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Welcome to the IDEA Connect

IDEA Connect is our members-only discussion forum designed to help district energy professionals seek guidance from experienced peers, allowing you to collaborate and solve problems.

Whether you're looking for an opinion, crowd-sourcing a solution, or just want to connect with like-minded professionals about key issues, IDEA Connect is the place to get answers and advance the specialty.

Get started by posting a question or join into an existing discussion topic to lend your expertise. And check back frequently to view current forum discussions and see if you can lend your expertise to an ongoing discussion. 

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If you're not a member, please consider joining IDEA today to enjoy this exclusive membership benefit.

Current IDEA Member Forums include:

Open Member Forum
IDEA Open Member is our catch-all general conversation forum. As an IDEA Member, you are automatically added to the forum where you can pose questions or jump in on an existing conversation.

Campus Forum (exclusive to campus operators)
The Campus Members Forum is exclusive to our campus member community, allowing for a free-flowing dialogue about the challenges and successes campus members are facing, in hopes of crowd-sourcing solutions.

Low Carbon District Energy
A new forum set up for all members to discuss their low carbon initiatives and discuss solutions.

Future Energy Forum
This forum is intended to enable discussion of “future” energy technologies that may have potential for district energy including nuclear energy (including fission, fusion, Small Modular Reactors (SMR), etc); hydrogen; renewable natural gas; biofuels; energy recovery and a full range of renewables.

District Cooling Forum

The District Cooling Forum brings together professionals involved in the production, distribution, delivery and optimization of district chilled water services in cities, communities and campuses.  The Forum provides focus on operations, safety, efficiency, technologies, controls, optimization and emerging trends.  District cooling is a high growth area around the globe.  IDEA members own and operate many of the largest district cooling systems in the world.

Distribution Forum

The Distribution Forum is a platform for industry professionals involved in the design, construction, operation, maintenance and optimization of thermal energy piping networks in cities, communities and campuses.  This includes steam, hot water, chilled water and ambient loop distribution systems.  Participants are encouraged to share experiences in safety, emergency preparation and response, construction, operations and maintenance as well as metering, heat exchangers, customer interface and system modernization/expansion.  District energy distribution includes areas like integration of geo-exchange, energy sharing, thermal energy networks and thermal energy storage.


District Energy Women's Initiative (DEWI)
The District Energy Women’s Initiative (“DEWI”) is a group committed to providing opportunities for women in district energy to forge connections with one another. This growing community aims to promote discussions among women in energy, furthering our collective understanding and sparking new ideas. DEWI also seeks to recognize and celebrate the significant, unique contributions that women have made, and continue to make, to the district energy industry.

Young Professionals Forum  

The IDEA Young Professionals Group (YPG) aims to develop the younger generation of District Energy professionals by providing networking opportunities to share knowledge, get involved, and build connections that set them up to succeed and lead a growing, ever-changing industry. Come chat with tomorrow's industry leaders today.