Energy Centre Building

The 2,500 ft² Energy Centre building for Drake Landing Solar Community is located in the corner of the community park, and houses the short term heat storage tanks, as well as most of the mechanical equipment (pumps, heat exchanger, controls, etc.).

In the front of the Energy Centre is a display window, showing how the system works, and providing actual, realtime data on system performance. This same performance data will be available openly on the internet, allowing researchers, homeowners and the merely curious to observe the system.

Approximately 70% of the floor space is filled with two large, insulated water tanks, each 12’ diameter and 10’ tall. The water temperatures within these tanks are “stratified”, that is tank 1 holds the warmest water, and tank 2 the coolest. This allows the system controls to pull just the right temperature water that is needed, or to return heated water to the best location.

The front room of the Energy Centre contains the pumps, valves, heat exchangers, expansion tanks, and other equipment necessary to operate and control the energy system.