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GEMCO introduces Canada’s first triple-state thermal solar cooling/heating project

The Shouldice project, located at 7750 Bayview Ave. in Toronto, will provide a live test center to showcase the viability of using this renewable technology and energy storage capability as an offset to energy currently provided from traditional fossil fuels such as natural gas and electricity. The core components of the system include 10 solar cooling machines and 141 solar thermal collectors. Based on preliminary energy modeling, the heating/cooling system is targeted to offset the following loads for the hospital: 36% heating, 44% cooling and 91% domestic hot water and reduce carbon dioxide emissions annually by an estimated 150 tonnes—equivalent to removing 28 cars from the road per year.

Darren Cooper, President and CEO of GEMCO, says that GEMCO’s ultimate goal will be to utilize the experience, knowledge and data arising from this heating/cooling project to roll out the technology across North America. According to Cooper, “Solar cooling offers substantial environmental, financial and social benefits.These benefits include limiting the use of traditional energy‐guzzling cooling systems that use ozone-damaging refrigerants as well as offsetting electricity use during peak billing periods at times‐of‐day where there may be electrical grid overload and blackouts”.

Peak load electricity use during the summer months has been identified as a key element of Ontario’s energy conservation and demand management strategy as set by the Province and the Ontario Power Authority (OPA). The expectation for this project is to achieve a reduction of 80% in peak cooling for the building.

For more information, go to www.glenbarraenergy.ca.