Building the energy backbone for a low-carbon urban future

As cities grow, the way communities heat and cool buildings is becoming as important as how they design streets, transit, housing, and public spaces. Across North America, large mixed-use developments are under pressure to deliver more than square footage – they must provide reliable infrastructure, manage long-term energy costs, reduce emissions, and create places where people can sustainably live, work, shop, receive care, and connect. District energy – or thermal energy networks – is increasingly part of that conversation because it allows communities to think beyond one building at a time and instead plan shared, scalable systems that can evolve as an entire district grows.

Utah City reflects this next generation of urban development. Planned as a new transit-oriented, mixed-use community in Vineyard, Utah, the development totals approximately 20 million square feet of mix-use real estate across 336 acres and is expected to be delivered through a phased buildout over roughly 15 years on a former brownfield site. The program includes residential, commercial, office, healthcare, grocery, hospitality and amenity uses, creating a diverse urban environment that requires flexible, resilient, and cost-effective infrastructure.

Planning infrastructure to grow with Utah City

To support this vision, Ramboll was engaged to evaluate and help implement a scalable, low-carbon district energy system aligned with the project’s long-term sustainability and economic objectives. The development team needed an energy solution that could grow with phased construction while minimizing initial capital investment and enabling competitive tenant energy rates. The solution had to balance near-term constructability with long-term performance, including the potential to capture waste heat from nearby sources, and the need to align technical, financial, and regulatory considerations early in the process.

Ramboll also worked with the developer to identify and select a development, ownership, and operations partner. Through this process Utah City selected Corix, a premier district energy owner-operator in North America. Our work with Corix began with a detailed financial feasibility and technical evaluation of multiple district energy scenarios benchmarked against a business-as-usual approach. This analysis considered both ambient 2-pipe and 4-pipe configurations, with the 4-pipe option identified as the preferred long-term solution. By comparing system alternatives through both technical and economic lenses, our experts helped the development team understand not only what could be built, but what would create the strongest foundation for full-buildout performance.

A central element of our approach was pairing district-wide master planning with a phased implementation strategy. For a project of this scale, infrastructure decisions made in the earliest phases can either create flexibility or lock in constraints for decades. Ramboll’s planning supported a pathway that limits early-stage capital risk while preserving the ability to expand and optimize the system as Utah City grows. The work also provided technical substantiation to support a formal go/no-go investment decision and advisory support that enabled establishment of a regulated district energy utility.

Ramboll’s role has continued into Phase 1 through owner’s engineering services currently in construction. This includes distribution piping design and network hydraulics, Energy Transfer Station design for individual buildings, central plant design oversight and procurement support, and coordination across civil, mechanical, electrical, controls, and utility interfaces. This cross-discipline role is critical because district energy systems do not sit apart from urban development; they are embedded in streets, buildings, utility corridors, controls systems, and long-term operations.

The project is also reaching an important public milestone. The planned energy center ribbon cutting this September will mark more than the opening of a piece of infrastructure; it will signal the transition from planning and feasibility into operations. For Utah City, the district energy network represents the shared backbone that will allow future buildings and phases to connect to a coordinated system rather than relying solely on building-by-building heating and cooling solutions.

The district energy strategy is expected to support lower lifecycle energy costs for tenants, reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, and create a clear pathway for future waste heat recovery and system expansion.

Creating a platform for lower-carbon community growth

Utah City shows how early energy planning can shape the long-term performance of an entire urban district. By combining technical feasibility, financial analysis, utility advisory support, and owner’s engineering, we helped the client move from concept to implementation with a scalable approach that reduces capital risk, supports competitive tenant energy rates, and preserves flexibility for future growth. Ramboll sees modern district energy systems as tool for developers of communities to lower energy costs and water consumption while increasing the sustainability benefits to their communities. As the development advances, its district energy system will serve as more than supporting infrastructure; it will be a shared platform for lower-carbon operations, resilient community growth, and a more efficient way to deliver the buildings, services, and amenities that define a connected urban place.