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#2 is #1 at new condo complex

Wastewater heat capture a first in North America

A new condo building near Mosquito Creek is turning poo into power.

Don't be grossed out. The cutting-edge technology is saving the residents money and shrinking their carbon footprint.

"Everybody uses hot water to shower and do dishes and laundry, and all the energy contained in that water goes down the drain," said Lynn Mueller, president of International Wastewater Heat Exchange Systems.

The Burnaby-based company harnesses the wasted heat using a sophisticated filter and heat pump. The system captures the warmth from wastewater (both what goes down the drain and is flushed down the toilet) as it's leaving the building. At that point, said Mueller, the temperature of the dirty water is around 25 C. The technology transfers the heat through a refrigeration cycle, and uses it to warm fresh water to around 50 C.

"We recover about 80 per cent of the waste energy that's leaving the building in the form of sewage," said Mueller.

The high-tech system makes it less necessary for new energy to be created, said Mueller. Instead, "whatever you need is always replenished by what you've used." Residents of the 60-unit complex are using the same energy over and over again to heat fresh batches of hot water, instead of paying for new heat to be created from scratch.

The system, which cost $150,000 to install, is the first time the technology has been used in a residential building in North America. The wastewater heat technology contributed to the condo being awarded two green building certifications: LEED platinum and Built Green gold.

It's also been a big selling feature, said Eric Andreason, vice-president of marketing at Adera, the developer of the condo complex.

"People on the North Shore are very connected with the environment," said Andreason. "They want to make sure that they're doing the responsible thing. They don't want to be green washed, so the dual certification was a big bonus."

Andreason said building green made the condos slightly more expensive than units in a conventional building. The townhouses range in price from $260,000 for a bachelor to $640,000 for a two bedroom unit.

The environmentally friendly design also gained the development more density. The City of North Vancouver allowed Adera a 514-square-metre density bonus, which translates to four or five extra units, said deputy city manager Richard White in an email. The bonus is usually given to developers who incorporate green design into their building.

jstdenis@nsnews.com