The Toronto Western Hospital WET™ Project
World's Largest Raw Wastewater Energy Project
Noventa’s WET™ system will use thermal energy from wastewater flowing through the sewer to supply up to 90 percent of the campus' heating and cooling needs, reducing the site's direct greenhouse gas emissions by about 8,400 metric tonnes each year. That’s the equivalent of removing 1,811 cars from the road.
Navigating utilities, transportation, and landlocked facilities, we have overcome several challenges to maximize available space and find solutions to decarbonize Toronto Western Hospital.
The energy supplied to the hospital from Noventa’s WET™ System:
1.8 billion kilowatt-hours of energy over the life of the project
19 megawatts of thermal energy capacity
Over 2,400 tons of cooling capacity
Over 33,000 MBTU of heating capacity
Realizing a project in an extremely busy urban centre
Noventa's WET™ project is built in downtown Toronto's bustling intersection of Bathurst and Dundas. There are many building challenges. Streetcar tracks, overhead wires, a bus route and several public facilities like a school, library and swimming pool surround the Wetwell construction. Despite these challenges, Noventa is executing the project without disruptions to the hospital's surroundings or operations.
Using innovative engineering to develop project components
To access the midtown interceptor sewer, Noventa is constructing a 165ft deep and 35ft wide Wetwell which houses the HUBER Rok4® pumping station. The infrastructure is being built below-ground to avoid taking up any valuable surface area on the hospital grounds.
Improving efficiency and economies of scale for proven technology
The WET™ system at Toronto Western Hospital distinguishes itself from the 50+ ThermWin® installations in Europe by size. Noventa's system at TWH hospital uses 16 BG8 heat exchangers, making it eight times larger than any other installation worldwide.
Noventa has also worked with HUBER to realize a process improvement which not only improves the efficiency of the ThermWin® technology; it makes the project financially viable and further decarbonizes the hospital's HVAC system.
Using Noventa innovation to realize the WET™ system
“Fewer people will need to be admitted to hospitals, including University Health Network, because of projects like these. Climate change is likely the number one threat to the well-being of society and the planet ”
Dr. Kevin Smith, PhD - CEO, University Health Network
Environmental Benefits
250,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions reduced
141 million kilowatt-hours of electricity saved
130 million cubic meters of natural gas saved
1.3 billion liters of cooling water saved
The HUBER ThermWin® technology anchors Noventa's WET™ system at Toronto Western Hospital.
The WET™ system houses 16 HUBER BG8 RoWin® heat exchangers and 6 HUBER Rotamat® ROK4 pumping station screens.
