Client: Dalhousie University
Year: 2014 – 2016
Project Highlights
- 38,000 kg of GHG Reduction Annually
- ~23% Reduction in Energy Losses
- 2,000 trench meters of Distribution Piping in Downtown Halifax
From Steam to Hot Water in Halifax: University phases out aging heating system
Located on Canada’s welcoming East Coast, with campuses in the vibrant oceanside city of Halifax and an Agricultural Campus in the town of Truro, Dalhousie (DAL) welcomes 21,000 students from across the country and more than 115 countries around the world. Like many other century old Canadian Universities, DAL had an aging steam system that connected it’s three downtown campuses. As a result of age and the corrosive nature of condensate, the steam system that supplied energy to their Sexton Campus was not able to return condensate when DAL engaged FVB Energy in 2014. FVB completed a detailed feasibility study to assess all options available to DAL to continue serving Sexton which included the status quo, replacement/renewal, and conversion to hot water. As a result of that study, DAL received board approval to commence on the school’s largest energy savings project to date which was comprised of converting the campus from steam to low temperature hot water. Although the source of the hot water was still steam produced from their Central Energy Plant, the installation of over 2km of new insulated EN253 hot water piping combined with energy efficient steam-to-hot water converters resulted in substantial energy savings over the life of the project.
One of the primary challenges of this project was installing 2km of new piping infrastructure in downtown Halifax, which was predominantly city owned municipal right-of-way. FVB designed an efficient and flexible piping system that allowed for fewer expansion elements and worked closely with the installation contractor to resolve unforeseeable conflicts in the old city roads. The result was a distribution system that had 23% less energy losses and requires a fraction of the maintenance of the old system.
FVB Energy was the prime consultant for this project which included a new 10 MWt energy centre with steam to hot water converters, new low temperature hot water piping, and five (5) new energy transfer stations. FVB completed the feasibility study, detailed design, and construction support services and was the engineer of record for this transformative project
More Information
Visit Dalhousie University
Click for a Featured Article by the FVB Project Manager, Michael Conte P.Eng., published in District Energy Magazine
Keywords
Campus, Steam-to-Hot Water Conversion, DPS, ETS