Students Energized by HCE District Energy Centre Tour
By- Hamilton Community Energy
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Hamilton Community Energy (HCE) recently welcomed students from Waterdown District High School to tour their downtown co-generation plant to help promote and educate what HCE is doing, in partnership with the City of Hamilton, to fuel innovative energy solutions.
Built, owned and operated by HCE since 2002, the local District Energy System (DES) leverages reclaimed thermal energy, created through the production of electricity by a natural gas generator, to heat a number of municipal and commercial facilities and two multi-residential apartment buildings in the Hamilton core. The 3.2 Mw hours of thermal energy produced by the generator is enough to satisfy heating and domestic hot water needs for all of HCE’s downtown customers. Three system boilers (that run as much as 25 per cent more efficiently than older boilers) provide the heat required during the winter months.
The Waterdown students’ visit to the award-winning facility is one of several ways HCE is reaching out to the community to demonstrate its commitment to investing in environmental and sustainable resource education. In fact, HCE’s District Energy Centre has been set-up with teaching in mind. Pipes and circulating systems are colour-coded and easily seen from windows along the main street at its primary facility. Display areas and a seminar room provide on-site learning opportunities.
John Summers, Operations and Maintenance Engineer for HCE, helps lead school tours at the plant and coordinates student co-op partnerships with Sir John A. MacDonald Secondary School and St. Mary Catholic Secondary School. “Any time we can help inspire the next generation of energy stewards by showing them some of the newest and most innovative technologies, it’s a good thing,” says Summers. “We think it’s important to reach students at a time when they are formulating their values about consumption and considering their career opportunities. I’m excited to think that what they see here will help shape their choices – personally and/or professionally.”
Forging relationships with local schools and students is a win-win for the business and for the sustainability of the community. Waterdown teacher, Tim Carr, has been bringing students from his school’s ‘Outbound’ environmental/experiential program to HCE for the past four years so they can see how alternative energy sources studied in class are being applied in real-life situations. “Students are bombarded with concern about traditional energy sources and greenhouse gases. It’s very hopeful for them to see what HCE and the City are doing together to find solutions and an excellent opportunity for them to be exposed to some of the innovative technologies that are out there. In turn, I see our students promoting solutions and engaging other people in the community in conversations about conservation.”
In addition to touring the downtown co-gen plant, the Waterdown students heard about two more facilities that HCE operates. One uses bio-gas from the Woodward Waste Water Treatment Plant while the other, at the McMaster Innovation Park, incorporates geo-exchange and solar thermal technologies to generate energy.
“I was really impressed with how they were able to shut down so many boilers by harnessing energy that was previously being wasted” said Grade 12 student, Addison Pennie. “It’s encouraging to see local initiatives that can reduce the impact we have on the environment.”
To learn more about HCE’s education partnerships, go to http://hamiltonce.com/
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