Ops Talk Magazine Spring 2009

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Publ ished By:

CONTENTS President’s Message – Grant Davidson, CTECH, CEFM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 SPOA Member Profile on Earl Billingsley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Boiler system design to save energy – Art McDonald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Profile on School District No. 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Little Flower Academy proudly displays cost-efficient school floors. . . . . . . . . . . 16 A look back at SPOA history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Deferred accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Bill 44 and emissions reductions: How to get there from here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The importance of mould detection – Chuck Morris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Effective tools for water damage remediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 2009 SPOA Conference Program and registration forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Successful energy management in schools: the “whole pie”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Stutters Disaster Kleenup proud to introduce its new RISK team. . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 It’s not just hot air: Using dehumidification in new school construction . . . . . . 42 Solar for schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Hybrid jobs: win-win situations for both districts and the employees involved. . . . 47 Asset management – the knowledge management model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Garland Canada’s solutions restore school district’s roofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 TRANSPORTATION SECTION: Debating the merits of GPS in buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 A North American Consensus on new energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Fleet management for the 21st century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Natural Gas: An affordable and environmentally-friendly alternative fuel. . . . 58 Working together for a greener tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Thoughts on: Ambiguity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Help ensure that your next roof system will be functional and watertight . . . . . 63 Dust Collection 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Time Lock Security Inc.’s two key management systems save time and money. . . . 66 Noraplan envirocare™ blends past and future in historic reno project . . . . . . . . 68 Index to Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Mission Statement: To provide support and recognition to our members who work in partnership with leaders in education in the province of British Columbia.

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

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Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road Winnipeg, Manitoba R3L 0G5 TF: 1.866.831.4744 TFF: 1.866.711.5282 President David Langstaff david@delcommunications.com Publisher Jason Stefanik Advertising Sales Gary Barrington Jennifer Hebert Ross James Dayna Oul ion Managing Editor Katrina Senyk Contributing Writers Candice G. Ball Erin Baswick Suzanne Elston Margaret Anne Fehr Brian Gosick, TQ RRO Nitya Harris Art Johnson Gregg Lowes Art McDonald David Mol inaro Chuck Morris Brent Mutis Gordon Quaiattini Ellen Schwartz Deborah Stewart Doug P. Wall, P.Eng. Production Services Provided by: S.G. Bennett Marketing Services www.sgbennett.com Art Director Kathy Cable Layout & Design Dana Jensen Advertising Art Deryn Bothe | Debbie Dunmall Cover photo courtesy of Bill Ostrom Sir Charles Dickens Elementary School ©Copyright 2009. School Plant Officials of B.C. All rights reserved. The contents of this publ ication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publ isher.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein and the rel iabil ity of the source, the publ isher in no way guarantees nor warrants the information and is not responsible for errors, omissions or statements made by advertisers. Opinions and recommendations made by contributors or advertisers are not necessarily those of the publ isher, its directors, officers or employees.

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

GRANT DAVIDSON, CTECH, CEFM

S.P.O.A. .P.O. A.

S

In the Winter 2009 SPOA newsletter,

Something that I am now seeing dif-

my comments and the quotations that

ferently is that “I” as an individual, and

I had referenced generally related to

“us” as the organization that I work

the difference facility maintenance

for, can all do more to ensure the sus-

professionals can make for students. I

tainability of “our” actions as they

really believe that SPOA “folks” do

relate to our impact on the environ-

make a difference in providing the best

ment.

possible environment for learning for

As I stated earlier, we can all make a

young people in their individual

difference and we should be proud of

school districts and communities

our actions. As a relatively recent con-

throughout the province.

vert to the concept of sustainability, I

Since first becoming a maintenance

am personally very proud of my

supervisor in the B.C. public school

involvement on some initiatives that

system in 1983 and attending my first

had to get going somewhere in the

SPOA conference in Vancouver in

is

bi

Br it

a

1984, to now assume the role of presih Co l u m

dent 25 years later is a tremendous honour which causes me to reflect.

During that 25-year period, I have seen things change and in some cases, go back to what once was. Here we all are, yet again on the verge of “doing more with less” given our current economic downturn and the potential for provincial budget restraint evolves.

This is exactly the way it was back then, in the ‘80s.

I have seen where a school district

province. What I refer to is the hybrid electric, CNG and factory propane fuelled school buses, waste stream audits and composting pilot projects occurring in my district. Through this type of effort, I have found that there is much more to be done beyond lighting retro-fits, mechanical system upgrades, water reduction strategies, etcetera. “It’s all good”, according to a colleague whom I work with.

This is just a starting point to what we, among other SPOA professionals

was a desirable place to work – steady,

throughout the Province of British

reliable, not necessarily the highest

Columbia, can accomplish by doing

salary in the marketplace – but at least

the “right things” for the students in

a salary that could be counted on. For

our communities, and the environ-

the last several years, employee reten-

ment, as the sometimes not-so-large

tion and recruitment was a significant

circle of life continues to turn for all

challenge for many; it now seems that

of us.

the circle is turning on this situation as

6

Ops Talk Spring 2009

trades people, and others, are now gen-

Cheers,

erally looking towards school districts

Grant Davidson, CTech, CEFM

with a fonder eye. I hope that this con-

Operations Manager

tinues to prove to be the case in every

School District No. 23 (Central

region of the province for the foresee-

Okanagan)

able future.

President, SPOA 2008/2009 ❏

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Member Profile EARL BILLINGSLEY

Multi-tasking is crucial to getting the job done in Qualicum School District

BY MARGARET ANNE FEHR

Earl Billingsley has been operations and maintenance manager for Qualicum School District No. 69 since 1992. Over the last 30 years, Billingsley’s career path has been steadily forged in the education and maintenance field.

“I started working for school districts in 1971 as a custodian in Delta School District. In 1978, I went to Vanderhoof as a supervisor, and three years later I came back to Delta as a custodial assistant supervisor until the incumbent supervisor retired and I took over. In 1992, I came here to become the custodial manager and health and safety officer, and then stepped into my operations and maintenance manager role in 1998.”

During his tenure, Billingsley has been involved in five major capital projects, from 1999 to 2001. He counts the successful completion of those projects as one of the most gratifying accomplishments of his career.

“We did additions to both of our secondary schools, built a new middle school, and also handled a couple of additions to elementary schools that represented about 20 million dollars worth of capital work, which is a lot for a small district.”

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

“The impact of those changes relating to enhancements to the school district, and the facilities themselves over the last 10 years, has certainly been very gratifying. We’re a relatively new school district facility-wise, and we continue to work towards upgrading. I also value the team concept that’s in place here.”

According to Billingsley, there really is no typical day when he comes into work each morning.

“It’s a double-edged sword. Every day is different. It doesn’t matter what plans you make, you know that you may or may not be able to do them or complete what you set out to do.

Every day is a surprise. Working with an exceptional staff and having a solid team approach is definitely a major asset.”

The responsibilities for Billingsley and his staff are widespread, and vary from involvement with capital works, custodial staff and trades people issues, to maintenance areas, construction, grounds, facility use, health and safety, emergency preparedness and sustainability issues.

“Qualicum is one of the smaller districts on Vancouver Island, with 15 schools. You can go to most other school districts and find several managers who do different jobs but in this district, we do them all.”

But there are unique challenges to be encountered in a smaller district for a single manager. “Multi-tasking is important in a school district the size of Qualicum. We do a lot of things off the side of our desks. There are a handful of districts that are similar in size and management style to ours, but it doesn’t mean that it’s a bad thing either. Even though there’s more pressure, you are still in a position to make things happen.”

Certain personality traits are useful in this type of work, Billingsley says. They include flexibility, organizational skills, and adaptability, as well as being serious but not taking yourself too seriously.

For those interested in pursing a career in the operations and maintenance field, Billingsley says, “My advice would be get connected by networking. You’ll learn a lot along the way.

“Another thing is to realize that you’re not standing alone.

There are other people out there who have information; ask them. And if you really want something, go out and work towards it.”

Billingsley credits his early association with SPOA to helping him advance in his career over the last 30 years. “It’s a great organization. It was very helpful for me as a young guy. I learned an awful lot by being attached to the executive and serving as director, secretary-treasurer, president and in other roles as well as working with experienced people who’d been involved with the organization for many years.” ❏

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Boiler system design to save energy

BY ART MCDONALD

As fuel prices continue to be volatile, we are all looking for ways to reduce our utilities consumption, as every dollar we spend on utilities is a dollar that isn’t going into the classroom.

We also have a mandate from the provincial government to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent

by 2020. A greenhouse gas reduction of 33 per cent for most schools means a natural gas/propane reduction of 33 per cent. This can appear to an impossible task. However, there are situations where this can be accomplished rather simply.

The purpose of this article is not to present an exhaustive and complete

description of boiler system operation, but rather it is intended to get school district staff and designers to think differently about the systems that are being designed and installed in our schools.

HOW DO YOU REDUCE YOUR BOILER SYSTEM FUEL CONSUMPTION? There are three main ways to reduce boiler fuel usage. They are: 1. Match boiler system capacity to building load.

2. Lower the temperatures of heat emitting surfaces.

3. Improve combustion efficiency.

1. Matching Boiler System Capacity to Building Load The first thing we need to understand is how buildings actually operate.

Boiler systems are designed to have enough capacity for the coldest days of the year. But the coldest days of the year don’t happen for very long, so for the vast majority of the year our systems operate at part load, which is where we can find significant savings.

A general rule is that buildings require less than 50 per cent capacity for 80 per cent of the year.

Any boiler system should have a means of operating efficiently at partial loads.

A significant source of inefficiency in our boiler systems comes from boiler cycling. Cycling happens when the amount of capacity required by the system is lower (usually much lower) than the minimum output of the boiler. For example, on a moderately warm day, when the system may only need 25 per cent capacity, the boiler still has to fire at 50 per cent, so the boiler is putting heat into the system much quicker than the system is extracting the heat; therefore the boiler must turn on and off more frequently, resulting in lower efficiency. This is a problem since most of the older boilers in our buildings were two stage boilers that could only fire at 50 per cent or 100 per cent.

10

Ops Talk Spring 2009

Ideally, for the best efficiency, the boiler should run constantly at the low firing rate (as long as the boiler/burner combination actually runs more efficiently at low fire – see combustion efficiency on page 12). We have had our biggest savings with multiple full modulation condensing boilers in combination with a “booster” (simpler, cheaper, high temperature boiler) boiler.

Also, when systems are designed, the designers always make sure their designs have extra capacity, or a safety factor, built in. This further increases the difference between the boiler system capacity and the building load. To be fair to the designers, they have to be conservative for “CYA” reasons, but as the owner, we can talk with the designers and agree to “push the envelope” a bit and try to more accurately rightsize the boilers to meet the actual load.

For example, we completed a boiler upgrade at our largest high school in 2004, where we replaced the existing 8,000,000Btu/hr boiler with two boilers with a total capacity of 5,000,000Btu/hr, and we still have not run both boilers full out.

Explanation of excess oxygen: Oxygen is required to burn natural gas. For obvious reasons, we use air to supply the oxygen. The O2 content of air is about 21 per cent. In order to burn gas safely (w/o CO or soot formation) burners run with extra (excess) air above the minimum required, also known as stoichiometric combustion. Of course, any “extra” air means loss of efficiency as we are heating the air from outside temperatures to the flue gas temperature. NRCan suggests that every 1 per cent of excess O2 equates about 1 per cent fuel savings.

Quality burners should be able to maintain 4 per cent O2 (excess oxygen) throughout the entire firing range.

2. Lower the Temperatures of Heat Emitting Surfaces The hotter an object is (i.e.: heating supply pipe, boiler, etc.), the more energy it gives off. The task is to turn the temperatures down any time possible.

This means that if a heat emitter (i.e.: baseboard) requires 82ºC (180ºF) in the morning of the coldest day of the year, then it should require lower temperatures any other time.

The goal is not to lose unnecessary energy, and this can result in significant savings on the building side.

In the boiler room these lower temperatures have an amplified effect. Not only can we lower the stand-by losses of the boiler room equipment and the boilers themselves, we can also significantly improve combustion efficiency – see below for how.

3. Combustion Efficiency Before we jump into condensing technology, let’s look at some factors that are true for all boiler systems.

The main variables that determine

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School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

11

boiler combustion efficiency are excess oxygen and flue gas temperature. The excess oxygen variable is mostly a function of boiler/burner quality, and the flue gas temperature is a function of boiler design, firing rate and water temperature.

Excess Oxygen: Unfortunately, not all partial load boiler/burner combinations are created equal. CSA efficiency tests are only performed at full load and at 82/27ºC (180/80ºF). Be sure to do your research before picking the actual equipment.

Many boiler/burner combinations actually run less efficient at partial loads. When you chose equipment, find out what the excess oxygen is throughout the firing range before purchasing. Do research.

Flue gas temperature: Any boiler is a heat exchanger between flue gases and water. If we can lower the water temperature, the flue gas temperature will be lower. The important thing to remember is that any conventional (non-condensing) boiler’s flue gas temperature must be kept above the condensation point. To do this, we need to ensure that the flue gas temperature stays above 93ºC (200ºF) at all times, which means that the return water temperatures need to be 54ºC (130ºF) or higher depending on the boiler.

Turn-down ratio: It should also be noted here that turn-down ratio is an important variable to check. The boiler code does not allow more than a 1 to 4 ratio. The code writers feel that any lower firing rates than this ratio are unsafe and that, due to increases in excess oxygen, the efficiency gain would be small or even negative.

It is interesting to note that this water vapour holds about 10 per cent of the overall energy of natural gas. So if we exhaust without condensation we are losing 10 per cent of the natural gas energy.

Conventional boilers are not built to withstand the corrosive nature of the condensate. So they are protected from it by be hot. This is the reason that any conventional boiler (even with good quality modulating burners) is limited to about 85 per cent efficiency (10 per cent latent + 5 per cent by keeping the flue gas temperature hot).

A conventional boiler rated at 85 per cent is rated at 82/27ºC (180/80ºF), which it can’t operate at in real life due to condensation with 27ºC (80ºF) return water; so if it runs at 82/71ºC (180/160ºF) in real life it will perform lower, probably around 81 per cent.

A condensing boiler’s flue gases do not need to be kept hot as the boiler is constructed of materials that are designed to deal with the acidic condensate. Depending on the type of boiler, the flue gases will be about 3 to 11ºC (5 to 20ºF) hotter than the return water temperature. A quality condensing boiler/burner (low excess oxygen) will run between 88 and 98 per cent combustion efficiency.

The graph for a condensing boiler shows the importance of water temperature (flue gas temperature) on the efficiency of a boiler. If we can lower the boiler water temperatures at part load, we can significantly improve the efficiency of our boilers. The way to lower these temperatures is to use outdoor air reset control in our boiler system programming.

CONDENSING TECHNOLOGY When any gas is burned, products of combustion are produced; one of the products of combustion is water vapour.

By lowering the flue gas temperature of the burnt gas, water vapour is condensed back into liquid form, which in the process releases heat – latent heat. This additional heat can be transferred back into the boiler water resulting in increased efficiency.

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

The next graph provides an example of an outdoor air reset graph for a condensing boiler. Note that the majority (98 per cent) of the potential heating hours are in the condensing range. Operating in the condensing range will provide significant savings in system operation due to capturing the latent heat. As every building and climate is different, your operators will need to adjust the control to the building and climate.

entire heating season, this was a perfect opportunity to use condensing technology.

The existing boiler cycles like crazy because it is so oversized, but it is in good condition. Rather than replace the existing boiler and redo all of the piping, we added a condensing boiler onto the existing system as shown on the schematic below.

SYSTEM DESIGNS TO SAVE ENERGY Typically, condensing boilers have been used on systems that are designed to operate at lower temperatures, such as heat pump systems. However, newer designs are using “hybrid designs” that provide for peak year round efficiency by using condensing boilers on existing high temperature systems. The following are actual school retrofits.

Beattie School of the Arts This school received a complete boiler system retrofit in the summer of 2007. The old system was a single two stage boiler. The replacement system has three condensing boilers and one natural draught boiler. The basic schematic is shown below.

None of the air handlers or convectors were modified. The three condensing boilers provide good modulation and allow for extended outdoor air reset to maximize condensing during part load. The natural draught boiler basically “tops up” the heating loop as the condensing boilers can provide a maximum output temperature of 170ºF, with the system requiring 180ºF for the coldest days of the year.

The weather corrected natural gas savings are 37 per cent.

We expect higher savings next winter as we had problems with our control system for about half of the winter.

By doing it this way, we are getting the benefits of condensing technology, for a cost of under $10,000. We still use the large boiler for the really cold days as the one condensing boiler does not have sufficient capacity for really cold weather.

Our weather corrected savings from this are over 27 per cent.

Norkam We have added three condensing boilers onto the high temperature system at this large high school. We will have it fully operational for winter and we are excited about the savings we are going to see.

CONCLUSION Hopefully, this article has you thinking about what you could do differently for your next boiler upgrade project to ensure you are maximizing your energy savings opportunities.

If we combine the effects of matching boiler capacities to loads, lowering the temperatures of heat emitting surfaces, and improve the combustion efficiencies it is possible to lower our gas consumption by very significant amounts.

Remember to talk to the boiler manufacture representatives as they will know and understand the operating parameters of their equipment. ❏

Juniper Ridge This school has a heat pump system with a thermal storage reservoir (10,000 gal water storage tank). With the heat pumps requiring heating water between 20-30ºC over the School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

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District Profile SD NO. 39

Vancouver’s students champion greening the Halls of Learning School District No. 39’s transition from a focus on energy management to sustainability

BY CANDICE G. BALL

Due to the work of a group of motivated students, the Vancouver School Board is in the process of weaving sustainability into the very fabric of education.

“In terms of sustainability, it is the kids that are actually starting the push,” says Bill Ostrom, operations manager with School District No. 39. “They wanted the district to do more. For instance, they wanted to take a look at food waste in our cafeterias and to get rid of the use of any Styrofoam.”

In June 2007, the environmentally-conscious students presented a proposal to the Vancouver School Board. “The trustees supported the student-led summit on sustainability, which led to the inclusion of sustainability in the District Plan for Achievement,” says Ostrom.

The students not only learned how to organize a summit, they also learned how to bring about real change – the inclu-

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

Sir Charles Dickens Elementary School.

Sustainable Features of Sir Charles Dickens Elementary School at a Glance: • Increased vegetated area from 7 to 60 per cent.

• Improved water-efficient landscaping.

• Use of rainwater collected in underground cistern for flushing and playfield irrigation.

• Use of low-flow water closets and automatic shut- off faucets.

• Optimized energy performance through geothermal heating, heat recovery units, maximum day lighting, and sensors.

• Enhanced air quality achieved through use of materials and finishes with low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

The construction of the district’s first LEED®-standard replacement school, Sir Charles Dickens Elementary School, wrapped up in the spring of 2008 and will be awarded LEED® Silver status.

The school also has a built-in learning component. In addition to a rooftop learning space, the school also houses a portal that was designed to show the inner workings of the geothermal mechanical system. This learning component, combined with the latest additions to the curriculum, will go a long way to meeting students’ needs for sustainable halls of learning. ❏

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sion of sustainability into the curriculum – resulting in a district-wide enhanced recycling program and an extensive review of composting options.

“Now we actually get to work with students. Traditionally, we kept the buildings in good order but didn’t really have much to do with the curriculum,” explains Ostrom.

“Now we teach students how to read metres and how to look at potential energy savings.”

To further the development of adding sustainability to the curriculum, the district hired a sustainability coordinator.

District No. 39 is also working with B.C. Hydro to obtain a full-time energy manager.

Another exciting development is the district’s commitment to build school facilities to LEED® Silver standards. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) is a

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15

Little Flower Academy opens new wing, proudly displays cost-efficient school floors with an artistic flare

Little Flower Academy, a private girls’ school in Vancouver, celebrated its 80th anniversary with the opening of a new wing in September 2007. The new wing included several new classrooms, boardrooms, a new chapel, gymnasium, reception area and offices, as well as an art room and cafeteria. The concrete floors were topped with a self-leveling overlayment, which served as the canvas for a decorative finish resembling largeformat tiles in some areas, and terrazzo in other areas.

In three main areas in the school – the cafeteria, hallways and art room – the concrete was left exposed so that a decorative pattern could be created using a spray-on concrete dye. Surface Renewal Systems of Vancouver pro-

16

Ops Talk Spring 2009

vided a variety of different mock-ups for the school’s directors to choose from. Once the decision was made as to which pattern would be applied to each of the three areas, the challenge was to provide the best canvas to show off the decorative finishes.

In the hallways, the slab on grade concrete had been rained on during the installation. The surface had to be shotblasted to remove the weak surface layer, and then a self-leveling topping had to be installed to provide a tough, durable finish able to withstand the wear-and-tear it’d be exposed to during school operations.

It also had to be able to display the decorative design that would be applied, and conform to the approved pattern.

In the cafeteria, the concrete slab on grade floor was in the same condition as the hallway. It, too, had suffered from being rained on during installation, and required the same treatment as the hallway to effect a repair.

In the art room on the second floor of the building, the concrete floor was uneven and sloped drastically in several different directions. This floor also had to be shotblasted and then topped with a self-leveling material that would provide a suitable surface onto which workers could apply the approved design.

In all three areas, the decision was made to use MAPEI’s Planibond EBA as the primer, using the sand broadcast method, and Ultratop White as the topping material.

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

Finished main hallway of Little Flower Academy.

Surface Renewal Systems had never used either Planibond EBA or Ultratop before, so it was critical that the MAPEI Concrete Restoration Systems (CRS) representative assist with the application, while at the same time, train the workers. The MAPEI representative personally helped install the Ultratop self-leveling topping in the art room and the cafeteria but was not needed to do the hallway. The crew was welltrained at this point, and did not need further assistance.

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Ultratop White being poured on cafeteria floor.

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Finished cafeteria floor of Little Flower Academy.

All three areas turned out beautifully. The floors were then covered completely with cardboard and tarps to protect them from marring and staining until the pattern could be sprayed on with the concrete dyes.

Once work had been completed in the respective areas by other sub-trades, the cardboard and tarps were removed and the finished pattern was applied. As soon as the patterns and

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School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

19

Art room.

Close-up of art room floor.

designs had been completed, a finish coat of water-based urethane was applied to protect and seal the floors.

The end result was very attractive, and the school was extremely pleased.

In the school kitchen’s freezer room, the floor also required leveling. In this case, Ultraplan M20 Plus self-leveling topping was used, and clear epoxy was applied on top of it, followed by a clear urethane coat. Ultraplan M20 Plus was installed on the maintenance room floor as well. This floor was coated with a colored epoxy coating to give it a dark brown look.

By using self-leveling toppings and spray-on dyes, Little Flower Academy was able to achieve durable, wearresistant, and cost-efficient school floors that display an artistic flare. â??

20

Ops Talk Spring 2009

A look back at SPOA history

Ken Warner doing his famous brick breaking act during “Happy Hour” at the first Kelowna conference. The brick holder was the superintendent from Alberni.

Final Banquet at the New Westminster Conference. From left: Ken Warner, Past President, and his wife Freda Warner; two unknown people; Jack Hannah (SPOA’s 2nd President); Marg Hannan. Ken Warner was the first President following the formal legal establishment of SPOA.

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21

Deferred accountability

BY SUZANNE ELSTON

We have built our society on the idea of deferred accountability. Why pay today when you can defer until tomorrow, next year, or even next generation? It’s this ideology that is at the heart of the current economic and ecological crisis.

We shouldn’t beat ourselves up about this too much. Until the beginning of the last century, circumstances held much of humanity absolutely accountable on a daily basis. Untended livestock meant no meat to eat next week; unplanted fields meant no food next season; unfelled trees meant no heat next winter.

The 20th century brought us industrialization and specialization of labour.

We no longer had to be immediately accountable for everything. And with that realization came a newfound sense of freedom. We could defer payment until tomorrow and still survive. Like students away from home for the very first time, the sky was the limit. It was a giddy time to be alive.

The problem is that our ability to manipulate nature and machine has grown exponentially and inversely proportional to our ability to manage our impacts. We have become way too good at ignoring the consequences of our actions. We live like today is all we have, and defer payment until whenever.

Recent events are demanding our attention, however. Our adolescence is over. It’s time to learn how to live more sustainably.

The idea of sustainability is a relatively new concept. It was first defined in very moral terms as our ability to continue without impacting future generations.

The current economic crisis, coupled with the very real threat of climate change, has many rethinking this definition. Today, sustainability is perhaps more accurately described in terms of a very concrete question: Can we continue, business as usual?

The answer, most definitely, is no.

Beyond the threats of economic collapse and the very real and present danger of climate change, emerges another fundamental question, What are we leaving our children?

At the most visceral level, our purpose is to live long enough to ensure that there is another generation. As banal as this sounds, it’s our biological imperative. It can also drive a new integrity – one that looks at how we live our lives today, and how this will translate into our children’s ability to live tomorrow.

Consider the legacy of our garbage.

According to the U.S. National Parks Service, the average plastic bottle can take up to 450 years to degrade, ditto for disposable diapers. Aluminum cans will take between 50 and 100 years to break down, plastic bags at least 20. While the batteries from your flashlight will take almost 100 years to disappear, that monofilament fishing line that you bought last summer will take a whopping 600 years to degrade. Glass bottles, on the other hand, will take a million years to return to the Earth. Experts say that Styrofoam may never disappear.

And then there’s the energy that we use to make all this stuff. For instance, in order to move a vehicle from production to retail sale, a great deal of

energy is consumed. Some of the consumption points are the mining of the raw materials; the petroleum processing to produce the plastics; the utilities used to run the plant where the vehicle is assembled; and the fossil fuels used to transport the vehicle to its retail location.

The carbon dioxide that we throw up in the air today by burning fossil fuels to create these consumables will remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years, according to researcher David Archer, professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago.

The high level radioactive waste from our nuclear power plants will last much longer. Plutonium 242, the longest-lived by-product of nuclear fission, has a radioactive half-life of 387,000 years.

That’s the time it will take to be half as radioactive as it is today.

We have reached a critical juncture.

There are no more deferred payment plans, we can no longer afford not to pay a cent until some future date.

The path ahead will be determined by the decisions that we make today. There is little more to do than to answer the question, What will be our legacy? Will we continue to ravage the planet with little regard for our lives, let alone the survival of future generations – or do we choose to live each day with integrity?

It’s really not as difficult or as daunting as it sounds. To quote that great Canadian, Tommy Douglas, “Courage my friend, it's not too late to make a better world.”

The first step is to begin.

David Archer’s new book, The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth’s Climate (2009), is published by Princeton University Press (press.princeton.edu). ❏

22

Ops Talk Spring 2009

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Bill 44 and emissions reductions: How to get there from here

BY DOUG WALL, P. ENG.

Bill 44, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act, mandates that all Public Sector Organizations (PSOs) in British Columbia – including school districts – must be carbon neutral by 2010. This means that in addition to escalating utility costs, school districts will now have to purchase Emissions Offsets from the Pacific Carbon Trust each year for any emissions not eliminated.

Assuming that service delivery must not be affected by this change, the new cost for offsets will represent an additional expense to the taxpayer as part of the provincial government’s operating budget. For the K-12 building portfolio alone, the offset costs would likely be in excess of $4 million dollars per year for the Ministry of Education (in addition to the $60+ million of utilities that school districts already pay).

In 2008 the government announced $25 million of funding annually, over a period of three years under the Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement (PSECA), which could be used by PSOs to reduce energy consumption and emissions output. However, the K-12 share of this current level of funding, even if continued until 2020, would not allow school districts to come anywhere close to the legislated GHG reduction targets set by the province (33 per cent below 2007 levels by 2020). This is compounded by the emphasis that PSECA places on electricity savings, as opposed to emissions reductions. Carbon Neutrality aside, this presents a leadership or “own house in order” issue if the government’s own buildings cannot achieve the level of actual emissions reductions expected by the province as a whole.

Capital investments in efficiency, for B.C. schools in excess of $300 million, could easily be justified as being a better business case (i.e. better use of taxpayer

24

Ops Talk Spring 2009

dollars) than continuing to pay escalating utility and offset costs over the long term. The problem with the current government’s Debt Management Framework is that it limits the ability of the Ministry and school districts to leverage existing funding by creating additional capital through borrowing against the avoided future utility costs.

Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principals (GAAP), any borrowing

by PSOs against utility savings has to be counted as part of the total debt for their respective Ministries and the government as a whole. The province’s current Debt Management Framework limits the amount of debt for each Ministry (Debt Cap) so that the total provincial debt can be maintained within a target multiple of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While the Minister of Education has the legal authority to permit school districts to borrow against avoided utility costs (which a number of districts have done), this permission is restricted by the Ministry’s current Debt Cap, which has only limited capacity for such projects considering the on-going new construction, renovation and seismic projects that must be funded.

In July 2008, the Climate Action Team (CAT) made a number of recommendations to the Provincial Cabinet aimed at increasing the level of emissions reductions in the province between now and 2020. Included in this list (item # 29) was a recommendation to eliminate the barriers that PSOs face in funding more comprehensive emissions reduction projects, including existing caps on borrowing capability. It is clear from this recommendation that the CAT recognizes existing line Ministry Debt Caps are a structural impediment to implementing the requirements of Bill 44.

The capital created by borrowing against utility savings would allow cur-

rent funding such as PSECA to be fully leveraged. School districts that financed their projects in this manner would have a much better chance of getting PSECA funding, since the scoring matrix used for each application is intended to reward such leveraging. It would also allow school districts to take a more comprehensive approach to emissions reductions and blend longer payback, renewal-oriented measures with shorter payback measures and fuel efficiency measures with electrical efficiency measures. This approach would have much better long-term learning environment benefits than the common practice of investing scarce AFG funds in short payback efficiency measures and then removing the resulting utility savings from the facilities operating budget.

It would be sound policy for the government to make it an immediate priority to increase the Debt Cap for the Ministry of Education, for the sole purpose of borrowing for efficiency or emissions reduction projects. There are a number of reasons for this recommendation: • Unlike most new provincial debt, the support costs associated with this debt are already built into the Ministry’s operating budget because the loans are repaid from operating savings. This includes principal payments, which reduces the debt over time as opposed to rolling the original principal over at maturity. This rational is similar to the decision to publicly finance the Port Mann Bridge replacement using toll revenues to repay the debt.

• The resultant energy and emissions reductions are elements of high priority government objectives and legislation as well as the B.C. Energy Plan. This approach is the only way that school districts will be able to generate meaningful GHG emissions reductions under the mandated objectives of Bill 44.

• The risks associated with both the implementation of the work and the performance of utility savings can be transferred to the private sector under existing government procurement and contract documents. This arrangement distinguishes the debt from other provincial debt.

• The building improvements would, by their nature, include a significant amount of replacement of aging building systems (facility renewal) for which there are limited alternative sources of capital. The single largest element would be boiler replacements, which could generate as much as 75 per cent of the emissions reductions in a school. By paying for this inevitable renewal expense at least partially out of avoided utility costs, AFG funds can be re-directed at other emergent facility renewal issues with the result of improving the quality of the teaching and learning environment.

In summary, the existing Debt Cap for the Ministry of Education has little or no room to accommodate the level of investment required to fulfill the objectives of Bill 44. The current Ministry Debt Cap needs to be increased by a specific amount that is specifically tied to the objectives of Bill 44 and recommendation #29 of the Climate Action Team.

About the Author: Doug Wall is a Professional Engineer and Western Canada Vice President for Ameresco. ❏

Boiler replacements can reduce building emissions by as much as 30 per cent or more. Photo courtesy of North Vancouver School District.

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25

The importance of mould detection

BY CHUCK MORRIS

Mould discovered inside a wall due to leaks around the window.

26

Ops Talk Spring 2009

Dealing with portable buildings for as long as some of us have, we have been subjected to the horrible ‘M’ word, MOULD! Though mould grows in permanent structures as well (as has been evidenced in some school districts), the methods used to build portable structures contributes to water ingress and the subsequent growth of moulds.

Mould needs an environment to grow in. What better place than a nice moist corner, dark and undetected!

The longer it is left to flourish, and with its source of moisture untouched, it will grow and spread.

When dealing with portable buildings, look for small slices in the roof membrane, damaged metal cladding, old nail/screw holes left uncaulked, rotten siding, and areas where screws or lag bolts affix an object to the side of a portable such as railings and the ramp.

Any of these areas will allow moisture to enter. Water will enter any tiny perforation through capillary action, causing moisture to spread inside a wall, floor or even a ceiling cavity.

Unless the wall or floor becomes spongy, it may go undetected for quite some time. So one may ask, If it is growing inside of a wall, why worry

Water can enter through the smallest of openings.

about it? Spores can escape from within a wall cavity; they can be bothersome or worse, cause heath issues for some people.

Moulds1 are fungi, a group of very common organisms that also includes mushrooms and yeasts. Moulds are generally found in nature, and are carried indoors from the outside. More than 270 species of mold have been identified in Canada.

The most common health problems associated with exposure to mould are: • Eye, nose and throat irritation • Runny nose, sinus congestion, frequent cold symptoms • Increased asthma attacks • Allergic reactions Most common types of mould are generally not harmful to healthy individuals. However, exposure to mould can cause varying reactions depending on overall health, age and amount of time an exposed person spends in the room.

The most effective way to manage mould is to eliminate the environment that it lives in. If it cannot develop and grow, it will not exist. Once mould is found, it will need to be removed. In some instances, it can be removed by cleaning using a liquid detergent solution. Always wear a mask, safety glasses and gloves when cleaning mould off objects.

Bleach is not recommended2. The presence of organic materials, pH of the water, surface material and contact time influence the effectiveness of bleach for disinfection. Since these factors are not generally controllable , bleach cannot be relied upon for disinfection. The most compelling reason for advising against bleach is that fumes are harmful; but in addition, overuse of bleach will result in increased releases of chlorinated effluents which can be harmful to the environment.

Generally speaking a small area of mould, if discovered, can be cleaned by staff. A small area is determined to be approximately a square meter. Large areas of mouldy surfaces should be cleaned by indoor air quality specialists or restoration companies, as they specialize in this type of clean up.

In every instance where mould has been discovered, there was a source of moisture, an environment that allowed the growth in the first place. Moisture ingress must be stopped.

Mould developing under floor.

Mould that has been discovered must be remediated right away. Occupants of the building must be removed to another area until repairs have been completed, and spore sampling has been carried out to ensure remediation was effective.

How do we test for mould? One of the methods used is ‘Aggressive’ bio-aerosol3 sampling using Dawson high volume vacuum pumps and Zefon Air-o-Cell 37mm spore traps, though there are other methods as well. Generally, indoor airborne mould concentrations are compared with those of out-

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door. The presence of one or more species of mould indoors, but not outdoors, suggests the presence of a growth source in the building. If results show a possible growth source indoors and nothing is visible, intrusive investigation methods may be required. In a portable building (and most others) one would look at the windows, doors, roof protrusions, venting through walls for air exchange, and furnace areas to start with. With most portable buildings, one or more of the aforementioned areas will produce results.

One other method that has been used with a very high rate of success is a Mould Dog. Mould dogs are trained to indicate where the presence of mould may be. A well-trained dog can detect down to as little as 550 parts per trillion (PPT).

This is somewhat dependant on the breed and the character as well as the dog’s individual ability.

Mould dogs4 are trained the same way, and in many cases in the same facilities, as drug, bomb and arson dogs.

Although specific training techniques are proprietary, they all revolve around repetition and reward. All of the Mould Dogs that come from the Florida Canine Academy have at least 1,000 hours of training prior to even being introduced to a handler.

A diligent program in place to inspect portables (or any susceptible facility) on a very regular basis will go along way combating mould issues. Stop the leak as soon as it is discovered. Don’t allow students and staff to remain inside if there is a mould condition that should be remediated. Look for soft spongy areas, watch for stains, and check the integrity of windows, both around the outside moulding area and inside. If the windows are metal-framed, make sure the tracks are cleaned regularly as dirt and moisture collection becomes a great spot for mould growth. Repair roof defects right away (part of your regular inspection), caulk any holes and ensure the metal siding is intact and tight. Exterior caulking will shrink. Movement of the portable structure to

28

Ops Talk Spring 2009

Meet Coco: this mould dog has been used in a variety of school districts to great success.

another location will cause conditions to appear allowing water ingress.

Be aware of potential for mould growth. Understand the conditions in which it will grow. A leak, if left undetected, will provide an environment that could have growth within 48 hours. Be prepared to react if you do discover mould, and even after rigorous inspections, mould dog and spore capture sampling. It will happen from time to time; by doing your due diligence, you can ensure a healthy environment and lessen any impacts to students and staff, should mould be discovered.

FOOTNOTES: 1 2 3 4

Toronto Public Health CMHC: Fighting Mold – The Homeowners Guide Johnson Environmental Stephen Pearon: Mold Dog Canada ❏

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Effective tools for water damage remediation

BY ART JOHNSON

In this edition of Ops Talk I would like to cover some of the tools that help us effectively address a water-damaged area which has suffered a flood. Depending on the severity of the flood and the level of contamination of the water, it may call for some variations in the approach but in general, the procedures follow the same path.

As with any type of flood, once the source of water has been stopped – whether that be from a river or a hot water tank – the area must be determined to be safe from electrical and other safety hazards. Many times when major events happen, electricity is not available; we may therefore find areas with insufficient lighting, resulting in an increased risk of bumping into things, falling down stairs, or in one situation, walking right into an area where a fire had burnt a 12’ hole in the floor, thus exposing the hazardous risk of falling ten feet to the floor below.

Electrical hazards are another common risk after a flood, so the situation calls for a diligent risk assessment to be conducted in order to determine if the area around the flood is safe. If water cascaded down the walls or took part of the ceiling out, is the water on the floor safe to step into without using a voltage and currant detector first? Are there any wires hanging if you are in a crawlspace?

30

Ops Talk Spring 2009

Once the risk assessment determines that your technicians can proceed safely, then it is time to use the tools designed for finding the water damage. Moisture detection tools may include pin-type probes, for use on carpets and padding, that beep when they detect moisture; non-destructive meters with a progressive LED scale can be placed on a wall surface to determine if above-average levels of moisture exist in the drywall; or probe-type meters that allow for investigation into wall cavities, so that pockets of moisture are not left behind allowing mould to grow.

Beyond these common instruments, we go into the more technical tools that may include digital cameras to see inside of areas where a person’s head will not fit, such as ceiling or floor cavities or plumbing stacks. These cameras are complimented by inexpensive fiber optic scopes that will fit into a 3/8 inch hole, allowing one to see into these tight areas also.

Thermal imaging cameras are a very common tool used by restoration contractors today; when used properly, the cameras allow the user to do a very quick but thorough assessment to determine all the areas that are wet on the inside of the rooms.

Before these became available, one would have to go around the room and investigate almost every square inch to ensure that all water which may have migrated from the original source was detected; but now, one glace through the lens of the camera reveals the areas of concern very quickly.

As the drying process is carried out, thermal hygrometers verify effective use of the drying equipment, and help to determine how much water is still in the structure after the obvious moisture is removed.

The amount of dehumidification has, at times, been questioned by some due to the fact that no measurement is in place to ascertain if we need more dehumidifying or less respective to the size of the flood we are addressing; and also, can it be justified. I can’t tell you the number of times I have seen a dehumidifier set up in an area that it has had no effect upon, due to the size of the area or the size of the dehumidifier used, or times the dehumidifier was oversized for the area it was intended to dry.

By using thermal hygrometers, we measure the specific humidity in the room to determine the size of the dehumidifier needed, after this is established, we can measure the specific humidity going into the dehumidifier and what is exhausting out the processed port, thereby ensuring that dehumidification is effective, and when the equipment can be removed.

When a dehumidifier is in use, there should be a reduction

of at least 20 grains per pound of specific humidity; it should pull less moisture out of the air as the structure dries out. If the area is so moisture-laden that a dehumidifier cannot keep up with the rate of evaporation, either more dehumidifiers need to be added or the number of fans need to be reduced so that less evaporation is done. Adding more dehumidifiers is preferred, so that the building can be dried as quickly as possible.

This is a small sample of some of the tools a restoration contractor will use to ensure the water damage remediation is performed in accordance with the recognized industry standard.

Some school districts have people specifically trained to handle their floods in-house while others call in restoration contractors, but either way, it is imperative that the situation is being handled utilizing the right tools, ensuring that the building is safe for occupants, and safe from losing its structural integrity in the future. ❏

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31

SPOA 2009 Conference and Trade Show

2009 CONFERENCE PROGRAM Penticton Trade & Convention Centre “Supporting Environments that Enhance Learning” June 1 - June 5, 2009 MONDAY, JUNE 1 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Professional Development Okanagan College Leadership Certificate Program

Room 2/3

9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Professional Development Okanagan College Leadership Certificate Program

Room 2/3

3:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Exhibitors Set-Up

3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Registration – Member / Exhibitor

4:00 pm

GOLF

8:30 pm - 10:00 pm

President’s Reception

10:30 pm - Midnight

Hospitality Suite – Everyone Welcome

TUESDAY, JUNE 2

Ballroom II/Salon A South Lobby Skaha Meadows South Lobby Ramada Courtyard Atrium

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 7:30 am - 8:30 am

Registration – Members / Exhibitor

7:30 am - 8:30 am

New Member Orientation

7:30 am - 8:30 am

Zone Meetings

8:30 am - 9:00 am

Opening Ceremonies

9:00 am - 10:30 am

Visit Exhibitors' Booths - Coffee

10:30 am - 12:30 pm

Keynote Address-Deferred Accountability vs. Future Sustainability Speaker: Suzanne Elston

Salon B/C

12:30 pm - 2:30 pm

DELEGATES, EXHIBITORS AND PARTNERS LUNCHEON Speaker: Dan Miller

Salon B/C

2:30 pm - 4:00 pm

Visit Exhibitors' Booths - Coffee

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Concurrent Sessions 1. Maintenance Round Table Facilitator: Peter Orjala 2. New/Young Worker Orientation Room 2/3 Panel Discussion: Ken Emmons/Collette O’Reilly 3. Recovering Costs through the Community Use of Schools Presenter: School Dude 4. Play Space Safety Issues Speaker: Vince Kreiser

7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

EXHIBITORS HOSTED EVENING Costume & Games – “Mardi Gras”

10:00 pm - Midnight

Hospitality Suite – Everyone Welcome

South Lobby Room 6

Ballroom II/Salon A

Ballroom II/Salon A Room 1 Room 7

Ballroom II/Salon A Ramada Courtyard Atrium

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 7:00 am - 8:30 am

Delegates and Exhibitors Buffet Breakfast

Salon C

8:30 am - 10:00 am

SPOA Annual General Meeting

Salon C

9:00 am - 10:00 am

Exhibitors Meeting - appointing new Exhibitor Representative

10:00 am - 1:00 pm

OPEN TRADE SHOW

10:00 am - 11:00 pm

Visit Exhibitors' Booths - Coffee

11:00 am - Noon

Ministry Update

Ballroom II/Salon A Ballroom II/Salon A Salon B/C

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 continued 12:00 noon - 1:00 pm

EXHIBITORS' HOSTED LUNCHEON Visit Exhibitors’ Booths

Ballroom II/Salon A

1:15 pm - 5:00 pm

Exhibitor Breakdown Booth

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

Plenary Session – Sustainability and social responsibility Speaker: Ann Duffy-VANOC

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

6:00 pm - 12:30 am

Concurrent Sessions 1. Custodial Round Table – Sustainable practices Facilitator: Steve Smoroden 2. Turf & Artificial Turf Sports Field Maintenance Speaker: Tab Buckner 3. Energy Manager’s Round Table Facilitator: Wayne Cousins 4. PEP: H&S 5. Project Delivery Models Speaker: Michael Ernest-AIBC Reception, Banquet, Entertainment and Dance

Salon B/C Room 1 Room 2/3 Room 6 Room 7

Salon B/C

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 9:00 am - Noon

Concurrent Sessions - Full Morning 1. Behavioral Interviewing – Meeting the Recruitment Challenge Speaker: Ron Pound – BCPSEA

9:00 am - 10:30 am

10:30 am - Noon

Concurrent Sessions 2. Sustainable Lighting Design Speaker: Clarissa Raymundo 3. Health & Safety Round Table Facilitator: Ken Lear 4. Bleachers – Repair & Servicing 5. Security Surveillance in Schools Speaker: Kash Basi - SPP 6. Working Alone or in Isolation Presenter: Ken Lear 7. SPP Loss Prevention Speaker: David Foxall 8. Gym Floor Finishing Speaker: BC Hardwood 9. Smart Tool Speaker: Craig Harris

Room 1 Room 2/3

Room 1 Room 2/3

Accommodations The following hotels have been chosen with block reservations for your benefit. Each hotel is located close to the Penticton Trade & Convention Centre and has issued special discount rates for those attending the Conference.

Please ensure you reserve prior to the scheduled deadline date May 1, 2009, and that you quote SPOA Conference to receive the special discount rate.

RAMADA COURTYARD INN (Host Hotel) 1050 Eckhardt Avenue West, Penticton, BC V2A 2C3 Tel: 1-800-665-4966 / 250-492-8926 | Fax: 250-492-2778

SANDMAN HOTELS & INN 939 Burnaby Avenue West, Penticton, BC V2A 1G7 Tel: 1-888-648-1118 / 250-493-7151 | Fax: 250-493-3767

Room Rate: Single $117.00 / Business Class $137.00 / Kitchen/fireplace $192.00

Room Rate: Twin/Queen $89.00 to Kitchen $99.00

PENTICTON LAKESIDE RESORT 21 Lakeshore Drive West, Penticton, BC V2A 7M5 Tel: 1-800-663-9400 / 250-493-8221 | Fax: 250-493-0607

DAYS INN 152 Riverside Drive, Penticton, BC V2A 5Y4 Tel: 1-888-999-6616 / 250-493-6616 | Fax: 250-493-661 Quote reservation # G00015-75 or SPOA block of rooms

Room Rate: Parkview $129.00 / Lakeview $149.00

Room Rate: Single $109.00 to Deluxe Poolside $119.00

Please quote SPOA conference when making reservations. *** Reservations must be made by May 1, 2009 ***

SPOA 2009 Conference and Trade Show

Registration Form First Name:________________________________ Surname: _________________________________________________ Organization: ________________________________________________________________________________________ Address:_______________________________________________________________ Postal Code:___________________ Tel:_________________________ Fax:____________________________ Email:___________________________________ To register by mail send the Conference registration form with cheque, Visa or MasterCard made payable to: School Plant Officials Association of BC, PO Box 19032, 1153 – 56th Street, Delta, BC V4L 2P8 or register on-line.

Name as it is written on the card:________________________________________________________________________ Credit Card #___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ Exp Date ______ / ______ Pre registration is required for the following Events: Please indicate which events you are planning to attend.

Please note: If you are not able to attend SPOA is still charged a per plate fee by the food providers. So choose carefully!!!

Social Event

Conference Fees

Members Full Conference Package Non-Members Full Conference Package Members One Day Pass Non-Members One Day Pass Professional Development (per day) Partners Program Dinner and Dance only (per person) SPOA Golf Thursday Open Day

$ 350 $ 450 $ 150 $ 200 $ 200 $ 100 $ 50 $ 45 No Cost Totals

Number of Packages _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________

Dollar Amount _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________

__________

_________

Tuesday – June 2 ❏ President’s Reception Wednesday – June 3 ❏ Zone Meeting Breakfast ❏ Luncheon ❏ Exhibitors Hosted Luncheon Thursday – June 4 ❏ Members Breakfast ❏ Exhibitors Hosted Evening ❏ Dinner and Dance

Registration Information and Cancellation Policy: The Full Conference Package includes admittance to all Conference Sessions, Lunch on Wednesday and Thursday, Trade Show on Wednesday and Thursday, President’s Reception on Tuesday, Exhibitors’ Night on Wednesday and the Banquet & Dance on Thursday.

Cancellation of registration must be received before May 15, 2009 for registration fees to be refunded. A processing fee of $25.00 will be charged on all refunds.

Professional Development Leadership and Team Building | Monday, June 1, 2009, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Focus on Behavioural Style, The Seven Characteristics of Superior Leaders, Practices of Exemplary Leaders, Situational Leadership Styles, Applying Leadership Styles, Stages of Group Development and What Makes an Effectinve Team Member.

Communications |Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Focus on The Communication Process, Practices for Excellent Communication, Benefits of Effective Listening on the Job, People Who are Effective Listeners, Defining Probing and Reflective Skills, Vidio Observations/Critique, Writing Probing and Reflecting Responses, Practicing Active Listening Skills, Supportive and Formative Feedback.

Four (4) credit hour certificate Instructor: S. Carl Zanon, MBA, PEng, CMC - Okanagan College Leadership of attendance upon completion Pre-registration is required. Course Fee: $ 200.00 per day (lunch included) for each day.

First Name: ________________________________________________Surname: ____________________________________________ Organization: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tel: __________________________ Fax: _________________________Email: _______________________________________________ Payment: Cheque: _______ Credit Card: ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ Exp Date: ___ / ___ To register by mail, send this form with cheque, Visa or MasterCard made payable to: School Plant Officials Association of BC PO Box 19032, 1153 – 56th Street, Delta, BC V4L 2P8 For more information please contact: Ken Janzen @ 604-903-4613 or Molly Shipowich @ 604-943-3314

Partners Program Registration First Name: _________________________________________ Surname: _________________________________________________ School District: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Home Mailing Address:_______________________________________________ Postal Code _________________________________ Tel:_________________________________ Fax:___________________________ Email: ______________________________________ Please Indicate Which Social Event(S) Will Be Attended: ❏ Presidents’ Reception (Tuesday, 8:30 pm - 11:00 pm) ❏ Meet & Greet Breakfast (Wednesday, 9:00 am - 10:00 am) ❏ Crafts (Wednesday, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon) ❏ Delegates, Exhibitors & Partners Luncheon (Wednesday, 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm) ❏ Crafts (Wednesday, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm) ❏ Exhibitors Hosted Evening (Wednesday, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm) ❏ TBA (Thursday) ❏ Banquet And Dance (Thursday, 6:00 pm – 12:30 am) *** Please Inform Us Of Any Dietary Needs *** PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM, AS IT WILL HELP US IN DETERMINING TRANSPORTATION AND MEALS NEEDED FOR VARIOUS FUNCTIONS Cost of the Partners Program is $100.00 and includes all functions.

Payment: Cheque: ______________ Credit Card: ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ Exp Date: ___ / ___ To register by mail, send this form with cheque, Visa or Mastercard made payable to: School Plant Officials Association of BC PO Box 19032, 1153 – 56th Street, Delta, BC V4L 2P8

SPOA’s 13th Annual Golf Tournament SKAHA MEADOWS Golf Course - Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 - 4:00 PM This year’s highlights and information: • Texas scramble - nine hole - shot gun start • Even out teams for score and fun • Prizes for long drive/closest to the pin/hole in one/draw prizes • Trophies for Winning Team • Golf cost $45.00, includes dinner and transportation to and from golf course • Limit to first 60, please reserve now • There will be a bus available from the Convention Centre • Golf Cart reserve on your own (250-492-7274) Name: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Company/School District: _________________________________________________________________________________________ Handi-cap: ❏ Under 15

❏ Between 15-25

❏ Rarely golf over 25

Please try to place me on a team with: ______________________________________________________________________________ Cheques, MasterCard or Visa are accepted, please forward information to: School Plant Officials Association of BC PO Box 19032, 1153 – 56th Street, Delta, BC V4L 2P8 Fax: 604-943-3541 Name: ______________________________________________ Credit Card # ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ Expire date: _________________________ Are you interested in supplying us with a golf prize?? _______________________________ Please contact Molly at: (tel) 604-943-3314 (fax) 604-943-3541 (email) society@telus.net Enter early so proper teams, assigned holes etc. can be established well in advance.

Successful energy management in schools: The “whole pie”

Green Team students from Sandy Hill Elementary.

Photo courtesy of Rick Walker, School District No. 34, Abbotsford, B.C.

Adopting an integrated approach helps school districts achieve success

BY ELLEN SCHWARTZ

School energy use is often depicted in a pie chart, the familiar circle divided into “slices” representing the consumption for lighting, heating, cooling, and so on.

The pie chart graphic can also illustrate the many “slices” it takes to create a comprehensive energy management program: energy efficiency projects, education and awareness, best practices in facilities management and a broad sustainability commitment. Put all those slices together, and you’ve got the “whole pie.”

According to Wayne Cousins, senior key account manager with B.C. Hydro, Education Sector, this broad-based approach is the secret to successful energy management. “Energy retrofit projects are important for capturing energy savings, but they’re not the whole answer. The most advanced technologies won’t provide sustained savings if, for example, people leave the lights on in unused rooms. That’s why we’ve got to engage everyone – students, teachers,

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

administrators and staff – and integrate all aspects of energy management into one comprehensive vision.”

Many school districts in British Columbia are already moving in this direction and achieving success, Cousins says. He adds, “B.C. Hydro can help school districts become more sustainable. We’re eager to partner with school districts to help them move forward.”

FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY School District No. 38 (Richmond) is an example of a school district where the commitment to sustainability is the framework for energy management action.

In addition to implementing a wide range of energy upgrades, the district has established sustainability committees that involve administrators, teachers, non-teaching staff and students in addressing sustainability issues.

Richmond is initiating a district-wide

energy conservation awareness campaign using B.C. Hydro’s student programs.

Students also take the lead. “The school district supports student-directed environmental groups with $1,000 grants, and a number of these groups have included energy conservation initiatives as part of their projects,” says district administrator of energy & sustainability, Glen Bussey.

ENGAGING PEOPLE In School District No. 34 (Abbotsford), instilling behavioural change is just as important as upgrading facilities. “We are engaging students, teachers, parents and principals,” says manager of energy conservation Rick Walker. “We’ve formed school-based energy committees in 70 per cent of our schools so far, and have established a District Sustainable/ Smart Resource Steering Committee to lead our envi-

Lighting retrofit project at Mountain Secondary.

Photo courtesy of Debby Sansome, School District No. 35, Langley, B.C.

ronmental initiatives. We’re going beyond energy into recycling, composting and green cleaning products. It’s an approach to get everyone involved.”

Green Team awareness campaigns and activities have reduced consumption within the district since September, 2008 by 277,338 kWh, an achievement the district is very proud of.

ENERGY INTELLIGENCE The first step in achieving energy use reduction is to know where and how

energy is used, and where the opportunities for improvement are.

“Communication is the key point,” says Chad Dalrymple, energy manager for School District No. 62 (Sooke). “You need to engage people and give them the information to stimulate change.”

To that end, Dalrymple developed a pie chart showing each school’s energy breakdown. Not only can students compare their school with others, they can also see the best places to implement changes in order to reduce their consumption.

Knowledge is power in School District No. 41 (Burnaby) as well, says manager of facility services, Matt Foley. In one innovative project, Burnaby is installing real-time power meters in two high schools to show everyone how their energy-use habits affect consumption moment by moment. An accompanying panel relates the energy use to the school’s carbon footprint.

“In this way, technology leads to knowledge – and knowledge can trigger action,” Foley says.

FINDING CHAMPIONS School districts that have dedicated energy managers automatically have a champion to lead energy management efforts – but even they can’t do it alone.

That’s why an energy management program needs champions at many levels.

In School District No. 35 (Langley), one secondary school is using a new B.C. Hydro program called Energy Ambassadors in which students, teachers and facilities management staff team up to

HOW B.C. HYDRO CAN HELP B.C. Hydro has an array of initiatives that can help school districts improve their energy efficiency and sustainability: • Funding and support for dedicated school district energy managers.

• Power Smart Partners and Product Incentive Programs to identify energy savings opportunities and provide financial incentives to offset implementation costs.

• Educational programs for all grade levels.

• Continuous Optimization Program to optimize the energy use of building systems.

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

promote energy conservation. “This is where facilities and education work together,” says Debby Sansome who, as director of energy & environment, is a mentor to the group.

“The unsung heroes of energy conservation can be found in our custodial staff. They spot and correct unnecessary energy consumption, and they report problems so they can be repaired quickly. I hope to make our other stakeholders as conscientious as our custodial staff!”

Sansome enthuses.

SUPPORT FROM B.C. HYDRO Abbotsford, Burnaby, Langley, Richmond and Sooke are only a few of the school districts that are integrating all aspects of energy management in a comprehensive approach to achieve sustainable results. They all work closely with B.C. Hydro, which provides many kinds of support (see box).

“At B.C. Hydro, we want to enter into partnerships with school districts to help you move forward,” says Cousins.

“We’re prepared to support you on the technical side, to help your facilities perform at maximum efficiency, and on the educational side, to help you train your staff and raise the awareness of everyone involved.”

Make sure your school district benefits from the “whole pie.”

For more information on B.C. Hydro Power Smart programs for school districts, please contact Wayne Cousins, senior key account manager, at wayne.cousins@bchydro.com.

Cherry, anyone? Apple? Rhubarb? ❏

• Data Centre and Server Virtualization Program to reduce server energy use.

• Workplace Conservation Awareness Programs so teachers, principals and facilities staff can learn how to use energy more wisely.

• Energy Management Assessment sessions to help you identify your energy management priorities, set targets for improvement and get the right people involved in creating change.

• Training for facilities managers and operations and maintenance staff in energy management best practices.

Call 604.453.6386 today to find out how B.C. Hydro can partner with your school district.

Stutters Disaster Kleenup proud to introduce its new RISK (Remediation in Specialized Kleenup) team

Kelowna, British Columbia. Stutters Disaster Kleenup announces the formation of a new division within the Stutters organization: RISK (Remediation in Specialized Kleenup).

RISK consists of a group of highly skilled individuals who will focus on specialized projects. These projects will include, but are not limited to, clean up of mould, asbestos and biological contamination which might exist in healthcare facilities, schools, retirement communities, financial institutions, public buildings, strata corporations and personal residences.

Dean Ganie, the lead project manager for the RISK team, has over 25 years experience in the insurance restoration field, specializing in water damage and odour control. During the course of his career, Ganie has earned numerous certifications from the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certificate). Some of these include Water Damage Restoration, Applied Structural Drying and Applied Microbial Remediation Technician. Ganie has also received certification from PHH Arc Environmental in Mould Awareness and Abatement Training. In addition, Ganie underwent extensive training with such industry leaders as Cliff Zlotnik and Lloyd Weaver.

“Given our extensive certified training and Stutters’ stateof-the-art equipment, we are able to do any type of job – large or small,” says Ganie, adding that, “You cannot do today’s jobs with yesterday’s education or equipment; this is why we are always upgrading our equipment and insist that our staff continually upgrade their education. We are here 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Dr. Om Malik is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and CEO of ECOH Management Inc., an industry leader in the control

40

Ops Talk Spring 2009

of infectious diseases in healthcare facilities during construction and renovations. Dr. Malik trained and certified Stutters’ RISK team.

“Special skills and knowledge are required when constructing or renovating highly sensitive areas such as hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, in order to prevent outbreaks of Legionnaire’s Disease, Aspergillosis and other hospital acquired infections. With ECOH’s training, the RISK team is not only certified, but also supported by myself and our staff as they move forward with this project. We are proud to support this much-needed initiative,” says Dr. Malik.

The RISK team uses several types of specialized equipment/technology when dealing with these projects. Media blasting, dry ice blasting, infrared moisture detection and air filtering are just a few examples. Stutters also has a state-ofthe-art processing facility equipped with environmentallycontrolled storage. This allows claimant’s contents to be stored on-site, in secure vaults, with the assurance that their belongings are safe and sound.

Stutters proudly serves the Okanagan Valley with offices in Kelowna, Vernon, Penticton and most recently, Big White. In addition, as a member of the Disaster Kleenup Canada (DKC) family, Stutters has the resources and capability to provide service to clients outside its regular service area as needed.

If you’d like more information about Stutters Disaster Kleenup or it’s RISK division, please contact Dean Ganie at dean.ganie@stutters.com ❏

It’s not just hot air Using dehumidification in new school construction

BY GREGG LOWES

Desiccant dehumidification system holds conditions steady for interior finishing during construction of the Electronic Arts campus in Burnaby, B.C.

The B.C. Government just announced a $424 million stimulus package for the construction or renovation of 30 school projects around B.C., with about 2,500 direct jobs to be created in the process. That’s a nice boost for our economy, which is looking for new projects in the wake of the economic slowdown here in B.C. The title of this article, however, has little to do with the nature of government announcements. Rather, it addresses climate control in new building projects, and the effective management of interior conditions

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

during construction as these recently announced projects start to come off of the ground.

New construction and renovation is a wet and messy process. The end result is an architecturally-pleasing building, with comfortable, modern classrooms, auditoriums, gymnasiums and offices.

But getting there requires a lot of carefully coordinated work.

During the construction process architects, contractors, trades people and facility owners are faced with the constant pressure of deadlines, delivering the highest quality of workman-

ship, and avoiding things like mould contamination during the building phase. By using desiccant dehumidification as part of their construction strategy, many builders are finding they have more control over moisture issues, resulting in faster finishing schedules, and a better result in critical materials installations.

As the structure reaches lock-up stage, moisture loads, from the seasonal weather as well as from construction materials and processes, must be removed in order to ensure a dry and healthy building. Excess moisture can

lead to construction delays when materials are slow to dry. Every 20-litre pail of paint gives off about 13 litres of water (assuming 35 per cent solids) that need to be removed from the space. Concrete slabs and walls hold large amounts of water well past the curing period. And more serious issues can arise from biological contamination due to persistent wetting, or the slow drying of materials in moist and confined spaces.

In the past, raising the temperature with hot air was the way to make things dry. Propane heaters connected to 100# propane bottles were a fixture on almost every project. However, many projects are no longer using open flame systems due to the associated dangers, insurance risks, and the time and expense of constantly managing it. And propane adds large amounts of water vapour to the space, which also has to be removed.

Alternate heating systems, such as gas-fired indirect heaters, electric resistance heaters, or glycol fan coils are being used to raise the air temperature during construction. And while heat does provide some benefit, a heatingonly strategy does very little to remove the moisture trapped in drywall taping, fireproofing or concrete floors and walls – at least at a rate that can keep up to a tight construction schedule.

To effectively dry moisture-laden materials inside the construction space, the air’s vapour pressure must be reduced. To accomplish this, industrial dehumidification equipment is used to deeply dry outside air; this treated air is then delivered to the construction space.

Technically speaking, the moisture molecules in the air are adsorbed, or captured, by the desiccant, lowering the absolute humidity of the air before it enters the space. The treated air is well below the moisture vapour pressure of the building materials. The vapour pressure difference causes moisture in the materials to naturally move to the surface and be absorbed into the dry air.

This moisture laden air is then evacuated from the space and replaced with more treated, low vapour pressure air.

DESICCANT WHEEL TECHNOLOGY

Desiccant dehumidification wheels work by passing untreated air over a vast surface of silica gel desiccant. Silica adsorbs, or holds, the moisture vapour, and the resulting dry air is delivered to the space. A separate reactivation chamber heats the desiccant to pull off the moisture, and blows this wet air back to the atmosphere, all in a continuous cycle.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND DESICCANT DEHUMIDIFICATION

This psychometric chart shows three methods of drying air. Direct fired (propone) heaters would add moisture to the air. Indirect or electric heat neither adds nor takes away moisture. Both direct and indirect heat cause evaporation, and add it as vapour to the air it is heating. Desiccant systems remove moisture vapour and heat the air as part of the process for significant moisture transfer from wet materials to the treated air.

Depending on the project and the time of year, dehumidification equipment is combined with heating units to provide dry air and ambient temperature conditions for material to stabilize, and to provide comfortable working conditions.

The desiccant results: no more window condensation, and drywall taping dries overnight. Spray fireproof-

ing dries in half the time. Concrete floor slabs give off moisture in time to reach the manufacturer specs for surface coverings. Wood floors and mouldings don’t pick up moisture from surrounding materials. In fact, the dehumidification equipment can be set to control specific humidity levels to hold conditions for wood floor installations.

School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

43

Construction drying on school projects: Desiccant dehumidifiers and in-line indirect fired heaters provide the right combination of fast, effective drying with the appropriate temperature to maintain building materials and working conditions.

If Moisture is the Problem…

Dehumidification is the Answer!

The problem is: • You can’t finish dry-walling because joint compound won’t dry.

• You can’t start flooring because concrete is too wet.

• Your fine millwork is warping and unstable.

If your construction project suffers from moisture problems like high humidity, moisture trapped in concrete, and humidity destabilizing woodwork, Munters can help. We have the world’s largest fleet of construction drying equipment. Munters can keep your project on schedule, help you maintain the highest indoor air quality standards, and eliminate the need to turn on the HVAC system before you turn over the building. So call us today…We’d like to help.

Western Canada: Surrey, BC, Tel: 604-533-9789 Eastern Canada: Mississauga, ON, Tel: 905-858-5894, Montreal, PQ, Tel: 514-326-0555 1-800-MUNTERS (686-8377) www.munters.us

The dangers of biological contamination are also greatly reduced. Since building materials are wet for much shorter periods of time, condensation, high humidity and other moisture loads (rain, snow or broken pipes) are kept under control.

Once the moisture sources for microbes are removed, the contaminants can’t find a food source to grow on.

Employing this type of equipment avoids the dangerous practice of using the building’s HVAC system to dry the structure during construction. The HVAC system is designed for temperature control of finished space, not heavy moisture removal. The desiccant dehumidification system can also help to achieve some critical LEED® credits in relation to course of construction IAQ, and building flush-out, thereby protecting the permanent equipment until final occupancy.

Today, our public buildings are monitored much more closely than ever before. Indoor air quality requirements, environmental and energy efficiency standards, building science and building envelope design are all influencing the construction and end use of our schools and other buildings. Applying good science to the management of interior moisture loads during construction should be part of this ongoing improvement in our publicly funded infrastructure as well.

About the Author: Gregg Lowes is the Industrial Accounts Manager for Munters Inc., Moisture Control Services, covering B.C. and Alberta construction and industrial markets. Gregg can be reached through the 1-800-MUNTERS call centre. ❏

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

Solar for schools

BY NITYA C. HARRIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SOLARBC

Funding to schools for the installation of solar hot water systems will soon be available through the SolarBC Program. SolarBC is a program of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association, funded through grants from the Province of British Columbia and Natural Resources Canada. It will integrate six different solar projects to provide a comprehensive market transformation program for solar hot water in British Columbia. The goal is to initiate actions towards a target of 100,000 Solar Roof installations in B.C. by 2020. The first phase includes projects for homeowners, local government, First Nations, social housing and schools.

A key initiative will be to facilitate the installation of solar hot water and photovoltaic systems in schools across B.C. There are a few solar projects that have already been undertaken in B.C. schools today. The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources installed two 10kW photovoltaic systems in Fort Nelson Secondary School, and Clarence Fulton Secondary School, in Vernon in 2005. In 2006, King George Secondary in Vancouver installed an 8-panel solar hot water system. In the recent B.C. Green Games, the three Grand Prizes awarded were

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Solar Hot Water system at King George Secondary School.

2.5 kW photovoltaic systems provided by SolarBC and Day4Energy.

SolarBC will be providing an incentive for solar hot water installations for schools in British Columbia. Up to 30 projects will be funded for completion in 2009 and 2010. Subsidies of up to 50 per cent (to a maximum of $10,000 of the installed cost) are available from SolarBC upon installation and commissioning of the solar hot water system. Additional rebates of up to 25 per cent (to a maximum of $400,000 of the installed cost) from the ecoENERGY Retrofit Program (federal government rebates) are also available upon installation and commissioning. Installations may take place on new, replacement or existing buildings.

Schools that receive the grants must complement installation with classroom instruction. In order to do this, SolarBC is working with an education partner to develop lesson plans and activities for grades 6, 10 and 11 science classes. These will be available on the SolarBC website (www.solarbc.ca) sometime next school year.

Schools will also monitor and report on the performance of the systems on a regular basis.

An invitation to school districts to nominate schools for the SolarBC funding will be sent out this spring.

Schools will be selected by application based on a number of criteria including their suitability for a solar system, previous sustainability initiatives of the school and representation of the various geographic zones across the province.

For more information on the Solar for Schools program, please send an email to info@solarbc.ca. â??

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

Hybrid jobs: Win-win situations for both districts and the employees involved

BY DEBORAH STEWART, B.C. PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYERS’ ASSOCIATION

‘Supervisor of Transportation and Safety’… ‘Director of Facilities and Transportation’… ‘Coordinator of Health & Safety and Custodial Supervisor’… These are just a few of the hybrid jobs that have popped up in the public education sector during the past several years. Is this an emerging trend or merely a remnant of school district amalgamation from the mid-‘90s?

“Changes to school district organization arising from amalgamation and evertightening budgets may have been the initial catalyst for the emergence of hybrid jobs in our sector,” says Kelvin Stretch, secretary treasurer in School District No. 73 (Kamloops/Thompson). “But it’s gone beyond that now. We’ve found that many prospective employees who apply to us are truly multidisciplinary. They’ve planned their careers that way.”

Janet Stewart, director of Make a Future – Careers in B.C. Education, agrees. She says that many prospective employees, ranging from baby boomers to “Generation Y”, are looking for ways to make themselves marketable – not only to gain a competitive edge in a tight labour market but also to satisfy their own interests and ambitions.

“When we attend job fairs, we’re meeting with more and more people who’ve made a conscious decision to enhance their skills and qualifications in more than one functional area. This holds true whether it’s someone looking for work in trades, maintenance, transportation, information technology, or human resources,” says Stewart.

In some cases, jobs simply evolved over time to include a wider range of duties.

But according to SD No. 73’s human resources manager Sharlene Bowers, in many districts hybrid jobs were created not by choice, but of necessity.

“Some districts just aren’t large enough, or they don’t have enough work in a particular location, to justify a fulltime custodian, for example,” says

Janet Stewart, director, Make a Future – Careers in B.C. Education, at a career fair in Edmonton.

Bowers. “But in order to attract a qualified employee, and in order to provide that employee with a full time job, the job will be expanded to include duties that might previously have been part of a completely different job description.”

Bowers notes one example in particular, where the school district needed a bus driver to transport students to school in the morning and get them home safely at night, and also needed someone to perform duties such as bus washing, snow removal, and minor maintenance.

“This resulted in a win-win situation for both the district and the employee involved. The district was able to fulfill both of its requirements with one employee, and the employee was able to

secure a full-time appointment. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement and the employee has added to their experience and qualifications as well.”

In her conversations with districts about specific recruitment and retention issues, Stewart is also hearing more frequently that employees who work in more than one functional area can add a different dimension to the workplace.

“Districts aren’t just looking for flexibility and adaptability on the part of employees to get done what needs to get done. They’re finding that many of their existing employees are looking for growth opportunities, not just vertically but laterally. They really want to expand their horizons and are actively seeking ways to learn on the job in order to do that.” ❏

CHELSEA LEONARD, BADID, LEED AP® Territory Manager, BC/Yukon Commercial Floor Products Office: 604.279.9071 Voicemail: 800.356.9301 ext 8624 E-mail: cnleonard@armstrong.com

School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

47

Asset management – the knowledge management model

BY DAVID MOLINARO

What is the asset and where is it? What condition is it in? When will it need to be replaced? How should we take care of it?

There is no question that asset owners and managers have an abundance of information to manage. Not allowing

this vast amount of data to overwhelm one can be very difficult. Today, more than ever, owners and managers are being asked to continuously report on assets in a variety of ways to senior management, to the board or council, to government and the local community at

large. Of course, one of the most important factors in asset management is making use of this information to strategically make decisions for the future. Having the information, in paper trail format or residing in people’s heads is one thing – extracting and making use of the information is a whole other endeavour.

Perhaps one of the most complex aspects to asset management is that information does not exist independently; rather, it is intertwined with other important pieces of information. For example, when deciding to replace a major asset/piece of equipment, vital information about the asset can include current condition, service work undertaken in past years, regular maintenance being provided, inventory of parts associated with the asset, project work affecting the asset, utility consumption impacts associated with the asset, etc.

Taking a look at the whole picture requires the ability to access all pertinent information in a timely and simple fashion, which requires proper management of information streams. Keeping information easily accessible, at your finger tips and shared with multiple people in the organization is crucial.

In asset management, the old adage “it is hard to figure out where you are going, if you don’t know where you have been” holds very true. The need to quickly access historical data and put it into usable form is critical for strategic future planning.

ASSET MANAGEMENT – BASIC BEST PRACTICE STEPS 1) Clearly define your organization’s core mission, and how you and your department support and influence this.

2) Know what you have. Make it a priority to set a process to collect and maintain up-to-date information on the state of your asset portfolio. Keep this data in a consistent format.

Allowing multiple people in the

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organization to access and add to the data is critical.

3) Build an achievable plan, based on available resources, to provide and maintain the assets that support the organization’s core mission. If resources (time, people, and money) are an issue, as they often are, it is time to prioritize. The only way to effectively prioritize is to clearly define which assets are critical to supporting the core mission, and focus on these first.

Use technology to help. Multiple streams of information requiring continual upkeep from multiple people in the organization will require some kind of database functionality. The technology choice should allow for ease of use, ease of retrieving information and ease of turning the information into a usable format.

Be mindful that there are likely people in the organization with varying degrees of computer savvy. To ensure success and garner buy-in at all levels in the organization, the plan must be achievable and sustainable by the team members expected to use the tools provided. Recognize the limitations of your work teams and provide training for their success. In some cases, make the process easy to follow by limiting the type of tasks required by specific work groups. For example, the process should provide personnel spending most of their time in the field with a simple and streamlined ability to add and maintain data.

Take control of your assets and turn information into actionable business knowledge. Proper asset management will yield immediate results including much less time spent tracking down and reporting on information, cost savings associated with proactive management as opposed to waiting for breakdowns, and, of course, peace-of-mind that you are in control.

Author’s Note: David Molinaro, P.Eng., has been working with clients in the public and private sector on asset management initiatives for over 13 years. David is currently the Vice President Business Development for FAME Asset Management Solutions. â??

School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

49

Garland Canada’s solutions restore school district’s roofs

Administrators of School District No. 78, located east of Vancouver in Hope, British Columbia, are not alone in having had to make tough decisions in prioritizing the many challenges confronting them in the face of declining budgets.

According to Tom Stevens, principal of the Boston Bar Elementary Secon-

dary School who has worked in the B.C. school system for many years, “We’ve had leaks over time that have caused a great deal of damage.” The district’s secretary-treasurer, Natalie LoweZucchet, concludes, “Our roofs have not always been our top priority with so many competing demands for our facility dollars.”

School District No. 78 serves approximately 2,000 students and encompasses more than ten small to mid-sized facilities spread across a mountainous area that is somewhat remote. The district is dedicated to maintaining a student environment that is both safe and caring, in order to develop the social, emotional, physical, and intel-

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lectual potential of its students. The proper maintenance of school properties plays a critical role in achieving that mission.

When two Vancouver-based representatives of Garland Canada, a highperformance roofing manufacturer headquartered in Ontario, first visited the district, administrators made it clear that they were looking for thorough assessments and long-term solutions. As a first step, Garland Canada representatives Ryan Bowman and Thomas Hekl conducted thorough inspections of all the district’s roofs, developing a roof asset management database that could be used to help prioritize roofing maintenance, repairs, and replacements. The Boston Bar Elementary Secondary School was identified as a top priority.

As Bowman explains, “The old SBS torch-applied membrane was blistering badly. There was a lot of mineral loss, leaving the black asphalt of the SBS membrane exposed to the harsh sun.” To adequately address the roof ’s

serious problems, Bowman and Hekl specified a replacement, which was implemented by contractor Western Roofing Ltd. According to Bowman, a wide range of Garland products were used to complete the 16,500 square-foot project. The new roof combines a StressPly® SBS modified bitumen cap sheet with a FlexBase® 80 modified bitumen base sheet. The two-ply SBS membrane was installed in hot asphalt, and completed with a modified asphalt flood coat embedded with gravel.

Despite the remoteness of the school’s location, Bowman and Hekl were on-site daily during the installation. Says Stevens, “The manufacturer’s representatives visited many times, talked with us, and stayed on top of what was happening on the roof. The communication worked for us. They were sensitive to our requests, and followed our direction. When you have small children around, these things are important.”

Hekl concludes, “The contractor approached the job in an organized manner, and everyone worked together to complete the project as safely and quickly as possible.” ❏

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School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

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TRANSPORTATION SECTION

Debating the merits of GPS in buses Previously published in the Salmon Arm Observer January 27, 2009

BY BRENT MUTIS - SALMON ARM OBSERVER

The reduction in wasted fuel from using global positioning systems (GPS) in School District No. 83’s school buses will more than make up for the cost of paying for the service, according the man responsible for the bus fleet.

“I told the Ministry (of Education) that these systems will pay for themselves within a year,” says district 83’s manager of transportation, Frank Marasco.

Marasco was responding to accusations from SD 83’s support staff union president Gerry Beauregard that the GPS feature is an unnecessary use of the transportation budget.

The savings, says Marasco, come from the reduction in vehicle idling. The GPS feature allows him to keep records of each vehicle’s fuel consumption and since drivers now know they’re being

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Monitoring: School District 83’s transportation manager, Frank Marasco, logs into one of the new global positioning system (GPS) units in a district school bus.

monitored, there is less wasted fuel.

“A lot of the fleet is parked off-lot, and that leads to too much idling,” says Marasco. “With the idling tool in place, we can bring it to drivers’ attention. They know it’s being watched.”

Marasco figures there will be a $49,000 saving in fuel costs per year, and further savings from the streamlining of bus routes that will cut down on bus

driver hours, for a total cost reduction of $103,000.

An anti-idling campaign, introduced just over two years ago, was supposed to reduce unnecessary fuel use, and Beauregard thinks that makes GPS unnecessary.

“The anti-idling campaign, yes, it’s in place and our bus drivers are doing it and they’re well aware of why they’re doing it. In my opinion, to spend that kind of money (on GPS)... doesn’t make any sense.”

Beauregard says GPS would take $12,000 per year out of the budget.

He based his findings on a fleet of 50 buses costing $20 per month, which is what the district is paying for the service.

This is separate from the capital cost of installing GPS, which is $850 per bus.

The transportation budget for fuel has not increased since 2002 and the rise in gas prices since then has made it hard for Marasco to stay under budget.

Beauregard thinks that’s all the more reason not to spend money on GPS. “If the (provincial) government comes in one day and changes that (the budget), then we can revisit it. But at this point, its foolish money spent.”

At the moment, 44 of SD 83’s 54 buses have GPS. Marasco would also like to see maintenance vehicles equipped but Beauregard says this would cost a further $6,000 per year based on a fleet of 25 vehicles.

Marasco said the Ministry of Education would like GPS on all buses in B.C., and points out that GPS comes with the added benefits of monitoring vehicle speed and stops so any conflicts about safety and pickups being made can be settled without question. He also notes there is less paper wasted because drivers no longer have to log their hours.

The GPS keeps track of that information in a database.

District 83 is one of seven districts in B.C. with GPS on its buses. ❏

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TRANSPORTATION SECTION

A North American Consensus on new energy

BY GORDON QUAIATTINI

When President Obama arrived in Ottawa in February, he brought with him an unmistakable message of change.

Nowhere was that message of change more emphatic than in the fields of energy and the environment – the two defining issues of our day. It is here the President will make his most dramatic impact on the U.S. economy. His “New Energy" policy is a comprehensive and ambitious plan to invest in alternative and renewable energy which will diversify the North American fuel supply, address climate change, and create a new green economy.

The good news is Canada is ready and prepared to partner with the President on both energy and the environment. In fact, Obama’s arrival heralds a new North American Consensus – a consensus in favour of new energy, in support of renewable fuels, and a shift toward a more sustainable future.

In Canada, Parliament last year passed a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that requires gasoline fuel sold in Canada contain an average of five per cent renewable content, including ethanol, and the distillate pool contain two per cent renewable content, including biodiesel. Similar standards have been passed by a number of provinces, including British Columbia and Alberta in just the past few months alone.

These policies are complemented by Obama’s own energy plans. He plans to invest $150 billion over the next decade in clean energy development, including in renewable fuels. And we’re likely entering a new era of green choice for drivers with a requirement that, by 2013, all new vehicles sold in the U.S. will be Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs). FFVs offer owners the option of filling up with petroleum or higher blends of biofuels.

And all of this stands on the shoulders of an existing U.S. policy that calls for 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022 – over half of which must come from advanced renewable fuels, such as cellulosic ethanol. Obama has called for accelerating that target date, and doubling the production (that’s nearly four times all the transportation fuel sold annually in Canada).

In the shadow of President Obama’s visit, we should be under no illusion: his new energy policy relies heavily on renewable fuels and advanced next-generation biofuels. This

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energy policy will create exciting growth within the renewable fuels sector in the years ahead. His administration will catalyze investment, expansion, and utilization of biofuels.

Canada’s opportunity is to ensure we are well prepared to take our full part in that energy transformation; to ensure we build on what we’ve achieved and remain positioned as a leader in renewable fuels.

The payoff will be substantial – both environmentally and economically. Compared to fossil fuels, renewable fuels are biodegradable, reduce air pollution, and lower harmful GHGs – facts validated by the latest peer-reviewed scholarly studies at the University of Nebraska.

However, to take full advantage of this opportunity and stay in lockstep with the new U.S. President, we’ll have to focus on a couple of critical principles.

First, evaluate biofuels against fossil fuels. Are biofuels better than traditional gasoline? That is the fundamental measure, and the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. We should not impose requirements or stipulations on biofuels that exceed that basic standard or that apply to no other source of transportation fuels.

Second, focus our policymaking on rigorous science – for more than a year, the biofuels sector has been bombarded with arguments based more in spin than on sound science.

Whether it’s ludicrous assertions about energy balance, false claims related to water consumption, or phantom causeeffect relationships between ethanol and world hunger, renewable fuels have been forced to fight through misleading facts. Reliable, peer-reviewed science should form the foundation of our future approach.

In conclusion, the days ahead will provide a rare moment of hope in what has been a season of pessimistic economic news. Working with the new U.S. administration, we Canadians can set forward on a new course – a cleaner, greener course. A course that will be powered with sustainable new energy sources, including renewable fuels.

About the Author: Gordon Quaiattini is the President of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. Please visit www.greenfuels.org for more information. ❏

TRANSPORTATION SECTION

Fleet management for the 21st century

Imagine reducing your vehicle fleet’s fuel costs, and managing it more efficiently – all at no real cost to your organization. Add to that the ability to get more up time from your team, and also to improve your maintenance scheduling. It sounds like a tall order, but it’s not just wishful thinking. All these things can happen if your dispatchers switch to a GPS Fleet Management System.

Most of us are familiar with GPS navigation systems in new vehicles.

They’re powerful tools that use satellites to tell drivers where they are, and how to get where they are going.

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However, imagine if this technology was adapted and combined with an advanced software application. The result could allow fleet managers to track their vehicles on-line and see where they are and what they are doing at any given moment.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. AND SAVINGS. Using a GPS fleet management system, you can track up to 100 vehicles in your fleet simultaneously from your computer screen. The software can let you see where your vehicles are, on a map, or even on a hybrid map with a

photo overlay on it if you wish. The system will tell you how long vehicles have been active, where they are, and where they are headed. It will even tell you how fast they are traveling. A GPS fleet management system gives your fleet managers the knowledge and power to get more work done in a day: dispatchers can plan routes more efficiently, they can see how long each driver is spending at a job, and, because the GPS system automatically tracks mileage, they’ll even be told when a vehicle is due up for maintenance so they can take better care of company assets.

As a number of companies will attest, all of this all translates into real savings. Joel Carter, the operations manager at Roto Router in Vancouver says, “We cut our gas bills on trucks with the support of a GPS tracking system by 30 per cent. Our fuel savings are pretty much paying for the cost of installing the system.” When you add in the value of a more efficient workforce and reduced wear-and-tear on vehicles, it becomes a highly profitable decision.

That’s probably why Carter says his superiors at Roto Router are pushing him to install GPS fleet management on every vehicle in their fleet.

WORRIED ABOUT VEHICLE SECURITY? There’s yet another strong benefit that comes with installing a GPS fleet management system: it gives you better security for your vehicles. Having GPS tracking is both a theft deterrent and a way to put an instant end to unauthorized use of vehicles. Staff simply will no longer take vehicles when they are not supposed to, or take them where they are not supposed to, since they know that every vehicle’s movement will be tracked and recorded. If a vehicle is stolen, features similar to the “bait cars” in British Columbia can be used to catch car thieves. The vehicle’s owner can be notified by text message if a vehicle is moving when it shouldn’t be. They can then contact police and tell them exactly where their vehicle is.

In fact, the security and tracking

MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY MEANS FUEL EFFICIENCY Houle Electric has over 100 vehicles working in four different locations across the Province of British Columbia. VP Denis Carlow has noticed a huge drop in fuel consumption in the company’s fleets since they began using a GPS fleet management system. As he says, “that’s a benefit of better tracking and organization on our part.� But it’s also a product of drivers slowing down. The fact is, every one kilometer per hour over the speed limit translates into a one per cent increase in fuel consumption. Drivers stop speeding when they know their dispatchers will know if they do.

All of these things add up to fuel savings, which is becoming a more and more important part of any budget as fuel costs rise. In fact, since Houle Electric installed the GPS fleet management system, the company has increased its fleet size by 20 per cent – yet fuel costs have remained the same.

MORE WORK GETS DONE TOO By managing your fleet better, you ensure that more work gets done too.

David Katz, the president of Nero Global Tracking, explains how this works: “If better vehicle management provides additional productivity of just

30 minutes a day when your people are working instead of driving, that adds up. With 30 trucks, that’s 75 hours more work done a week. That’s like having two extra employees on the job for free. And this doesn’t even include the fuel savings.�

IS FREE AFFORDABLE? There is a very strong argument that GPS vehicle management pays for itself and will actually save most users more money than it costs. Current users

don’t disagree with this. The bottom line is that, by using GPS vehicle management, it takes fleet management to an entirely new level. By constantly knowing exactly where your trucks are and what they are doing, you can manage them far more efficiently than it was ever possible to before.

If the definition of a good application is that it empowers the user, makes their job easier and virtually pays for itself, a GPS fleet management system seems to fit the bill. â??

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TRANSPORTATION SECTION

aspects GPS systems offer are so advanced, it has been adapted by the University of Toronto Police for a bicycle crime prevention program. Faced with a large number of bike thefts, they installed GPS beacons on “bait� bicycles and tracked them with tracking software.

Peter Franchi, the corporal in charge of the program says, “It was a hit. We had our first arrest in four hours and have had up to four in one day. And we’ve had nothing but positive feedback from the program.�

Franchi also adds that, “The system was incredibly easy to use. Training was provided online and we installed everything ourselves. It is very user-friendly.

When a bike was stolen, we’d track it and have print-offs of exact times and routes taken. That’s great third party evidence to present to a judge.�

TRANSPORTATION SECTION

Natural Gas: An affordable and environmentally-friendly alternative fuel Natural gas is an odourless, colourless gas that is made of 90 per cent methane. It is also non-toxic, lighter than air and disperses quickly which minimizes the ignition risk compared to gasoline. For transportation use, natural gas is compressed and stored in cylinders at between 3,000 and 3,600 pounds per square inch (psi). It is referred to as compressed natural gas or CNG. Currently, natural gas at the CNG retail network in B.C. is 30 to 40 per cent cheaper than gasoline.

ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) create 20 per cent to 25 per cent fewer GHGs on a life cycle basis, and smog related emissions are substantially lower, especially compared with diesel engine vehicles.

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

NATURAL GAS IN FLEET OPERATIONS The major difference between a gasoline vehicle and an NGV is the fuel system. Light- to medium-duty NGVs can be 'dedicated fuel', meaning they operate only on natural gas, or 'bifuel', which can operate on either natural gas or gasoline. Medium- to heavy-duty diesel equivalent NGVs are all dedicated fuel. Some medium- to heavy-duty vehicles use LNG (the liquefied form of CNG) with technology supplied by Westport, a B.C. company.

Fleets switching to natural gas would need to install a new fuelling infrastructure in order to fuel their vehicles on site. This infrastructure would include pressurized tanks and pumps.

A prime market for natural gas has been high fuel usage fleets such as TransLink, which operates a fleet of 75

dedicated natural gas buses in Metro Vancouver. A demonstration program with two buses is also underway that uses a blend of natural gas and 20 per cent hydrogen, resulting in even lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Few auto manufacturers are making new light duty gasoline equivalent NGVs for the North American market.

This market is currently being serviced through conversions of existing gasoline vehicles. While the initial capital cost is higher, operating cost savings may produce net savings to the vehicle owner over the life of the NGV, depending on the cost of natural gas compared to other fuels. Lordco, the largest aftermarket auto parts supply firm in B.C., uses a fleet of 51 aftermarket-converted, dedicated NGV vehicles to deliver parts across Vancouver.

CANADA AS A TECHNOLOGY LEADER Many B.C. companies are leaders in every segment of the NGV industry including manufacturers of components, fuelling systems, engines, and vehicles, manufacturers of refuelling equipment (compressors, high pressure storage cylinders, dispensers and associated equipment) and builders and operators of refueling stations.

Such companies are actively exporting their products and technology.

About Green Fleets B.C.: Green Fleets B.C. is a partnership-based program led by the Fraser Basin Council and funded by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment as part of its Air Protection program.

Green Fleets B.C. was officially launched (pdf) by the B.C. Minister of Environment, Hon. Barry Penner, on the steps of the B.C. Legislature on Nov. 27, 2007. The Minister was joined at the event by B.C.’s Minister of Transportation, the Honourable Kevin Falcon, Mr. Paul Landry, President of the B.C. Trucking Association, and representatives of the bus, trucking and taxi fleets.

For more information, please contact Green Fleets B.C.: Fraser Basin Council 1st Floor 470 Granville St. Vancouver, BC V6C 1V5 Tel: (604) 488-5367 Fax: (604) 488-5351 info@greenfleets.ca ❏

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TRANSPORTATION SECTION

A network of 21 CNG stations is operated by Clean Energy, fueling hundreds of vehicles daily. Aftermarket conversions are a typical way for fleets to introduce natural gas. As an added incentive to switch to natural gas vehicles, Terasen Gas offers grants worth up to $10,000.

The Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance lists companies that provide aftermarket conversions; for the B.C. listing, please visit http://www.cngva.org/documents/BC_ANGVM_Dealers.pdf

Working together for a greener tomorrow

BY ERIN BASWICK

Collaboration between public and private organizations has gained momentum in recent years as individuals see value in combining efforts to reach common goals. The well-known expression, “together we stand, divided we fall,” rings true for British Columbia’s ambitious quest to have its public sector become carbon neutral by the year 2020. It will take an all-inclusive commitment to achieve a GHG reduction of one third by the deadline. David Suzuki’s "Small Steps” program highlights the fact that the seemingly small actions of many can have a significant impact on environmental health. All of this is in line with SPOA B.C.’s mission to provide support for members who work in partnership with education leaders in the province.

Through all levels of school communities, from students and staff to plant officials and administrators, there is a movement towards going green. This is evidenced by the many studentfocused programs available in B.C., such as the Campus Climate Network’s Go Beyond program, which is focused on supporting and educating students on conservation and the mitigation of climate change. Programs like this highlight the importance of conservation and recycling; in addition to these student-focused programs, there are many types of energy retrofit programs being

offered via the private sector. These energy conservation and facility renewal programs offer guaranteed annual utility and operational savings based on the installation of energy and water conservation technologies, including renewable energy sources.

Getting the broader community involved can bring even greater benefits. Communication and awareness programs, which are sometimes offered in parallel with energy retrofit projects, are an example of this type of teamwork. By encouraging faculty, students, parents, etc. to support common goals, such as reduced energy consumption and increased energy awareness, both the bottom line and the environment are better off.

Achieving certification from the variety of existing greenfocused organizations is also receiving much attention as these programs are often entwined with government-based incentives.

The Canada Green Building Council is one organization that offers green-prestige. In achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification, new developments not only gain the benefits of a reduced carbon footprint and lower operational costs, but also gain the positive, environmentally-friendly community image. There are several other government programs that offer financial incentives and community

doors to the future

Windows to tomorrow’s world.

Every year Honeywell is helping schools save millions in energy and operational costs – money that can be redirected to finance improvements and support vital educational programs, creating better places to teach and learn.

For more information visit our Web site www.honeywell.com/buildingsolutions or call 604-654-5647. © 2009 Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.

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Ops Talk Spring 2009

awards in B.C., such as ecoEnergy-Retrofit Buildings and Power Smart Partners. The goal of most of these incentive programs is to demonstrate that going green can be both fiscally and environmentally rewarding.

As the use of renewable energy sources continues to expand in B.C., so too does the number of individuals who benefit from clean energy derived from regenerative sources like the sun and wind. Within B.C., biomass is also gaining momentum as a viable renewable energy source due to the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation and the resulting availability of wood waste that doubles as biomass feedstock. Community support for these projects, combined with the go-ahead from building administrators and supportive plant operators, results in long-term energy solutions for communities as a whole. Plus, renewable technologies can provide a valuable teaching tool in a school setting. Having an on-site

solar installation or biomass plant, for example, creates a living laboratory for students eager to open doors to sustainablefocused careers and for educators dedicated to fostering environmental awareness.

When communities work together to support green initiatives, not only do we see evidence of smaller carbon footprints, we also achieve sustained results over the long term, thereby opening windows to tomorrow’s world.

Honeywell is a global leader in energy management technology, solutions and services. Today, nearly 50 per cent of the company’s product and service portfolio is linked to energy efficiency and conservation. To receive additional information about customized retrofit and renewable solutions, visit Honeywell during SPOA B.C.’s Annual Conference and Tradeshow 2009, or call Peter Easton at: 604-654-5647. ❏

School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

61

THOUGHTS ON: Ambiguity

BY CHUCK MORRIS

We deal with ambiguity everyday of our lives. A word, phrase or sentence1 is ambiguous if it has more than one meaning. An example from a newspaper: “Care must be exercised in tying horses to trees as they are apt to bark”.

Philosophers spend a lot of time and effort searching2 for, and removing or intentionally adding ambiguity in arguments, because it can lead to incorrect conclusions and can therefore be used to deliberately conceal bad arguments.

Without getting into linguistic rules here, it is important to note that linguistic3 ambiguity can be a problem in law, because the interpretation of written documents and oral agreements is often of paramount importance. How many interpretations of a collective agreement within your organization have caused problems for either side? Some agreements are worded in such a fashion that if you were to ask seven people what a specific clause meant, you would get seven different responses! Does this help you in your job? I doubt it. It certainly doesn’t help the employee affected either, because the response that is eventually decided upon may just not be the one that works for that staff member, or even for the organization.

Some ambiguity is fun to read and fun to invent – but when it comes to language in collective agreements and other documents, legal or otherwise, be aware of multiple meanings. “It is significant, therefore4 that the bulk of labour arbitration awards

FOOTNOTES:

Gerald Fudge AMP NETCONNECT Sales Engineer gfudge@tycoelectronics.com Tyco Electronics Canada Ltd. 1485 Lindsey Place Annacis Island Delta, BC CAN V3M 6V1

concerned with ambiguous contract language in effect apply a general rule that ambiguity implies moderation.” So, while that statement shows us that an outcome may be moderate, do we need to go there in the first place? Is it not in everyone’s best interest to understand what is being said, and to ensure that the final wording is clear and works for all concerned?

Do we want to see language that is clear, with meanings that direct thought toward solutions? Do we need to add more angst to our lives? Managers and supervisors struggle to interpret clauses in collective agreements in an attempt to understand how they need to proceed. I daresay, the type of agreements we deal with on an everyday basis is nothing like the NAFTA agreement. Do the agreements we have to deal with need to be filled with clauses that confuse and misrepresent? We have what we have, and until the next round of collective bargaining we need to make it work for all involved. It does none of us any good to be regularly in conflict with employee groups.

Have fun with ambiguity! But not in documents that need interpretation for normal, everyday work life. Smile at sentences5 such as these: • Outside a secondhand shop: We exchange anything-bicycles, washing machines, etc. Why not bring your wife along and get a wonderful bargain?

• Automatic washing machines: Please remove all your clothes when the lights go out.

• In a Florida maternity ward: No children allowed • March planned for next August • Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers • Stolen painting found by tree

604-515-8949 tel 604-519-1477 fax 604-340-2605 cell www.ampnetconnect.com www.tycoelectronics.com

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Wikipedia.com Wikipedia.com The Negotiators Fieldbook by Andrea Kupfer Schneider and Christopher Honeyman; American Bar Association 5 Collection of Ambiguous or Inconsistent/ Incomplete Statements compiled by Jeff Gray ❏ 1 2 3 4

Scott Cluthé Cell: 778-238-2380

1385 Odium Drive Vancouver, BC V5L 3M1 Tel: 604-251-3151 Fax: 604-251-6233 Toll Free: 1-800-689-1441 Email: scott@castertown.com www.castertown.com www.castertown.com

&ENPOUPO t $BMHBSZ t 7BODPVWFS

62

Ops Talk Spring 2009

Help ensure that your next roof system will be functional and watertight, and will fulfill its projected lifespan

BY BRIAN GOSICK, TQ RRO, PREFERRED CONSULTING AND ROOF MANAGEMENT LTD.

TEN STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL ROOF PROJECT: 1) Evaluation of roof system requirements - Building use.

- Interior building environment.

- Exterior building environment.

- Roof mounted equipment.

- Customer preference.

2) Detailed specifications - Concise material list.

- Complete instructions for application.

- Outline of responsibilities of all parties.

3) Pre-qualified contractors - Contractors with good track records.

- Have all insurances and qualifications.

4) Controlled mandatory site tender meeting - Actual inspection by contractors.

- Question and answer time.

- Promote full understanding of specifications.

5) Evaluation of presented tender forms and reward of contract - Thorough evaluation.

- Not necessarily lowest bidder.

- Opportunity for questions.

- Prompt response.

6) Job prestart site meeting - Time to confirm all details.

- Coordination of work and other functions.

7) Progress inspections (daily or fulltime) - Quality assurance inspections.

8) Prompt evaluation of change orders and contractorclient requests - Deal promptly with unforeseen circumstances.

9) Final inspection and documentation - Project binder and completion letter.

10) Prompt payment of contracts - This is what the contractor works for, so be prompt.

By implementing these steps I can assure that you, the client, will get the roof that you are paying for â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and that your money is well-spent.

TO HELP YOUR ROOF SYSTEM FULFILL IT PROJECTED LIFESPAN: * Use annual or semi-annual inspections to find roof problems before they become major leaks. * Spring inspections to check on drains, HVACs, flashing and membrane. Itemize repairs and maintance that is required. * Fall inspections to ensure that the roof is ready for the winter. Clear drains of debris. Confirm the life span of the roof system.

With these programs in place, your roof should fulfill its

Bright ideas!

Get the most out of your energy dollar. www.fortisbc.com

Your complete ergonomic seating and accessories store.

In business for over 20 years.

www.chairlines.com

New Location: #4 20043 92nd Ave. Langley, BC V3A 4P8 Open by appointment

2031 West 4th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6J 1N3 PHONE: (604) 736-7623 FAX: (604) 736-7620 Open Monday - Saturday

Manufacturers of Fire Alarms, GPS Clocks, Security, Card Access & CCTV Systems

John Smith Account Executive Fire Alarm Division Direct: 604.515.8284 Ext. 128 josmith@tycoint.com www.simplexgrinnel.com SimplexGrinnell A Division of Tyco International of Canada Ltd. 1485 Lindsey Place Delta, B.C. V3M 6V1

SimplexGrinnell

Phone: 604.515.8872 Fax: 604.519.1477 1.800.492.4093

School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

63

Dust Collection 101 All airborne dust endangers our health

Proper dust collection and air filtration is an important element in any work space. Repeated exposure to wood dust can cause many health problems and have more unsafe results decades after exposure. Wood dust also frequently contains chemicals and fungi which can become airborne and lodge deeply in the lungs, causing illness and damage.

Dust collection systems can solve clean air problems in the work place. A dust collection system consists of pick-up hoods, air-tight air-efficient ducting, a material handling or clean air fan, filters, and a container (bag, barrel, canister, etc.). A dust collector accumulates the material delivered to it by the fan, and separates heavy particles from fine dust. The heavy particles are collected in the chute and dispensed into a waste bin (i.e. air tight barrels, air tight bags or bins). The dust that is left in the air is then filtered through the filter bags or cartridges.

These bags or cartridges are then agitated by shaking, air pulse or reverse air.

Nu-Tech Systems Ltd. manufactures all types of dust collectors to suit the specific needs of the application with the costefficiency of each system. Sometimes, the air from the collector can be returned to the facility depending on the carcinogenic properties of the wood dust or the material being machined.

64

Ops Talk Spring 2009

One example of dust collector design is the one we supplied and installed at the Richmond School District recently.

SERVICES When it comes to our service work, we are well-known throughout the industry for our filter cleaning and filter replacement service, as well as our complete maintenance program. Our service crews are made up of experienced professionals, dedicated to providing each client with safe and efficient results on every project.

Often, we identify problems at their earliest signs and offer solutions to plant employees before they develop into expensive repairs. Together with maintaining our impeccable safety record, we focus on providing our customers with real solutions that are practical and cost-effective.

Nu-Tech Systems Ltd. offers a complete solution to dust collection services including analytic reporting and trouble shooting, assisting with system engineering, operations, turnkey installations and comprehensive maintenance programs. Whatever the air control problem is, we would like to help resolve it. â??

let us solve your ventilation problems!

DOWN DRAFT TABLES

CLEAN AIR FOR A HEALTHY SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

Plymovent Welding Exhaust Systems

DUST COLLECTOR MAINTENANCE FILTER BAGS AND ALL YOUR NEEDS! We provide a full line of maintenance services for your dust collector, baghouse or cartridge collectors. We not only supply the replacement ďŹ lter bags, we can remove, clean and replace the existing elements under a scheduled or emergency shutdown.

NTS Dust Collectors Design built for all school applications

NU-TECH SYSTEMS LTD. 12200 - 1st Avenue | Richmond, British Columbia | V7E 3M2 | Phone: 604.271.9222 | Fax: 604.271.2156

WWW.NU-TECHSYSTEMS.COM

Time Lock Security Inc.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two systems, InstaKeyÂŽ and Eternity, save school facilities time and money Key control management does not need to be an ongoing challenge or an expensive overhead cost for your school facility.

Time Lockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s InstaKeyÂŽ Security System provides a powerful program to reduce costs, increase security, and save your organization time.

InstaKeyÂŽ is a specialized key management system that helps organizations keep track of keys, who has them, what doors they open as well as physically where the locks are located within your organization â&#x20AC;&#x201C;all managed within one software package.

The InstaKeyÂŽ Security System is a unique system that lets you re-key your own locks by simply inserting and turning a key.

There's nothing to disassemble, no one to call, and no tools required. If a key is lost or there is a location with a security issue, instead of calling in the locksmith to re-pin the lock, or do a core swap (or whatever the proper procedure is for your location), we take what we term as a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;step change keyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, put it in the lock and turn it 180°. All the old keys will no longer work; all your staff need to do is just re-issue some keys.

THIS TECHNOLOGY IS ECONOMICAL AL AND AND AACCESSIBLE CCESSIBLE TTOO EVERYBODY E VERYBODY

'30. 13*7"5& )0.&08/&34 "/% 4$)00- "%.*/*453"5034

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TO HOTEL AND OTHER COMMERCIAL R RCIAL ENTERPRISE M MANAGERS. ANAGERS. Our locks use the latest in technology that BMMPX ZPV UP SFQSPHSBN PS SFLFZ ZPVS MPDLT JO TFDPOET 8JUI PVS ,FZ .BOBHFNFOU solutions you are able to track who has access to what door and even when the EPPS XBT BDDFTTFE %FQFOEJOH PO XIFUIFS ZPV OFFE FMFDUSPOJD MPDLT XJUI DPNQMFUF BDDFTT DPOUSPM PS B SFLFZBCMF MPDL TZTUFN UIBU QSPWJEFT UIF IJHIFTU MFWFM PG TFDVSJUZ 5JNF -PDL IBT B TPMVUJPO GPS ZPV

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE 2009 SPOA SHOW Time Lock Inc. 1FBSTPO 1MBDF t ,BNMPPQT #$ t 7 4 + Local: 250.828.0767

Toll Free: 888.828.0767 www.timelocksecurity.com

66

Ops Talk Spring 2009

The InstaKeyÂŽ Security System incorporates an easy-to-use software program that tracks your users, locations, and keys.

By linking non-duplicable keyways and individually serialized keys in the SecurityRecords.comÂŽ on-line software, management can account for each key cut for each of its locations. This on-line key management capability can also be decentralized between departments or regional staff as management specifies, providing powerful, controlled access as needed. This decentralization permits improved time efficiency and overall program costs as locksmiths and facilities, operations and security personnel can all use the same system with approved access to necessary information.

Whether tracking a specific key, conducting a security audit or investigating an event at a particular location, the SecurityRecords.comÂŽ software can provide the necessary information to know what keys any individual should have, what locations they should be able to access and who should be able to access each of your unique locations.

With Time Lockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eternity Keyless Solutions, locks that use the iButton, you can program your employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; individual access

to secured areas by the hour, day, week or month, track the lock's users and even re-key the door in seconds! No more re-keying locks and no more trips to get keys duplicated. It's all at your fingertips!

This technology is economical and accessible to everybody, from private homeowners and school administrators, to hotel and other commercial enterprise managers.

An Eternity Lock is an affordable electronic replacement for mechanical locks. Self-service locksmithing for Eternity Lock is available through programming.

What else is so great about this lock? The Eternity Lock is a breeze to use. To unlock a door, you just press an iButton® key to the glowing iButton Reader and enter in. Even in the dark, you know where the key goes. You don't need two hands and you don't have to turn the key right side up or even aim straight. Further, Eternity Lock technology makes it easy to be your own locksmith.

To rekey the lock, simply press it with a special Sync iButton® key.

With the Sync iButton®, the Eternity Lock can join a network – even if the lock itself is off-line. A Sync iButton® can transfer information between the lock and PC, effectively connecting your lock with the Internet. The lock records and time-stamps each iButton® key access; you can then download this log and transfer it to a database. A maximum of 4,000 of the most recent entries can be recorded.

24-7 PC Locksmith for Eternity Locks is always available through your own PC programming. You never need to call a locksmith to change the lock.

Through the software, you key the lock and maintain an audit trail of keys and entrances yourself. The lock automatically relocks itself (at storehouse mode) in about six seconds after unlocking to let you in. You do not have to wonder if you remembered to lock the door.

Committed to sustainable design for over 100 years.

As the premiere flooring contractor of sustainable wood products, BC Hardwood continues to work with FSC products that meet CaGBC standards for LEED certification

www.bchardwood.com

604 255 7375

BC Hardwood Showroom 3594 Main Street, Vancouver, BC

For further information, please contact Chris Martin: Bus.: 250.828.0767, Cell: 250.318.8554, TF: 888.828.0767, www.timelocksecurity.com ❏ School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

67

noraplan environcareTM blends past and future in historic renovation project As facilities managers and building owners increasingly explore opportunities to incorporate environmentally-friendly products into their buildings, and architects and designers respond to new colors and patterns that are compatible with architectural trends, more of these decision makers are turning to rubber

flooring. An educated public is paying more attention to raw materials, manufacturing processes, life cycle costs and a variety of issues associated with sustainability as they carefully consider the built environment and its occupants. nora is a leading designer, manufacturer and worldwide supplier of resilient floor

Stratos - The world’s first High Efficiency Pump This photo is from a retrofit job in Central B.C. 19 WILO Stratos circulators were installed in the heating system.

The anticipated electrical savings will be in excess of $7,000.00 per year!

-

Up to 80% energy savings Self Regulating Self Diagnostic Field Adjustable Infrared device capable ECM Technology based smart pump

For more information please contact: WILO Canada INC. Bay 7 - 2915 10th Ave. NE Calgary, Alberta T2A 5L4 Toll Free 1-866-WILO-CDN www.WILO-CANADA.com

68

Ops Talk Spring 2009

covering products. nora products are made from natural rubber, a renewable resource. In addition, the products offer easy, cost-efficient maintenance since they do not require the use of any toxic chemicals like waxes, strippers or finishes. This also contributes to good indoor air quality. Whether in Canada, the United States or around the world, architects and designers regularly turn to nora for custom design solutions for all market segments, including education. Just one example is P.S. dupont Elementary School in the State of Delaware.

Brandywine School District in Wilmington, DE recently completed a twoyear, $44 million renovation of P.S. duPont Elementary School, designed by ABHA Architects Inc. Built in 1934 and 1935 to accommodate 2,000 high school students, P.S. duPont Elementary School is now home to approximately 750 students enrolled in early childhood/kindergarten programs and grades four, five and six. The state-of-the-art facility subtly incorporates improved lighting and acoustics, integrated educational technology, energy-saving features and sustainable floor coverings from nora systems, Inc. Most classrooms feature the original hardwood floors, carefully refinished during the renovation process. In hallways, however, 3 mm noraplan environcare™ runs where linoleum and carpet once did.

According to John Read, Brandywine’s construction manager, the district had test-installed six different floor coverings, including noraplan environcare, in the high school’s busiest hallway.

“For two years, all six floor samples took a beating, and at the end of the test, the nora floor covering was the obvious winner,” says Read.

The results were pleasing to everyone.

“The floor covering’s low maintenance benefits, its great sound absorption and impact resistance qualities, as well as the wide range of colors it offered, made it the perfect choice for visually scaling down large high-school style spaces for

younger children,” says Chandra Nilekani, ABHA principal.

“It contributes to a quieter, more comfortable environment, and it’s certainly easier to clean, saving us time and money,” adds Read. “In fact, we recently awarded $90,000 for the purchase of floor care products for the 18 buildings in our school district. Because of the nora floor covering, none of these products are necessary for P.S. duPont. All we use to maintain the floors is mild soap and water.”

“The less we spend on floor care products, the more we’re able to spend on education. I have to believe we’ve created a much healthier environment for our students because we’re not using strippers, waxes and harsh cleaners, and our custodians are able to turn their attention to other projects.”

Please direct reader enquiries to: Carol Fudge nora systems, Inc. 94 Glenn Street Lawrence, MA 01843 Toll-free: 1-800-332-NORA Phone: (978) 689-0530 Fax: (978) 975-0110 http://www.norarubber.com ❏

ABBOTSFORD

CALGARY

COURTENAY

KELOWNA

NANAIMO

RICHMOND

SURREY

VICTORIA

Now you know!

YENNEDON ELEMENTARY

building envelope remediation

BEFORE

AFTER

www.levelton.com School Plant Officials Association of B.C. www.spoabc.org

69

Index to Advertisers Allmar International

28

National Air Technologies

19

Ameresco

25

Nero Global Tracking

56

Armstrong Commercial Floors

47

Nexus RF / Thomas & Betts Limited

45

Associated Lock & Supply Ltd.

66

B.C. Hardwood Floor Co. Ltd.

67

Barclay Restorations

52

Belimo Canada

62

Bevanda Architecture

12

B.G.E. Service & Supply Ltd.

22

Blue Imp Recreational Products

10

Busy Bee Sanitary Supplies Inc.

46

Canstar Restorations

3

nora systems, Inc.

9

Norspec Filtration

21

Nu-Tech Systems Ltd.

65

Pacific Blue Cross

39

Philips Lighting

58

Pomeroy Consulting Engineers Ltd.

30

Preferred Consulting & Roof Management

59

Progressive Services Ltd.

31 19

Caster Town Ltd.

62

Refrigerative Supply

Centaur Products Inc.

26

Reliable Controls Corporation

IBC

Chairlines

63

Richelieu Building Specialties

61

D.G. MacLachlan Limited

15

Roofing Contractors Association of British Columbia

11

Enpointe Enterprises Ltd.

7

Erv Parents Group

Rubbermaid Canada

8

19 Schoolhouse Products Inc.

61

Shanahanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Building Products

60

Shutters & Shade

51

63

Simplex Grinnell

63

Fraser Valley Equipment Ltd.

57

S.K. Sanitary Specialties Mfg. Ltd.

27

Garaventa (Canada) Ltd.

20

Soapopular Inc.

50

Garland Canada Inc.

50

Spears Sales & Service Ltd.

31

General Paint

18

Stutters Disaster Kleenup

41

Honeywell

60

Talius

IFC

IBC Energy Saving Technologies

51

InterfaceFLOR

59

International Play Company Inc.

13

JM Bean & Co. Ltd.

61

Johnsonite

29

KMBR Architects Planners Inc.

18

Levelton Consultants Ltd.

ESC Automation / Delta Controls

OBC

Fame Facility Software Solutions

48

Flax Council of Canada / Forbo Flooring Systems

37

Fortis B.C.

Tero Consulting Ltd.

5

Time Lock Inc.

66

Tyco Electronics

62

Uretek Canada Inc.

18

WESCO Distribution

23

69

Western Bus Parts & Services Ltd.

53

MAPEI Inc.

17

Western Canada IC Bus Inc.

55

Munters Inc.

44

WILO Canada Inc.

68

70

Ops Talk Spring 2009