Vancouver, B.C. – FortisBC will operate a regulated utility within TELUS Garden that will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by one million kilograms a year by capturing and re-distributing low-grade heat throughout the million square-foot development.
Created in partnership with TELUS and Westbank, the innovative District Energy System (DES) is one of the first systems in Vancouver to use waste heat from a neighbouring site to heat and cool a new development. Heat from the existing TELUS data centre and the new office tower’s cooling systems will be harvested by the DES to provide heating and cooling for the office and residential towers, commercial spaces and amenities, and to heat domestic hot water for both towers. The DES is a major element of TELUS Garden’s sustainability strategy and contributes to the development’s approximate 80 per cent reduction in energy demand from conventional sources.
“FortisBC is dedicated to delivering safe, reliable energy solutions to our customers,” said Doug Stout, vice-president of Energy Solutions and External Relations. “Our collaboration with Westbank and TELUS is an example of the innovation and energy savings available to customers using district energy systems.”
“The TELUS Garden District Energy System represents a shift in how we think about and utilize energy,” said Andrea Goertz, senior vice-present of TELUS Strategic Initiatives and Communications. “By recovering energy that would normally be lost and putting it to good use, we are innovating through design to create one of the most environmentally-friendly urban communities in North America. It’s a powerful and unique system, and we are so pleased to be undertaking this landmark project with FortisBC, a company that shares our commitment to environmental sustainability and building healthy communities.”
For a video about the DES, visit: http://telusgarden.com/office/ld02videoLink.html
The innovative sustainability features in TELUS Garden will help to reduce overall energy use and protect residents and employers from rising energy costs in the future. The British Columbia Utilities Commission has approved the construction of the TELUS DES system by the partnership, and for FortisBC to own and operate the energy system once commissioned.
The $750 million, one million square foot TELUS Garden development in the heart of Downtown Vancouver will incorporate a LEED Platinum 24-storey signature office tower, a LEED Gold 53-storey residential tower with more than 425 green homes, and retail space along Robson and Georgia. Located adjacent to Sky Train, there will be facilities for bicycles and charging stations for electric cars.
About FortisBC
FortisBC is a regulated utility focused on providing safe and reliable energy, including natural gas, electricity, propane and thermal energy solutions. FortisBC employs more than 2,300 British Columbians and serves approximately 1.1 million customers in more than 135 B.C. communities. FortisBC is indirectly wholly owned by Fortis Inc., the largest investor-owned distribution utility in Canada. FortisBC owns and operates four regulated hydroelectric generating plants, approximately 7,000 kilometres of transmission and distribution power lines and approximately 47,000 kilometres of natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines. FortisBC Inc., FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisBC Energy (Vancouver Island) Inc., and FortisBC Energy (Whistler) Inc. do business as FortisBC. Fortis Inc. shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com or www.sedar.com.
About TELUS Garden
The $750 million, one million square foot development in the heart of Downtown Vancouver will incorporate a LEED Platinum 24-storey signature office tower, the first of its kind in Canada, a LEED Gold 53-storey residential tower with more than 425 green homes, and retail space along Robson and Georgia. When complete, TELUS Garden will use at least 30 per cent less energy than a standard development its size through the use of innovative technologies and practices, transferring excess heat from one building to another as needed, using solar panels to power some infrastructure, and capturing rainwater for toilets and garden irrigation. Located adjacent to Sky Train, there will be facilities for bicycles and charging stations for electric cars.
TELUS Garden will create more than 500 construction jobs in Vancouver during development. The office tower is scheduled for final occupancy in June of 2014, with the residential scheduled for final occupancy May of 2015.
For more information about TELUS Garden, please visit telusgarden.com.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $10.9 billion of annual revenue and more than 13.1 million customer connections, including 7.7 million wireless subscribers, 3.4 million wireline network access lines, 1.4 million Internet subscribers and 678,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video.
In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $300 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.8 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Fourteen TELUS Community Boards lead TELUS’ local philanthropic initiatives. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.
For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.
About Westbank
Established in 1992 and with over $12 billion of projects completed or under development, Westbank is active across Canada in a diversity of product types from luxury condominiums, rental apartment office, commercial, retail, hotel, non-market housing and industrial. Westbank’s primary focus is on large mixed use projects involving highly complex entitlement processes. Westbank is best known for being the leading luxury residential developer in Canada, along with being the owner/developer of the finest hotels in Canada. Some of its best known projects include Shangri-la Vancouver, Shangri-la Toronto, Fairmont Pacific Rim and the Woodward’s Redevelopment project.
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For more information, please contact:
Shawn Hall
TELUS Media Relations
604-697-8176
shawn.hall@telus.com