All buildings at Senakw to be heated by Metro Vancouver's sewage

Oct 8 2022, 2:33 am

The heating and cooling needs of the massive Senakw development at the south end of the Burrard Bridge will be fulfilled by a new on-site, zero-carbon district energy system.

This will be a partnership between Creative Energy and the Squamish First Nation, with the private utility building a system that will recover heat from Metro Vancouver Regional District’s sewers.

Sewage can be used to recover wastewater for heating or cooling, which takes advantage of the water that is heated from passing through buildings, and from hot water systems. All of this goes down the drain and into the sewers.

The district energy system for Senakw will capture this heat from the underground sewers to extract and reuse the energy through utility-scale heat pumps — for distribution across 3.8 million sq ft of total floor area across 11 towers on the 11-acre reserve.

The regional district’s trunk sewers between Kitsilano and the downtown Vancouver peninsula crosses through the reserve, with one sewer next to the bridge and another sewer following Chestnut Street.

Such a district energy system that utilizes the heat from sewers is one of the key green building design features that will make Senakw the largest carbon neutral rental housing development in Canada.

“We are proud to partner with the Squamish Nation to provide sustainable heating and cooling to the Sen̓áḵw Development,” said Wayne O’Connor, president and CEO of Creative Energy, in a statement.

“This development is an exciting opportunity to create a significant contribution to Vancouver through a carbon neutral purpose-built rental development that uses sewer waste heat as a primary resource. We are committed to working with Squamish Nation to support their economic development, as well as honour their land and history, while working towards a more sustainable, equitable future together.”

senakw squamish nation vancouver september 2022

September 2022 artistic rendering of the refined detailed design of Senakw: perspective looking east. (Revery Architecture/Kasian/Tandem Studios/Squamish Nation)

senakw squamish nation vancouver september 2022

September 2022 artistic rendering of the refined detailed design of Senakw: perspective looking northwest from Granville Street near West 4th Avenue. (Revery Architecture/Kasian/Tandem Studios/Squamish Nation)

It is estimated this district energy system will prevent 140,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over 30 years compared to using natural gas heating. This is equivalent to the positive impact after 10 years of planting 2.2 million tree seedlings.

Creative Energy has submitted its utility proposal to the BC Utilities Commission, and the system is slated be ready by 2024 — just in time for the completion of Senakw’s first phase in 2025/2026.

All four phases of Senakw will reach completion by 2033, creating a total of over 6,000 rental homes — including 4,800 market rental units and about 1,200 below-market rental units — and 170,000 sq ft of office, retail, and restaurant space. Each phase will generate about 1,500 rental homes.

“This district energy system is key to this project achieving carbon neutrality and to our goal of having as little impact on our environment as possible,” said Mindy Wight, the CEO of Nch’kaỷ Development Corporation, which is the private company wholly owned by the Squamish First Nation to oversee its revenue-generating business enterprises.

“We look forward to working closely with Creative Energy to create innovative low-carbon energy infrastructure for Vancouver, that will help reduce the carbon footprint not only of this project but the city as a whole.”

senakw squamish nation vancouver september 2022

September 2022 artistic rendering of the refined detailed design of Senakw: perspective looking southeast from Sunset Beach. (Revery Architecture/Kasian/Tandem Studios/Squamish Nation)

senakw squamish nation vancouver september 2022

September 2022 artistic rendering of the refined detailed design of Senakw: perspective looking east from Vanier Park. (Revery Architecture/Kasian/Tandem Studios/Squamish Nation)

Senakw’s district energy system will be designed with capacity to expand over time, including the ability to serve neighbouring buildings and interconnect with Creative Energy’s main network in the downtown Vancouver peninsula.

Within downtown Vancouver, the existing Creative Energy steam plant next to BC Place Stadium currently provides heating to over 200 buildings totalling 45 million sq ft of floor area. Westbank’s future office tower project replacing the steam plant will include a new replacement low-emission district energy system powered by BC Hydro.

Creative Energy is owned by Westbank, which is a key partner of the Squamish First Nation for Senakw, in partnership with Instar AGF. The utility is also building district systems for other major Westbank projects such as the Main Alley tech campus and the Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) developments.

senakw squamish nation vancouver september 2022

September 2022 artistic rendering of the refined detailed design of Senakw: new public spaces between the towers. (Revery Architecture/Kasian/Tandem Studios/Squamish Nation)

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