CO2 technology, which uses the heat generated by the cooling-system compressors of the arenas to help heat the 250,000-square-foot civic centr, which houses three skating rinks, two swimming pools, a library, a community centre, cultural centre and the city hall.
“I’ve been giving a lot of presentations about the system over the last two years,” Dollard’s buildings division head Guy Dubé said. “But we didn’t want to enter the (AQME) contest until we had a full slate of numbers to show.”
The CO2 technology system is an alternative to the ammonia or HFC refrigerant systems commonly used. The cooling and heat-recovery system, supplied by Carnot Refrigeration, is non-toxic and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, facts which helped the city obtain a $103,000 grant from the government-funded Programme d’optimisation en réfrigération (OPTER).
And because the project would reduce energy consumption — by 4.7 million kilowatts hours — Hydro-Québec gave a subsidy of $1.38 million.
“It’s paying back, big time,” Dubé said.
Dubé, project engineer David Mercier, buildings foreman Érick Laliberté and project co-engineer Kristel De Repentigny oversaw the implementation of the technology, which has resulted in energy costs being reduced by 25 per cent — or $257,000 annually. Installing the technology was part of a $7-million overhaul of the civic centre.
Monitoring of the system can be done via computer or tablet from any location with access to the Internet or Wi-Fi.
So why isn’t everyone using CO2 technology?
“People are often wary of new technology,” Dubé said. “But innovation doesn’t scare me. We were ready to try something that is safe for humans and good for the environment.”