Webinar: District Energy, Data Centers & Sustainability: The Story of Seattle, Amazon and the Denny Triangle Neighborhood
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 - 12 Noon to 1PM EST
Please join the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC), Wednesday, July 16, 12:00pm to 1:00pm (EDT), for a webinar that will share the story of Amazon’s work in the Denny Triangle neighborhood in Seattle to recycle waste heat from data centers via district energy.
Tom Marseille, PE, of Sazan, will give an overview of his involvement with the design, planning and construction of the project as well as share insights into the project’s budgeting and operations.
District energy is emerging as a viable means to promote sustainable energy under Virginia’s “all-the-above” approach to energy policy - especially for data center-rich regions such as Northern Virginia. Moreover, local governments have multiple tools to plan, design and operate district energy systems in tandem with other sustainable energy applications. This webinar aspires to explore how Seattle’s experiences with data centers and district energy could inform equivalent projects in Northern Virginia.
Agenda:
12:00 pm Welcome & Introductions
Robert W. Lazaro Jr., NVRC Executive Director
John Morrill, Director, Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination, Fairfax County
12:05 pm Overview of AWS Denny Triangle Neighborhood, Tom Marseille, PE, Sazan
12:30pm Q&A
1:00 pm Close
Bio for Speaker:
Tom Marseille, PE: Tom is an award-winning mechanical engineer and recognized pioneer in the design of ultra-low and zero net energy and carbon neutral projects. He is an expert in leveraging performance analytics, and life cycle asset optimization to inform design decisions. He fosters an integrative and collaborative approach that consistently leads to actionable plans for clients and outcomes that are robust, resilient, resource-responsible, practical, and maintainable. Tom has led feasibility studies and designs and served as owner technical advisor for modernizations and new innovative low-carbon district and campus central heating and cooling systems for public institutions, private companies, and district energy utilities. Tom currently is Managing Principal for Sazan Group in Seattle.
About the Northern Virginia Regional Commission
NVRC is a consortium of thirteen local governments representing more than 2.6 million residents. While only 3% of Virginia's land mass, Northern Virginia has a GDP of $302 Billion which is 42% of the GDP of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Northern Virginia’s GDP is larger than 24 states and the District of Columbia and if a country would be the 48th largest economy in the world.