The Sleeman Centre in Guelph, Ont. recently added a new high-efficiency heating and cooling system as part of the City’s plan to build North America’s first city-wide district energy network.

Guelph’s premier sports and entertainment venue is the first of many planned district energy facilities. The system is owned and operated by Envida Community Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Guelph Hydro Inc. It will serve as the central heating and cooling plant for the Galt District Energy System.

The system uses natural gas to heat water in boilers for space heating. It also has a central water chilling unit for cooling. The system will be expanded to heat Guelph’s River Run Centre, as well as other commercial and residential developments in the area, later this year.

“The network can distribute heat from a variety of sources including traditional fuels like natural gas and renewable resources like solar thermal, combined heat and power systems, geothermal, biofuels and even industrial waste heat,” says Rob Kerr, corporate manager of community energy for the City of Guelph. “This offers reliable, cost-competitive energy services for commercial, industrial and residential facilities, and creates exciting opportunities for energy investors and project developers.”

While there are thousands of individual district energy systems in place around the world, Guelph is the first community in North America to announce a plan for an interconnected thermal grid that will serve industrial, commercial and residential buildings across the city.

Buildings that are connected to district energy systems don’t need individual furnaces, air conditioning units or water heaters. The underground network of pipes allow multiple buildings to share energy for heating, cooling and hot water. Guelph’s goal is to use its district energy network supply for at least 50 per cent of the community’s heating needs in the next 30 years.