The City of Richmond-run venue, Gateway Theatre, will soon have a new wastewater heat recovery system - the first of its kind in Canada to source from a municipal sewer pump station.
It's estimated the new system, which will cost $54,000 to install, will save the theatre up to 44 per cent in energy costs and will take six to seven years to recoup.
City council's public works committee heard this week how a similar system in a North Vancouver building has netted 75 per cent in energy savings.
According to the report presented by Alen Postolka, the city's energy manager, wastewater is a source of energy which can be used for heating and cooling buildings with heat pumps and has been used worldwide for more than 20 years.
The system to be installed in the Gateway is called "SHARC" and, in case theatre-goers are worried about anything other than the actors stinking, it features a self-contained clog-proof filtering system, which eliminates potential odour issues.
SHARC, according to Postolka, is a version of a technology developed and widely used in China, although some are used in North America.
"Thermal energy will be captured from the raw wastewater using the SHARC system," explained Postolka.
"The heat exchanger will transfer the energy from the wastewater into Gateway's heat pump water loop.
"This heat pump water loop will be completely separate from the wastewater."
Postolka said the theatre's boiler will remain to assist in heating and to serve as back-up.
Committee's endorsement of the project is expected to be ratified by city council next week.
