Vicinity

Vicinity is a district energy company that supplies steam and chilled water to large buildings in Boston and Cambridge through a network of underground pipes. Its customers include hospitals, offices, labs, colleges, universities and retail properties covering more than 70 million square feet. Buildings on the system use the steam or chilled water for heating, cooling, sterilization and humidification, which removes the need for their own gas boilers and chiller plants and eliminates on-site combustion.

A major local focus is eSteam, a carbon-free form of steam made with renewable electricity. At its Kendall facility in Cambridge, a 42-megawatt electric boiler has entered service and now delivers eSteam to customers, and construction has started on an industrial-scale river-source heat pump complex at the same site. Thermal storage lets the company make steam from stored off-peak renewable power, and Emerson College is one of the customers using the carbon-free service to meet its sustainability goals.

What to Know

• Vicinity operates 19 district energy systems in 12 US cities.
• It says it was the first company in the country to introduce carbon-free district steam.
• Customers can choose how much eSteam they buy and which carbon-neutral electricity source powers it.
• The company is listed by the East Cambridge Business Association.