IDEA2026 Poster 12

Presentation Description: Upgrading existing facilities requires innovative, cost-effective solutions and a realistic construction staging plan to keep critical infrastructure operational. Extended shutdowns are rarely acceptable, so staging must minimize vulnerabilities and coordinate necessary outages. Temporary power systems, such as portable generators, may maintain redundancy during construction. Collaborative workshops with vendors, owners, and the construction team ensure alignment and smooth execution. This presentation highlights the Rockville Water Treatment Plant Electrical Distribution Systems Upgrades and Main Building Renovation project and the approaches used to minimize disruptions during the project.

Case Study: The project included the renovation of the three-story building (built in 1958), updating the second floor (with offices, a new laboratory, restrooms, and staff break area), and conversion of the entire third floor into an electrical room. It also included upgrading the entire outdated electrical system with a new redundant double-ended system incorporating techniques and features to enhance the resiliency, reliability, and maintainability of the system. In collaboration and brainstorming with the City, the critical success factors of this project were discussed early during the design phase and a detailed construction sequence plan was generated that minimized facility shutdowns.

Topic: System Development, Expansion, and Modernization

IDEA2026 Poster 08

Presentation Description: - Project Context: Retrofit of a large municipal facility to achieve Net Zero emissions. - Core Technology: Implementation of a geothermal system as the primary heating and cooling solution. - Integration: Coupling geothermal with electrification and renewable energy sources for maximum impact. - Performance Outcome: Significant reduction in GHG emissions, with remaining offset through carbon credits. - Key Takeaways: Practical design considerations, operational strategies, and lessons learned for applying geothermal solutions in community projects.

Case Study: The Susan Fennell Sportsplex retrofit demonstrates how geothermal technology can drive municipal decarbonization. It features a 72-borehole, 260-meter-deep vertical geothermal ground source loop. This system interconnects ice plants, DHW, pool heating, and heat pumps via multiple hydronic loops. Combined with solar PV and electrification, the project achieves a 91% GHG reduction, with the remaining 9% offset through carbon credits. This case study offers technical insights and operational lessons for implementing geothermal retrofits in community facilities.

Topic: Geothermal, Geo-Exchange, and Networked Geo

IDEA2026 Poster 07

Presentation Description: This presentation details the infrastructure upgrade at the University of Toronto's SciNet High-Performance Computing Centre (HPCC), incorporating Siemens and third-party components. It will demonstrate how a three-fold computational capacity increase was achieved while improving Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) from 1.2 to under 1.05 by using a new liquid free-cooling system and higher voltage distribution for AI cluster capacity, power, and density increases, while reducing ~$100,000 in annual water cost by eliminating evaporative cooling, promoting sustainability.

Case Study: The University of Toronto's SciNet HPCC tripled computational capacity, boosted energy efficiency and reduced water usage by partnering with Siemens to design and implement facility upgrades. The retrofit improves cooling efficiency in comparison to air-cooling and modernizes campus infrastructure for next-generation AI research, accelerating innovation. Facing the challenge of high-density computing and introducing liquid cooling (1.6 MW warm water cooling, >100 kW racks), Siemens delivered electrical services, distribution, mechanical services, and controls. The site is being prepared to host an AI cluster to enhance computation capacity and, with efficient water-cooling system, will consume less power than a refrigeration cooling system.

Topic: District Energy and CHP Case Studies

Keywords: High-Performance Computing (HPC), Liquid Cooling, Energy Efficiency

IDEA2026 Poster 04

Presentation Description: In just 12 months, Siemens Energy turned a vision of micro-decarbonization into reality. Through small-scale, waste-to-energy systems using gasification, two pilot projects are in development to deliver carbon-neutral district power to rural communities. This presentation shares how we overcame funding, permitting, financials, and infrastructure challenges to build scalable, replicable solutions quickly. With more projects planned and a 2030 goal of 1 GW, this model proves that local action--one tulip at a time--can drive global decarbonization.

Case Study: Development of a 450 Acre Business park in Alberta Canada; will be district power for the park and district heat for a new sub-division.

Topic: De-carbonizing with District Energy

IDEA2026 Poster 03

Presentation Description: District energy systems generate energy centrally and distribute it to communities (uni-directionally). They also allow energy sharing throughout communities (bi-directionally). We numerically model a low-temperature, uni-directional, and geo-exchange district system (4GDHC) for residential users and examine its techno-economical aspects by upgrading to a bi-directional system (5GDHC) by introducing other energy users (data center). Our goal is to see if upgrading buildings from energy users to active prosumers, is worthwhile by comparing energy savings and costs.

Case Study: The modelling framework is applied to a cold-climate case study in Edmonton serving residential buildings. First, a detailed numerical model of the existing network is developed, which combines booster heat pumps, a distribution piping system, and a central ground-source heat pump connected to a geo-exchange field. This model Is then used to simulate converting the network into a fully bi-directional 5GDHC system and adding a data centre with cooling demand. Performance is assessed in terms of energy savings and operating costs.

Topic: Data Centers and District Energy

Keywords: Geo-exchange district systems, Operating temperature optimization, Data centre waste heat integration

IDEA2026 Poster 05

Presentation Description: Subtitle: Value and Overview of a Cooling Technology Institute (CTI) Thermal Test o Why should I test my cooling tower? o Acceptance Testing vs Performance Testing o Overview of test parameters o Tower Performance Curves what are they and why you need them o When should you test? o Required test preparations o Test measurements and instrumentation o Test data, calculation of results, and uncertainty o Value of test results and next steps

Case Study: Case study material will be added if the presentation is accepted.

Topic: District Cooling, Thermal Energy Storage, and Turbine Inlet Cooling

IDEA2026 Poster 06

Presentation Description: District cooling plants always face energy and water consumption problems. Especially, it becomes more serious problem every year when it is planned a brand-new plant or Data Center. One of the solutions is combining chiller and free cooling depending on the load and ambient conditions. The purpose of this research is to develop an optimal thermal system to reduce power and water consumption with free cooling. .

Topic: District Cooling, Thermal Energy Storage, and Turbine Inlet Cooling

Keywords: Chiller, Free Cooling, Data Center

IDEA2026 Poster 02

Presentation Description: Artificial intelligence is driving massive growth in data center demand and advanced cooling is critical to keep innovation running. This presentation covers the reference design and provides guidance on; A 1 GW cooling blueprint for AI factory applications, Integrated air- and liquid-cooling configurations for NVIDIA racks, Guidance on CDUs, fan coil walls, chillers, dry coolers, pumps and facility piping, and A foundation for mechanical design that complements electrical and controls systems.

Case Study: The system covered in this guide is meant to be repeatable for large scale data centers and AI factories. The guide is brand new and engineers are using this to layout their systems. The only customer name we can share at this time is nVidia as this design is meant for their latest chips used in AI factories.

Topic: Data Centers and District Energy

IDEA2026 Poster 10

Decarbonizing District Heating: Unlocking Waste Heat and Renewable Integration through Smart Optimization:
District heating is at a critical point in its decarbonization journey. Most networks still face high heat losses, rising operating costs, and limited ability to integrate renewable and surplus energy. At the same time, the pressure to reduce emissions and make better use of waste heat has never been greater.

This poster presents the technical deployment of underground intelligent temperature mixing loops as a practical way to retrofit high-temperature legacy networks. It shows how localized low-temperature zones (~60?C / 140?F) can be created within existing systems, enabling integration of renewable energy and data center waste heat--without the need for extensive pipe replacement. These "invisible" zones act as critical connection points, allowing utilities to evolve toward more flexible, efficient, and low-carbon networks.

The poster highlights how utilities can move from traditional grids to smarter systems that support decarbonization, waste heat reuse, and renewable integration--while building on existing infrastructure.

What the poster covers:
- How lowering supply and return temperatures reduces heat loss and unlocks new energy sources
- How to integrate waste heat from industry, buildings, and data centers into existing networks
- How renewable sources such as geothermal, solar, and heat pumps can be connected more effectively
- How intelligent zoning, real-time data, and optimization improve performance and reduce costs

Case Study: In Albertslund, Denmark, a prefabricated underground mixing station was installed in a standard pit, reducing supply temperatures from 212 deg F to 140 deg F (100 deg C to 60 deg C) for a zone containing 100+ homes & buildings. The poster displays performance data showing the system's ability to maintain comfort during peak winter loads while projecting a 50% reduction in grid heat loss and enabling the intake of low-temperature surplus & renewable heat.

Topic: Integrating Renewables, Low-Carbon Solutions and Electrification

Keywords: Decarbonization, Waste heat reuse, Renewable integration, Heat loss reduction, Low-temperature networks, Intelligent mixing loops, Temperature zoning, Legacy network retrofit, Intelligent control, Supply & return temperature, Performance optimization,

IDEA2026 Poster 01

Presentation Description: Many generating facilities, university campuses, and industrial sites maintain legacy protection systems that are approaching end of life. Solutions for electrical protection and control upgrades often need to strike a balance between industry standard technology and reutilization of existing infrastructure. This presentation will discuss the replacement of the protection relays for the Ontario Power Generation (OPG) facility in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the challenges faced in utilizing modern technology in concert with the legacy protection system.

Case Study: Ontario Power Generation Protection Relay Replacement Project will be used as a case study.

Topic: Controls, monitoring, metering, and data management