Mississauga announced the construction of a groundbreaking district energy system for its new Lakeview Village community on its waterfront. Once built, the system will be Ontario’s first and Canada’s largest system of its kind. Lakeview will also be North America’s first use of wastewater treatment to heat and cool buildings. The project is a collaborative effort among the City of Mississauga, Enwave, Lakeview Community Partners Limited (LCPL) and the Region of Peel.
The system will provide centralized heating, cooling and domestic hot water throughout the community using an interconnected network of underground pipes, drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional systems.
The district energy system at Lakeview Village will be powered by treated wastewater, or effluent, from the nearby G.E. Booth Water Resource Recovery Facility. This innovative approach, using otherwise unused resources, is projected to meet much of the community’s heating and cooling needs while helping to achieve the city’s climate action targets. “This collaboration has been essential in making Lakeview Village a model for sustainable urban design,” said Enwave CEO Carlyle Coutinho.
The community will also feature a centralized operations facility housing educational resources for visitors, highlighting Mississauga’s dedication to climate awareness and green energy.
The 177-acre Lakeview Village site, once home to the Lakeview Power Generating Station, is undergoing a transformation into a mixed-use waterfront community with over 16,000 new homes, parks and retail spaces.
Enwave’s new energy facility will anchor this development, providing reliable, low-carbon energy for the entire site, and establishing Lakeview Village as a model for green urban living.
About Lakeview Village’s District Energy System
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The Lakeview Village District Energy System (LVDE) is a sustainable approach to community heating and cooling. Centralized and powered by heat recovery from wastewater, LVDE supplies thermal energy to buildings across Lakeview Village, eliminating the need for individual boilers and air conditioners. Waste heat from the G.E. Booth Water Resource Recovery Facility is redirected through an underground network, where it efficiently warms or cools buildings.
This process is more environmentally friendly than traditional heating systems, as it reduces reliance on fossil fuels and enhances energy efficiency. With sewage effluent as the heat source/sink, the system uses electric centrifugal heat pumps to transfer the energy.
Environmentally, LVDE offers multiple benefits. It uses locally sourced, low-carbon energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to Mississauga’s climate targets of an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050.
This system also supports cleaner air by minimizing the combustion-related emissions that typically come from individual heating systems. Beyond energy savings, LVDE sets a precedent for sustainable urban design, serving as a model for cities aiming to integrate green technologies into new developments.
Images from Depositphotos
