Canadian energy company FortisBS is planning to reuse exhaust heat from a Telus data center an office building's cooling system for space heating at the Telus Garden, a massive downtown-Vancouver development by the telecommunications company.

FortisBS said it expected to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by 1m kg per year by capturing and re-distributing low-grade heat through the 1m sq ft development. The company said its District Energy System (DES) will be one of the first systems in the city to use waste heat from a neighboring site to heat and cool a new development.

Andrea Goertz, senior VP of strategic initiatives and communications at Telus, said the DES represented innovation through design, recovering and utilizing heat that would normally be lost. “It’s a powerful and unique system, and we are so pleased to be undertaking this landmark project with FortisBC,” she said.

The data center is located near the Telus Garden, a 1m sq ft development Telus is investing CA$750m in. The office building from which DES will harvest waste heat will be a 24-story office tower.

Besides the office tower, the development will include a 53-story residential tower, consisting of homes and retail space.