The Project
Oakridge Park will transform the previously under-utilized 28-acre site of the Oakridge Centre mall into an urban enclave in the heart of Vancouver featuring 14 towers with 2,600 homes, 1.5 million square feet of retail and work space, and a 10-acre park.
The Opportunity
Achieve significant carbon reductions through an on-site low-carbon energy system. All buildings as part of the redevelopment will meet the City of Vancouver’s Green Buildings Policy for Rezonings established to help transition industry toward more sustainable building practices while also allowing for architectural ingenuity.
The Solution
A closed loop GeoExchange system in combination with heat recovery from cooling were selected to meet the needs of Oakridge’s high density population projections. The district energy system with a discreet, centrally-located Energy Centre housed inside a parkade below the new City Civic Centre will provide the entire Oakridge Park development with reliable, locally produced, low-carbon energy from project inception ensuring maximum use of development area while meeting sustainability initiatives. The GeoExchange system will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 6,200 tonnes per year or 70% compared to status quo mechanical equipment, and supports the City of Vancouver’s ambitious Greenest City Action Plan.
The Energy System
Located deep beneath the Oakridge Park development is a vertical closed-loop GeoExchange field consisting of hundreds of boreholes with depths of 500-1000 feet. Harnessing the earth’s stable temperature to provide heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, the GeoExchange system will provide approximately 65% of the thermal energy requirements in conjunction with heat recovery chillers. A combination of high-efficiency condensing boilers and electric boilers will supply the remaining energy. The system represents a customized and innovative approach to equipment configuration that ensures technological flexibility, resiliency and maximum greenhouse gas emission reductions.
