Vancouver Island University District Energy System
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Falcon Engineering was retained as the lead consultant for the development and construction of a new district energy system at the Vancouver Island University Nanaimo campus. Falcon completed the concept development, detailed design, and construction oversight for a geoexchange district energy system. This unique system was designed to extract water from flooded underground coal mine workings dating from the 1930s that underlie the campus. The system is designed to provide energy to three buildings in the initial phase with future expandability for additional campus demands.
The design of the system is an ambient temperature loop that services distributed heat pump plants in the buildings connected to the system. This project is an example of the application of geoexchange principles in a district energy system application.