Session

Thompson Rivers University (TRU), a public academic and research university, and Creative Energy, a leader in innovative district energy solutions, have partnered to design, build, own, and operate a low-carbon district energy system (LCDES) for TRU’s main campus in Kamloops, BC. From the heart of campus, a new Energy Centre will house a two-stage (air-source/water-source) heat pump system that will be the primary source of heating for the LCDES. These heat pumps are powered by the clean electricity grid in BC and allow the Energy Centre to pull heat out of the ambient air, and step it up to high-quality energy that can be used for campus heating. As the LCDES only relies on natural-gas boilers for back-up and peaking purposes, connected buildings on campus will experience an emission reduction of 90% compared to their baseline operation (100% natural gas boilers). At full build-out, the LCDES will not require the use of any fossil fuels, fully eliminating combustion emissions from campus. The Energy Centre was also designed to serve as a “living lab” for the campus, with floor-to-ceiling windows and digital dashboards being incorporated into it’s façade to help student, staff and faculty learn as much as possible about the clean heat generated by the system. This session will take attendees “behind-the-scenes” of the project, as TRU and Creative Energy outline the journey the project team has been on to make real steps towards campus-wide decarbonization.