Winnipeg Free Press
Summary
Manitoba has been a hot spot for residential geothermal installs over the years, but took a step back in 2020 with installations down almost 50 per cent, most likely because of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But notwithstanding high profile commercial installations like the Manitoba Hydro head office building, commercial projects in Manitoba have not been as plentiful.
Some believe that part of the reason is the lack of commercial geothermal installation expertise in the province.
The Manitoba Environmental Industries Association is looking to try to prime that pump by teaming up with Manitoba-based geothermal training expert Ed Lohrenz to offer a 20-week training program at a discounted price for MEIA members.
Lohrenz, whose Winnipeg-based company Geoptimize is working on large commercial projects in New York, California, Toronto and the Obama Presidential Library in Chicago — but none in Manitoba — has written training programs that have been incorporated into some of the training program offered by the U.S.-based International Ground Source Heat Pump Association.
In addition to Manitoba Hydro Place in downtown Winnipeg — the largest closed loop geothermal system in the province — the Seasons of Tuxedo shopping centre is built on top of district energy geothermal systems, but Lohrenz believes there is still a lot of reticence among institutional engineering firms because of earlier, poorly designed systems leading to inefficiencies.
"Not a lot of engineering firms that have much experience in geothermal," he said.
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