Green Living Quebec City apartment block heats with biomass. community in downtown Quebec City is setting the standard for energy efficiency, including a four-boiler biomass combustion sys-tem to heat the dwelling and domestic hot water. There are very few properties in the Quebec City core large enough to accommodate the construction of new housing, especially since preserving green spaces has become a top priority. The obvious solution is to combine living space with green spaces, which is precisely what SSQ Financial Group has done with La Cité Verte (The Green City). THE SITE A UNIQUE The project site, a 93,000 m 2 parcel of land in the Saint-Sacrement district (near the intersection of Chemin Sainte-Foy and Avenue Saint-Sacrement), has a rich history; it has been home to the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul crèche, Hôpital de la Miséricorde (mercy hospital) and the École de puériculture (childcare nursing school). SSQ Financial Group (a Quebec-based insurance, investment/retirement and real estate services institution) acquired the property from the Congrégation des Soeurs du Bon-Pasteur de Québec in 2005. A CLOSER LOOK AT LA CITÉ VERTE One of only a handful of such projects in Canada, La Cité Verte takes the concept of sustainable develop-ment a step further – to minimize the environmental impacts of a major real estate development project and demonstrate that state-of-the-art technologies and environmental protection can go hand in hand for the well-being of our society and future generations. La Cité Verte, the first large-scale, multi-residential project in Quebec, comprises green, intelligent buildings. There are more than 800 housing units – including condos, townhouses, apartments and af-fordable housing – intermingled with community features such as green spaces, stores and services to encourage pedestrian movement and social interaction. The result is a welcoming urban environment that exists in harmony with its natural surroundings. A BIOMASS HEATING MILESTONE La Cité Verte currently employs the most advanced biomass district heating system in North America for its space heating and domestic hot water (DHW) needs. It offers proof that biomass heating is not only a feasible solution for rural areas, but it can also be implemented effectively within an urban setting. The heating network uses wood pellets, a byproduct from Quebec’s for-est industry, as fuel. Wood is a local staple and independent of wide price fluctuations; it is harvested with minimal energy input and contributes to the regional economy. The combustion of premium wood pellets is a clean and environmentally friendly process and, as a carbon-neutral source of energy, it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect. At the heart of the system is a boiler plant housing four Viessmann Pyrotec KPT-1250 wood-fired boilers (each rated at 1,250 KW) in a 5 MW cascade sys-tem. The cascade arrangement provides maximum boiler plant efficiency with LEFT MAIN: La Cité Verte employs a biomass district heating system for its space heating and domestic hot water (DHW) needs. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: The heating system uses local wood pellets and also has an integrated system that monitors the energy consumption data collected from individual units and district substations; At the `]Yjlg^l`]kqkl]eakYZgad]jhdYfl`gmkaf_^gmjNa]kkeYffHqjgl][CHL%)*-(ogg\%Új]\Zgad]jk& Canadian BIOMASS 13
Canadian Biomass September/October 2012: Page 13
