GeoThermal in Multi-Family Buildings

Please join TEECC’s special guest, Tim Weber, partner and co-founder of Diverso Energy. Tim will speak with us about the fascinating work his company does as a geothermal utility company.

Tim has more than 25 years in the HVAC industry with 15 of those focused exclusively on geothermal. Geothermal energy systems use the earth’s storage capability to heat and cool buildings and to supply hot water.

With a broad knowledge of HVAC design and applications, geothermal and commercial real estate, Tim identifies projects which best align with the Diverso Energy model and helps them maximize their economic benefit.

Tim will discuss his business structure of design, build, operate and finance.

We will discuss:

• the profile of developers that choose geothermal
• the state of the market
• what is needed to scale this solution for zero-carbon buildings.

At the centre of our discussion is the question: how can we develop a strategy to make geothermal the default source of heating and cooling in new medium and large developments that are springing up throughout Toronto and the GTA?

The Series

This is the first in a series of discussions that will focus on geothermal and district energy. Subsequent discussions will focus on district energy, incentives, government policy, and local politics. In keeping with TEECC’s focus on constructive responses to the climate crisis, we will look for opportunities to promote the implementation of these technologies widely, with a specific focus on the new developments springing up throughout the GTA.

Geothermal

Geothermal involves drilling bore holes deep into the ground directly under or adjacent to a building. During the summer, heat is extracted from the building and pumped into the ground where it is stored. During the winter that heat is extracted from the ground and used to heat the building. Geothermal is gaining popularity among new large and medium sized developments throughout the GTA.

District Energy

District energy, which can be combined with geothermal, is a system of heating and cooling where a network of pipes carries water from one building to another. Buildings connect to this network of pipes. During the summer they cool the buildings and transfer excess heat to the water in the pipes; during the winter they extract heat from the water in the pipes and use it to warm the buildings. Many buildings in the city’s core share such a network. The technology is more than 100 years old and common in city centres throughout North America and in dense European neighbourhoods.

Reduced Electrical Demand

Toronto has over 400,000 buildings. If all of the city’s buildings were to use only air source heat pumps, they would place an extreme demand on the City’s electrical grid. Both geothermal and district energy use much less electricity than air source heat pumps. They are expensive to install but, amortized over their long life, provide inexpensive and reliable heating and cooling regardless of the increasing price of electricity.