001-48_126_RENEW_SEPT-OCT26_PT - Flipbook - Page 39
“District energy systems are among the most efficient ways to reduce
emissions in urban environments, and the Energy Services Acquisition
Program reflects our government’s commitment to build a more
sustainable future in the National Capital Region.”
STANTEC; IDEA (INSET)
The Cliff Energy Centre sits along one of Ottawa’s most recognizable
viewsheds, with naturalized landscaping, public access, and what may
be the first public elevator built into the parliamentary escarpment.
Representatives from IDEA2026—the International District Energy
Association’s annual conference—gathered at the new Cliff Energy
Centre, for the launch of the modernized National Capital Region
District Energy System.
Beyond the escarpment
The ribbon-cutting showcased the power of public-private partnerships and the successful implementation of
cleaner, more sustainable energy at scale. IDEA2026 spent
the next three days answering how to use this model as a
blueprint the rest of the world could follow. The opening
plenary panel of IDEA2026 kicked o昀昀 with experts from
Cordia, Vicinity Energy, Enwave, CenTrio, Corix, Creative
Energy, and Equans, who covered what moves a customer
to connect to district energy. While the bene昀椀ts are vast
and depend on who’s buying, the underlying advantage
doesn’t change. District energy systems innovate, adapt,
and scale technologies to achieve sustainability goals and
mandates in ways that a single building’s boiler or chiller
cannot.
RENEWCANADA.NET
The second plenary panel took the argument
international, with voices from IDEA, ESAP, the
International Energy Agency, Ireland’s Sustainable Energy Authority, UNIDO, Johnson
Controls, and the UAE’s Empower discussing
why net zero may be achievable without thermal
networks, but it will cost more, take more time
and resources, and perform less reliably. That
argument carried into the Awards Luncheon, where representatives from 17 countries across North America, Europe,
Asia, and the Middle East signed a global memorandum of
understanding committing to elevate district energy as core
clean infrastructure.
Data centers, electri昀椀cation, and housing growth were also
major topics among panelists and session presenters, who
explored how grids are absorbing new demand they were
never built to handle. What attendees learned is that the
math really doesn’t work without district energy in the mix.
The conference also recognized standout work from the
previous year. The City of Vancouver’s False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility, recognized for its renewable energy
performance, won the prestigious System of the Year Award.
Johnson Controls won the Joseph M. Brillhart Innovation
Award for a hybrid steam-electric chiller project at the
University of Windsor. IDEA also awarded six students with
the John Gray Scholarship and three with the Patti Wilson
Leadership Program. IDEA also introduced Tim Peer, vice
president of District Energy at BOND Building Construction,
as its incoming Board Chair.
What Ottawa built here will keep running quietly under
Parliament Hill for decades to come. The world came to
Canada to see what’s next in district energy. Ottawa showed
them.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026 – RENEW CANADA 39
