2023 IDEA Innovation Awards

CenTrio, owner/operator of one of North America’s largest district energy portfolios, took home the prize for the 2023 IDEA Innovation of the Year in a ceremony held at IDEA2023 in Chicago, IL.
Their submission, National Western Center - P3 Project, located in the city and county of Denver, is a district energy system that will be the largest sewer-heat recovery district energy system of its kind in North America. As a greenfield re-development project, the National Western Center complex will ultimately transform the region into a hub for agriculture, food innovation, and heritage in the local Denver community. This project is extremely innovative for three reasons: the size of the project, the innovative technology, and the various impacts on the local community.
As Innovation Award Chair, Bob Smith, Vice President of RMF Engineering, noted “CenTrio really moved the needle this year by taking sustainability to a new level. Think about this, they are going to heat and cool a large development from sewage. A remarkable accomplishment.”
“I’ve been working on this project since 2018,” said CenTrio, Leslie Fangman, Vice President of Corporate Expansion, speaking on behalf of the CenTrio leadership team. “I am very excited to be operating it now and to be leading the way for such unique green technology.”
“The National Western Center’s use of sewer heat recovery for a district energy utility service will help lead the way for other master developments seeking lower-carbon solutions. CenTrio’s Innovation Award demonstrates how technology from IDEA business partners can be leveraged to enable others to learn from their experience.” Said Rob Thornton, President & CEO of IDEA.
In recognition of the high number of diverse and worthy submissions, the IDEA Innovation Award Committee also awarded two Honorable Mention nods to the following organizations: Markham Springwater Geo-exchange District Community, submitted by Enwave Energy of Toronto and University of Massachusetts Amherst District Microgrid, submitted by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.