New Utah City District Energy system lowers costs, connects the community

Ramboll and Corix have reached a major milestone for Utah City, an emerging mixed-use community in Vineyard, Utah, with the commissioning of a district energy system designed to share heat among buildings and reuse waste heat from nearby industries in the future. Ramboll evaluated and helped implement a system that could grow with the development’s phased construction, minimize initial capital investment, and preserve the potential to capture waste heat from more nearby industrial sources over time.

“Urban developments like Utah City are thinking big and future-forward, with infrastructure that grows with the community and meets both economic and sustainability goals,” said Cheryl Ginyard-Jones, Managing Director of Ramboll in the Americas. “By incorporating a top-of-the-line district heating system that most efficiently delivers heating and cooling to the businesses and homes that need it, the community not only saves on energy bills but also invests in its long-term success and resilience.”

District energy systems, also known as thermal energy networks, often involve central plants that produce hot and cold water that are then directed through a network of pipes to provide hot water, space heating, and air conditioning for nearby buildings. By connecting multiple buildings through the system, developers create economies of scale that increase energy efficiency, reduce energy costs, lower the strain on the electrical grid, and lower carbon emissions.

At full build-out, Utah City is expected to provide 20 million square feet of residential, retail, commercial, and medical research development on a 350-acre former brownfield site. The system is expected to have 60 MWt of heating capacity and 80 MWt of cooling capacity, reducing upwards of 70 MW in total peak capacity from the electrical grid.

Ramboll was a key partner with Corix on the feasibility, planning and engineering of the project, combining planning for the entire system with a step-by-step rollout strategy, along with the technical analysis needed to support investment decisions and establish the regulated district energy utility that will serve the community. The strategy is expected to deliver significant long-term value over 15 years of expansion, with a centralized infrastructure approach replacing individual building systems. The centralized infrastructure also means substantially less ongoing maintenance in the community, as the need for 17,000+ hot water heaters and individual HVAC units will be eliminated over the life of the project. Not only do district energy networks have over 99% reliability compared to conventional systems, the networks last substantially longer than standard HVAC systems, with 50+ year lifetimes versus 15-20 year lifetimes.

“This project demonstrates that district energy can deliver better outcomes for developers, tenants, and the community that conventional HVAC systems. Residents at Utah City will see lower energy bills as well as benefit from a more sustainable solution.” said Michael Bergstrom, Senior Manager for Energy Market Development at Ramboll. “By planning for an expandable district energy system from the start, Utah City is setting themselves up for a future that can harness these resources today and grow for the needs of tomorrow.”

Utah City highlights how early energy planning can shape the long-term performance of an entire urban district.

Learn more about the project.