Wastewater Energy Recovery experience?

Keihly Moore

Architect | Sustainable Design Coordinator

Studio G Architects

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

November 17, 2023

Hi all,

We recently learned that Mass Dept of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) along with a few other state agencies are looking to offer grants for wastewater heat recovery implemented into projects. This is a newer technology that puts a heat exchanger or heat pump in the wastewater system that then extracts the heat energy and transfers it to be used in the heating/cooling building systems. Does anyone have any experience with this technology yet? I am curious about how you used it (project types, etc) and what your experience was like, and what you wished you would have known.

Here's a good explanation of how it works: https://www.sharcenergy.com/how-it-works/

For those interested in learning more, there is a Summit coming up on December 8, though information is yet to be posted on their website: https://www.mass.gov/clean-energy-results-program . I have attached the flyer.

Thank you,
Keihly

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Kjell Anderson

Director of Sustainable Design

LMN Architects

LEEDuser Basic Member

4 thumbs up

Fri, 11/17/2023 - 16:22

One example. https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dnrp/about-king-county/about-dnrp/newsroom/news-releases/10-19-sewer-heat-recovery We like it call it the #2 heating solution and are working in the early stages on two such projects but have no lessons learned yet on those. There is a different option we explored on a project that was a hotel-internal heat recovery from the plumbing waste line, which is primarily shower water in the mornings so it’s much warmer than 55 degree incoming water. It had a decent cost-benefit, but then the client went with a sovent plumbing solution that made it infeasible. -Kjell F

Keihly Moore

Architect | Sustainable Design Coordinator

Studio G Architects

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Fri, 11/17/2023 - 21:56

Thank you Kjell. Great project example. I just got the #2 reference - good one! :) Glad you are starting to work on this technology in other projects.

David Winans

Principal

GGLO

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Fri, 11/17/2023 - 22:33

Ecotope in Seattle designed one of these for the Sitka Apartments project. Sitka Apartments - Ecotope Shawn Oram at Ecotope can fill you in on the details. It was a custom system and not a Sharc. Since that project, Shawn has advised that a good CO2 based heat pump hot water system such as the QAHV CO2 Hot Water Heat Pump // Mitsubishi Electric (mitsubishi-electric.co.nz) will provide most of the efficiency benefit without the added cost and complexity of the wastewater heat recovery system.

Keihly Moore

Architect | Sustainable Design Coordinator

Studio G Architects

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Mon, 11/20/2023 - 16:01

Hi David, Wow. We are using that Mitsubishi QAHV on another project (starting construction soon), and I'm amazed that that technology would be as good. Very good to know! Thank you. I'll reach out to Shawn too. Much appreciated!
Keihly