Industry
News
Spirax Sarco’s newest U.S. Steam
Technology Center.
in Lisle, Ill., the center hosted an open house
March 27-29 for customers, distributors
and company dignitaries. Spirax Sarco
training centers reflect the company’s commitment to support education in all areas
of steam energy. In addition to classroom
space, each center is equipped with live
steam labs that incorporate most components found in typical steam distribution,
utilization and condensate recovery systems.
This includes see-through components such
as steam traps and pressure-powered condensate pumps operating under various
conditions.
Spirax Sarco Purchases Flow
Meter Company
Spirax Sarco has purchased Advanced
Flow Technology Company (AFTCO) from
AMJ Equipment Corp. of Lakeland, Fla.
Following the purchase, AFTCO will be
merged into Spirax Sarco’s EMCO FLOW
Systems division, which Spirax acquired in
June 2005. According to the company,
the addition of AFTCO complements
EMCO’s existing broad line of flow meters
with a patented electromagnetic meter
that has significant advantages over conventional electromagnetic meters. For more
information, see www.spiraxsarco.com/us.
Dalkia Wins First
China Contract
Dalkia has been awarded its first contract in China. Under the contract Dalkia
will operate the air-conditioning system on
the world’s largest university campus, in
Guangdong. Built on an 18-sq-km (more
than 6.9-sq-mile) estate east of Guangzhou,
capital of Guangdong Province, the Guangdong campus comprises 10 universities and
two schools. Some 250,000 people are on
the campus every day, including 170,000
students. Under the contract, Dalkia will
provide energy management services and
operate the campus’s three ice-water plants
and domestic hot water plant. Refrigeration
capacity totals 230 MWr (65,412 tons), but
the installation of a cogeneration plant
currently under study would add a further
150 MWr ( 42,659 tons). In all, these facilities
provide air conditioning and hot water for
an area covering 3. 5 million sq m (nearly
37. 7 million sq ft).
Courtesy Spirax Sarco.
Dalkia has been present in China since
May 2003, when foreign companies were
authorized to operate district heating and
cooling systems. More than 1. 5 billion
sq m ( 16 billion sq ft) of housing and
office space in China are heated by district
heating systems.
Survey: Decentralized
Energy Increasing
According to research by the World
Alliance for Decentralized Energy (WADE),
24 percent of electricity output from newly
installed power generation plants in 2005
was derived from decentralized energy systems. This share is up from 13 percent in
2002. These findings were published in
WADE’s latest annual market assessment,
the “World Survey of Decentralized Energy
– 2006.”
WADE’s study shows a clear momentum in many international markets toward
greater decentralized energy use. Decentralized energy’s growing competitive position
is based on rapidly emerging recognition
of the economic benefits of generation at
the point of demand. A high share of
decentralized energy generation is based
on high-efficiency cogeneration, which
accounts for the majority of capacity and
generation additions emerging from the
study. Standby and peaking decentralized
energy systems have lower shares.
WADE’s goal is to achieve a 20 percent
market share of total capacity for decen-
tralized energy by 2025; the current level
is around 8 percent to 9 percent. The
organization believes the goal is achievable
provided that policy and regulatory barriers
are eliminated. The full World Survey can
be downloaded from www.localpower.
org/documents_pub/report_worldsurvey
06.pdf.
New Toronto Waterfront
Development
Work began in March on West Don
Lands, the first new Toronto neighborhood
to be created as part of the city’s waterfront
revitalization. West Don Lands is a 32-hectare
(approximately 79-acre) development, which
will be served by a district energy system
providing both heating and cooling. Located
east of downtown between Parliament
Street and the Don River, it will be home
to 6,000 new residences, including 1,200
affordable rental units; a new transit line;
two child care centers; a community center
and pool; an elementary school; and the
8-hectare (nearly 20-acre) Don River Park.
Committed to creating a sustainable community, master developer Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. (TWRC) is targeting LEED™ Gold as the standard for the
development.
Approved by the Toronto City Council
in May 2005, the West Don Lands precinct
plan won the Toronto Architecture & Urban
Design Award of Excellence in 2005 and,
in 2004, the Public Sector Quality Award
for public consultation.
The first phase of West Don Lands
development includes a bridge expansion,
a berm, Don River Park and the North River
Square neighborhood also known as the
McCord site. Residential construction will
start in spring 2007, with the first residents
moving in starting in 2008.
Wisconsin To Enact ‘Green
Building’ Standards
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle in April signed
an executive order requiring all state buildings to conform to high environmental and
energy-efficiency standards. The order will
affect both existing buildings and future
