HVAC

A key sector of the HVAC industry is district heating and cooling networks, which are systems that transport heat between residential communities, commercial buildings, and central chiller plants via insulated pipes. District heating networks are a particularly important outlet for the reuse of waste heat from local industry due to their proximity and ability to work on a shared grid; this arrangement eliminates the need for buildings on the grid to have dedicated chillers, leading to financial savings and reduced environmental impact. As with traditional comfort heating, the heat source can be a combination of fossil fuels, geothermal, solar thermal, and industrial waste-heat sources, among others, while heat sinks include seawater and air. Trends in energy savings and decarbonation targets incentivize low grid temperatures, in turn demanding efficient heat exchangers to meet temperature requirements in the target space. Plate heat exchangers are particularly suitable for district heating applications as their versatility allows them to act as pressure breakers in building substations as part of extensive networks with altitude variations while efficiently fulfilling their heating and
cooling duties.

The cooling of servers in data centres is another an important sector of the HVAC industry, with data centres accounting for approximately 2% of total global electricity consumption. Modern cooling systems incorporating plate heat exchangers are being used to replace traditional and expensive mechanical cooling systems, providing savings in energy and contributing to sustainability targets by using free cooling and other heat recovery opportunities. With IT process demands (such as 5G infrastructure, high quality streaming, and autonomous vehicles) growing, sustainable cooling solutions for data centres are becoming paramount. Per an Alfa Laval survey conducted in 2024, 97% of Canadian data centres currently use plate heat exchangers, with the majority of those applications being in heat recovery and reuse throughout the centre. Other applications include cooling and temperature control of IT equipment, isolators to prevent fouling from open cooling towers, and space optimization to reduce crowding in server rooms and data halls.

Valutech has worked with major consultants and contractors in Ontario and beyond solutions for over 30 years to provide optimal HVAC heat exchanger solutions and expertise for heat transfer and heat pump applications in developments of all sizes, from small-scale condominium retrofits to towering new developments and large-scale commercial projects. Our experts factor in fluid compatibility with gasket and plate materials, maintenance and service needs, port sizes and flow rates, and insulation requirements, among many other considerations when sizing and selecting the optimal heat transfer solution for your HVAC process.

One of the major trends of the modern HVAC industry is to replace boilers with heat pumps, garnering support from policy makers and system designers in both the residential and commercial sectors. Heat pumps are electrically-driven systems that efficiency transfer heat from a source fluid (usually water or air) to a system side fluid in order to heat or cool a building. They are approximately four times more efficient than the equivalent fossil-fuel boiler for residential and commercial building heating, with the potential to create massive energy savings and reductions in CO2 emissions, especially when combined with electric
boilers or thermal energy storage systems. Currently heat pumps account for 10% of global building heating duties, and within space heating and cooling applications their efficiency results from the ability to pull heat from or reject heat to a reservoir, reducing loads on chillers and allowing for precise control of temperature differentials between condensers and evaporators.

 Consequently, thermally efficient and robust heat exchangers are crucial in order to take advantage of the potential efficiencies afforded by heat pump installations; brazed plate and welded plate heat exchangers are common choices for heat pump systems as they can accommodate high pressure refrigerants and are versatile enough to act as condensers, evaporators, and subcoolers. In addition to residential building applications, heat pumps are used to recover heat from industrial processes such as data centres, as well as from natural heat sources like seawater and sewage; this heat is then typically supplied to local processes via district heating networks to ensure as little heat is wasted as possible.

In summary, the use of efficient heat exchangers and heat pump systems lowers heating costs, allows for electricity-based heating incorporating renewable energy sources, and provides the utmost system flexibility. On a larger scale, the widespread use of energy efficient heat exchangers and the implementation of systems to harness renewable heat sources or reuse generated heat to minimize the waste of energy is a major factor in creating sustainable urban developments, as well as saving financial and material resources for other crucial applications. It is estimated that heating and cooling of buildings accounts for around 24% of global energy consumption; sustainability initiatives in the HVAC industry reduce CO2 emissions and create a pathway for the industry to contribute to broader environmental sustainability on a global level.

 For example, the City of Toronto utilizes the world’s largest Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) system, which transports water from the depths of Lake Ontario, filters and treats it to a potable grade, and to supplies it to residents and businesses in downtown Toronto as a reliable and renewable source of cool water. This network spans 180 buildings across 3.7 km2 in the downtown core to provide cooling as well as domestic tap water in a system that, as of 2024, features 27 Alfa Laval plate heat exchangers each with capacities of 8.5 megawatts and cooling water from 13° to 5°C. This system saves over 90,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually, corresponding to 40,000 tonnes of CO2 emission reductions. These benefits are in addition to the elimination of cooling towers and chillers, which reduces water consumption significantly while allowing for repurposing of roof space.