Green Energy Futures:
The Epcor Tower in Edmonton is partially heated by earth tubes, a simple technology that prepeats fresh air using heat from the ground.
Green Energy Futures:
Some of the grasses used in the landscaping around the Epcor Tower, a LEED gold project.
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Tetyana Chorna inside the Epcor Tower's earth tube – 19,000 litres of air per second is prewarmed in the 100-metre long concrete earth tube beneath the parkade of the building.
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Four storeys above Tetyana Chorna is the air intake for the Earth Tube that is part of the Epcor Tower in Edmonton.
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Michael Fraser of residence services at the UofA shows off the earth tubes that bring preheated fresh air into the Ecohouse at the University of Alberta.
Green Energy Futures:
Earth tube technology is so simply it's hard for researchers to get funding to do the monitoring that could prove how effective the systems are are preheating the fresh air supply for buildings.
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Diagram of the Earth Tube intalled in the Ecohouse at University of Alberta.
Green Energy Futures:
The Ecohouse at the University of Alberta features the very unglamorous earth tube as part of its heating system.
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The Ecohouse at the University of Alberta uses solar thermal water heating and earth tubes to preheat it's fresh air supply.
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The Epcor Tower uses 4.4 million litres of treated rainwater each year for toilets and other purposes reducing demand for potable water by 63%.
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The rain water collection tank in the Epcor Tower holds 725,000 litres providing 4.4 million litres of water each year for use in toilets and other grey water applications.
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Tetyana Chorna shows the huge storage tank for rain water and the pumps used to supply grey water to the Epcor Tower.
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Tetyana Chorna shows the stack condensers that help the Epcor building take the natural gas boilers from 85% to 95.5% efficient.
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The Epcor Tower uses stack condensers to help harvest the heat in the exhaust of the natural gas boilers to preheat incoming air and preheat the boiler water.
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The view southwest from the EPCOR Tower in Edmonton.
Green Energy Futures:
Tetyanna Chorna with the heat exchangers on the top floor of the Epcor Tower in Edmonton.
Green Energy Futures:
The Epcor Tower in Edmonton is a 29-storey building heated in part by earth tubes that cool or heat air using the constant temperature of the earth.
Green Energy Futures:
Tetyana Chorna, facilities manager for Epcor Tower, shows the air intake for the amazing earth tube that helps heat this 29-storey office tower.