Heat recovery allows the reuse of energy that would otherwise be lost to reduce energy consumption, operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions from buildings or processes.
This is essential to improving the energy performance of a building or industrial process.
Don’t waste, reuse: A smart solution for saving energy.
What is heat recovery?
Heat recovery is the capture of a portion of the heat released from a cooling, heating or incineration process—often referred to as lethal heat. This energy, already produced and paid for, can then be reused to preheat air, water or another process, contributing to more efficient energy management. This is essential to improving the energy performance of a building or industrial process
Concrete applications
- Multi-unit, commercial or agricultural buildings : A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) preheats new air using heat from exhaust air, improving comfort and energy efficiency.
- Factories and power plants : Stack, water or ventilation exchangers recover heat from processes to heat offices or preheat boiler make-up water.
- Data centres, hospitals and large tertiary sites : Heat from cooling systems can be recovered to heat buildings, greenhouses or an urban heating network.
Generic diagram showing potential for heat recovery in a process plant
Recovering and putting Quebec’s industrial waste heat to use could reduce emissions by 15.8 million tonnes of CO2 [heat recovery] & equivalent—about 18% of the province’s total annual emissions1.
“We chose heat recovery because of its technical and operational advantages, but also because it gave us access to grants that allowed us to significantly reduce the return on investment period.”
Usine Lassonde
Heat recovery helped the Lassonde plant in Saint-Damase save about 80,000 m³ of natural gas in the first year.
“This process saves us a lot of water and, therefore, a lot of energy, since we don’t have to heat the water for every batch of products to be sterilized.”
Station agro-biotech
Find out how a heat recovery autoclave allowed the company to offer a unique product while saving more than $58,000 on its energy bill.
Good to know
Heat recovery efficiency—the proportion of heat recovered—varies from 40% to 90%2 depending on the equipment selected and the specific application.
