Every year on April 22nd—and throughout the entire month of April—millions of people around the world come together to support their communities and raise awareness about environmental issues and the ongoing fight against climate change.
In celebration of Earth Day, our teams demonstrated their dedication to sustainability by taking part in clean-up efforts and community events across the regions we serve. Our efforts go beyond just one day or week: we take pride in the fact that our teams are committed to making a positive impact in our communities all year long.
Our progress to net zero carbon emissions
This year, our team has made significant progress in our commitment to sustainability and decarbonization. To achieve net zero carbon emissions across our operations, we are making critical changes at our central facilities in Boston and Cambridge, with our other systems in cities across the country to follow.
These sustainable upgrades will enable us to serve our customers with eSteam™, our renewable thermal energy product. eSteam™ is designed to rapidly decarbonize the highest source of emissions in major cities: commercial buildings.
To offer eSteam™, we are installing electric boilers, industrial-scale heat pumps, and thermal storage at our central facilities. This year, these plans have become a reality with critical electrification upgrades.
Key electrification updates
In 2024, Vicinity installed the electric boiler at its Kendall facility, and the boiler entered service in November 2024. Today, it is generating and delivering eSteamTM to customers like Boston-based college Emerson College. To power the boiler, Vicinity is procuring electricity from renewable, carbon-free energy sources like wind and solar.
Our teams are also actively engineering the river-source industrial-scale heat pump complex that will be used to create eSteamTM at our Kendall facility.
We will install the 35MW industrial-scale heat pump complex at our Kendall facility by 2028. Rather than utilize natural gas, the system will allow us to extract heat from the Charles River and use it to preheat water for our new electric boiler, improving the system’s overall efficiency. From there, the water will be returned to the Charles River at a lower temperature, ensuring no change or damage to the river’s ecosystems.
Over the next few years, our other district energy systems will employ similar technologies to achieve net zero carbon emissions and offer eSteam™ to our customers. These locations are procuring electric boilers to be installed in the next year or two.
Vicinity Energy teams commemorate Earth Day
This year, Vicinity’s teams around the country took action to improve the environment and spread awareness of the environmental movement throughout Earth Month, leading up to Earth Day on April 22.From cleaning up our local parks and rivers to supporting community efforts, our employees took action this year to better the communities we serve for all.
Philadelphia
Boston and Cambridge
Oklahoma City
Baltimore
