Toronto Community Housing

“The system brings enormous value to the facility. Not only does it increase the emergency power load to near peak load, but also it reduces emissions and eliminates transmission losses, thus reducing the need for expanded power generation.”  

The Senator David A. Croll Apartment building, formerly Rochdale College, is a typical multi-unit residential building managed by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation.

This 335 kW combined heat and emergency power (CHeP) project was built to avoid the cost of replacing a diesel generator, with a significant saving of $300,000. Conventional emergency on-site generation uses dedicated equipment that is rarely operated, yet has a very high capital cost (known as a ‘stranded asset’). HH Angus converted this stranded asset to provide an economic benefit to the facility. The benefit comes from recovering heat so that the overall efficiency rose from 33% to 83%, as well as the use of natural gas, which is cheaper than diesel.

The new generator produces enough electricity for the entire building load on most days. The heat generated by the engine is captured and used to heat the domestic hot water system and building spaces, thereby producing a highly efficient use of the fuel - greater than 90%!

The most important benefit for the building’s occupants is the increased emergency power load capabilities. Instead of powering just a minimum of elevator and emergency lighting services during power outages, the CHeP system provides a power load that runs all regular systems, including heating and air-conditioning systems.