Tony Furst, who manages Armstrong’s applications engineering and sales support team, said district systems, which provide heating and/or cooling for multiple buildings, are an important part of decarbonization efforts. They can reduce primary energy demand for heating and cooling by 50%, Armstrong said in a press release.

“If we don’t reduce our carbon footprint ... we are not going to meet our goals,” Furst said. “We’ve got to start moving things forward.”

Furst mentioned three sources that can be harnessed for district heating: waste heat from data centers, which have a high cooling load; the heat left over from electricity generation with the use of natural gas, for example; and the heat from underground sewage systems. Furst said he’s currently working on five district heating projects that involve using the heat from sewage systems.

“We’ve got to do things like that to move the needle,” Furst said.

Steve Lane, an Armstrong communications manager, mentioned another system, Enwave Chicago, in that city’s downtown. It’s the world’s largest district cooling system, the company said, and uses thermal energy from Lake Michigan to cool about 45 million square feet of space in more than 100 buildings.

In its press release, Armstrong said the global market for district heating and cooling systems is expected to grow to more than $745 billion by 2032.

“As demand continues to grow for district energy systems worldwide, the opportunities for innovative HVACR fluid-flow systems and solutions will continue to mushroom as well,” Furst said in the release.