The International District Energy Association (IDEA) is proud to announce that Cordia Pittsburgh has been awarded the System of the Year Award (SOYA) at IDEA2025, the organization’s annual conference and trade show, which was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota in June.
SOYA is the highest honor IDEA can bestow on a district energy system, recognizing high-level performance and service that furthers the goals of our industry. Cordia Pittsburgh – through its initiatives to transform district energy across the city – has established itself as a benchmark for industry excellence, showcasing innovative strategies and technologies that make district energy systems successful. Additionally, Cordia Pittsburgh continues to exemplify this year’s conference theme, “Aggregate, Integrate, Innovate,” by establishing its systems and infrastructure across the city as sustainable, efficient, and resilient, and building upon previous investments to unlock even greater success during the past decade.
District energy has been the cornerstone infrastructure in Pittsburgh since the early 1900s, and over the years, district energy networks have evolved and expanded across the city. Beginning with the Pittsburgh North Shore District Energy plant, Cordia invested in infrastructure for three systems in the city: the Uptown system serving UPMC Mercy Hospital, the Duquesne University system, and the Golden Triangle system. Collectively, the total steam generation and distribution capacity is 395,000 pounds/hour.
The system at UPMC Mercy Hospital was developed to provide highly resilient heating and cooling, and to support electricity requirements for the hospital’s expansion. The system now provides 100% of the required 150 psig steam, 8,250 tons of chilled water, and backup electricity generation. Cordia has integrated the Duquesne University on-campus energy plant that holds 180,000 pounds per hour of steam capacity and 6,900 tons of district chilled water capacity to about 46 connected buildings while supplying about 80% of the campus electricity needs.
In the past six years, Cordia acquired a portion of the Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal (PACT) steam distribution system serving downtown Pittsburgh’s central business district, known as the Golden Triangle. By interconnecting UPMC Mercy Hospital’s Uptown plant and Duquesne University’s district energy system, Cordia was able to achieve greater economies of scale and efficiency to support the larger networked system.
“I’m honored to be accepting this award on behalf of our Pittsburgh team and Cordia as a whole,” said Mark Schneider, Regional President, East Region of Cordia Energy. “Cordia’s growth in Pittsburgh has only been possible through the dedication and hard work of many great people, from the engineers and the plant operations teams who designed, commissioned and continue to reliably run our facilities today.”
“Most district energy systems in the US have storied histories that span many decades – what makes Cordia’s downtown Pittsburgh district energy system unique is its story began less than 10 years ago. Since then, it has grown not only through new construction, but through aggregation and integration of existing district energy facilities as well as district energy customers. It’s a story of transition, reinvention, and innovation in district energy.”
Cordia Pittsburgh is a long-standing IDEA partner, with the city hosting the Annual Conference in 2019 and now celebrating its third award win in company history this year from IDEA.
You can view the awards ceremony here and learn more about the award on the System of the Year award page.
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