Industry News

IDEA Recognizes Municipal Leadership in District Energy Systems in Greater Vancouver

At its recent 109^th Annual Conference and Trade Show in Vancouver, BC, Canada, the International District Energy Association (IDEA) recognized six greater Vancouver cities with IDEA Public Sector Leadership Awards for municipal leadership in advancing deployment of district energy.  The conference theme, “Local Solutions, Global Impact” reflects the growing importance of district energy as an effective and proven climate mitigation approach.

Representatives from the cities of Coquitlam, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey and Vancouver were each presented with a District Energy Public Sector Leadership Award for their commitment and vision in advancing deployment of district energy systems in their respective communities.  The awards were presented by Robert Thornton, IDEA President and CEO, before an audience of 800+ attendees from 23 countries, 6 Canadian provinces, 37 US states and over 256 cities.

Following presentation of the awards, the following city representatives participated in a panel discussion - Steffanie Warriner, Environmental Services Manager, City of Coquitlam; Councillor Chuck Puchmayr from New Westminster; Darrell Mussatto, Mayor of North Vancouver; Alen Postolka, District Energy Manager of Lulu Island Energy Company with the City of Richmond; Councillor Mike Starchuk of Surrey, and Chris Baber, Neighbourhood Energy Manager, City of Vancouver.  The panelists shared their perspectives and experience with the systems in their respective communities and discussed opportunities for further growth.  “District energy infrastructure is an important component of our community strategy to enhance efficiency and resiliency while cutting greenhouse gas emissions," said Alen Postolka of Richmond.

The panelists shared a common view that district energy infrastructure is important to helping cities achieve their climate, efficiency and resiliency goals. By utilizing district energy systems, customers can avoid the capital costs and ongoing maintenance and operation costs of on-site equipment and leverage economies of scale. Many of these cities are deploying low-carbon district energy systems using surplus heat recovery from municipal sewage, earth-coupled heat pumps and energy-sharing technologies.  In addition to significantly improving energy efficiency and lowering operating costs, district energy systems increase energy security by producing or recycling thermal energy at a local level, making it more reliable, sustainable and resilient.

IDEA is pleased to applaud these communities in Greater Vancouver for their commitment to utilizing district energy as strategic energy infrastructure to support economic growth and environmental stewardship. 

Award Photos

Pinky De La Cruz, Steffanie Warriner from the City of Coquitlam accept the DE Public Sector Leadership Award.

Councillor Chuck Puchmayr (middle) with Roderick “Rod” Carle, Electric Utility Commission (left) accept the award for New Westminster.

Mayor Darrell Mussatto accepts the DE Public Sector Leadership award for North Vancouver.

Alen Postolka, District Energy Manager of Lulu Island Energy Company accepts the award on behalf of the City of Richmond.

Councillor Mike Starchuk of Surrey accepts the award from Rob Thornton, IDEA.

Chris Baber, Neighbourhood Energy Manager with the City of Vancouver accepts the award.