Bermingham Foundation Solutions acquired the Enercret rights from Austrian company Nagelbau in 2003, and introduced the system to North America in a joint venture with Burlington’s Earth Energy Utility.

Enercret was developed in Austria 20 years ago and has been used in more than 400 European buildings – including a terminal at London’s Heathrow Airport and a 20-story bank in Hanover, Germany. Several bridges in Europe are kept ice free by Enercret loops installed in abutment piles. The thermo-active foundations can also be used with diaphragm walls or foundation slabs.

Traditional geothermal heating is a well-proven technology with operational costs that are up to 50 percent lower than those of normal heating systems. However, traditional methods still suffer from two significant drawbacks: high capital costs and considerable land requirements around the building.

Enercret resolves these issues by utilizing the building’s inherent infrastructure. Since it is completely enveloped in the building’s foundations, Enercret reduces capital costs by eliminating the need for adjacent land and external loop installations. Significant cost and design benefits are obvious for developers of buildings where space is limited, such as on tight city lots.

Instead of creating heat within the building, as oil or gas furnaces do, Enercret transfers heat from the ground into the building or, for cooling, from the building back into the ground. Looped piping circulates a glycol mixture for conversion to heating and cooling.

In the Marine Discovery Centre, there are 40,000 linear feet of piping, including 57 steel pipe piles driven 30 metres underground. Each concrete-filled pile contains two 25-mm diameter loops which are held in place with an innovative design. The piping connects to a manifold in the HVAC system, then to a heat pump in one of the two mechanical rooms. Costs are kept reasonable and comparable to boilers or AC units because Enercret uses regular concrete, high-density polyethylene tubing and conventional ducting. No specialized materials are required – the innovation rests in the site-specific design application.

Although the initial installment cost of Enercret is more than for conventional heating systems, those expenses can typically be recouped within five to seven years. Enercret’s in-foundation design cost is approximately $100,000 less than that of a separate geothermal system. Additionally, Enercret is capable of providing up to 100 percent of heating and cooling capacity for a building.

Bermingham Foundation Solutions and Earth Energy Utility are now preparing proposals for several other clients, including the New York Port Authority. Bermingham provides the engineering and site expertise. Earth Energy Utility provides financing and serves as a conventional utility. Southern Canada is an ideal location for geothermal technology as its heating and cooling loads are fairly balanced.

Bermingham has a reputation for innovation, having created smokeless impact hammers and Statnamic, a load-testing system using pyrotechnics and reaction masses to measure a foundation’s capacity. Statnamic is now specified in Japan, Malaysia, Argentina, Holland, the UK and throughout North America. Bermingham also builds foundations (piles, shoring, and caissons), manufactures foundation equipment and provides engineering services in 33 countries around the world.

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