Launching the Deep Lake Water Cooling Project

When we published our paper on Smarter Buildings a month after last summer's North American blackout, we focussed on some very innovative ways in which building owners were trying to reduce their dependence on external power. One of the areas we covered was deep lake water cooling, a technology designed to dramatically reduce the amount of power required to air condition buildings during the summer. We cited examples of six projects that were being developed around the world that looked very close to being fully operational.

Well it seems that one of those projects is scheduled for launch on the first anniversary of last year's big blackout. This article from today's Globe and Mail explains the dynamics of the deep lake water cooling project which will be launced in Toronto next month by Enwave District Energy Ltd., whose CEO noted the significance of the August 14th launch:

"We think it's important symbolically for us to remind people of the blackout of 2003, which had a significant impact on the financial well-being and day-to-day lives of all Ontarians. And we want them to know that projects like DLWC, like wind generation and other green projects will actually work toward eliminating that situation from happening again."

Our research indicated that between 25-37% of total energy usage came from buildings. Steps such as those taken by Enwave (an enterprise jointly owned by the City of Toronto, and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) are instrumental in carving a path toward sustainability.