Canadian Consulting Engineer December 2012

For professional engineers in private practice

DECEMBER 2012

RYERSON IMAGE CENTRE

walls glowing with light CRASHING GLASS GUARD RAILS the Aftermath SEVEN INSPIRING ENGINEERS

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contents

December 2012 Volume 53, No. 7

Cover: © Ryerson Image Centre, Toronto.

See story p. 18.

First Canadian Place Recladding.

See story p. 24

departments Comment

4

Up Front

6

ASHRAE Preview

12

Products

34

Advertiser Index

37

Next issue: Edmonton’s North LRT transit extension; highway paving; cloud computing; risk management.

features Glass Fallout. After glass guard rails fell from several condominium towers in Toronto, the Ontario Building Code has been changed.

By Gerald R. Genge, P.Eng., GRG Building Consultants

14

Ryerson Image Centre. A centre devoted to photography has a facade that comes alive at night in downtown Toronto

By Laura Eley, Crossey Engineering

18

New Façade — New Life. Canada’s tallest building has managed to preserve its gleaming white facade after a complete recladding program.

By David De Rose, P.Eng., Halsall Associates

24

Efficient Steel Framing Systems. How two structural systems that integrate precast concrete floor slabs can be wise options for mid-rise residential buildings.

By Charles Albert, P.Eng., Canadian Institute of Steel Construction

27

Seven Inspiring Engineers. Individuals who stand out from the crowd and show engineering can be a diverse and wonderful world of opportunity.

By Bronwen Parsons

30

on topic ENGINEERS & THE LAW “The Sky Might be Falling.”

How engineers can be liable for structures designed years before.

By Dražen Bulat, Miller Thomson LLP 10

December 2012

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FINANCE

Tax Strategies for Professionals. Management Services Limited Partnerships and other ideas. By Kelly Kolke, 38 Grant Thornton LLP

Canadian Consulting Engineer

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engineer FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS IN PRIVATE PRACTICE

comment

CANADIAN

C O N S U LT I N G

Editor

Bronwen Parsons E-mail: bparsons@ccemag.com (416) 510-5119 Senior Publisher

Maureen Levy E-mail: mlevy@ccemag.com (416) 510-5111

Inspiring but not “stars”

Art Director

T

he article on page 30 featuring “Seven Inspiring Engineers,” is a new venture for Canadian Consulting Engineer.

We generally give attention to engineering projects, rather than the engineers behind the work.

We asked for nominations for the article and received many excellent suggestions. In the end we chose seven individuals who represent a variety of engineering roles. Hopefully we will be able to feature more people in future issues (keep the suggestions coming).

One quality that makes the featured engineers stand out from the crowd is their ability to set a clear, and often unorthodox, course. This was best expressed by Stephen Carpenter: “I think the important thing for any leader is that you have to inspire, you have to set the vision; you have to have clear goals.” Carpenter chose to take what was then an unbeaten track through the wilderness to pioneer the green building movement. Today, that industry is fast becoming mainstream. Peter Buckland and Peter Taylor attribute their success largely to their decision in the early days of their business to specialize only in bridge engineering. Today they have a worldwide reputation in that field.

These engineers are good communicaters and they know how to get the best from other people. They are willing to trust others. “You have to let your leaders lead,” says John Pearson, about delegating to his senior team. Multitasking Pearson lives a super-busy life as an international executive travelling the equivalent of six times round the world every year, but he still makes time for other people, not only for charitable causes, but also in his business life.

He says that “the right ability to be tolerant, and understanding and compassionate” helps him be an effective leader and creates an environment where people can “aspire to higher goals.”

The genial John Herbert has a similar approach that has helped him negotiate and build teams around the world for developing water and sanitation projects. “You have to be really patient and work hard at listening and trying to see things from someone else’s point of view” is his advice.

These engineers are inspiring, but that doesn’t make them “stars.” Star engineers don’t exist in Canada in the way that architects are celebrated figures when an important building opens. Who can name the engineer of Confederation Bridge or the CN Tower, even though these are two of Canada’s greatest iconic works of engineering of the recent past?

On October 30, CCE’s Weekly E-Newsletter reported about a panel that took place in Toronto at the Design Exchange between engineers and architects, about their relationship and interdependence. The discussion steered into the question of whether engineers are appreciated enough.

The engineers said that while they aren’t looking for glory (“we take our enjoyment from the work”), they do feel hurt when everyone is celebrating a building opening and the engineers aren’t recognized at all for their contribution. The article sparked an interesting exchange from subscribers – both architects and engineers – on this whole topic. See www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/news/engineers-not-the-underdogs-but-sometimes-feel-hurt/1001805210/ Bronwen Parsons 4

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Ellie Robinson Contributing Editor

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Vince Naccarato E-mail: vnaccarato@ccemag.com (416) 510-5118 Editorial Advisors

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President, Business Information Group (BIG)

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December 2012

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up front

ENERGY

Illustration for Muskrat Falls generating Station, Labrador.

ENERGY

6

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worked with Nalcor to build a 1-to-70 scale model that was used to conduct 200 tests.

BUSINESS

Procurement tightens up in Quebec The Quebec government introduced Bill No. 1 entitled the “Integrity Act for Public Contracts” to the National Assembly on November 1.

The Bill was tabled in the midst of a flurry of allegations emerging at the ongoing Charbonneau Commission of Inquiry into corruption in the province’s construction industry.

Bill No. 1 will make it mandatory that any company that wishes to obtain a public contract must be authorized by AMF, the province’s financial services regulator (l’Autorité des marches financiers).

AICQ supports the Johanne legislation in principle Desrochers (top); but is not satisfied that Marc Tremblay (bottom). some of the conditions deal fairly with engineering companies.

Johanne Desrochers, president and chief executive officer of AICQ, presented concerns to the Committee on Public Finance in Quebec City on November 12. She was accompanied by

TRANSPORTATION

Waterways could be the new highways A UN report known as the “Blue Book” says that European waterways could play a much more prominent role in transportation.

Currently only 7% of goods are transported on inland waterways in the European Union, but the UN Economic Commission for Europe said that 14,700 kilometres of navigable inland waterways could be used for containerized transport.

The Commission noted that inland waterways are an environmentally friendly and cost-efficient mode of transport, able to operate at very low noise levels, day and night, seven days a week.

Alberta Canal, Belgium

Muskrat Falls project moves closer Nalcor Energy, Newfoundland and Labrador’s crown-owned energy company, is moving closer to approving the construction of an 824-MW hydro-electricity generating station at Muskrat Falls on the Lower Churchill River system in central Labrador. The $7.2-billion project includes a 1,100-km HVdc transmission line and 35-km undersea link across the Strait of Belle Isle from Labrador to Newfoundland. A new undersea transmission line (the Maritime Transmission Link) will also be built by Emera from Newfoundland to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.

The Newfoundland-Labrador government hopes eventually to develop a larger — 2250-MW — generating station on the Lower Churchill at Gull Island. However, that project would only be viable if the province could export the power, ideally by gaining transmission rights across Quebec. So far that permission is tied up in the courts.

Nalcor has already begun site preparation work. As well, 50% of the engineering and detailed design work is complete. SNC-Lavalin’s St. John’s office is doing the engineering, procurement and construction management for both the generating plant and transmission line. Northwest Hydraulic Consultants of Edmonton did physical hydraulic studies for the generating facility and

BP to do deep offshore drilling in Nova Scotia The day after BP agreed to pay a record $4.5-billion settlement to the U.S. Government and pleaded guilty to 11 deaths in the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Government of Nova Scotia announced that it had granted BP exploration rights for four deep water drilling sites offshore. Shell Canada has the exploration rights for two more deep water wells off Nova Scotia’s shores.

continued on page 8

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up front

continued from page 6

Marc Tremblay, president of the AICQ board of directors and executive vice president of exp.

They argued that certain of the proposed rules can be subjectively interpreted. For example, AICQ asks how the AMF could consistently apply concepts such as “de facto control,” “misconduct,” and “reasonable person” as criteria in deciding whether to grant or refuse authorization.

the existing public assembly category in the 2013 Technology Awards from ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers).

Allard won for retrofitting the Montreal Biodome’s energy systems for Montreal Space for Life. Ecosystem were the mechanical-electrical engineers for the retrofit.

EDUCATION

SAIT Technology Complex opens in Calgary A $400-million complex of three buildings to train students in the energy, construction, manufacturing and automation sectors officially opened at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary this fall. All three buildings were designed by Gibbs Gage Architects with Dialog as structural engineering consultant, Wiebe Forest as mechanical consultant and Crossey as electrical consultant.

The SAIT Trades and Technology Complex amounts to a total 740,000

TRANSPORTATION

Ontario Ministry of Transportation

Heavy Lifting on Highway 401 Toronto’s first rapid bridge replacement took place over two days Octo-

ber 26, on an off-ramp near the Yorkdale Shopping centre on Highway 401. It took 53 hours to lift and replace a 49-year old, 900-tonne bridge — work that would traditionally take nine months to a year. URS is the design engineering consultant and AECOM is the contract administrator on the $5.9-million project. The province has used rapid bridge replacement technology on four other bridges: three on Highway 417 in Ottawa, and one on Highway 403 in Hamilton.

HVAC

Biodome wins top ASHRAE Award André-Benoit Allard, ing., of Ecosystem has been awarded first place in

SAIT

Moving new Highway 401 off-ramp into place in Toronto.

Aldred Centre, SAIT Trades and Technology Complex, Calgary.

sq.ft. and is the largest construction project in the 96-year history of SAIT, which is located northwest of downtown.The largest building of the three is the 440,000 sq.ft. Aldred Centre, which is home for students in green building and water treatment.

Wally Gobetz/Flickr

CORRECTION

Aerial view of Biôdome 8

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CRA on Absolute Towers For Mississauga’s Absolute Towers shown in the August-September issue, p. 6, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates was the mechanical-electrical engineer. Stantec provided contract administration support to them.

MAILBOX

It’s not all about civil Re. October-November issue on the 2012 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards.

Although it was interesting to read about the award-winning projects, I could not help but notice that the project descriptions are heavily weighted toward the civil/structural aspects of the projects.

When will CCE wake up to the fact that there are consulting engineers (like myself) who do not practice in the fields of civil/structural engineering, but who do lead and manage (sometimes sizeable) engineering projects which contribute greatly to the wellbeing of the public?

Now for the kudos. I very much enjoyed, and agree with, the article “Selling Ourselves Short,” p. 21. I earned my B.A.Sc. at the University of British Columbia in 1955 and I was fortunate to have a few “real engineers” among my professors.

Fortunate as I was, I learned almost nothing about “engineering” (which involves economics, ethics, social policy, and a whole bunch of nonscience topics). Much of the science I learned became quickly outdated.

The other topics about which I should have been learning would have stood the test of time much better.

Good for Professor Britton for “throwing the cat among the pigeons” by challenging our educators to “focus on engineering in its broadest sense rather than specific technologies.

Bill Tracey, P.Eng. North Vancouver Letters to the editor are welcome.

E-mail bparsons@ccemag.com

December 2012

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engineers and the law

By Dražen Bulat, Miller Thomson LLP

If a problem with a building poses danger to the occupants, an engineer could be held liable — even if the structure was designed many years before.

“The Sky Might be Falling”

T

he sky is falling! That’s what Chicken Little thought ditionally held to be not recoverable. when an acorn fell on his head. In the summer of Eventually the case ended up with the Supreme Court of 2012, pedestrians in downtown Toronto must have Canada which issued its decision in Winnipeg Condominifelt like Chicken Little as glass from balconies shattered and um Corporation No. 36 v. Bird Construction Co. in January, rained to the streets below.

1995. The court held that: What obligation does an engineer or a builder have to a “[W]here a contractor (or any other person) is negliresident of a building where a design or construction defect gent in planning or constructing a building, and where is discovered? What if the defect is discovered years after the that building is found to contain defects resulting from construction is completed? The answer will depend on that negligence which pose a real and substantial danger whether the building is found to to the occupants of the building, contain defects which pose a the reasonable cost of repairing “real and substantial danger to the defects and putting the Bird argued that it should not the occupants of the building.” building back into a non-dangerbe held responsible for the And, it does not matter whether ous state are recoverable in tort cost of replacing the cladding the person making the claim is by the occupants.” the one for whom the building The court further noted: because its contract was was constructed, or is a subse“[T]he law in Canada has now with the developer, not the quent purchaser. progressed to the point where it condominium corporation.

In 1972, a Winnipeg develcan be said that contractors (as oper hired an architect to prewell as subcontractors, architects pare plans and specifications for and engineers) who take part in the construction of a 15-storey apartment building. The the design and construction of a building will owe a duty in developer contracted with Bird Construction Co. Ltd. to tort to subsequent purchasers of the building if it can be construct the building, and Bird in turn subcontracted the shown that it was foreseeable that a failure to take reasonable work to various trades. The building was completed in care in constructing the building would create defects that 1974 and was initially used as an apartment building. In pose a substantial danger to health and safety of the occu1978 the building was converted into a condominium pants. Where negligence is established … they should, in my when Winnipeg Condominium Corporation No. 36 be- view, be liable for the reasonable cost of repairing the defects came the registered owner. and putting the building back into a non-dangerous state.”

In 1989 a storey-high section of the exterior cladding The Supreme Court of Canada held, then, that damages approximately 20 feet long, fell from the ninth level of the for negligence will be recoverable by a property owner if it building. Luckily, no one was hurt. The condominium cor- can be shown that the defect in question poses “a real and poration had the entire cladding removed and replaced at substantial danger” to the occupants of the building. Bird’s a cost of more than $1.5 million. They sued Bird, the archi- motion to dismiss the action failed and the court ruled the tect, and the subcontractor that installed the cladding. case could proceed to trial.

Bird brought a motion to dismiss the condominium What does this mean for a purchaser or an occupant corporation’s claim. Bird argued that it should not be of a condominium or other building that turns out to held responsible for the cost of replacing the cladding contain a defect? It means that the purchaser or occubecause its contract was with the developer, not the con- pant could recover the cost of repairing the defect and dominium corporation. In any event, Canadian courts putting the building “back into a non-dangerous state” if had traditionally held that claims by owners for the cost of it can be shown that the defect poses “a substantial danrepairs of defects were claims for “economic loss” (since ger to health and safety of the occupants.” That is a desuch claims did not arise from injury to persons or prop- termination of fact which the court would make based on erty other than the defect itself) and such costs were tra- the evidence at trial. continued on page 12 10

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December 2012

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engineers and the law

event

continued from page 10

What does this mean for you, the architect or engineer who designed the building? It means that even though you may have signed a contract with the developer or the contractor, and notwithstanding that the design and construction work may have been completed years ago, you may be held responsible to pay the owner of the building for the cost of “repairing the defects and putting the building back into a non-dangerous state” – subject to any absolute limitation period that may exist in provincial legislation.

But wait, you say, my contract with the owner-developer has a limit of liability, so all I have to do is make sure the limit is low or is tied to my insurance limits. That limit may be a shield if the claim is brought by the ownerdeveloper with whom you have a contract. But, there is no shield if the claim is brought by the owner of the property, or by a person who is injured as a result of the defective design — no contract: no shield.

So, make sure you speak to your insurance broker and discuss the appropriate insurance coverage and limits you should maintain to guard against the day when what falls on you CCE is not an acorn.

Dražen Bulat is a partner in the Toronto office of Miller Thomson LLP and chair of its national construction and infrastructure group. E-mail dbulat@millerthomson.com

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Sessions offer practical help at ASHRAE 2013 Dallas in the heart of Texas is the location for the 2013 Winter Conference of the American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and the accompanying AHR Expo.

Along with 200 technical sessions at the conference, the ASHRAE Learning Institute is holding a series of 20 day-long and half-day education courses. Many of these will be presented by practising engineers and are approved for continuing education credits by licensing organizations.

EDUCATION SESSIONS Saturday, January 26 Sheraton Dallas Hotel 8 a.m. – 3.00 p.m.

The Commissioning Process in New & Existing Buildings Data Centre Energy Efficiency Healthcare Facilities: Best Practice Design & Applications Sunday, January 27 Dallas Convention Centre 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Air-to-Air Energy Recovery Fundamentals Humidity Control: Applications, Control Levels and Mould Avoidance Monday, January 28 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Air-to-Air Energy Recovery Applications: Best Practices Application of Standard 62.1-2010: Multiple Spaces Equations & Spreadsheets Combined Heat & Power: Design through Operations 2:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Understanding Standard 189.1-2011 for High Performance Green Building

Introduction to Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) Systems Commissioning Process & Guideline Evaluating the Performance of LEED-certified Buildings Tuesday, January 29 Dallas Convention Center 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Complying with Standard 90.1-2010 Energy Modeling Best Practices & Applications: HVAC/Thermal 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Energy Management in New and Existing Buildings

d

Avoiding IAQ Problems 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Designing Toward Net Zero Energy Commercial Buildings Understanding & Designing Dedicated Outdoor Air System Laboratory Design: Basics and Beyond MORE INFORMATION

For a list of the 200 Technical Sessions, visit www.ashrae.org/dallas. For information about the AHR Trade Show, visit www.ahrexpo.com

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structures

GLASS FALLOUT

By Gerald R. Genge, P.Eng. GRG Building Consultants

Above: workers clean up after a glass balcony guard fell from the 30th floor of a condominium in Toronto in 2011.

O

ver the past two years there has been a lot of press about glass falling from buildings across North America. Balcony guard glass has shattered and been the topic of news, parody, and law suits. There have been allegations about “bad glass," “bad design," “bad construction," “bad standards.”

After several glass panels fell from balcony guards in Toronto, the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing assembled an expert panel, whose recommendations resulted in changes in the Ontario Building Code.

These amendments for glass guards on balconies in new buildings became effective July 1, 2012. They are the most restrictive rules in Canada, and in North America, as far as I am aware, but we could well see similar rules adopted across Canada.

Larger panels and less framing Glass is architecturally appealing and relatively inexpensive.

It provides an open feeling to the balcony area, and it does not corrode or require painting. From a marketing perspec14

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©Steve Russell/Toronto Star 2011/GetStock.com

After glass guard rails fell from several condominium towers in Toronto, the Ontario Building Code has been changed to include more rigorous rules for their design.

tive and for aesthetics it is an ideal material for the purpose.

Not surprisingly then, over the past 20 years the amount and prominence of glazing has increased to the point where the balcony is becoming a continuous perimeter element on condominium developments.

But increasing the area of glass balcony guard panels means individual panels are longer, higher and thicker. The assembly has changed from being smaller panels mounted on the top of the balcony slab, to larger panels mounted on the face of the slab. To sustain specified loads from wind and soft impact, this increase in the glass panel size requires an increase in thickness. The thicker the glass, the more likely it is to include an impurity that can cause breakage.

As well, the framing around the glass panels is being reduced or eliminated in some instances, which requires the glass to have even greater thickness. Many glass guard panels installed recently are retained only at the top and bottom, and then only within aluminum channels or by fasteners through holes in the glass, rather than being fully captured by four-sided framing.

December 2012

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structures

GRG Building Consultants

OPTIONS: OPTIONS: OPTIONS: 1. HEAT STRENGTHENED 1. HEAT 1.STRENGTHENED HEAT STRENGTHENED GLASS LAMINATED LAMINATED GLASSLAMINATED GLASS 2. HEAT SOAKED 2. HEAT2.SOAKED HEAT SOAKED GLASS TEMPERED TEMPERED GLASS TEMPERED GLASS

>50 TO150mm >50 TO150mm >50 TO150mm

SLAB "TOP-MOUNT" GUARD SLAB "TOP-MOUNT" SLAB "TOP-MOUNT" GUARD GUARD

HEAT STRENGTHENED HEAT STRENGTHENED HEAT STRENGTHENED LAMINATED GLASSLAMINATED GLASS LAMINATED GLASS

HEAT STRENGTHENED HEAT STRENGTHENED HEAT STRENGTHENED LAMINATED LAMINATED GLASSLAMINATED GLASS GLASS

UP TO 50mm UP TO 50mm UP TO 50mm

SLAB "BY-PASS" GUARD SLAB "BY-PASS" SLAB GUARD "BY-PASS" GUARD

SLAB "TOP-MOUNT" SLAB GUARD "TOP-MOUNT" GUARD SLAB "TOP-MOUNT" GUARD

Above: new requirements for glass balcony conditions in the Ontario Building Code.

Types of glass There are various types of glass used in buildings. Normally glass is annealed, which toughens it somewhat, but annealed glass still breaks into shards. Heat strengthened glass is stronger than annealed glass, but it doesn`t have the same degree of tempering as fully tempered glass and it does break into shards.

Fully-tempered glass fragments into small crystals with blunt edges should breakage occur. Heat soaking of tempered glass is recommended because it forces the majority of panels that have inclusions to break before being put into use. There are no “heat soaking” standards in any Canadian building codes, but European standards are readily applicable and designers should specify them.

Laminated glass can provide supplemental safety. It is made by laminating two or more pieces of glass together with an interlayer film, which bonds the fragments together should the glass break. Automobile windshields for example are laminated glass. Lamination can be multi-layer and essentially bullet-proof. For the most part though, one interlayer film is used between two sheets of glass.

Laminated heat-strengthened glass is preferred over laminated tempered glass because the breaking of laminated tempered glass would result in a heavy flexible blanket of shattered glass that may fall.

What causes tempered glass to spontaneously shatter Glass is a brittle material and quite different from the metal panel and picket materials that once were the norm for balcony guards. In Canada, designers have been using tempered glass for balcony guards and complying with a standard that has been around for the past 20 years — CAN/ CGSB 12.1 M90 — Tempered or Laminated Safety Glass.

That standard doesn’t say that tempered glass won’t break.

It says that if the glass breaks it will break in a safe manner into little pieces. That's fine if it is used in a glass door or a

sidelight panel because it just falls in place, but if it is a balcony guard panel it could fall from quite a distance.

The preponderance of reasoned opinion on what caused many recent guard panel failures is “spontaneous breakage” of tempered glass caused by impurities in the glass. These come from the raw materials used to manufacture glass and most are not a problem. Nickel is a problem.

When combined with sulphur from the sodium sulphate used to help eliminate bubbles it can create a nickel sulphide (NiS) inclusion. A single gram of nickel can contaminate thousands of tonnes of glass, and while it has been recognized as an issue since the 1940s and reasonably well managed, minor amounts of nickel cannot be eliminated.

If we should expect some breakage, how much is normal? Opinions vary but reasonable opinion is that if you have around 2 breaks in 1,000 panels you should not consider that to be unusual.

How do I know if my glass has impurities?

You can’t see a particle of NiS with the naked eye. There are non-destructive methods to look for NiS but they are costly, time consuming, and largely impractical.

In the end though, just because your glass panels include NiS impurities, doesn’t mean that the glass is doomed to break. The impurity size, location, and other stresses from wind load all contribute to the likelihood of the glass suddenly shattering.

Changes to the Ontario Building Code The Canadian glass standard for tempered and laminated safety glass CAN/CGSB 12.1 M90 referenced in Parts 3 and 9 of the National Building Code of Canada is the material standard. For structural design, Part 4 of the National Building Code of Canada references CAN/CGSB 12.20 M89 – “Structural Design of Glass for Buildings.”

With the amendments to the Ontario Building Code continued on page 17 December 2012

p14-17 CCE Dec12 GlassFalling.indd 15

Canadian Consulting Engineer

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structures

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(OBC) in July, the situation has changed and the choice of glass materials and procedures for structural design have become more complicated.

There are now clearer requirements in Ontario for glass guard panels — but also more restrictions.

All glass guard panels mounted over the slab edge or within 50 mm back of the slab edge must be laminated heat strengthened glass.

Glass panels between 50 and 150 mm back from the slab edge can be laminated heat strengthened glass or heatsoaked tempered glass. Glass set back more than 150 mm can be just tempered glass.

For the structural design of a glass guard, the Ontario code requires load from wind and live load from impact to be considered in combination. For some designers, this is seemingly at variance with CAN/CGSB 12.20 M89, which is referenced in the Ontario code and deals with load combinations differently. Priority rules state that any variance between codes and standards gives preference to the code. But for many people, it’s not that simple. In prior years, some designers may not have considered live loads and wind loads in combination and as a result, the overall design of a guard may have been weaker.

New standard in the works The recent breakage of glass has opened a long list of other issues on building guards. For instance; it is not clear to all if codified live load requirements in OBC 4.1.5.15 are specified loads to which load factors must be applied.

Applicable load combinations remain a disputed point; and there remains no design criterion to deal with effects of vibration of glass panels under wind loads.

Recognizing that the industry needs a more comprehensive standard on building guards, the Canadian Standards Association has initiated a technical committee. The committee is represented by specialists representing designers, manufacturers, owners, regulators, and installers from across Canada. The standard is just getting under way but promises to be a state-of-the-art design, material, installation, and overall performance document.

CCE Gerald R. Genge, P.Eng., C.Eng., BDS, BSSO, C.Arb., Q.Med. is a building science specialist and principal of GRG Building Consultants and ArbiTECH ADR, Newmarket, Ont. He was a member of the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs’ Expert Advisory Panel on Glass Panels in Balcony Guards. He is also past president of the Ontario Building Envelope Council. www.grgbuilding.com

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December 2012

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buildings

BY LAURA ELEY CROSSEY ENGINEERING

RYERSON IMAGE CENTRE With a translucent facade that glows different colours at night, Ryerson University’s new centre for photography creates an oasis of tranquillity in downtown Toronto.

R

yerson Image Centre in downtown Toronto caused a minor sensation when it opened on September 29th.

The opening was appropriately planned to coincide with Nuit Blanche, Toronto’s all-night arts celebration.

Part of Ryerson University’s School of Image and Media Arts, the Image Centre houses the prestigious Black Star photography collection. Donated anonymously to Ryerson in 2005, the collection consists of approximately 300,000 20thcentury pictures taken by prominent photographers from around the world. Obtaining ownership of such influential

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work has placed Ryerson in the international forefront of collecting, presenting, and preserving photographic history.

The Image Centre is located on Gould Street, northeast of Yonge-Dundas Square, in a building that was once a windowless brick brewery warehouse. With the recent renovations, the facility now contains a climate-controlled, museum-standard public exhibition space, as well as areas for research, study and the teaching of photography and associated disciplines.

The most striking feature of the new centre, making it a

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buildings

Diamond Schmitt/Tom Arban

Above: LED lighting casts diffused, shimmering light in numerous possible colour combinations.

central feature of the Ryerson campus, is its facade. Above a clear glazed lower level is a double-skin translucent wall.

The wall is lit by an LED system of lighting that transforms and changes colour.

Designed by Ion Luh, of Consullux Lighting Consultants in conjunction with Diamond Schmitt Architects, the lighting system and panels create the effect of a living, breathing structure that interacts with the space around it. The effect is of calm, rippling movement and interchanging colours and patterns, which are reflected in a landscaped pool

below. The lighting sequence can also be synchronized with events happening at the centre, playing an important role in drawing people into the building.

Engineering the back-lit facade To achieve a uniform projection surface for the lighting, the existing wall was levelled with stucco. It was then overlaid with an aluminum frame supporting structural glass 15 in. from the wall. Grey coloured glazing gaskets and sealants were selected along with a white dot frit gradient pattern to continued on page 21 December 2012

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

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Above: view down into light cavity between two panels of diffused glass on the new facade; the LED lights shine back onto a stuccoed wall. Electrical equipment was carefully designed to sit within the frame so that it does not cast shadows. Right: building before renovation.

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visually blur the frame and light.

Asymmetrical optics, which act as reflectors to redirect the light, and RGB-coloured LED fixtures with 1630 lumens per 3 ft. were then carefully positioned to cast a diffused beam across the stucco surface. This technique allowed for further light diffusion through the glass.

Prior to construction, various fullscale on-site mock-ups were created to refine the glazing system. The panels consist of two layers of low-iron glass, with a translucent white PVC obscuring layer sheeted in between. With the outer glass layer containing a white dot-pattern ceramic frit, a frosted effect is created and sustained as the visual field moves from one panel to the next, creating a soft, fluid ambience.

All efforts were made to keep the lighting consistent and to prevent materials and equipment from interrupting the flow of light. To prevent shadows from being cast on the wall, the electrical team at Crossey Engineering headed by Nao Nguyen and Arthur O’Connor designed special power and data cabling systems that could be carefully installed to sit within the frame and joints. Transparent gaskets

and remote LED drivers were also used to ensure the wiring and fixtures remain invisible.

To witness the full impact of the Image Centre, the building must be viewed at night. While solar shading controls are built into the glass for optimal daytime performance, as evening approaches and students begin to scatter home, the panels radiate a comforting, colourful glow across the sky, akin to the setting sun, or the Northern Lights. On occasion, passersby are even able to use their cell phones and a special application to control the 16.7 million colour permutations the LED lights are able to produce. Like the artifacts inside, the building itself becomes an artistic attraction.

Mechanical systems – preserving the photographs As well as engineering the building’s electrical system, Crossey engineered the mechanical system, which required special consideration due to the facility’s complex nature. Hossein Khoee, P. Eng. and Greg Woodhouse, P.Eng. served as Crossey’s lead mechanical consultants.

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continued from page 21

Diamond Schmitt/Tom Arban

buildings

Above: renovated building during daytime, viewed across Ryerson's skating rink..

Consisting of multiple galleries, the main exhibition space is approximately 3,000 sq.ft. and is located on the ground floor. This main gallery and a gallery research centre on the second floor that is used to prepare and restore artifacts were designed to include a completely independent HVAC system. To ensure that artifacts could be easily transferred between them, the research centre was directly connected to the vault and gallery spaces below via a material lift located between pressurized vestibules.

The building’s mechanical system is able to operate on generator power during emergencies. It includes dedicated modular, water-cooled, scroll chillers that reject heat to dry rooftop coolers. The system allows the gallery to be cooled with chilled water year round while the campus chilled water is shut off.

The collections vault has a dedicated cooling and humidification system with 100% redundancy, as well as a clean agent foam fire suppression system to ensure the collection’s safety. The vault is controlled using a standalone

control system that will alarm the building automation system of any problems.

Campus steam is used for the centre’s heating, with all condensate returned to the steam plant to ensure the plant's efficiency. The radiant floor heat system uses dedicated hot water-to-hot water heat exchangers, with separate pumps that allow the floor system to operate at lower water temperatures.

Meters monitor the use of all the services including water, steam and chilled water, to ensure efficiency. They are all connected to Ryerson’s main building automation system. CCE Project name: Ryerson Image Centre, Toronto Client-owner: Ryerson University Architects: Diamond Schmitt Architects Mechanical & electrical engineer: Crossey Engineering (Hossein Khoee, P.Eng., Greg Woodhouse, P.Eng, Nao Nguyen, CET., Arthur O’Connor, CET) Lighting design: Consullux Lighting Consultants: (Ion Luh) Structural engineer: Halcrow Yolles

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structures

BY DAVID DE ROSE, P.ENG. HALSALL ASSOCIATES

NEW FAÇADE NEW LIFE The gleaming facade of Canada’s highest building — First Canadian Place in downtown Toronto — has been preserved after a complete recladding program.

F

rom a distance you might not notice anything has changed. But take another look at Toronto’s First Canadian Place, particularly on a sunny day, and you will see that the tower gleams with a subtle new lustre.

At 72 storeys, First Canadian Place on King Street West in the downtown core is Canada’s tallest building. Its new facade completed earlier this year was designed to modernize yet preserve the original iconic design of architect Edward Durell Stone, while at the same time bringing the aging office tower up to the highest contemporary standards for safety and performance. The elegant simplicity of the building’s new exterior belies a project of complexity and innovation.

First Canadian Place was built in 1975. Clad with white Carrara marble panels, it created a unique and striking landmark in Toronto’s financial district. As early as the 1980s, however, the marble had begun to show signs of losing strength and weathering. A maintenance program was implemented to manage safety through to the end of the cladding’s service life.

In 2005, the owners engaged Halsall to evaluate the maintenance program and develop options for addressing the cladding’s needs over the long term. The owners decided to completely reclad the building. There were several reasons: to renew the building’s grandeur; to ensure the building’s market competitiveness; to avoid the disruption and cost from the ongoing management program; and to reduce risk.

After reviewing several options, the owners chose to replace the approximately 45,000 original marble panels with

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5,600 large glass panels. These consist of 8 ft. x 10 ft brightwhite, fritted-glass laminated panels at the primary elevation. At the building's inverted corners 8 ft. x 5 ft. bronze glass panels enhance the verticality of the elevation. Halsall was part of the design team selected to deliver the project.

The project has wider implications. As the “modern” buildings of the 1970s and 1980s enter middle-age, they are increasingly appreciated for their aesthetics. However, in many cases their cladding systems are reaching the end of their service life. The recladding of First Canadian Place offers a striking example of how the need for cladding renewal and the desire to maintain the original architectural beauty of these iconic buildings can be successfully resolved.

Increased wind loads The first challenge in designing the new cladding was to predict the increased wind loads to which it would be subject. Thirty years after the original design, the advancement of wind engineering and modeling technology, along with

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structures

Left: original marble being replaced top to bottom with bright-white triple laminated glass panels and bronze corners. Left: reclad tower soars above the city canyons. Above: fritted glass panel detail.

sis, Halsall designed, installed and monitored a wind pressure instrumentation system for the existing cladding. This system comprised over 100 sensors that measured wind pressures at six zones on the building at a rate of three times a second for over a year.

The results were analyzed in cooperation with BLWTL and the findings showed that significant cavity pressures could develop across the new cladding where unimpeded air flow within the cavity is allowed to occur; this is particularly critical at building corners where cavity pressures can enhance total suction loads on the cladding elements. This knowledge necessitated the design of compartment closures and vent areas in the cladding system in order to control pressures in the cavity and on the proposed cladding elements.

changes to the building density around First Canadian Place, led to a dramatic increase in what experts stated the design wind load should be.

To arrive at the appropriate design wind loads, scale model tests were performed. Halsall then worked closely with world-leading wind experts at the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory (BLWTL) at the University of Western Ontario as well as RWDI consulting engineers in Guelph to extensively re-evaluate and peer review the most recent wind studies. Ultimately Halsall was able to achieve agreement amongst the experts on the appropriate peak 50-year return cladding loads. Although still an increase over the original design, they were 20% less than conventionally predicted peak design wind loads.

The increased wind loads applied over the full height of the tower necessitated careful analysis for air/wind pressures in the cavities behind the new cladding. Using wind tunnel results to model cavity pressures in a cladding system is highly complex, so in order to verify the results of the analy-

Custom triple-laminated glass The architect’s initial design concepts proposed using insulated glass units in the new cladding panels. However, there were concerns with the long-term durability or, most importantly, post-breakage behaviour of such units. As a result, a custom solution was designed with triple-laminated, heat-treated glass.

Triple-laminated glass was chosen for several reasons. It is durable and allows for redundancy in the case of any impact or breakage due to overload. It satisfied the architect’s aesthetic, which called for a bright white appearance and a dynamic frit pattern to be incorporated into the glass design. And it permitted the in-shop fabrication and assembly of unitized spandrel panels, which gave better quality control and repeatability during the field installation.

Each glass assembly is 21 mm thick and consists of three layers of heat-strengthened low-iron glass. Iron content is an important determinant of glass clarity. With its higher iron levels, regular float glass has a noticeable green tint at thicknesses exceeding 6 mm. Since the cladding on this building required the glass to be 21-mm thick for structural purposcontinued on page 26 December 2012

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to onlookers (which the simulation defined as locations with 7x the luminance of the overall finished surface).

There is currently no code or standard applicable to glare from buildings. It is conceivable, however, that the increasing use of reflective materials, particularly glass, in urban design might precipitate future regulation and that this project’s glare analysis will prove prescient.

Above: wind load study of tower's four facades.

es, a very low iron content glass was selected to provide a clear appearance.

The assembly also includes: • a white ceramic frit pattern on glass surface #2 • a clear interlayer adhesive between surfaces # 2 and #3 (clear polyvinyl butyral [PVB]) • a white interlayer adhesive between surfaces #4 and #5 (white PVB interlayer). The interlayer was to make the overall assembly whiter and to capture shadows from the frit pattern on surface #2. The result is a dynamic pattern as the sun moves across the sky.

Because such assemblies are not covered by current design standards and building codes, Halsall had to perform an exhaustive structural analysis and modeling of the triple laminate glazing under different conditions. The final design was validated through peer review by leading industry authorities in laminated glass performance.

At the higher wind load zones, the span of the glass was reduced by incorporating a mullion, structurally glazed to the back of the laminated glass. To our knowledge, this application of triple-laminated glass panels is the largest of its kind in North America.

Glare effect modeling Replacing the marble with white glass meant that the cladding surface would be changing from low to relatively higher reflectivity. This could potentially impact neighbouring buildings, public spaces and traffic, including on an expressway to the south of the building. Halsall therefore prepared a computer simulation model to quantify the impact of glare from reflected light. We found that First Canadian Place’s new fritted-glass facade produced 50-60% less glare than neighbouring buildings clad with reflective surfaces. Moreover, it yielded no values in excess of the “glare threshold” i.e. the level of glare that causes visual discomfort 26

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Construction while occupied This is one of Canada’s preeminent commercial buildings. It houses the head office of the Bank of Montreal as well as several major law firms and corporations. It provides work space for almost 9,000 people. The recladding project was planned to proceed 24 hours a day, five days a week, while the building remained fully occupied.

To assess the impact of construction on tenants and the labour crew, Halsall coordinated extensive remedial work trials in the pre-construction stage. These included exterior and interior acoustic testing during various grinding and welding activities. We conducted tenant view studies, air sampling to check for lead, VOC, and odour levels. We studied material cure times and did performance studies (including behaviour in cold weather), trials to achieve reliable welds, and testing to check the impact of welding operations on the interior fireproofing.

From design to execution, the recladding project relied on exhaustive analysis, technical innovation and extensive collaboration between the design team and other industry leaders in research, manufacturing, fabrication and glazing. The result is a state-of-the-art cladding system that fulfils the building’s owners’ requirements for both safety and aesthetics.

CCE David De Rose, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., BSSO, is national building restoration practice leader at Halsall Associates, Toronto. E-mail dderose@halsall.com The recladding of First Canadian Place recently won the 2012 Ontario Building Envelope Council’s Award of Distinction for Design.

Project name: Recladding First Canadian Place, Toronto Owners: Brookfield Properties, Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, Alberta Investment Management, Manulife Façade engineers: Halsall Associates (David De Rose, P.Eng., Hamid Vossoughi, P.Eng., John Kosednar, P.Eng.) Base-building structural engineers: Halcrow Yolles Architects: Moed de Armas & Shannon (design), Bregman+Hamann Construction manager: Ellis Don Other key players: BLWTL/RWDI (wind consultants), Antamax (glazing mock-up contractor)

December 2012

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structures

By Charles Albert, P.Eng. Canadian Institute of Steel Construction

Two steel framing systems that integrate precast concrete floor slabs are efficient options for mid-rise residential buildings.

Efficient Steel Framing Systems

I

Staggered Truss System The Staggered Truss System offers distinct benefits for mid-rise residential buildings requiring a low floor-to-floor height. Storey-high trusses are located at alternate column lines in a vertically staggered pattern (see Figure 1), providing room layouts with large column-free spaces. The low storey height cuts building envelope costs and is achieved partly by using precast slabs to provide a large span-to-depth ratio.

Moreover, the simplicity of the truss fabrication reduces construction times, resulting in an effective and economical structural system.

Although not used in Canada for 20 years, staggered truss construction was recently adopted for the Toronto Christian Resource Centre in Toronto. This multi-purpose facility provides 87 units of affordable housing in the social housing community of Regent Park. The project includes five storeys and a basement, with a total area of 6,500 sq.m, and was designed to meet the equivalent of a silver LEED certification. The rectangular shape, floor plan and building height influenced the choice of staggered trusses, which were designed by the firm of Halsall Associates.

CISC

n the quest for greater structural efficiency, the versatility of steel construction lends itself to a variety of forms and concepts. Two notable framing options that have both economic and practical design advantages — one an older system that has been “revived,” and one a new proprietary system — are described here. Both applications integrate precast concrete slabs into the floor construction.

Figure 1. The Staggered Truss System has storey-high trusses located at alternate column lines in a vertically staggered pattern; the arrangement provides large column-free spaces.

Spanning the entire 16.8-m width of the building, each truss supports two levels, one on each chord. Both chords are made of W250 wide-flange sections, while vertical and diagonal members consist of W200 sections. The 2.7-m truss depth is equal to the floor-to-floor height. The member sizes were chosen so that the trusses could be hidden within the walls. Precast slabs supported on the top flange of the truss chords complete the floor framing.

With the W310 columns placed only along the long sides of the rectangular building, and due to the absence of trusses between the ground and second floor, the ground floor is entirely column-free. This result was achieved by supporting the second floor using hangers from the trusses located above. At the same time, the small number of columns reduced the foundation costs.

Structural analysis for wind and earthquake loads is somewhat different from other buildings because the precast slab diaphragms receive later-

al loads from the staggered trusses and transmit them from truss to truss at each floor. The diaphragms and connections must be designed for adequate strength, stiffness and ductility to transfer the lateral forces to the lateral-load-resisting system.

A special feature of the staggered truss system is the provision of Vierendeel panels (i.e. without diagonals) near mid-span, allowing for the passage of a corridor along the length of the building. Similar panels were also provided to accommodate windows at the east and west ends.

Girder-Slab System The Girder-Slab System is a composite structural assembly consisting of precast slabs with an integral steel girder.

Originally developed by Girder-Slab Technologies, this innovative system is most cost-effective for mid- to highrise residential construction.

In Girder-Slab construction an interior girder, called a “D-Beam,” and continued on page 28 December 2012

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structures

prestressed hollow-core slabs are connected by cementitious grout. The slabs are supported on the bottom flange of the girder, while the web and top flange are concealed within the slab, thus minimizing the floor-tofloor height (see Figure 2). The assembly is fire-rated for use in high-rise buildings when constructed accord-

ing to ULC guidelines. The exposed bottom flange can be fire-protected by sprayed-on fireproofing or standard gypsum board.

The special shape of the D-Beam is created by cutting the web in a sawtooth pattern, producing two identical T-sections and leaving little material waste. A narrow flat bar is then

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CISC

continued from page 27

Figure 2. Girder Slab System being installed.

welded to the top of the web, and the resulting section is termed an openweb dissymmetric beam.

The concept was successfully used recently in the Courtyard Marriott Hotel at the Edmonton International Airport. Supreme Group proposed the Girder-Slab system for the 16,500m2, six-storey tower to meet the aggressive schedule and to minimize costs and construction time in Edmonton’s cold climate.

For the hotel it was decided to apply a 20-mm levelling compound as topping for the hollow-core slabs, although the system can accommodate up to 50 mm of topping. Details of the slab diaphragms require special attention to achieve the proper horizontal load transfer in seismic regions, although this was not a significant factor in Edmonton.

Unlike conventional cast-in-place concrete structures, the Girder-Slab System is assembled in place. The near “dry” construction techniques reduced both the erection period and the heating costs as compared with wet concrete. Thanks to the budget savings, and also due to the minimum structural height, an additional level of hospitality space could be incorporated in the hotel.

As a final note, this method of construction requires a qualified steel fabricator recognized by GirderSlab Technologies’ licensed distributor network. Various elements of the system are patented, but the application itself is non-proprietary and allows open-market suppliers — both in the steel and precast industries — to compete for projects.

CCE Charles Albert, P.Eng. is manager of Technical Publications at the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC-ICCA), Markham, Ontario. www.cisc-icca.ca

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people

BY BRONWEN PARSONS

SEVEN INSPIRING ENGINEERS A PORTRAIT OF SEVEN INDIVIDUALS WHO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD AND SHOW THAT ENGINEERING CAN BE A DIVERSE AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY.

Powerhouse Executive

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“We don’t have big names to throw about; we don’t have iconic engineers,” commented an engineering professor at a recent panel discussion in Toronto.

JOHN PEARSON, P.ENG.

While it is true that engineers and their work are often hidden from the public spotlight, it doesn’t mean that many of them aren’t dynamic individuals, born leaders who are driven by a vision to succeed. Their talents might be channeled into plying their craft as technical experts, or in heading up companies and projects.

This article profiles seven such exceptional engineers from across Canada, each shining brightly in their different ways.

When CCE asked for suggestions of inspiring engineers to be included in this article we received many excellent suggestions. We hope to include them in future articles in the same vein.

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John Pearson

What’s striking about John Pearson is his dynamism and the dizzying rate of his activities. This is one high-energy person. “I just can’t sit still, so I am always doing something,” he says.

Pearson is global managing director for energy at Hatch, an

December 2012

12-12-03 11:47 AM

people

international engineering company based in Mississauga, Ontario. Pearson has worked for the company for 31 years, during which it has grown from 250 to 11,000 employees worldwide.

Over that time he has played many different roles, including being in charge of implementing all the company’s advanced controls, expert systems, project-management and business systems.

Today he is a member of the Hatch Global board of directors, the Hatch Mott MacDonald board of directors, and until recently was chairman of the Hatch/Technip joint venture which is developing a $3.8-billion nickel mine in New Caledonia.

Multi-tasking is in his nature: “I’m one of those guys who drive you crazy because I’m always talking and e-mailing at the same time.” When he’s travelling he is constantly on-line and has a philosophy that he will deal with every question that comes up: “I just like the politeness of it.”

Pearson has views on how to work with people. “My philosophy about business is that you have to let your leaders lead." He says he has four "strong" leaders in Hatch’s Energy division: “I give them a broad framework with a clear envelope to work within, and then I tell them explicitly that I’m here to help solve their problems.”

He continues: “It’s just about getting the best out of people. The ability to be tolerant and understanding and compassionate is the universal remedy to all the other problems that come up. It doesn’t mean you have to be a wimp, but you can set an environment that has people aspiring to higher goals. It really does work. " His business travel has him circling the globe six times a year, but he finds time to sit on the board of directors of Trillium Hospital Foundation in Mississauga, advocates for the Sunnybrook Otolaryngology Unit in Toronto, and is a principal supporter of the Canadian Cycling Association. “I have learned lately that there is huge joy in giving. It’s surprisingly fulfilling.”

Another of his causes is his beloved cycling club, The Domestiques (“Cyclists Who Serve”). It has raised $8 million for charities this year. This restless individual cycles at least once a week: “Cycling gives me physical peace," he says.

Green Building Pioneer

STEPHEN CARPENTER, P.ENG. Stephen Carpenter, P.Eng. has always been at the vanguard of the green building movement in Canada. He was one of a handful of people in the 1980s who were promoting sustainable building practices.

Today his company, Enermodal Engineering based in

Stephen Carpenter

Kitchener, Ontario, can boast that it has been consultant on 30% of the hundreds of buildings that have been certified under LEED-Canada (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Enermodal now has approximately 100 employees. Two years ago it became part of the MMM Group of Companies.

Carpenter was instrumental in establishing the LEED building rating system in Canada, and in 2011 he was made an inaugural Fellow of the Green Building Certification Institute, which is affiliated with the U.S. Green Building Council.

“In essence what I’m most proud of is that I helped to develop a whole industry and to take something that was at the fringes into something that is now fairly mainstream,” Carpenter says.

“Clearly every building is not a green building, so our job is not done. But when I look at the type of clients we’re working for now, versus who we were working for 10 years ago, I just wouldn’t have believed it. Ten years go it was the Mountain Equipment Co-ops of the world, and now we’re working with all the major developers.”

What has enabled Carpenter to turn personal conviction into a successful business? “I think the important thing for any leader is that you have to inspire,” he says. “You have to set the vision. You have to have clear goals. I think that is something that I have been able to articulate.”

While he was ambitious for the company, “Growth for growth’s sake was never the goal.” If the green building market declines: “We’re not going to sacrifice or change our values just because of the whims of the marketplace.”

Carpenter is casting his gaze wider now to green communities and sustainable cities. “I’ve realized that we’re not going to solve the world’s problems through green buildcontinued on page 32 December 2012

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

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people

continued from page 31

ings one by one. We have to take it up a notch and we have to be looking at how we design and build our cities. Our cities are anything but sustainable.”

Carpenter talks of creating a new world. “There have to be some fundamental changes in how we do things. We’re starting on that path, but we have a long way to go. It’s a whole package of how we live and how we protect the natural environment. I don’t think we’re doing a very good job at all. We need a lot of changes, but people don’t like change. That’s the real test over the next few years.”

Bridge Specialists & Innovators

PETER BUCKLAND, P.ENG., C.M. AND PETER TAYLOR, P.ENG., C.M.

Peter Buckland (left) and Peter Taylor

Canada doesn’t have “star” engineers, but if it did, these two would be among them. Some of the most striking cable-stayed and long-span bridges around the world exist thanks to Peter Buckland’s and Peter Taylor’s expertise.

They set up a company 40 years ago in North Vancouver which has become internationally known for its innovative bridge designs. Buckland & Taylor Ltd. has played a critical role in award-winning projects from Abu Dhabi, to Australia, China, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The two principals are both Members of the Order of Canada (Peter Buckland in 2007 and Peter Taylor in 2009), in recognition of their role in raising awareness of Canadian bridge engineering expertise. For engineers, this is a rare honour.

Asked what they think is their greatest achievement as structural engineers, however, and both Peters cite projects close to home. “I think the rebuilding of the Lions Gate Bridge has to be the summit of my technical career,” says Buckland. “Replacing the whole suspended structure while keeping traffic open in the daytime... it was a particularly difficult job and it was an original idea that no-one had done before.”

Taylor's proudest achievement is having led the design team for the Alex Fraser Bridge, which at 930-metres (main 32

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

p30-34 CCE Dec12 InspiringEngineers.indd 32

span 465 metres) was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world when it opened in 1986, and the longest in North America for 20 years. “That project put Buckland & Taylor on the map and was helpful in enabling us to develop a practice that spans the world in cable-stayed bridges,” says Taylor.

“So it was a very significant job, a very satisfying job, and a world-leading job for Canada.”

They trace their success to a “daring” decision to focus exclusively on bridges. “From the earliest days Peter [Buckland] had a very strong vision that we were going to be a world-class bridge engineering company,” says Taylor. “At the time we didn’t have enough bridge work to sustain us.” But, he continues, “It was a great strategic decision. It focused us. And Peter [Buckland] made many such wise decisions in the big picture, including diversifying out of Canada.”

“We made the decisions together,” Buckland gently reprimands him.

“We always enjoyed the challenge of innovation,” says Taylor. “But there is some risk in going where nobody has gone before. You need the support of an understanding client.”

“If you are going to go outside the code,” Buckland adds, “you need to be very creative, and very capable, and also very careful. But it’s so rewarding because we know that we have done things better than they were done before.”

“We have had an interesting involvement with lots of bridges all over the world,” says Taylor. “Hopefully that could inspire other Canadian engineers also to be world class in their field. You can be the best, but it’s not an entitlement. You have to earn it in the form of a lot of hard work.”

Young Professional

SELENA WILSON, P.ENG. Selena Wilson has worked for McElhanney Consulting Services in Surrey, B.C. since graduating in civil engineering from the University of British Columbia in 2005. She specializes in large design-build infrastructure projects, including spending four years as highway design lead and civil coordinator on Surrey's Port Mann Bridge on-shore design project.

But when she’s not doing

Selena Wilson

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people her day job Wilson is making her mark internationally in the consulting engineering field. She was an early participant and supporter of the Young Professionals Group that was established in 2006 at the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies-B.C. In 2008, she joined the Young Professional Forum Steering Committee with FIDIC, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, based in Geneva, Switzerland.

She has been to FIDIC conferences in Quebec, London, New Delhi, Davos, and Seoul as Canada’s Young Professional representative. And this year Wilson is chair of the Young Professionals Forum Steering Committee for FIDIC. “Our vision for the FIDIC Young Professionals Forum is to provide a platform that promotes and empowers young professionals around the world so that they can realize their own impact to make a difference in their local consulting community,” says Wilson.

She says young professional groups help individuals to develop their personal skills, especially when they become involved on strategic planning committees. At that level, she says, someone is challenged to develop skills such as public speaking and organizing various task forces, i.e. the business skills that are not taught in university.

“These softer skills are really important for developing a well-rounded engineer who is not just technically driven,” she says. “A lot of us engineers can be naturally introverted, so the YP groups really challenge us to get out there and start interacting and being able to effectively communicate.

All that training helps develop yourself into a senior valuable engineer.”

International Engineer

JOHN HERBERT, P.ENG. What could be more inspiring than an engineer who has travelled the world and been instrumental in bringing clean water and sanitation to millions of people and in the process helped to clean up their environments? Such has been the career of John Herbert, P.Eng., vice president of CH2M HILL in Vancouver.

While Herbert has worked in several continents, his first and longest international assignment was the eight years he spent as a young man designing and managing the construction of wastewater treatment plants in Singapore. He went there with the British firm J.D. and D.M. Watson during the 1970s and 80s.

“At that time Singapore was a low-cost labour manufacturing place “totally different to what it is now,” says Her-

John Herbert (signing document).

bert. Big manufacturers like GE and Nestles had set up shop. “The Government of Singapore was just getting into industrial wastewater treatment and were trying to clean up the rivers and the shoreline," he recalls.

Asked if he believes he made a difference, he thinks for a minute then replies: “Well if you go to Singapore now, you’ll see that the river that was not much more than a sewer is now a source of drinking water. I didn’t do it all myself obviously, but together we certainly cleaned Singapore up.”

Another project he’s especially proud of is in Barbados, where he did projects for 15 years as an engineer for Reid Crowther. Herbert managed to persuade the Inter-American Bank to fund a project to rearrange the plumbing in households in order to collect grey water directly, rather than letting it flow into the curbside street drains and via rivers and streams into the ocean where it was damaging the coral reefs and polluting the shoreline.

Herbert has also done lots of work in China, including working on the Xilang wastewater plant in Guangzhou, which was the first biological nutrient treatment plant in China.

“My key role was definitely getting the team together to do the job,” he says, admitting that it can be challenging with the language and cultural differences. “I think you have got to be really patient and work very hard at listening and trying to see things from someone else’s point of view.”

Entrepreneur and Ambassador

JASON MEWIS, P.ENG. At age 39 Jason Mewis, P.Eng. is president of his own consulting engineering company, ENGCOMP, in Saskatoon. To have started up your own company these days is a rare enough achievement, but this relatively young engineer is also chair-elect (2012-2013) of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies-Canada (ACEC). In that position he will be the public face of an organization representing some of the largest engineering companies in Canada.

Mewis started ENGCOMP in 2004 when he was only 31, continued on page 34 December 2012

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

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people

continued from page 33

Stuart Kasdorf

coming from a large international engineering company. An Alberta firm had approached him to start up a branch office in his home town. “I started my business plan for an office in Saskatoon and quickly realized that consulting engineering didn’t require a lot of money to get started.

So I decided I was going to do it on my own.”

That turned out to be a fortuitous decision, because when Mewis called the Alberta firm back to tell them his decision, they had already sold out to one of the giant firms.

Today ENGCOMP has approximately 40 employees. Echoing Mewis’s experience, the company special- Jason Mewis izes in the heavy industry sector in western Canada, doing multi-disciplinary engineering and project management. It is also developing a niche practice in project risk analysis and risk management, areas that Mewis finds fascinating because they are business-oriented.

He puts a big emphasis on having the right team and trying to ensure that the employees find their work challenging and satisfying. “I did have a vision for a different kind of business and a different kind of experience for people to work in,” he says.

“Our view is that if we focus on our people first, they will be as motivated as they can be, and out of that will come a good product for our clients.”

“When it comes to entrepreneurism, it’s not a common thing to find in an engineer,” he admits. “An entrepreneur will make decisions on the spot with whatever information they have at the time. And they will live with that and move forward, and if they’re wrong, they will deal with it later and keep on moving forward. You have to be a peopleperson too. You can’t just ignore the psychology of interacting with other individuals. I guess I was blessed with some skills and a personality that works in that way.”

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CCBDA Po

finance

By Kelly Kolke, CA Grant Thornton LLP

Engineers can keep more of what they earn if they set up the right financial arrangements.

Tax Strategies for Professionals

L

et’s face it. Canadian professionals pay a lot of tax, look at ways to actually save tax, such as by income splitting with which is why individuals and members of partnerships adult family members who have lower marginal tax rates. Most of all sizes are always looking for ways to reduce their professionals in Canada are allowed to have family members as annual tax burden. Below are a few tax strategies that engi- shareholders of a professional corporation, either directly or neers can use to keep more of what they’ve earned. indirectly (through a family trust), which facilitates income • Defer income taxes through a professional corporation. The splitting with family members in the form of dividends. Indifirst tax planning objective is to reduce or defer current in- vidual practitioners and partners in professional firms who come taxes on professional income. In many cases, the most have set up a professional corporation are generally able to effective approach is to create a take advantage of this option.

“Most professionals in Canada professional corporation where • Management Services Limited assets of the practice are trans- are allowed to have family members Partnerships. If you are already ferred to the corporation, and in an existing partnership, you as shareholders of a professional you essentially become a sharecan also take advantage of incorporation, either directly or holder and employee of your come splitting through the creown company. Incorporation lets ation of something called a indirectly through a family trust.” you take advantage of the Small Management Services Limited Business Deduction, which allows for a reduced tax rate on Partnership (MSLP) which provides administrative and supprofessional income earned by the corporation (and not port services to the partnership. Family members of partwithdrawn as salary) up to a specific yearly limit. In turn, the ners — such as spouses or family trusts — can invest as limprofessional corporation (or holding company) can invest ited partners and earn income at lower tax rates. the cash retained from the tax deferral back into the practice Although any existing partnership could benefit from or in other investments rather than hand it over to the Cana- the implementation of an MSLP structure, it is best suited da Revenue Agency. to larger professional partnerships where the transferable Professional incorporation is a great option for individu- administrative and support services can generate enough al professionals who don’t need most of the money gener- income for splitting with family members and justifies the ated by their practice to fund their current lifestyle, or for costs of establishing and maintaining this structure. professionals who have the ability to split income with other The introduction of a family trust in either a professional family members who are taxed at lower personal income tax corporation or an MSLP structure can also be an excellent rates. However, if the amount of income retained in the way to achieve income splitting with adult family members corporation is too low, or if there are no income splitting who have a lower marginal income tax rate. The family trust opportunities, the tax savings may not justify the extra work. holds shares in the professional corporation or partnership • Partnerships and income splitting. What about engineers units of the MSLP and the family members are beneficiaries working in a partnership? Traditional tax structures aren’t of the trust. The use of a family trust provides the flexibility very efficient, and partners often can’t access the same tax to allocate income to beneficiaries on a discretionary basis to benefits available to individuals who incorporate because all maximize income splitting opportunities each year. partners in the firm must split the Small Business Deduction Each professional, of course, needs to fully understand annual limit. But the fact is, the tax planning benefits of the risks and benefits of any new tax scenario in relation to professional incorporation are also generally available to their individual needs and goals. Firms who make their partners of both large and small partnerships through the shareholders or partners aware of the range of wealth retenintroduction of a multiple professional corporation struc- tion strategies available will have an advantage in retaining ture in a partnership. This arrangement can also have other good people. And you might be able to hit the links earlier CCE benefits, like making it easier to attract high-performing than you’d planned! professionals. It can also offer increased flexibility for retireKelly Kolke is a Chartered Accountant and partner with Grant ment and increased liability protection.

But you not only want to defer tax — you also will want to Thornton LLP in Nova Scotia. E-mail Kelly.kolke@ca.gt.com

38

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

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December 2012

12-12-03 11:48 AM

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