IDEA releases guide on sustainable energy

November
14, 2013, Westborough, Mass. – The
International District Energy Association (IDEA) announced the release of its
newest publication for the Canadian market: Community
Energy: Planning, Development and Delivery – Strategies for Thermal Networks.

The guide aims to support mayors, planners, community leaders, the development
community and economic development officials who are interested in planning
more resilient urban energy infrastructure, driving the community energy
planning process and implementing district energy systems in cities,
communities and towns.

The
Canadian edition of the guidebook is designed to equip key decision makers with
the knowledge and understanding to make confident and informed decisions on
energy, environmental and economic matters relevant to local energy
implementation. IDEA will disseminate this best practice approach across Canada
in conjunction with partner organizations and agencies to better inform the
marketplace, build greater awareness of the advantages of district energy, CHP
and waste energy recovery, and engage public/private partnerships in industry
growth.

Brad Bradford,
co-author of the Canadian edition of the guidebook, states that “we are in the
midst of a paradigm shift – we can no longer exclusively rely on a centralized
generation model where supply is discontinuously located from demand. Canadian
urban centers are experiencing tremendous growth and district energy systems
are being deployed to ensure the delivery of efficient, robust and resilient
heating, cooling, and power. The Community Energy Guide for the Canadian market
will help city builders champion this important transformation in their
communities.”

IDEA, a
104-year old non-profit industry trade association based outside of Boston,
Massachusetts, engaged UK-based district energy specialist Michael King, author
of the UK and US guidebooks by the same name, to work with IDEA’s own Brad
Bradford. Michael King is the principal of District Energy Development Ltd. in
the UK and a board member of Aberdeen Heat & Power, as well as a recent IEA
District Energy Climate Award Winner. Brad Bradford holds a Masters of Planning
degree from the University of Waterloo and is the Community Energy Planner at
IDEA. Together, King and Bradford revised the contents of the guide for the
Canadian market to reflect provincial policy, the specific nuances and drivers
of system deployment, and leverage the emerging momentum around the community
energy planning process and integration of community-based energy systems
within broader planning frameworks.