Hydrogen innovation:
A living lab for the future of heating
Author: Eero Rauvola
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
What if a university campus could show the world how to replace natural gas for good? UBC, Elomatic, and FortisBC are working to convert UBC’s district heating system – one of the campus’s biggest sources of emissions – to run on 100% green hydrogen. The project uses the campus itself as a test bed. If it works, it could become a template for district heating far beyond Vancouver.
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is exploring hydrogen heating for its Vancouver campus. The aim is to convert the campus’s natural gas-powered district heating system to run on 100% renewable hydrogen.
The project gives students hands-on experience and supports the university’s research programs. Once operational, the system could show how district heating across Canada and beyond can move away from fossil fuels.
Testing and demonstrating solutions at full scale is a clear advantage over a traditional laboratory environment.
UBC Campus as a Living Lab – more than a test platform
The project builds on UBC’s Campus as a Living Lab (CLL) concept, an approach the university has practiced for nearly two decades. Living Labs bring together diverse groups to collaborate and share knowledge around a common goal: solving global sustainability challenges.
One of CLL’s most valuable assets is the campus itself. Researchers use the existing infrastructure as a test bench, while students gain real-world learning experience alongside them. Testing and demonstrating solutions at full scale is a clear advantage over a traditional laboratory environment. It also shortens the road from idea to practical solution, since fewer scale-up steps are needed.
Hydrogen is one of UBC’s focus areas
One major milestone was the launch of the Smart Hydrogen Energy District (SHED) in 2024. SHED combines various technologies within a city block as a model for compact urban planning. Its goal is to show how hydrogen can bridge renewable electricity and sustainable energy services. Dr. Walter Mérida, the SHED project’s research lead, also heads the new hydrogen-powered district heating project.
Hydrogen brings real engineering challenges. It is highly flammable, causes embrittlement in materials like steel, and leaks easily due to its small molecule size. The project will need to address all of these, and many more.
Why green hydrogen could replace natural gas in district heating?
Canada has abundant natural resources, such as natural gas, biomass, and hydropower. But burning natural gas and biomass both produce CO2 emissions. Electrical boilers running on renewable electricity and green hydrogen combustion do not.
UBC’s Campus Energy Center houses a 45 MW natural gas-powered boiler plant that accounts for roughly 86% of the campus’s total operational emissions. Replacing that natural gas with 100% green hydrogen could significantly cut UBC’s greenhouse gas output.
This project moves the conversation from ‘if’ hydrogen can work in commercial facilities to ‘how’ it can be implemented responsibly.
Engineering at the core of innovation
Elomatic co-finances the project alongside Canadian energy company FortisBC Energy Inc. Also, the company serves as the engineering consultant responsible for the feasibility study and concept design of the boiler conversion.
The Living Lab concept doesn’t change one fundamental requirement: the boiler plant must keep the campus warm, reliably, regardless of fuel. The Campus Energy Center sits in a busy part of campus, so safety is central to the design – both in the boiler process itself and across the plant site.
From concept to investment decision
The project runs are expected to be completed in three years. Elomatic’s project development expertise ensures that investment fundamentals are built in from the start, with a development framework guiding the path from this initial phase toward a potential investment decision.
Tero-Seppo Tuomela, SVP Business Development at Elomatic, puts it plainly: “This project moves the conversation from ‘if’ hydrogen can work in commercial facilities to ‘how’ it can be implemented responsibly.” Since kickoff, the Canadian partners have shown strong interest in Finland’s experience with hydrogen combustion.
A model worth replicating
The Living Lab model brings together the private and public sectors, combining multidisciplinary research with professional engineering – and a real campus as the test bed. A university-led project allows more freedom than a typical business investment. A team that spans academic and industry viewpoints generates the kind of diverse thinking that moves projects forward.
UBC, Elomatic, and FortisBC have connected top researchers and experienced power-to-X engineers. The result is a project that could serve as a template for district heating systems far beyond Vancouver.
Eero Rauvola
Eero has extensive experience in investment projects, specializing in Power-to-X and biomaterial processing technologies. He focuses on developing technically and commercially viable solutions for customers navigating the energy transition. Eero currently works as Project Manager at Elomatic.
eero.rauvola@elomatic.com
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