Thermal Energy Networks (TENS)
What are Thermal Energy Networks (TENs)?
Thermal Energy Networks are heating and cooling systems that use an interconnected network of water pipes to provide, remove and share heat between buildings in a given area, and that allow them to exchange and recover heat with and from their surrounding environment. TENs can take advantage of heat exchanges from energy-intensive buildings, from nearby lakes and rivers, or even with wastewater systems, providing efficient, clean, and affordable temperature regulation at the neighbourhood scale.
Why do TENs matter?
Decarbonizing Canada’s buildings in time to meet our 2050 obligations will call on us to use every credible tool in our arsenal. While the BDA believes heat pumps in all their forms are the most promising tool for reducing emissions from building heating, TENs (which themselves can also rely on heat-pumps) could be an important complement to that pathway.
Given their potential high performance, climate resilience, economies of scale, reduced peak electricity demand impacts, and very low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, TENs represent a promising solution for decarbonization beyond a building-by-building level. What’s more, the planning approaches that facilitate TENs can help foster a better managed, more affordable energy transition. However, many challenges remain before they can be adopted at a meaningful scale, particularly in the context of existing buildings and neighbourhoods.
With that in mind, the BDA has several projects and initiatives underway to help better define the potential of TENs, to identify and understand the current barriers to broader implementation, and to find ways to overcome those obstacles while remaining compatible with a net-zero energy system.
Our Projects
Thermal Energy Networks are heating and cooling systems that use an interconnected network of water pipes to provide, remove and share heat between buildings in a given area, and that allow them to exchange and recover heat with and from their surrounding environment. TENs can take advantage of heat exchanges from energy-intensive buildings, from nearby lakes and rivers, or even with wastewater systems, providing efficient, clean, and affordable temperature regulation at the neighbourhood scale.
Developing Thermal Network Impact Potential and Advancing Regulatory Prototypes
Estimated Timeline: 2024-2026
Description: While TENs are a promising solution for neighbourhood-scale decarbonization, the area-based planning approaches that are needed for them to reach scale are only just emerging in Canada. This project aims to clarify the economic opportunities associated with TENs and area-based planning approaches, and to find ways to embed those approaches into regulations at the municipal, provincial, and federal level. Ultimately, we aim to provide analysis, decision support tools, and prototype policies that can help broaden the use of TENs as a complement to other building-by-building decarbonization tools.
Project Funder(s):
(And more coming soon)
Unlocking Utility-Scale Thermal Energy Networks in Canada
Estimated Timeline: 2025-2027
Description: This project’s objective is to enable utilities to deploy Thermal Energy Networks (TENs). Large utilities (i.e., electric and/or natural gas) have the necessary infrastructure, expertise, and relationships to efficiently manage and scale these complex systems to ensure reliable energy distribution. Utilities can leverage their resources and capabilities to integrate renewable energy sources, reduce emissions, and achieve broader sustainability goals while maintaining affordability for their customers. While four U.S. States recently passed legislation to either allow or mandate their utilities to develop TEN demonstration projects or pilots, Canada has seen far less utility activity in the TENs space. Current regulations do not fully support the integration of TENs, limiting the potential for improved heating efficiency and lower emissions. This project will see us work enable utilities to implement TENs by conducting a comprehensive review of existing regulations, identifying blockers, and collaboratively developing potential regulatory solutions and working to have them implemented toward utility-led pilots.
Project Funder(s):
Coming Soon
Road-mapping Initiative for Networked Geothermal (RING)
Estimated Timeline: 2024-2025
Description: From fall 2024 through spring 2025, the Building Decarbonizaton Alliance will be taking part in a working group of industry and regulatory experts led by MaRS, with the goal of exploring how to accelerate the deployment of affordable, reliable, utility-scale geothermal networks in high-density Canadian cities that rely heavily on natural gas for heating.
Project Lead:
Resources from BDA Partners
- The Building Decarbonization Coalition has created an overview of thermal energy networks, including terminology, benefits, and a scan of current legislation
- Reshape Strategies has collected a set of case studies involving district energy for heating and cooling
