A made-in-Burnaby prototype for decarbonizing cities is on display at Burnaby City Hall, offering a glimpse into the future of clean energy for urban buildings.
Developed at SFU's School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering by professor Majid Bahrami, the Sorption Heat Transformer and thermal storage System (SORTABO) technology converts waste heat in district heating to cooling, enabling sustainable air conditioning in buildings without electricity, moving parts, harmful chemicals or new infrastructure.
A small-scale SORTABO prototype is on display at Burnaby City Hall until September 5, 2025. The project was developed in collaboration with the Civic Innovation Lab – a partnership between the City of Burnaby and SFU aimed at advancing research initiatives into practical solutions for real-world problems.
“Having this technology on display at City Hall is a great opportunity to showcase how the city’s partnership with Simon Fraser University through the Civic Innovation Lab is producing real innovative and sustainable solutions to the issues we face today,” says Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley. “We look forward to exploring how the SORTABO technology can be applied to the city’s efforts to reduce emissions across our community.”
“Buildings’ heating are responsible for 50 to 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in urban area, far surpassing transportation,” says Bahrami, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Alternative Energy Conversion Systems. “Electric heat pumps are often proposed as a solution but scaling them would require a significant expansion of the electrical grid—an expensive, time-consuming challenge.”
Bahrami’s sorbent-based heat transformer system offers a compelling alternative.
“It works like a heat pump but doesn’t need electricity,” Bahrami explains. “It uses low-grade waste heat as the energy source, water as the refrigerant, and naturally abundant materials like silica and salt—no compressor, no noise and no harmful environmental impact. It’s a poster child for sustainability and a major step toward decarbonizing cities and circular economy.”
By transforming underutilized waste heat into a zero-emissions cooling solution, SORTABO supports a more resilient and efficient energy future, and enables year-round use and converting hot water into chilled water to provide cooling—a growing need in modern glass-heavy urban buildings, he adds.
“This is a scalable, cost-effective solution that leverages existing infrastructure and waste heat available in district heating systems,” says Bahrami. “We’re showing what’s possible when research and public leadership work together. SORTABO is more than a technology—it’s a blueprint for sustainable, inclusive cities.”
Bahrami and his team hope the technology will play a central role in Burnaby and be adopted by other cities in Canada and beyond.
A five-year joint NSERC Alliance-Mitacs Accelerate project in collaboration with the Civic Innovation Lab, SORTABO is expected to generate new intellectual property, engineering jobs and export opportunities for Canadian clean tech.
SORTABO supports Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan and can deliver clean energy access for remote communities currently reliant on diesel, while significantly reducing emissions and improving air quality, Bahrami adds.
Learn More: Civic Innovation Lab