Bird Construction Inc. announced this week that it has entered into an Alliance Agreement with the renewable energy company, Noventa Energy Partners, to jointly pursue opportunities for wastewater energy transfer (“WET”) projects across Canada, with Bird acting as the exclusive constructor. The WET projects will deploy the Huber ThermWin®️ System, for which Noventa Energy is the exclusive distributor in Canada and the United States. Currently developing opportunities represent over $500 million and 150MW of energy.

The Alliance relationship commences with the successful financial close of the recently announced Toronto Western Hospital WET project that is valued at approximately $42.9 million. This is the world’s largest raw wastewater energy transfer project and once complete it will provide over 19MW of low-carbon thermal energy to the hospital facility, which is approximately 90 percent of the hospital’s heating and cooling requirements. Over the next 30 years, the hospital will see a cumulative reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of more than 250,000 tonnes —displacing 1.35 million cubic meters of natural gas, 143,000 megawatt hours of electricity consumption, and 1.4 million cubic meters in water usage, the equivalent of 560 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The milestone project for Toronto Western Hospital encompasses the construction of an underground vault which will house 16 Huber wastewater heat exchangers and 5 chiller/heat pumps, the excavation of a 38-metre-deep wet well that will be connected to the sewer main, and the retrofit of the hospital’s existing heating steam system to a low-temperature, hot water system and provision of chilled water cooling.

The Toronto Western project has been funded with the support of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, VanCity Community Investment Bank, and a grant from Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Fund, a $2 billion fund to support clean growth and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

“Wastewater is a relatively untapped renewable energy source that is underutilized in North America, and working closely with our partner, we are excited to bring this valuable, sustainable solution to institutions across Canada,” said Teri McKibbon, President and CEO of Bird. “I am particularly proud of Bird’s participation in this inaugural project, and recognize the substantial opportunity created through the Alliance Agreement, as well as the positive alignment of this innovation with a lower carbon future. We continue to see value building through our focus on collaboration and leveraging our diverse and innovative offerings, both of which contribute to continued growth and consistent, long-term shareholder value.”

About 
Bird is a leading Canadian construction company operating from coast-to-coast and servicing all of Canada’s major markets. Bird provides a comprehensive range of construction services from new construction for industrial, commercial, institutional, and civil infrastructure markets; to industrial maintenance, repair and operations services, heavy civil construction, and mine support services; as well as vertical infrastructure including, electrical, mechanical, and specialty trades. For over 100 years, Bird has been a people-focused company with an unwavering commitment to safety and a high level of service that provides long-term value for all stakeholders.

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