Canadian Tire Dufferin Distribution Center in Calgary. This DC is 350,000sqft and has no Gas line. 100% heated with Geothermal. Solar PV on the roof. Geothermal design by Thermal Creek.
With its cold winters and increasingly hotter summers, geothermal technology is a crucial part of the net-zero construction solution.
A net zero building is a highly energy-efficient structure that produces as much renewable energy on-site (or nearby) as it consumes annually, resulting in a net-zero annual energy consumption and, in many cases, zero net carbon emissions.
Windermere Firestation #31, Edmonton, AB, Installation Thermal Creek.
The key is to first reduce the building’s energy needs, and then incorporate the best renewable energy production method. This is because on-site production of renewable energy (for example, electricity with Solar PV) is typically expensive, and sometimes prohibitive. Think about limited roof space to fit solar panels.
In Alberta, using good building envelope materials and incorporating ground source geothermal heat pump technology, you can achieve incredible building energy savings.
Offset the remaining building annual energy needs, for example, with Solar PV panels.
It has a lot do to with our unique (read “intense”) Alberta climate. We have cold winters, and our summers are getting warmer. As a result, our homes and commercial buildings use a lot of energy for space conditioning (heating & cooling).
It also means that other technologies, like for example air-source heat pumps, struggle to provide any meaningful energy savings.
We did a comparison in energy usage for a typical new construction home in Alberta using:
In reality, conventional high-efficient combustion furnaces are today’s base-case installation. Even the best furnaces do not have the efficiencies to accommodate a Net-Zero home.
While increasingly popular Globally, in Alberta air-source heat pumps do not typically provide the efficiencies needed for Net-Zero buildings.
At best, achieving Net-Zero is very dependent on extreme insulation, roof space and orientation of the lot. The incremental cost of the insulation and Solar PV is also higher than with geothermal.
Geothermal efficiencies are not impacted by the outdoor temperatures. They are the highest year-round in Alberta compared to any other space conditioning technology.
On new construction, geothermal is the most cost-effective path to Net-Zero.
Conclusion: the key is to reduce the home’s energy consumption as much as possible before using solar panels as the final step to off set any energy use of the home. Building a well-insulated home is an important first step, but it only gets you so far in Alberta. Also, not every lot has the perfect South facing opportunity for maximum passive solar gain. Geo-exchange provides the most energy savings and makes NZE feasible on almost every new build.
