Toronto's Metro Hall is the cool place to be
TORONTO,
July 24 /CNW/ - Today, the City of Toronto and Enwave Energy Corporation
officially opened the valve to begin cooling Metro Hall at 55 John Street
with deep lake water.
Enwave's
Deep Lake Water Cooling system uses three intake pipes to bring cold water
from Lake Ontario into Toronto to cool buildings. The pipes are 83 metres
below the surface of Lake Ontario, where the water temperature is at a
constant four degrees Celsius.
"The
City of Toronto is doing its part to reduce energy demand by implementing
the Deep Lake Water Cooling system," said Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone.
"This project alone will reduce the City's electricity peak demand
use by one-and-a-half megawatts each year. That's enough electricity to
power 174 homes."
Along
with implementing Enwave's Deep Lake Water Cooling system, the City is
upgrading its facilities to make them more energy efficient. So far, over
140 facilities - arenas, community centres, fire halls and office
buildings - have been upgraded to save money and energy.
Metro
Hall is the first municipal facility to be added to Enwave's Deep Lake
Water Cooling system, and the 46th building signed on to the system. At
its last meeting, Toronto City Council approved staff to proceed with
plans to add Old City Hall at 60 Queen St. W., to the pipe by 2008 and to
look at the feasibility of connecting City Hall.
At
full capacity, Enwave's Deep Lake Water Cooling system can service more
than 100 office buildings and reduces electricity use that is equivalent
to 6,800 homes. As a result, about 79,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide that
would otherwise be produced by conventional air conditioning annually,
will not be emitted into the air. That is equivalent to taking 15,800 cars
off the road.
"This
is one of the cleanest and most cost effective ways to cool a
building," said Dennis Fotinos, president and CEO of Enwave Energy
Corporation.
"Using a renewable source of cold water from the depths of Lake
Ontario to provide air conditioning and cleaner drinking water is not only
environmentally friendly but also a good business decision. We are pleased
to have the City of Toronto join other reputable property managers already
on the system."
Enwave serves 51 per cent of the potential
heating market and provides heating and/or cooling services to over 140
institutional and commercial buildings in downtown Toronto. Enwave was
reconstituted in December 1999 as a private corporation with OMERS (the
Borealis Penco Fund) and the City of Toronto as shareholders. For more
information on the Deep Lake Water Cooling system, visit www.toronto.ca/environment/initiatives/cooling.htm
or www.enwave.com.
