The Calgary Downtown District Energy Centre project involves the development of a heat generation facility. That Energy Centre generates thermal energy, in the form of hot water that is pumped through a network of insulated underground pipes to over 15 buildings such as City Hall, several residential condo towers in the East Village, the new Central Library, National Music Centre and many more. This thermal energy is used for domestic hot water for showers, sinks, pools, restaurants etc. and space heating to keep you warm throughout Calgary’s sub-zero months. Think of it like heating that’s in the cloud. Except the water is boiled down the street. What it means for building owners and operators is that their once, larger boiler mechanical rooms can be reduced to a small broom closet with a few heat exchangers, capable of providing hot water when and where the customer needs it. Once the hot water is put through a heat exchanger at the customer’s building, the water is returned to the central plant (District Energy) to be reheated and then recirculated through the closed-loop piping system.​​

 

The advantage of a district heating system is that, because it serves many customers from one location, it can accomplish things boilers in individual buildings usually can’t. Buildings connected to district energy systems have lower capital costs (less maintenance, no boiler operators), and since no boiler room is required, they save valuable building space. The district energy system is monitored 24/7 by ENMAX, and redundancy is built into the system making it very reliable.​

District heating is also more efficient, has fewer emissions and is more cost-effective than conventional heating systems.