Oakridge Energy

The Partnership

Oakridge Energy is a limited partnership between Corix and Creative Energy.
The energy system aims to achieve significant carbon reductions while meeting the City of Vancouver’s sustainable building standards and ensuring a dynamic future for the community.

The Opportunity

The Oakridge Park Redevelopment project presents the opportunity to implement an on-site low-carbon energy system scalable to Oakridge’s high-density population projections. As part of the redevelopment, all buildings will meet the City’s Green Buildings Policy for Rezonings, which was established to help transition toward more sustainable building practices.

The goal is to provide reliable, locally produced energy to the entire Oakridge Park development while maximizing land use and supporting the City of Vancouver’s ambitious Greenest City Action Plan.

The Solution

A closed-loop GeoExchange system, combined with heat recovery from cooling, will fulfill Oakridge’s energy needs. The district energy system features a discreet Energy Centre located within a parkade beneath the new City Civic Centre to provide reliable, low-carbon energy production from the project’s inception, supporting sustainability initiatives while optimizing the development area.

The system will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 6,200 tonnes per year or 70% compared to status quo mechanical equipment.

The Energy System

Deep beneath the Oakridge Park development lies a vertical closed-loop geothermal field comprising hundreds of boreholes with depths ranging from 500 to 1000 feet. Harnessing the earth’s stable temperature to provide heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, the GeoExchange system will provide approximately 65% of the thermal energy requirements in conjunction with heat recovery chillers.

A combination of high-efficiency condensing boilers and electric boilers will supply the remaining energy. The system represents a customized and innovative approach to equipment configuration that ensures technological flexibility, resiliency and maximum greenhouse gas emission reductions.