Geothermal Heating Improves Canadian Urban Offices

Tapping geothermal heat is perhaps one of the most beneficial green methods of keeping the temperatures under control in urban buildings. By next spring, workers will finish the construction of an eco-friendly 35-storey office tower in Montreal, offering more than 230,000 square feet of office spaces and 25 storeys of condos.

The luxurious Altoria will look like any other commercial glass tower from the outside, but its developers know that its functionality exceeds every other standard displayed so far. The new facility will raise the level of energy-efficiency for urban offices, while relying on green geothermal power, the Globe and Mail reports.

The entire system will capture and store heat from the earth and distribute it inside the building during the cold winter days. During hot seasons, the piping network works the other way around, removing heat from the urban office and pump it back into the earth.

Developers say this system is very efficient and can maintain a constant temperature while triggering significant financial savings.

It is true that tenants will have to pay a little more for this innovation, but their monthly shrinking energy bill will help them recover the investment.

Richard Hylands, president of Kevric Real Estate and the initiator of the Altoria project, thinks this system depending on renewable geothermal power is green, affordable and much more efficient compared to gas and electric furnaces, its two main competitors on the market.

Hylands says the main goal is to cut heating costs by up to 44%. In his opinion, not relying on geothermal heating system and LEED certification when designing a building represents a lack of responsibility.

He expects to contribute to an international trend of improving the functionality and energy consumption of commercial buildings that has increased by up to 35% only in Canada, over the last decade.

Geothermal heating could help all the Altoria tenants save up to $60,000 (€44, 746) every year. As any other reliable project involving renewables, it comes along with a significant price tag: up to $300,000 (€223,730).

Even if eco-friendly improvements don't come cheap, Hylands is confident in the potential of his project and says he will be able to recoup his investment in less than five years.