Blogs

Global District Energy Climate Awards Announced at IDEA’s CampusEnergy2026 Conference

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
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The International District Energy Association (IDEA) and Euroheat & Power today announced the winners of the 2025 Global District Energy Climate Awards (GDECA), honoring district energy projects that advance decarbonization, efficiency, and climate resiliency. Recipients were recognized during the 9th edition of the awards ceremony at IDEA’s CampusEnergy2026 conference. GDECA recognizes cities, communities, and campuses worldwide for excellence in sustainable heating and cooling solutions. Supported by the International Energy Agency (IEA), IEA DHC Technology Collaboration Programme, UN Environment Programme, International District Energy Association ...
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IDEA Announces Recipients of Annual Patti Wilson Leadership Program Awards

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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business wire Summary The International District Energy Association (IDEA) today announced the 21 recipients of the annual Patti Wilson Leadership Program Awards at CampusEnergy2026—IDEA’s annual conference for district energy professionals focused on sustainable, resilient, and low-carbon energy infrastructure for higher education and other campus environments. Patti Wilson was a beloved colleague, board member, and friend of IDEA. Following her passing in 2024, her former employer, Affiliated Engineers, worked with IDEA to establish the program to advance and increase the participation of promising young women in the district energy industry. ...
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Thermal Networks in the Nation’s Capital: The Campus Energy Innovations Powering DC’s Low-Carbon Future

By District Energy posted 9 days ago
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With a commitment to carbon neutrality by 2045, Washington, D.C. has positioned itself as a national leader in decarbonization, resilience, and strategic energy management. Across the region, district energy systems are helping accelerate emissions reductions while strengthening long-term reliability—delivering thermal energy at scale in places where space, infrastructure, and operational continuity matter most. At CampusEnergy2026—hosted February 17-20, 2026 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.—IDEA’s members will share how they’re modernizing central energy facilities, upgrading ...
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A Groundbreaking Geothermal Heating and Cooling Network Saves This Colorado College Money and Water

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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Inside Climate News Summary A public school on the state’s remote western slope, Colorado Mesa had recently doubled in size, but its energy usage had hardly budged as it began installing an advanced geothermal heating and cooling system. Since its geothermal buildout began in 2008, the university has saved more than $15 million in energy costs, money it has passed on to students through lower tuition and more scholarship funding. Hundreds of boreholes drilled approximately 500 feet beneath athletic fields and parking lots tap low-temperature thermal energy to help heat and cool campus buildings in what is now one of the largest such ...
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Shared Power: Building Data Centers That Serve Everyone

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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Power Summary Data centers release nearly all the electricity they consume as low-grade heat, representing a significant untapped energy potential. When harnessed with heat pumps, this heat can be upgraded for use in district and industrial heating applications. This concept is not theoretical. Successful, large-scale heat recovery systems are already implemented in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. The 25-MW Nebius data center in Mäntsälä, Finland, recovers enough energy to heat the equivalent of 2,500 homes. In the U.S., where winters are milder, the potential is even greater—a single hyperscale facility could heat up to 20,000 homes. Successful domestic ...
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Data centers can tap batteries, microgrids for faster interconnection: NEMA

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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Utility Dive Summary Computing facilities representing about 30% of all planned U.S. data center capacity plan to power their operations with behind-the-meter resources, according to an analysis published last week by the energy research shop Cleanview. Ninety percent of those projects were announced in 2025, which Cleanview said indicates that data center developers are growing impatient with large-load interconnection queues that can stretch up to seven years in some regions. Of the behind-the-meter assets Cleanview could identify through permits or purchase orders, about 75% use natural gas as a fuel, and “virtually none of the developers ...
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Data centers can support cleaner, cooler cities

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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Huawei Summary How will cities cope with the surging power demand due to data centers? Susanna Kass: The keys are to shift data centers from fossil-based power to clean energy, and to recover and re-use heat waste so that it becomes a resource, rather than a byproduct. Data centers run 24 hours a day, and their cooling systems continuously generate warm water that can be captured and pumped through underground pipes to serve nearby buildings such as offices, residences, or factories. This "district heating" approach is already well established in the Nordic countries. It serves about 40% of the roughly 100,000 homes in Espoo, Finland, ...
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New White Paper Examines Opportunities in Advanced Geothermal Energy

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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University of Houston Summary The Division of Energy in conjunction with the Gutierrez Energy Management Institute (GEMI) at the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston has released a new white paper, “Advanced Geothermal: Opportunities and Challenges,” highlighting advanced geothermal energy’s potential in becoming a critical pillar of the nation’s low-carbon energy future. With the development of significant new technology in drilling and subsurface engineering, geothermal energy — a century-old energy source that has traditionally been thought of as niche due to geographical constraints in production — is set to become a reliable ...
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UK geothermal report maps path from niche to pillar

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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Think GeoEnergy Summary A new Project InnerSpace report finds the UK holds vast geothermal potential for heat and power, but policy, risk-sharing and anchor demand are needed to unlock it. The report draws on a handful of UK projects to illustrate both potential and constraints. The Southampton District Energy Scheme, operating since the 1980s from a deep Triassic aquifer, is presented as proof that urban geothermal heat can deliver long-term carbon savings and lower consumer bills. Minewater schemes in Gateshead and industrial sites such as Lanchester Wines show how former coalfields can be repurposed into reliable low-temperature heat sources. ...
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UMD professor wins pitch competition to turn data center heat into community energy

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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Technical.ly Summary A University of Maryland professor won a first-of-its-kind pitch competition for a new way to deal with heat generated by data centers. Damena Agonafer developed his approach via the Vicinity Ideation Program, a partnership between Boston-based Vicinity Energy and the Maryland Energy Innovation Accelerator to spur new approaches to clean heating and urban decarbonization. At its culminating event on Friday, Agonafer took the top prize for his tech that captures waste heat from data centers and redirects it to warm local communities. Vicinity Energy is a Boston-based energy company that provides heating and cooling in cities ...
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Heat networks must be the backbone of Britain’s warm homes future

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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the energyst Summary Channa Karunaratne, District Energy Market Lead at AECOM, discusses the importance of heat networks to the future of the UK’s energy transition and how a system-wide approach is vital. The government’s Warm Homes Plan is a long-overdue signal that the electrification of heat is finally being taken seriously. The commitment of £1.5bn for heat networks is a clear statement of priority and recognition that district heating must play a far larger role in how the UK delivers low-carbon, secure and resilient heat at stable costs for consumers over the coming decades. With over 50 percent of our energy coming from renewables, and recent ...
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Veolia’s Strategy for UK Heat Networks and Data Centres

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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Data Centre Magazine Summary Veolia’s UK heat network expansion will reuse waste heat from energy plants and data centres, linking district heating to low-carbon digital infrastructure District heating is gaining renewed attention in the UK as utilities look to decarbonise buildings while supporting the rapid growth of energy-intensive infrastructure, including data centres. Veolia is positioning itself at the centre of this shift, with a billion-pound pipeline of projects designed to expand low-carbon heat networks and capture waste heat from industrial sites and digital facilities. Continue Reading #News #DistrictHeating ...
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Canada’s Allied Properties plans 10-story AI data center in Vancouver

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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DCD Summary Canadian real estate firm Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust is planning to develop a new data center in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company’s partner in that project, Westbank, is separately planning to convert an existing office building into a dedicated data center. Full details of the planned project haven’t been shared, but the company said the site could be integrated with Creative Energy’s district heating network. Continue Reading #News #CreativeEnergy #DistrictHeating #MemberNewsIDEA
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Empower records historic financial performance with unprecedented net profits of AED 1.0bln

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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Zawya Summary Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, the world's largest district cooling services provider, announced its financial results for the fiscal year 2025. The company recorded a historic annual revenue of AED 3.419 billion, with an impressive growth of 4.9% YoY growth compared to 2024, and a net profit of AED 1.004 billion, reflecting a 10.5% YoY growth compared to 2024. Empower has also delivered exceptional performance in its operations in 2025, with the total connected capacity reaching about 1.7 million refrigeration tons (RT), strengthening its position as the world’s largest district cooling services provider in terms ...
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GM Receives 2026 SEAL Business Sustainability Award

By District Energy posted 10 days ago
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GM Authority Summary GM has earned recognition from the SEAL Awards as part of the 2026 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards , taking home an Environmental Initiative Award for its landfill gas cogeneration project at the St. Catharines Propulsion Plant in Ontario. “GM Canada’s cogeneration project is prime example of how we are advancing our sustainability strategy by reducing emissions, improving energy efficiency, and integrating innovative renewable energy solutions across our manufacturing operations,” said Doug Yates, Environment and Energy Director, GM Canada . “Receiving the SEAL Business Sustainability Environmental Initiatives Award ...
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When Does a District Energy System Make Sense?

By District Energy posted 16 days ago
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Buildings Summary When is one better than many? For campuses and large facilities, the answer may come in the form of a district energy system, where generating assets are centralized and provide cooling, heating, or electricity to multiple buildings via distributed piping or wiring. These systems have been around for more than 100 years, explained George Howe, principal of Affiliated Engineers, Inc. —for example, New York City’s steam distribution system, which features 105 miles of pipes, has been in operation since 1882. They have since evolved to provide electricity as well, Howe said. One type of district energy system that you’ve likely heard of—the ...
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Princeton University Microgrid, Which Once Overcame a Tropical Cyclone, is Improving Carbon Footprint and Resiliency

By District Energy posted 16 days ago
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Microgrid Knowledge Summary In October 2012, Princeton University made headlines worldwide when over 8 million electric customers lost power during Superstorm Sandy and the university’s microgrid kept its critical systems running, allowing the New Jersey-based Ivy League campus to serve as an electric refuge for faculty, students, staff members, first responders and local community members. At the time, the campus was energized by an on-site 15-MW combined heat and power (CHP) plant–producing electricity and thermal energy in the form of heating and cooling from a single source of energy. The microgrid also included chilled water, thermal ...
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Resilience over Reflex: Why district energy wins in policy whiplash

By District Energy posted 16 days ago
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North American Clean Energy Summary Uncertainty has become the only constant. Since 2020, we’ve lived through a pandemic, a market crash, a supply-chain crisis, and runaway inflation, all while racing to decarbonize an economy that barely had time to catch its breath. That sprint produced the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a sweeping policy package that combined healthcare reforms, tax changes, and historic clean energy investments. Just three years later, a sharp political reversal brought the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), underscoring how quickly priorities can shift and how deeply those shifts ripple through markets. In a world of unstable energy ...
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Big Tech’s AI push is spawning a new heat economy

By District Energy posted 16 days ago
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CNBC Summary Amid the AI boom, hyperscalers and governments are looking for ways to repurpose excess heat from data centers. CNBC's April Roach has been looking into how the power-hungry facilities are increasingly being integrated with local district heating networks. #News #DataCenter #DistrictEnergy #DistrictHeating
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Ahmad Bin Shafar reviews the progress of Empower’s initiative with ASHRAE

By District Energy posted 16 days ago
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Zawya Summary H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation PJSC (Empower), the world’s largest district cooling services provider, met with the leadership of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), on the sidelines of Empower’s participation in the 2026 ASHRAE Winter Conference, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The meeting reviewed the developments in the global district cooling sector and discussed its growing role in advancing energy efficiency and supporting the sustainability objectives of modern cities. The two sides also discussed progress in developing a globally ...
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