The pathway for de-carbonizing any existing building leads to electrification.  Everything from replacing conventional gas boilers with electric heat pumps to integrating smart building features and installing electric car charging stations.  But how does the provincial grid and local electricity distributors meet the spike in demand for electricity?  What is the role of renewable and green energy and what promises do new building technologies hold? What is the projected ROI for implementing building optimization solutions?  These questions and more with be explored during this engaging panel discussion.

Buildings have the potential to be part of the energy supply solution.  Using A.I., and smart technologies, the building stock can simultaneously demand and supply energy.  When combined with novel energy storage systems, unique energy demand can be matched with unique energy supply.  This panel will explore new leading edge and disruptive solutions that will truly allow energy to flow both ways to and from the grid and to and from buildings and infrastructure.

Buildings have traditionally been designed as stand-alone entities with unitary HVAC systems and community design practices, coupled with municipal right of way bylaws, long development time lines and a siloed approach to infrastructure design have led to limited uptake of community energy systems.  The integrated design process approach and building as a system design philosophy has led to major improvements in building performance by breaking down the linear design approach and design professional silos.  How do we apply an integrated design approach across developers, planners, municipalities and communities to encourage and enable community energy systems that take advantage of efficiencies and emissions reductions only available through aggregated, optimized energy supply and demand.

Community energy systems, long the standard in European countries, have started to be developed in Canada outside of traditional, campus based central systems and into the urban fabric of growing smart cities.  With innovative ownership approaches and risk mitigating financial models, these systems are beginning to be deployed in both greenfield and urban in-fill examples. This session will examine some of the European successes, and recent Canadian efforts.