Summer Energy Savings Through the Roof in Metro Vancouver

Solar Hot Water System on Local Government Building is in High Gear

80 tube evacuated system drain-back system located on the roof of the 20-floor Burnaby building.

What a difference eight months makes! Since a solar hot water system was installed on the Metro Vancouver Corporate Office, located in Burnaby, they have seen a 50 per cent drop in their natural gas use.

"We’re very happy," says Jules Leclair, P&P Senior Policy Analyst for Metro Vancouver. "The system is working and performing as predicted." Leclair says they are expecting to see a drop in their greenhouse gas emissions by six metric tonnes a year, thanks to the Sunda evacuated tube system that was installed on the building in January.

The system currently provides domestic hot water to washbasins in the washrooms throughout the building and to the locker-room showers. Plans for the next year include expansion of the system by providing domestic hot water to the cafeteria kitchen. There have been many comments made by staff, according to Leclair, all of whom have been impressed with the system’s performance.

"We want to demonstrate that a system can be used in high-rise building and be cost effective and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," says Leclair, adding that the decision to install solar hot water was for sustainability reasons as much as for the desire to lead a pilot project. The project was headed by the Corporate Services Building Operations Division, with assistance from the Policy and Planning Energy group.

As part of the installation they included a monitoring and verification program to assess the performance of the system. From this Leclair says they want to demonstrate that these systems work and have a reasonable payback period.

"We hope these results will help expand the use of solar thermal system within the region."

They recently hosted a solar thermal workshop for lower mainland municipality plumbing and gas inspectors and a tour of the system was provided. Presentations were given by SolarBC and NRCan, as the project received funding from the EcoEnergy for Renewable Heat program, which was matched by SolarBC. A tour of the installation can also be arranged for external groups by contacting Corporate Services Building Operations.

The installation was carried out by SolarBC Registered Installers MD Energy Solutions, who was selected through a competitive selection process. Leclair said that working with them was great as they were very attentive to details and provided a high level of professionalism. As well, the system installed is ideal for the challenges of their particular building, such as the high winds on the roof. Evacuated tubes allow wind to pass through, explains Leclair, as opposed to panels which would have required a more complicated anchoring system.

For more pictures of the install visit our photo gallery. To find about more about the system you can visit the Metro Vancouver website at: www.metrovancouver.org.