SHARC International Systems Inc., a global leader in Wastewater Energy Transfer technology, has announced a significant new partnership. The company received a purchase order from the National Laboratory of the Rockies, a federally funded research facility operated by Alliance for Energy Innovation, LLC. This order supports the deployment of SHARC Energy's PIRANHA wastewater heat recovery system at the Naval Postgraduate School's historic Hotel Del Monte in Monterey, California.
Project Details and Objectives
The project is part of a high-profile program supported by the U.S. Department of War. It focuses on advancing high-efficiency domestic hot water retrofit solutions for large institutional facilities. These systems are among the most energy-intensive and challenging to modernize across DoW infrastructure. The initiative aims to validate scalable, cost-effective technologies that improve building performance, reduce operating costs, and enhance energy resilience.
Currently, there are 150,000 space heating and cooling units and over 70,000 domestic hot water heaters at DoW installations. Many legacy units operate at poor efficiency due to inadequate maintenance over the years.
SHARC Energy's PIRANHA System
SHARC Energy's PIRANHA system is an integrated, all-electric solution that captures thermal energy from a building's wastewater stream. It upgrades this energy via a water-to-water heat pump to deliver high-efficiency domestic hot water. The recently developed PIRANHA HC system can produce up to 100% of a building's hot water demand at 140°F year-round while providing supplemental cooling and dehumidification.
The installed system is expected to deliver approximately 120,000 Btu/h of domestic hot water capacity, along with integrated cooling and dehumidification. This enables simultaneous heating and cooling from a single packaged unit. By leveraging wastewater as a stable thermal source, the system operates efficiently year-round in any climate, avoiding limitations of conventional air-source heat pumps such as reduced efficiency in cold climates and the need for auxiliary heating.
Expected Benefits and Impact
The broader program targets up to 60% energy cost savings for domestic hot water systems. This supports the economic case for large-scale retrofit deployment across military, institutional, and commercial building portfolios. Michael Albertson, CEO of SHARC Energy, stated: "This purchase order represents an important step in expanding SHARC Energy's presence within U.S. federal and institutional markets. Our PIRANHA technology is ideally suited for retrofit applications where energy efficiency, cost savings, and system resilience are critical. We are proud to support the National Laboratory of the Rockies and its partners in advancing scalable solutions for high-performance buildings."
