Sustainable Operations: Energy Management

lighting and plug load

Commerce Court property management has been continuously implementing various retrofitting projects to replace common area lighting with LEDs, install motion sensors, and daylight harvesting switching strategy to increase efficiency. Daylight harvesting refers to lighting control devices that adjust output based on the amount of daylight available.

All tenants are sub-metered, while base building energy use is managed with real time monitoring. Commerce Court property management engages with tenants to review their lighting and HVAC schedules, as well as plan ways to increase employee awareness on the importance of conservation.

Heating and cooling

Commerce Court is heated and cooled using high efficiency chillers and steam distribution system. EnWave Deep Lake Water Cooling system is used as a year-round renewable source to cool the building.

EnWave Deep Lake Water Cooling

EnWave technology uses the icy-cold waters of Lake Ontario as its source. In the winter months, the surface temperature of the lake drops to approximately four degrees Celsius. EnWave uses this permanent reservoir of ice water to cool buildings during the summer months. The high density pumps extract the cold water from the bottom of the lake. Once the cold transfer is complete, the lake water becomes part of the city's potable water system. Only the coldness of the lake is harnessed during the transfer process, not the water itself. To learn more click here.