Canadian Consulting Engineer JanuaryFebruary 2014

For professional engineers in private practice

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014

CIRS

A PERFORMANCE REVIEW

AFTER THE CALGARY FLOODS RESTORING POWER

REFRIGERATION AT METRO

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contents

January/February 2014 Volume 55, No. 1

features Cover: Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), University of B.C. Photo by Martin Tessler.

See story p. 18.

Overcoming the Memory Gap. p. 34.

departments Comment

4

Up Front

6

ACEC Review

13

Awards Call for Entries

36

2014 AHR Expo Product Review

42

Advertiser Index

45

Next issue: aluminum deck bridges; Vancouver’s Evergreen line; Canada’s wastewater treatment regulations; future of consulting engineering in Quebec.

Promise and Reality. The Canadian Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability at UBC was designed with high goals in mind. Now a year’s performance data are in.

By Bronwen Parsons

18

Engineered Refrigeration Systems. Finding the right refrigeration system for Metro’s large new food storage warehouse in Laval, Quebec.

By Jean-Philippe Morin, ing. and Laurier Nichols, ing., Dessau

26

After the Floods. Consulting engineers help to get the power supply up and running after floods ravaged southern Alberta last June.

By Lana Winterfield, Williams Engineering Canada

30

Overcoming the Memory Gap. As baby boomers retire, a vast amount of company knowledge goes out of the door with them.

By Bryan Leach, P.Eng.

34

Which to choose: ASHRAE 90.1-2010 or NECB 2011?

Having two different energy compliance paths makes life complicated.

By Kyle Hasenkox, Rocky Point Engineering

37

on topic FIRE PROTECTION Stationary Pumps. New requirements in NFPA 20.

By Chad Duffy, NFPA 38 ENERGY Surprising Disclosures.

Research presented at the 2013 ASHRAE Winter Conference in New York.

By Bronwen Parsons 41 January/February 2014

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ENGINEERS & THE LAW. Builders’ Lien Acts and their impact on engineers.

By Chad Eggerman, Miller Thomson LLP 40 CONVERSATIONS Not So Flushable.

Barry Orr of MESUG on problems at wastewater treatment plants.

46 Canadian Consulting Engineer

3

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engineer FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS IN PRIVATE PRACTICE

comment

C A N A D I A N C O N S U LT I N G

Editor

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

A tower rises from the ashes

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

S

Rosalind Cairncross, P.Eng.

Art Director

Ellie Robinson

een from New Jersey, the new World Trade Center tower stands out clearly on the Manhattan skyline. Tall and slender, it appears twice as tall as the other skyscrapers.

I was mindful of the events of September 11, 2001 while visiting New York for the ASHRAE Winter Conference. So I took the group tour of the WTC site and 9/11 Memorial. Located on what was “Ground Zero,” the memorial consists of two low black granite square pools laid over the footprints of the original WTC 1 and 2. At the centre of each pool the water simply falls down into what looks like a bottomless void. It seems a bleak artistic statement, but while I was there the wind whipped the water up high into amazing dancing sprays. (The church near the site that was used as a resting spot by the rescue workers has become a more personalized shrine, with photographs and artifacts on display.)

Near to the black pools the new tower rises sleek and beautiful with its chamfered glass walls and spire reaching to 1,776 feet (541-m), symbolic of the American Declaration of Independence. It is no longer called the “Freedom Tower,” but has become the commercialized “One World Trade Center.”

For people in the construction industry it’s still difficult to think that buildings were the means by which the terrorists were able to wreak so much havoc.

The events that unfolded that day represented such a reversal of what buildings are supposed to be — shelters from the storm and other dangers.

Yet around the world 9/11 has not stunted the drive to develop taller and taller towers. The Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat graphs show a steep rise in buildings over 200 metres high. Before 1996 only a handful were being built every year, but aside from a short dip in 2002 the number rises sharply, to 70 completed in 2010, and 81 in 2011. The majority (74%) of these recent developments are in Asia.

Urban designers generally favour tall buildings because they add density, thus reducing sprawl. But are skyscrapers environmentally always the way to go? Manhattan is dense, with plenty of highrises, but traffic creeps along by inches. People might not be using their own cars, but they still need “stuff,” and delivery vans, buses, taxis and pedestrians clog every intersection.

I’ve not been able to study any research on the energy use intensity of towers compared to low-rise structures, but I’d guess that the glass walls, along with elevators and other power-drawing infrastructure that’s necessary in vertical dwellings, offset many of the energy savings gained by living contiguously.

At the ASHRAE conference John Kontokosta of the NYU CUSP centre presented data on New York’s commercial building stock that many designers will find disturbing (“Surprising Disclosures,” p. 41). One of their findings was that the city’s older buildings are more energy efficient than those from the last 20 years. A reason, they felt, was that despite today’s focus on energy efficient designs, the extra amenities and luxury features in today’s towers add to the overall loads. Besides individual building research (CIRS, p. 18), more studies like CUSP’s that look at the big urban picture will be helpful for directing sustainable design in the future.

Bronwen Parsons 4

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Contributing Editor

Advertising Sales Manager

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

Bruce Bodden, P.Eng., Gerald Epp, P.Eng., Chris Newcomb, P.Eng., Laurier Nichols, ing., Lee Norton, P.Eng., Jonathan Rubes, P.Eng., Paul Ruffell, P.Eng., Andrew Steeves, P.Eng. Circulation

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up front

Read Jones Christoffersen.

Y

i

BUILDINGS

Glacier Skywalk under construction, Alberta’s Jasper National Park.

STRUCTURES

Glass skywalk in the Rockies By: Nordahl Flakstad Despite efforts to make it non-intrusive, the newly completed Glacier Skywalk observation deck, near the Columbia Icefields in Alberta’s Jasper National Park, seems destined for more than a mere walk-on part once tourists start arriving in May. Simon Brown, of the lead design firm, Read Jones Christoffersen (RJC), and others involved with the design of the cantilevered glass walkway 150 metres above the Sunwapta Valley, began work in 2010. The chosen site is near a pull-off on the Jasper-Banff Icefields Parkway, six kilometres north of the existing Icefields Discovery Centre.

The design entailed some challenges – not least of which was the walkway’s glass floor, supported on a structural steel skeleton. The idea of a see-through walkway that allows visitors to look vertically down a precipice is not unique. It is employed on Arizona’s Grand Canyon Skywalk opened in 2007, for example. However, below that structure’s floor there are two large box girders, which limit the vertical sightline straight down into the canyon to one third of the walkway.

In contrast, along the entire length of the 30-metre parabolic deck of the

Glacier Skyway, visitors will be able to look straight down. Brown explains that a draped cable, a critical structural element on the inside radius of the curved deck, facilitates this unobstructed view.

The walkway’s outermost point is 35 metres from the rock face. It is supported on cantilevered, trapezoidal box girders, secured onto footings rock-anchored some 30 metres into the mountain. Regarding the cantilevered structure, Brown notes, “We had a very large reaction to deal with where it ties into the cliff. A precise understanding of the rock formation and quality was required.” Beyond the weathered surface material, the deeper rock generally was solid, and where there was cracking it was factored into the design.

The deck encounters vibration from two main sources – those walking on it and ambient winds. The first was addressed by tuned mass dampers in the walkway. Following wind-tunnel testing

by RWDI of Guelph, the response to crosswinds in the valley was addressed using wind deflectors attached to the outer handrails. The glass floor is fashioned from laminated, tempered and heat-strengthened glass, designed by RJC’s Toronto office.

The Skywalk received a Future Projects Category Award at the World

Fix the housing crunch The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is pushing hard for the federal and provincial governments to invest in capital repairs to social housing. The FCM’s campaign,”Fixing Canada’s Housing Crunch,” has been supported by 140 council resolutions, while cities like Halifax and Toronto held public roundtables in January. The concern is that the federal government has no long term plan for funding this sector.

HIGHWAYS

South Fraser Perimeter Road complete The last phase of the $1.26-billion South Fraser Perimeter Road (Highway 17) was opened in Delta, B.C. in December. Part of the Asia-Pacific corridor, the four-lane expressway runs along the south bank of the Fraser River, connecting the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal in southwest Delta to 176 Street in North Surrey, and with connections to the Golden Ears Bridge and other river crossings.

The project involved construction of 15 overpasses, three interchanges, and major environmental restoration work.

Fraser Transportation Group was the design-builder and will operate the highway for 20 years. FTG includes ACS Infrastructure, Ledcor and Dragados Canada, among others.

continued on page 8 6

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Architectural Festival in Barcelona, Spain, in 2011.

The design team is: RJC ( lead design firm and structural engineers), Sturgess Architecture (architects), PCL (project lead and general contractor), Thurber Engineering (geotechnical), Golder Associates (environmental), Urban Systems (civil), RWDI (wind) and SMP (electrical).

CONFERENCE

BP/CCE

ASHRAE going residential?

The 2014 ASHRAE Conference held in snowy New York City on January 18-23 included an array of technical and educational sessions. Topics ranged from arcane subjects like “RP1353 Stability and Accuracy of VAV Box Control at Low Flows Rendezvous Trianon,” to the broader “Data Center Control and Fire Safety in Tall Buildings,” or “Engineering Ethics: A Case Study Analysis.”

The Freedom Tower nearing completion at the World Trade Center site in New York City on January 20. A tour of the site and adjacent 9/11 Memorial was one of the general tours at the ASHRAE 2014 Winter Conference.

ASHRAE’s 2013-2014 president, William P. Bahnfleth, P.E., told the media that the organization has three main initiatives.

First, a committee has been formed to focus on improving indoor air quality. Bahnfleth said that over the last 30 years we have made huge progress in energy efficiency, but we also need to

increase progress in creating healthy indoor environments. He noted, for example, that there needs to be more communication between the scientists who do testing, and engineers who understand building physics.

A second committee is looking into expanding ASHRAE’s work in developing economies such as China, India and in South America.

A third new committee is considering ASHRAE becoming more involved in the residential market. Historically the society has concentrated on the commercial and institutional sectors, so this represents a big change.

The association of 54,000 engineers and others involved in building systems and technologies is clearly expanding its horizons beyond its traditional base and 1894 origins. Perhaps most telling is the decision to drop the former descriptive title “American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers” in favour of using only the more generic and internationally-friendly acronym.

Once attendees had enough learning in the classroom, they could take a technical tour into the bowels of New York iconic buildings such as the Rockefeller Centre to see its district cooling plant, or One Penn Plaza to consider its cogeneration plant. Or they could join a general tour, such as the large group that went by subway train to Ground Zero and saw the somber monument to the event that changed the world.

AWARDS

Windsor CSO one of largest in world Stantec won the Project of the Year award from the Ontario Public Works Association for the City of Windsor’s Riverfront Retention Treatment Basin collection and treatment system.

Considered to be the first and largest of its kind in the world, the facility manages the combined sewer overflows from the old riverfront district into the Detroit River. It fulfils a major part of the city’s pollution control plan.

Stantec

up front

Construction of effluent channels in the Windsor Riverfront retention treatment basin.

The project earned the award in the “Environment - greater than $50 million” category at the OPWA annual conference on January 30 in Mississauga, Ontario.

Led by Tony Berardi, P. Eng., Stantec was prime consultant and helped guide the project through a long environmental assessment process, provided the construction drawings and oversaw construction.

This is the project’s second major award. In April 2013, it won the “Most Outstanding Project for engineering firms with 351+ employees” award from Consulting Engineers of Ontario.

TRANSPORTATION

Canada builds historic first road to the Arctic In early January, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in the Far North for the official groundbreaking of the first permanent highway to reach Canada’s Arctic coast.

The all-season 138-km road stretches from the Dempster Highway (NWT Highway 8) at the town of Inuvik just above the Arctic Circle, northeast to the hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk on the shore of the Arctic Ocean near the Mackenzie River Delta.

Envisioned since the 1950s, the highway will ease access to oil and gas exploration operations in the Beaufort Sea and help establish Canada’s sovereignty over the Western Arctic region.

Approximately 70 kilometres of the road is on Inuvialuit lands. The federal government is providing $200 million of the $300-million cost of the road’s construction. continued on page 10

8

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up front

continued from page 8

EGT-Northwind, a joint venture of E. Gruben Transport and Northwind Industries, won the $229-million contract to engineer and build the highway for the NWT Department of Transportation. In order to protect the permafrost, the two-lane gravel roadway will be built on top of a geotextile fabric. Construction will take place primarily in the winter months, also to protect the permafrost, with completion by 2018. The road will be 8 to 9 metres wide with 3:1 side slopes.

Another, longer, stretch of allweather highway to run northwest from Wrigley to Dempster and Inuvik along the Mackenzie Valley is currently undergoing an environmental assessment.

AMEC, based in the U.K., but with approximately 6,500 employees and 60 offices across Canada, has announced a provisional agreement to buy Foster Wheeler AG. Foster Wheeler is an international, Swissbased engineering company described as a historic “rival” to AMEC

by Reuters. Both companies are heavily involved in the oil and gas, mining and energy sectors, as well as other areas like infrastructure and environmental services. AMEC has 29,000 people in 40 countries worldwide, and Foster Wheeler has 13,000 people in 30 countries. Foster Wheeler had agreed not to solicit alternative proposals until 22 February.

Williams Engineering Canada has opened an office in Victoria, continuing the expansion of the Edmontonbased company into B.C. The new office is led by Steve Woodmass, B.C.

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regional director, and managed by Collin Cronkhite.

Focus Corporation has acquired Hunter Laird Engineering based in New Westminster, Ben Almond, CH2M HILL B.C. Hunter Laird is a civil engineering and planning consulting practice with its origins dating back to 1964. It will now operate as Hunter Laird, A Focus Company.

Ben Almond, P.Eng. is the new regional market manager for CH2M HILL’s water services team for Canada, based in Calgary. He was previously project delivery manager for the firm’s energy market.

R.V. Anderson Associates announced two new senior associates in January: Bruce Buchanan of Moncton, N.B. and Vince Grande of Niagara, Ontario.

SNC-Lavalin in partnership with Cementation Canada, the Morris Group, Flying Post, Lac Seul, Mattagami and Wahgoshig First Nations, has signed a memorandum of understanding to capitalize the First Nations Mining Corporation (FNMC).

FNMC will form joint venture partnerships with local Aboriginal communities to do projects for mining companies in Ontario.

PROFESSIONAL

University of Waterloo launches green energy diploma Canada’s largest engineering school is launching the country’s first graduate diploma in green energy studies.

The University of Waterloo Faculty of Engineering’s Green Energy Graduate Diploma is an online program intended to provide professional development for working engineers.

The program will cover green energy systems such as bioenergy, fuel cells, air pollution and greenhouse gas management, solar and wind energy, as well as building energy performance. Contact greendiploma@uwaterloo.ca.

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ASSOCIATION OF CONSULTING ENGINEERING COMPANIES | REVIEW

CHAIR’S MESSAGE

ACEC Speaks Out

A

CEC is the national voice of consulting engineering, and we are being heard. With the support of our Member Organizations (MOs) across Canada, we advocate for a business environment that recognizes and rewards our members’ expertise and contributions to society. Each year, ACEC organizes a Parliament Hill Day whereby ACEC arranges for representatives of Canada’s consulting engineering sector to meet with Members of Parliament and Senators on issues of importance to our industry.

This past October saw ACEC’s most successful Parliament Hill Day to date. Over 35 ACEC representatives met with more than 65 Members of Parliament to stress the urgent need to quickly launch the new Building Canada Plan promised in the last federal budget.

ACEC is also speaking out on issues important to our members and clients in the resource sector. As part of Parliament Hill Day, ACEC highlighted the need to help the private sector access Canada’s natural resources and transport

these resources to market. We are collaborating directly with the Mining Association of Canada and other stakeholders to study the challenges of doing business in the North and identify strategies to encourage more investment.

What is especially exciting is that ACEC’s advocacy is expanding beyond its Parliament Hill Day and beyond Ottawa.

ACEC is also speaking out publicly and to the media, asserting that expanding and modernizing oil and gas transportation infrastructure is vital to Canada’s prosperity. In the west, ACEC-BC is speaking out on major infrastructure projects. In the east, ACEC-NB is facilitating informed, scientifically based public discourse on natural gas extraction. In Ontario and Quebec, ACEC MOs are challenging antiquated and erroneous perceptions of our industry in the media.

Many of the issues impacting our sector are complex and controversial – and often not well understood by the public and the media. This is precisely why the consulting engineering sector and ACEC need to speak out.

JASON MEWIS, P.ENG. CHAIR, ACEC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MESSAGE DU PRÉSIDENT DU CONSEIL

L’AFIC se fait entendre

L’

AFIC est le porte-parole national de l’industrie canadienne du génie-conseil, et nous nous faisons entendre. Avec l’appui de nos organisations membres (OMs) partout au Canada, nous militons en faveur d’un environnement d’affaires qui reconnaît et qui récompense l’expertise de nos membres et leur contribution à la société. Tous les ans, l’AFIC organise sa Journée sur la Colline du Parlement qui permet à des représentants du secteur canadien du génie-conseil de rencontrer des membres du Parlement et des sénateurs pour discuter de questions importantes pour notre industrie.

En octobre 2013, l’AFIC a tenu sa Journée sur la Colline du Parlement la plus réussie jusqu’ici. Quelque 35 représentants de l’AFIC ont rencontré plus de 65 membres du Parlement pour souligner le besoin urgent de lancer le nouveau plan Chantiers Canada qui a été promis dans le dernier budget fédéral.

L’AFIC se prononce aussi sur les enjeux importants pour nos membres et leurs clients dans le secteur des ressources.

Dans le cadre de la Journée sur la Colline du Parlement, l’AFIC a mis en évidence le besoin d’aider le secteur privé à accéder aux ressources naturelles du Canada et à transporter ces ressources jusqu’aux marchés. Nous collaborons

directement avec l’Association minière du Canada et avec d’autres intervenants pour étudier les défis du commerce et de l’exploitation dans le Nord et pour identifier des stratégies pour encourager les investissements.

De plus, les activités de représentation de l’AFIC vont maintenant au-delà de la Journée sur la Colline et au-delà d’Ottawa. L’AFIC parle aussi sur la scène publique et aux médias pour faire valoir l’importance d’augmenter et de moderniser les infrastructures de transport de pétrole et de gaz naturel afin d’assurer la prospérité économique du Canada. Dans l’Ouest, l’ACEC-BC se prononce sur les grands projets d’infrastructure. Dans l’Est, l’AFIC-NB facilite des discussions publiques informées, fondées sur des données scientifiques, sur l’extraction du gaz naturel. En Ontario et au Québec, les OMs de l’AFIC corrigent les perceptions périmées et erronées de notre industrie dans les médias.

De nombreuses questions qui touchent notre secteur sont complexes, parfois controversées, et souvent mal comprises par le public et les médias. Et c’est exactement pourquoi le secteur du génie-conseil et l’AFIC doivent se faire entendre.

JASON MEWIS, P.ENG. PRÉSIDENT DU CONSEIL D’ADMINISTRATION DE L’AFIC

January/February 2014

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ASSOCIATION OF CONSULTING ENGINEERING COMPANIES | REVIEW

ACEC Year in Review 2013

A

CEC’s Summit and the Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards are high-profile annual events that ACEC is known for, but there is so much more that we do for members behind the scenes. As the new year unfolds, ACEC is pleased to provide an overview of the association’s activities, on behalf of our members, during 2013.

With the support of our provincial and territorial Member Organizations (MOs), ACEC undertakes activities in the following four key areas identified in our strategic plan.

Public and private sector advocacy on national issues ACEC influences the federal government and other national stakeholders to create a regulatory and business climate that is favourable to consulting engineering companies.

ACEC’s annual “Parliament Hill Day” provides an opportunity for representatives of member firms to meet with Members of Parliament and raise awareness of issues affecting our industry. In October, ACEC applauded the government’s commitment to a 10-year infrastructure program but stressed the urgent need for planning and application processes to begin. ACEC also highlighted the need for investment in northern infrastructure to access Canada’s natural resources and transport these resources to market.

ACEC is increasing its outreach to organizations that represent private sector clients. We are collaborating with the Mining Association of Canada, Prospectors & Developers Associa-

The Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards, presented annually by ACEC in partnership with Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine, showcase excellence in the consulting engineering industry.

tion of Canada and NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines to study the challenges of doing business in the North and identify strategies to encourage more private investment.

ACEC recently adopted a position on oil and gas transportation in the belief that expanding and modernizing oil and gas transportation infrastructure is vital to Canada’s prosperity. ACEC will also expand its advocacy activities to include a new Parliamentary Partners program. Under this new initiative, ACEC will support members in building relationships with local MPs. Image and profile building ACEC enhances the profile of consulting engineers and showcases the contribution of consulting engineering to Canada’s social, economic and environmental quality of life.

Each year, ACEC co-hosts the Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards, a marquee industry event that in 2013 saw 26 awards presented, in-

cluding Awards of Excellence and Special Achievement Awards. We encourage all ACEC member firms to enter their projects in 2014 and participate in this national showcase of excellence in our industry.

ACEC partners with organizations and supports programs that provide opportunities to raise the profile of consulting engineers among clients, politicians and other industries. We promote consulting engineering through student outreach activities, a proactive media strategy and by being an influential participant in the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).

Client liaison and business practices We are recognized by public and private sector clients, and by the consulting engineering sector, as the authority on business practice issues.

ACEC works with industry experts to offer professional service agreements for use by consulting engineer-

Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Canada (ACEC-Canada), 420-130 Albert Street, Ottawa, ON, K1P 5G4, tel: (613) 236-0569, fax: (613) 236-6193, info@acec.ca, www.acec.ca. ACEC Member Organizations: Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – British Columbia, Consulting Engineers of Yukon, Consulting Engineers of Alberta, Consulting Engineers of Northwest Territories, Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Saskatchewan, Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Manitoba, Consulting Engineers of Ontario, Association des Ingénieurs-conseils du Québec, Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – New Brunswick, Consulting Engineers of Nova Scotia, Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Prince Edward Island, Consulting Engineers of Newfoundland and Labrador.

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ASSOCIATION OF CONSULTING ENGINEERING COMPANIES | REVIEW ing companies and their clients. We continually monitor trends through benchmarking and industry surveys.

Our annual Summit offers a unique business program geared to industry leaders and we regularly provide training seminars that help engineering companies be more successful. ACEC encourages the use of qualificationsbased selection (QBS) to provide the best long-term value to clients.

Member engagement and communications We encourage member participation and demonstrate value for membership through effective communications and engagement.

ACEC creates regular opportunities for discussion, collaboration, and networking. Each year, ACEC conducts a national tour of Member Organizations to solicit industry feed-

back on issues and trends. In serving our members, we continue to improve and modernize our communication tools, enabling more targeted and strategic communications. We value the input of our members and invite them to discover the benefits of getting involved in ACEC. To find out more about ACEC and what we do for our members, please visit www.acec.ca.

ACEC’s Parliament Hill Day gets results

O

n October 22, 2013, ACEC’s Parliament Hill Day brought over 35 representatives from the consulting engineering sector to Ottawa for meetings with over 65 Members of Parliament. This is a record number of meetings and participants. The first message Parliament Hill Day participants conveyed to MPs was about the new Building Canada Plan for infrastructure.

This message had two components: ACEC applauds the government’s commitment to a 10-year infrastructure program. This predictable, longterm infrastructure investment plan will allow all levels of government, public agencies and private firms to develop and allocate resources to plan, finance, design, construct and operate infrastructure projects.

Planning needs to start now The new Building Canada Plan needs to be “open for business” as soon as possible so that the planning and application process can begin now – in time for new investments to begin in April 2014.

The second message that ACEC representatives brought to Parliamentarians related to the development of Canada’s North. ACEC believes that there is an enormous economic opportunity if we can access Canada’s natural resources and transport these resources to market. Encouraging investments in northern infrastructure

Advocacy in action: 2013 Parliament Hill Day was highly successful with a record number of participants and meetings with Parliamentarians.

(transportation, communications, power generation and transmission) will allow Canada’s resource sector to create skilled jobs and expertise both locally and across Canada.

To this end, ACEC let Parliamentarians know: • ACEC is collaborating with the Mining Association of Canada, Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada and NWT Chamber of Mines to study the challenges of doing business in the North and identifying strategies to encourage more private investment.

• ACEC and its partners will be sharing the results of the study with the government early in 2014 and working with stakeholders to encourage investment in Canada’s North.

Results since Parliament Hill Day ACEC’s messages were well received on both sides of the House of Com-

mons and officials were appreciative of the warning that further delays in releasing the Building Canada Plan parameters could result in a missed construction season and an increased lag in industry activity.

On November 18, 2013, the Hon. Denis Lebel, Minister of Infrastructure, Communities, and Intergovernmental Affairs, confirmed that the outstanding parameters for the Building Canada Plan were under development with a view to ensuring that project proposals can be considered as soon as possible in 2014. Further to that announcement, ACEC was informed by Minister Lebel’s office that the new Building Canada Plan parameters will be specified as early as possible in the new year. Thanks to a strong ACEC presence on Parliament Hill, ACEC clearly has the government’s attention on this critical issue.

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The 35th annual Deltek Clarity A&E Industry Study is now open!

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This year’s Study will be among the best: • The survey is open to all Canadian and U.S. architecture, engineering, planning, and related firms.

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buildings

PROMISE & REALITY

CENTRE FOR INTERACTIVE RESEARCH ON SUSTAINABILITY

BY BRONWEN PARSONS

Entry lobby and atrium.

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BY BRONWEN PARSONS

After two years, a building at the University of B.C. that was designed with the highest goals in green building design has had some triumphs — but also challenges.

Photo: Martin Tessler.

“T

hink of it as a 60,000 square-foot piece of research equipment,” says the Canadian Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) about the building. “Everything — energy sources, ventilation choices, paint, even the people — is part of a grand experiment.”

CIRS is just one of several buildings designed to high environmental standards at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, but it goes beyond the others. Its vision was to be no less than “the greenest building in North America.”

The building is also intended to be a teaching tool: “an internationally recognized leader in accelerating the adoption of sustainable building and urban development practices.”

As a “living laboratory” CIRS incorporates green building design strategies that are intended to be tested and proved. The building manual (http://cirs.ubc.ca/building/building-manual/research), explains that the research focus is “on the disparity between the potential capabilities of sustainable design and technology and the actual performance when combined with inhabitant behaviour.... The building inhabitants are also simultaneously researchers and research subjects.”

Other universities in Canada have built green buildings as teaching tools (SAIT in Calgary, and the University of Windsor’s Centre for Engineering Innovation, for example), but at CIRS the research into the building’s performance is its raison d’être.

And CIRS, now two years old, has already published its actual performance data — revealing some good and some not-so-good results.

In gestation Dr. John Robinson, a geography professor and director of the UBC Sustainability Initiative at UBC, had a vision for the project over a decade ago. Robinson was named Canada’s Environmental Scientist of the Year by Canadian Geographic magazine in 2012, and he was a lead author in the last three reports of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He spearheaded CIRS' realization with lead architect Peter Busby, who, together with his firm Perkins + Will, has designed many of Canada’s greenest buildings. A Member of the Order of Canada (2005), Busby helped found the Canada Green Building Council and was recently its chair.

The CIRS project took a winding path that at one time involved several local academic institutions and a different campus site. But after 12 years in gestation, the building opened officially in November 2011 on “Sustainability Street” off the West Mall at UBC’s Point Grey campus. The CIRS building is now wholly owned by UBC and run by the UBC Properties Trust. The construction cost was $23 million.

Consisting of two four-storey wings connected by a central atrium and lobby, the building is about 80% occupied.

Inside its walls labour 120 researchers and students, from the UBC Campus Sustainability Office and other UBC departments, as well as an office of BC Hydro. continued on page 20

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continued from page 19

Ambitious goals The goals for CIRS were ambitious. It was intended to be “net positive” in energy, producing zero carbon emissions.

It generates power by photovoltaic cells and captures heat from solar collectors. It harvests waste heat from the adjacent Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS) building and uses geothermal energy. It was also to be self-reliant in water, and would treat and recycle its wastewater.

Daylighting reduces the need for electric lighting. And the structure is mostly wood, sequestering about 600 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2e) greenhouse gases and providing a warm aesthetic for the occupants. It has a green roof.

Windows can be opened, allowing the occupants to enjoy fresh air when weather permits, while the atrium exhausts air by stack effect through vents in the curtain walls and the roof skylight. This natural ventilation is combined with mechanical ventilation and hydronic radiant panels. A second air handling unit supplies heated and cooled air to the 450seat auditorium, distributing it below the seats.

To see how the systems are performing, you only have to view a large screen in the lobby. The screen relays the information collected by the building automation system from 3,000 monitoring points throughout the building.

CIRS Design Client: UBC Properties Trust. Architect: Perkins+Will.

Structural: Fast + Epp. Mechanical-electrical: Stantec.

Civil: Core Group. Geotechnical: Trow; Envelope: Morrison Hershfield. Code: LMDG. Landscape: PWL. Construction mangement: Heatherbrae.

Results so far?

After two years is CIRS fulfilling the model predictions?

How is the "experiment" going?

Alberto Cayuela, P.Eng., the Associate Director of CIRS and the UBC Sustainability Initiative, replies: “We are happy, but not as happy as we could be. There is a long list of systems that are working very well, but a few items need to be tweaked.”

The CIRS Performance Data for the 12 months from April 2102 to April 2013 showed its energy performance was considerably below what was predicted. The measured annual electricity use for the year was 755 MWh, compared to the predicted use according to the models of 585 MWh. The amount of heat CIRS harvested from the exhaust ventilation of the adjacent EOS building was measured at actually 147 MWh, whereas it had been predicted to extract 906 MWh. The heat CIRS transfers back to the EOS building was 128 MWh, compared to a predicted 600 MWh. The report noted: "These numbers have resulted in system investigation that uncovered discrepancies between the design intent for the building and the installed components."

The 30-well geothermal field had provided 42,500 kWh of total heating energy, and 50,700 kWh of cooling energy to the building. In this case the web site does not provide figures for comparison with computer models.

CIRS water use for the year was 2,256,000 litres. This was less than the calculated demand of 2,377,000 litres, but the water was all drawn from the municipal supply connection.

What had happened to the goal of self-sufficiency? Apparently “issues [were] encountered that have thus far prevented the building from operating solely from its own rainwater and reclaimed water treatment facility.”

Photos: Martin Tessler

Photos: Martin Tessler

Left: photovoltaic shades on the atrium roof. Right: wood was used throughout the building; some of the structure is assembled with mechanical connections for easy dismantling.

continued on page 22

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CIRS Building Manual

buildings

continued from page 20

Energy Exchange System Existing Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS) Building Heat exchangers capture thermal energy from the EOS fume hoods Heat is returned back to EOS to pre-heat the air for space ventilation

Radiant panels heat ventilation air that is distributed through the underfloor air delivery system.

30 vertical, geo-exchange wells Heat pumps upgrade heat from the geo-exchange wells and the EOS heat exchangers

The above results are shown at (http://cirs.ubc.ca/ sites/cirs.ubc.ca/files/pageUploads/CIRS%20Performance%20Data%20Summary%20(1).pdf). (Just recently, data for August-October 2013 have been added to the site.)

Getting back on track Cayuela knows what has hindered CIRS’ energy performance and he has plans to put it back on track.

He’s still proud of perhaps CIRS’ most unique system: the heat exchange with the EOS building. CIRS draws off waste heat using heat exchangers on the EOS building’s fume hoods, upgrades the heat to around 18°C using heat pumps, and then sends it back to EOS as 40°C water.

“Although we’re not sending to the building next door the amount of heat that we thought we would,” says Cayuela, “the heat that we are sending to that building reduces its demand for natural gas. It [the energy transfer] doesn’t yet offset CIRS’ own emissions because we’re still tweaking the system, but it results in us contributing directly to reducing emissions on campus — which is something quite unprecedented. Usually you’re not planning buildings in this kind of symbiotic relationship, where one building can feed another building with waste heat and then can get the heat returned and upgraded to reduce its own demand for fossil fuels.”

He explains why the system isn’t up to par: “The original intent was that we would send the heat from our building directly into the heating coils of the air handling units of the EOS building. But unfortunately the EOS building has a

very old HVAC system, designed and built, I believe, in the late 1970s, so it was not possible to do that. So CIRS’ engineers used a different solution, which is to add a make-up air unit on the roof. Our energy is being delivered back to EOS as preconditioned air, rather than directly into the heating coils of that building, which is reducing the amount of heat which that building can accept from us. So what we’re going to do when those HVAC units in that building are replaced in the next year or so is put all our heat directly into heating coils and not into an air make-up unit.”

“So we know what the problem is and we have a solution, but we just have not been able to implement it yet,” he says.

Cayuela and the CIRS on-site expert are tweaking other systems, such as adding sensors for the emergency lighting in staircases so that it doesn’t have to be on permanently but still meets the building code. And they are optimizing the solar hot water and photovoltaic systems which haven’t produced as much energy as predicted. Right now CIRS is using 25-30% more energy than was targeted, but Cayuela says that with the planned adjustments and optimizations: “I’m hoping that we are going to be within 10% of the modelled energy use within six months or so.”

Water and wastewater systems not up and running An investment of around $250,000 was made to install an on-site rainwater treatment system and a biofilter wastewater treatment system to make the building self-sufficient for continued on page 24

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A

continued from page 22

Th

Like a Meccano set and never obsolete Despite the teething problems, CIRS has many positive green building features that are working well.

“I think the overall indoor air quality and indoor environmental quality is quite outstanding,” says Cayuela. “This is the area we are probably the most proud of. The amount of daylight that is available in all areas of the building [100% of the occupants have access to daylight and individual control over their conditions], the fact that we can have natural ventilation for a good chunk of the year, and that it is a building made of wood with a simple but very pleasant indoor environment, have been noted by people who work in the building and visitors alike. The first comment we always get from visitors is, “Oh how bright, cosy, warm and nice it feels to be in this building.”

“And because it has a wood structure, a wood facade, and a lot of the other finishes and systems are made of wood, the building is able to capture and store more carbon than was actually needed during the construction of the facility. This is a very ingenious way of making sure that every building — at least in principle — can become an engine of carbon sequestration in itself.”

Buildings create a massive amount of landfill and embodied energy waste as their components have to be replaced and when they are eventually demolished. Not so CIRS. “We pushed the envelope with the idea that when the building reaches the end of its useful life it can be dismantled rather than demolished, and most of the components can be repurposed,” says Cayuela. “So the building was built as a Meccano set. There is concrete and rebar of course in the basement and in a couple of shear walls, but for the most part the building was assembled using cranes, with mechanical connections joining beams and columns and floor modules. The idea is that the building is a process, not a product; it can change over time; it can be reconfigured; and using the plug and play concept, systems can replace other systems over time so the building never becomes obsolete; it’s always fresh, it’s always relevant.”

That durability has benefits for owners, Cayuela explains. “For an owner, maintaining and upgrading your facility are huge costs. So if you can reduce those costs by 24

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Photos: Martin Tessler

water. Neither of these systems is functioning yet.

Cayuela explains the problem with the wastewater treatment system: “We’re still working with building operations to finalize how we’re going to operate this plant. There have been issues with deficiencies in the systems that have not been corrected to their satisfaction. There have been issues around the training and certification of the operators. I think that it is a much more complex problem than we had anticipated at the beginning of the project. We have a solution that we’re going to be implementing for 2014, but we’re still about three months away from being able to fully utilize the system.”

Above: building on "Sustainability Street" at UBC. Louvers, living walls and solar shades are attached to the facades.

having a facility that is easily reconfigurable and in which operating costs are lower because it doesn’t rely on fossil fuels, and where you don’t pay any carbon taxes or any mandatory CO2 offsets associated with the operation of the building, that makes the business case very compelling.

Although you pay a premium in construction because the sustainable features still cost more, you recover that premium in a reasonable time.”

Ivana Zelenika is a Ph.D candidate at UBC, studying with CIRS and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. She may be biased, but she has only praise for her working environment. “My favourite features are the amount of natural light that comes into offices throughout the year and the recovered wood interior ceilings and exposed structural beams. The air circulation and acoustics are also very good.”

And the benefits of green building are manifold. “It is interesting to note the affect a green building can have on our psyche and behaviour,” Zelenika says. “Just being aware that one is in a green building can make one feel different. It is something commented on by students. There has also been a study that showed exemplary high recycling rates at the CIRS cafe, which is frequented by a diverse community of students, staff and faculty during lunchtimes.” The change, she says, “has been attributed to people behaving more sustainably just by knowing that CIRS is a green building.”

So far then the building as "experiment" is proving a success at the human interaction level, even though from the point of view of its system performance, it still has a way to go to achieve its goals. But after all, if everything had been perfect with the building from the beginning, what lessons would it have been able to teach?

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energy management

By Jean-Philippe Morin, ing. and Laurier Nichols, ing., Dessau

When Metro decided to build a new food storage warehouse near Montreal, its consulting engineers played a critical role in analyzing and selecting from different refrigeration systems.

Engineered Refrigeration Systems

F

the energy cost to operate a refrigeration plant.

This article shows the several features implemented in a large refrigerated facility and the role that needs to be played by consulting engineers during a performancebased call for tenders.

Metro’s mandate With annual sales over $11 billion and 65,000 employees, Metro is a leader in the food and pharmaceutical sectors and the largest food distribution company in Quebec. Across the province and Ontario Metro operates a network of more than 600 food stores as well as 250 drugstores.

To improve the delivery and distri-

bution of its fruits, vegetables and dairy products in the Montreal metropolitan area, Metro built a large warehouse in Laval, just north of Montreal. The warehouse and docks facility covers 22,300 m² (240,000 sq.ft.), measuring 221 x 100 metres.

Added to the main floor area are the offices covering an additional 2,150 m². The reception and loading docks have to accommodate 50 trucks at the same time.

To assist Metro with the project, Dessau was mandated to carry out a preliminary study, prepare a performance based call for tenders, as well as carry out site supervision.

Metro believes that it has a duty to respect and protect the environment

Photo: Metro

ew consulting engineers are specialized in refrigeration systems design. Unfortunately, this shortage means there is a lack of independent expertise to support clients in the food distribution and processing fields when it is time for them to acquire a refrigeration system.

For this reason these clients often lean toward turnkey refrigeration projects, awarded through a performance-based call for tenders. However, with the global trend for better efficiency and the several incentives available from electricity utilities, it is more important than ever to analyze refrigeration systems and how they can be improved. Some improvements could lead to a 50% saving in

Above: Metro food warehouse under construction.

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energy management

and has been working for 15 years to continuously improve its environmental record. Each year the company conducts environmental audit in all its Quebec and Ontario warehouses.

Energy efficiency in the new warehouse was therefore essential.

Conditions for storing fresh produce At the beginning of the analysis of a refrigeration project, the engineer must evaluate the several loads associated with the architectural, mechanical, electrical, stored products and operations in the facility, along with the different storage temperature requirements. The charts show the refrigeration load distribution per component and per building area.

In this case, the internal gains are the most important contributors of the total refrigeration load. They include heat gains from the lighting, handling equipment, evaporator fans, as well as occupants. The major portion of this load comes from the lighting and handling equipment.

The total refrigeration load of the building was evaluated at 3,343 kW (951 tons), including a 560-kW (160 TR) allowance required for 20 ripening rooms (11 double and 9 single) used mostly for bananas, as well as 210 kW (60 TR) to refrigerate the battery chargers room, which had to remain cool for logistical reasons. Once the several refrigeration loads were properly assessed, the design of a reference refrigeration system was developed.

Since each room is to hold specific categories of products, ambient temperature varies in the warehouse from slightly over freezing point at 0.5°C,

Distribution of loads per component

8.3%

9.1%

11.2%

3.3% 5.8%

13.1%

49.2% Conduction

Infiltration

Inter. Grains

Refrigeration

Respiration

Defrost

SF

up to a more elevated temperate of 13°C. Relative humidity ranges from 80% to 95%. Therefore, the temperature difference (TD) between ambient air and coil surface was selected carefully. A smaller TD would require additional coil surface, while a bigger TD means greater air dehumidification. Excessive dehumidification causes an increase in the defrost requirements, as well as potential losses for the company, which sells produce by the weight.

After a detailed analysis the design team chose to develop a dual loop system, with two distribution temperatures: −4 °C for colder rooms and 2°C for higher temperate sectors and ripening rooms.

Many options were possible in terms of refrigeration system configuration.

The final choice was based on cost, overall plant efficiency and safety considerations. After carrying out several preliminary selections and energy modeling, the system developed for the performance-based call for tenders included two groups of compressors serving each loop, and discharging to a single condenser. The high temperature group would also be used to carry out sub-cooling for the refrigerant fed to the lower temperature evaporators.

Tender process allowed contractors to innovate It is important to understand the role of the consulting engineers in the continued on page 28

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continued from page 27

• Ammonia, carbon dioxide or R-507; • Multiple or centralized, dry or evaporative condensing units.

The amount of important data to manage makes the process of awarding the contract a hard task for an inexperienced person, who may lean toward choosing the least expensive proposal.

This is where the owner needs to rely on experienced consulting engineers to help in selecting the best option to suit its needs. The chart on page 29 shows relative prices and operating costs relating to the proposals from the different contractors.

process of awarding a contract to a refrigeration contractor. For this project, we developed a reference design with all the details that should be included to achieve a performing building. Then, during the tender period, each contractor was invited to propose its own refrigeration design or follow the reference design. Once awarded, the winning contractor took the professional engagement to meet the performance requirement and liability for the proposed system.

The tender process left latitude to the different contractors to propose innovative designs for the refrigeration process. During the tender period, Metro received a total of nine different proposals for the refrigeration system, including almost every technology and configuration possible: • Single stage, cascade, direct or indirect systems; • Single or dual loop, using direct expansion refrigerant, pumped refrigerant or pumped secondary fluid;

Analyzing and selecting from options The analysis of the several alternatives was not an easy task considering the impact of each system on the supervision requirements, maintenance cost, total refrigerant charge, operating conditions, defrost method, the durability of the installation, the reliability of the compressors, the potential en-

Distribution of loads per rooms

13.6%

5.0% 1.8%

14.7% 10.5%

9.3%

10.8%

14.2% 20.2%

28

Dairy

35°F Dry

32°F Wet

Docks 35°F

45°F Dry

55°F Dry

Bananas

Batteries

Docks 55°F

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ergy efficiency improvement, and financial subsidies, etc.

In the end and following Dessau’s recommendations, Metro selected neither the cheapest nor the most energy efficient system, but the one that scored the best with regard to the selection criteria.

Single stage ammonia refrigeration with pumped liquid CO2 The selected design is a single stage ammonia refrigeration system with pumped liquid CO2. This configuration has the advantage of a lower ammonia charge (compared to a pumped liquid ammonia system) and the system is confined within the mechanical room. This aspect reduces greatly the risk of a potential leak, which was a major concern for Metro.

Two liquid CO2 circuits, −4 °C and 2°C, are pumped in the evaporators supplying cold in the different sectors of the warehouse. The liquid CO2 is cooled by a shell and plates, condensing the CO2 on one side and evaporating the ammonia on the other side.

Mono screw compressors reject compressed gas at 1,144 kPa (and 32 °C condensing temperature). In order to get the best out of the selected design in terms of energy efficiency, the compressors are divided in two groups (low and high temperature) and the plate heat exchangers were oversized to minimize the temperature difference between what is required inside the evaporators and the saturated suction temperature (SST), which has a positive impact on the compressors’ performances.

What contributed most to energy savings?

The most interesting energy efficiency improvement that was implemented is the adjustment of condensation pressure along with outside temperature.

Out of a total 10,700,000 kWh consumption for a standard plant, this energy efficiency measure generates savings estimated to be 1,000,000

January/February 2014

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energy management kWh. Another major improvement is the liquid sub-cooling achieved at a higher evaporation pressure through a secondary suction port on the screw compressors. In this case, liquid subcooling generates savings ranging around 500,000 kWh. The most important contributor to energy savings is the selection of more efficient compressors. For a particular application some compressors could have a coefficient of performance (COP) 50% higher than non-efficient compressors. It is very important to ask for performance data from compressor manufacturers. This concept, together with an improved lighting performance in the building, generates a 5,560,000 kWh saving for the whole building. The reference building’s expected consumption is 14,000,000 kWh, while the expected energy consumption of the new Metro warehouse is 8,440,000 kWh. It is an energy savings of 39.7% when compared to the reference building.

Benefits of final concept The final concept shows better energy efficiency and uses natural refrigerants, which help to minimize greenhouse gases emissions related to energy production and fugitive emissions. Metro is also acting as a responsible citizen in that the selected system minimizes the potential risk inherent to keeping hazardous substances in facilities.

A

Price

B

Operation cost

C D E F G H I 50%

100%

150%

Above: relative prices and operating costs of different proposals received from contractors.

The new facility meets Metro’s expectations and the performancebased call for tenders gave the owner a chance to peek into different engineers’ heads before choosing the manufacturer/contractor who would design its refrigeration system.

In retrospect, contractors also benefit through this process, since the consulting engineers had the ability to identify the value added in the different proposals. This approach allows the contractors more room for innovation, instead of being condemned to develop designs strictly based on price. Even without doing the actual design of the system, Dessau as the consulting engineer had a

major impact toward the success of this project, thanks to its expertise in refrigeration systems.

CCE Jean-Philippe Morin, ing., P.Eng., CMVPIT and Laurier Nichols, ing., P.E., AP LEED BD+C, ASHRAE Fellow, are both with Dessau in Montreal.

Owner/client: Metro Prime consultant, refrigeration: Dessau (Laurier Nichols, ing., JeanPhilippe Morin, ing.)

Refrigeration contractor: CIMCO Architects: TLA architects HVAC consulting engineer: Equation General contractor: Vergo Construction (including JCF architects, Meconair, CLA)

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200%

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power

AFTER THE F

photo credit goes here

When floods ravaged southern Alberta last June, electrical service to numerous buildings was compromised.

Consulting engineers were called in to quickly assess equipment and get systems back up and running.

Above: looking downtown from Riverfront Avenue in Calgary during the June 2013 floods.

W

hen people think of the Canadian Prairies, images of golden hued grasslands rolling endlessly into the horizon most likely come to mind. But on June 19, 2013, this peaceful vision changed forever when the prairie landscapes were over-swept with raging waters surging from every direction. This was the day that a significant portion of southern Alberta experienced one of the most disruptive storm events in Canadian history, In the days leading up to the flooding, torrential rainfalls set in motion a catastrophe that resulted in lives lost, prop30

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Photo by Ryal L.C. Quan, Wikipedia Commons.

erty and residences damaged, and billions of dollars of destruction. Dubbed “the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history,� the deluge forced hundreds of thousands of Albertans and businesses to flee their communities and seek refuge on higher, drier land. In a matter of days, over 350 millimetres of rain poured down, causing the city of Calgary, the towns of High River and Canmore, and nine other municipalities to declare a state of emergency.

The floods ravaged countless buildings, city blocks, and entire city subdivisions. As a result, many buildings were shut

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power

E FLOODS

BY LANA WINTERFIELD, WILLIAMS ENGINEERING CANADA

Left: cleaning up at the Kitamba café, Calgary Zoo. This area of the zoo that is located on an island in the Bow River was inundated from three sides.

Above: Dr. Clément Lanthier, president of the Calgary Zoo, surveys the damage by canoe.

Photos courtesy Calgary Zoo.

down or closed due to lack of access, and as safety precautions.

Electrical services were also interrupted to the majority of the larger buildings located within the flood affected areas. Either the equipment or hydro supply had been shut down by the flood waters, or it had been shut down manually as a precaution prior to flooding.

Effect on building power systems Calgary’s downtown core was hit especially hard as many hydro service underground substation transformers were flooded, which affected multiple buildings. Also, most buildings have their main distribution equipment located at basement level, so the flooding affected their power and equipment.

As the high waters slowly subsided, buildings required assessment and planning for repairs. Damage was extensive, and consulting engineers were called in to help restore power and get the building systems back up and running.

The components that required review included: • Underground service conduits and ducts • Power distribution equipment • Emergency generators and equipment

• Receptacles and other power connections • Mechanical equipment and connections • Lighting on lower flooded levels and lighting control equipment • Life safety devices such as batteries, remote heads, and exit signage • Fire alarm systems and devices • Communication services and equipment • Security systems and equipment • Audio visual equipment and devices.

One of the after-effects of the flood was damage to equipment from debris and contaminants in the flood water. As the waters crept higher, dirt and residue shifted and sewage began to back up in some areas, which introduced bacteria such as E. coli into the environment. Also, prolonged exposure to flood waters and humidity potentially affects the operation and lifespan of equipment due to corrosion and oxidation. Every one of these factors had to be taken into consideration during the building investigation process to ensure that all scenarios were reviewed, explored, and that any final decisions would assure safety for the building occupants. continued on page 32 January/February 2014

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power

continued from page 31

Below are two projects where Williams Engineering Canada was involved in helping facilities to restore their power systems after the flooding.

The Calgary Zoo The flood-ravaged Calgary Zoo relocated over 150 of its animals into temporary accommodations and several buildings were closed.

Consisting of two main sections, the zoo has a mainland northern zone and a southern island that is surrounded by river water. This island was flooded from all sides and the majority of it was covered with water, so the main power service to the island was shut down.

In order to expedite the repairs, public access was restricted, and it took nearly five months to fully reopen the park. Significant water damage had occurred to electrical, plumbing, and various support systems in the facilities.

Williams Engineering Canada was involved in the investigation of 11 buildings that required their equipment replaced, including the animal shelter, cafeterias and eateries, gathering places, information centres, interactive displays, offices and meeting rooms.

To accommodate the many buildings, phased repairs, and available staff, a systematic approach coordinated with the Calgary Zoo was applied to each area and facility.

The work consisted of investigating every building to assess how the flood affected it overall, followed by a review of each system and its components to establish what required replacement.

High River Field House The Field House in the town of High River is an addition to an existing recreation centre. The building was in the initial construction stages and minimal electrical work was completed prior to the flood.

Damage to the expansion was fairly minor, but it included flooding in empty underground conduits and a partially submerged main switchboard. The conduits could be drained and no major switchboard components were submerged, which ensured that they could be cleaned and reused.

Unfortunately, additional damage occurred to the portable storage bays that contained all the uninstalled components. Water filled the storage containers to a depth of approximately 150 millimetres, which resulted in humidity and condensation. Passive components and sealed devices could be cleaned and used, but submerged devices required replacement. In addition, a few site luminaires were carried away by the flood waters. The damages were minimal in cost, but the project schedule was affected.

Preventing flood damage in the future?

We cannot perfectly predict the impact or possibility of a natural disaster, but we can plan for and consider long‑term 32

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"We can plan for long-term solutions that may mitigate the risk of damage should a comparable flood inflict havoc on Canada's prairie provinces ever again."

solutions that may mitigate the risk of damage should a comparable flood inflict havoc on Canada’s prairie provinces ever again. A few options are being examined.

As an engineering firm, we can consider relocating major equipment, which is now typically located in building basement and arcade levels, to locations above ground.

However, this option may not be desirable as it would mean occupying potential revenue-earning lease space.

We can also ensure adequate pumping equipment is installed to remove any excess water, which can eliminate or reduce localized flooding. This solution, however, can only provide limited support as water will typically be pumped back into the sewers, which may back up during larger flooding events and possibly cycle back into the building.

“Tanking” the rooms would require building a sealed room or enclosure that has access from the top of the room.

Flood water would only fill this area once the level had reached the top access hatch. The downside is that this scenario would create difficulties when installing or replacing major equipment.

Redundant systems, which are split and located in different areas and pathways of the building, will secure the operation of at least part of the building during an emergency.

The above solutions are not ideal, as they introduce some combination of larger space requirements, higher costs, or scheduling issues. Still, they are options that should be considered to reduce a building’s exposure to flood water damage.

The Alberta flood of 2013 will continue to have longterm impacts for many residents, but communities are pulling together, and we are on the road to recovery. Nearly eight months after the waters receded, the rebuilding continues, and Williams Engineering Canada is proud to be providing engineering support to help bring life back to these communities.

CCE Lana Winterfield is the communications advisor for Williams Engineering Canada, whose head office is in Edmonton, Alberta.

Editor’s note. Besides Williams Engineering Canada, many other consulting engineering firms have been involved in the clean-up efforts in southern Alberta, which involved a wide range of work including civil engineering assessments and remediation of bridges, water treatment plants, etc. The firms, including Williams Engineering, did some of this work pro bono.

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business

Overcoming the Memory Gap As babyboomers retire, a vast amount of invaluable company knowledge goes out of the door with them. To overcome that deficit, consulting engineers need to take action now.

By Bryan Leach P.Eng.

©wildpixel/iStock/Thinkstock

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hese days we hear plenty in the media about the impact of retiring baby boomers and the growing skills shortage. The Mining Industry Resources Council, for example, has said that about 40 per cent of the resource extraction industry’s workforce is at least 50 years old and one third of them are expected to retire by 2022. Similar skills shortages will be experienced in the construction sector when the current infrastructure deficit is addressed.

Many engineering companies are failing to recognize — let alone address — the significant loss of corporate memory and source of competitive advantage that their retiring baby boomer managers and staff represent.

Recently, I had the opportunity to quantify this potential loss of corporate memory due to the impending retirement of baby boomers from the Canadian arm of an international consulting engineering company. The investigation focused on the 39 senior professional engineers and scientists on staff who were 60 years of age or older and could potentially retire within the next five years.

It was assumed that all of these 39 senior staff members started their professional careers at age 25 years, so they collectively represented a professional experience of 1,479 years, of which 1,068 years was with the subject organization. On average, the group of senior professionals was 62.8 years of age and had 35.3 years of professional experience, of which 27.4 years was with the subject organization. What organization could afford to lose over a millennia of organizational memory in five years, and still maintain its competitive advantage in the marketplace?

The hourglass of corporate knowledge Not all the accumulated skill, knowledge and experience of a company’s retiring senior professionals is of equal value to a firm. The key to managing the transfer of knowledge from this group is to first identify the knowledge assets that constitute the company’s source of competitive advantage in the marketplace, and in whose heads these knowledge assets reside.

Key knowledge assets are those that are somewhat unique in the marketplace, are difficult to replicate and that add value to the clients’ businesses. In many instances the key knowledge assets are in the form of tacit knowledge (know-how) that is difficult to articulate in formal language and involves intangible factors that cannot be placed in manuals and databases. The challenge is to effect the transfer of these key knowledge assets to the next generation.

Knowledge management in engineering organizations was described in the February 2013 edition of the New Civil Engineer as being analogous to an “hour glass with graduates at the bottom, experts at the top and a narrow, damaging bottleneck in the middle.” Companies need to address this bottleneck to enable the flow of their key knowledge assets to the younger generations on which the future success of the organization will depend.

In the company I studied, two of the methods used to effect knowledge transfer are (a) encouraging senior staff to write articles to be posted in a database that can be accessed by all employees through the organization’s intranet; and (b) encouraging senior staff to share their knowledge by acting as facilitators for in-house training

Bryan Leach, P.Eng.is a principal of Imparando Consulting of Calgary, a company that helps organizations learn. Trained in geology and geological engineering, he has a certificate in adult and workplace learning and a Master's degree in continuing education.

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business programs. However, investigations revealed that in actuality of the 39 potentially retiring senior professionals, only three had contributed a total of nine articles to this database, with one individual contributing six of the articles. Furthermore, very few of these retirees were actively participating in the in-house training programs as facilitators.

Clearly in this case, the bottleneck is very narrow.

Removing the bottleneck The removal of the information bottleneck requires active knowledge management that may take three forms, as follows: • Implementing cultural change to promote, recognize and reward knowledge sharing. Cultural change involves appealing to intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivations to share knowledge.

• Capture and storage programs.

These tend to focus on explicit knowledge (know-what). The knowledge can be articulated in formal language, mathematical expressions, specifications and manuals, and it can be stored in a database. Capture and storage projects suffer from the fact that when people in an organization are seeking information or knowledge, they are far more likely to seek out a knowledgeable individual rather than turn to a library or database. Consequently, in capturing and sharing the baby boomers' key knowledge assets you need to focus on the access and transfer of tacit knowledge at the individual level by implementing or enhancing mentoring, coaching, cognitive apprenticeship programs, and fostering communities of practice.

• Facilitating access to and transfer of knowledge at the personal level.

Access and transfer programs require knowing who processes knowledge valuable to the organization (knowledge possessors); ensuring that these knowledge possessors are accessible; encouraging knowledge

possessors to share and collaborate with knowledge seekers; and reassuring the knowledge seekers that it is safe to access the knowledge possessors. All these considerations are influenced by the prevailing corporate culture with respect to knowledge

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

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2014 CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEERING AWARDS PRIX CANADIENS DU GÉNIE-CONSEIL 2014

CALL FOR ENTRIES CANADA’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS MARK OF RECOGNITION FOR ENGINEERING PROJECTS 46TH YEAR The Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards are given annually to projects that demonstrate a high quality of engineering, imagination and innovation.

Now in their 46th year, the awards are the most prestigious mark of recognition for consulting engineers in Canada.

This is a joint program of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies - Canada (ACEC) and Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine.

Entries are invited in English or French.

DIVERSE CATEGORIES TECHNICAL A. Buildings B. Transportation C. Water Resources

D. Environmental Remediation E. Natural Resources, Mining, Industry, Energy F. Special Projects

NON-TECHNICAL G. Project Management H. International I. Community Outreach & In-House Initiatives

20 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE + SPECIAL AWARDS! Up to 20 Awards of Excellence will be given. In addition, up to five Special Achievement Awards will be designated by the jury from among projects entered in all categories. These include the Schreyer Award (Prix Schreyer) for the best technical entry, and the Tree for Life Award (Prix Un arbre à aimer) for outstanding environmental stewardship.

DEADLINES Stage 1 Notice of Intention to Enter / Avis d’intention de présenter un projet: Tuesday, March 25 with entry fee $350.00 + $45.50 HST/TVH. Stages 2 & 3: Tuesday, April 15 & Thursday April 17.

MORE INFORMATION & ENTRY FORMS Visit the Awards section of Canadian Consulting Engineer’s website, http://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/awards/forms.aspx Or call Bronwen Parsons, Editor, Canadian Consulting Engineer, tel. 416-510-5119, e-mail bparsons@ccemag.com

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standards

WHICH TO CHOOSE ASHRAE 90.1-2010 or NECB 2011?

Building designers in British Columbia and other provinces now have to choose between two different energy compliance paths — a decision which can sometimes be complicated.

By Kyle Hasenkox, Rocky Point Engineering

so some understanding of the differences will become “need to know” information for design professionals, contractors and owners. The intent of this article is not to suggest which path to choose, but to discuss a few of the differences.

NECB 2011 (National Energy Code for Buildings, 2011) was developed by the National Research Council of Canada and volunteers from industry to provide minimum requirements for the design and construction of energy efficient buildings in Canada.

ASHRAE 90.1 (full name “ANSI/ ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2010 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings”) is published by ASHRAE, the international association focused on advancing building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability. Written by a large group of members worldwide, ASHRAE 90.1-2010 is complex with specific requirements and exceptions for various applications. The goal of

this standard was to cover the full range of construction approaches.

While there is a debate that ASHRAE 90.1 may be over complicated; it can also be argued that NECB does not have enough complexity, leaving ambiguity and potential challenges in interpretation.

Climate zones One area in which the compliance paths differ is in how the climate zones are defined. NECB is defined by degree days and broken into 1000 heating degree-day increments. (A heating degree day (HDD) is defined as the number of days the outside temperature is below the indoor set point temperature; for standard room temperatures these are defined in the building codes under climatic data.)ASHRAE uses a more complex system to define climate zones, intended to include heating, cooling, solar angle and latent loads.

Climate zones for Canada are de-

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A

s of December 20, 2013 the British Columbia Building Code incorporated a fairly substantial addendum that requires complex buildings (buildings other than housing and small buildings) to conform to either ASHRAE 90.1-2010 or the NECB 2011. Before this addendum, the BCBC referenced only ASHRAE 90.1-2004. The change to the two new alternate compliance paths is intended to reduce energy use, which all would likely agree is commendable.

However, it will have an impact on construction requirements.

Like B.C., other Canadian provinces are choosing to reference either, or both, of these energy compliance paths in their building codes, but many building designers and building officials wonder which to adopt. Although the paths are similar, there are differences that can factor into which is the pragmatic path. The entire design team has to follow the same path and will likely need to determine which one early in the design process,

continued on page 39

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fire protection

By Chad Duffy National Fire Protection Association

Stationary Pumps New Requirements

The 2013 edition of the NFPA 20 standard includes important changes for stationary fire pumps, including additional protection for “very tall buildings."

N

FPA 20, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection, provides requirements for the selection and installation of fire pumps. NFPA 20 is employed when a project’s parameters, i.e. there is no available water supply, or a hydraulic analysis of an available water supply, dictates the need for a fire pump.

In the annual revision cycle of NFPA 20, 264 proposals and 135 comments were received and taken into account in the changes to the 2013 edition of NFPA 20.

This article focuses on some key changes of the 2013 edition and assumes that readers have a basic understanding of water-based suppression systems, NFPA 20, and the role of NFPA in establishing these requirements.

©Sziban/iStock/Thinkstock

Other pumps “Other pumps” has been removed from the standard, clarifying that only fire pumps listed as such can be used for fire protection. The provision of “other pumps” had allowed for the use of pumps having different design features other than those specified in the standard provided they were listed by a testing laboratory. This provision was often misinterpreted to mean that it allowed any electric motor-driven pump as a fire pump.

Water flow test data Where a water flow test is used to determine the adequacy of the water supply, NFPA 20 now requires the test to be performed within 12 38

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months prior to the fire pump plan submittal, unless permitted otherwise by the authority having jurisdiction. This change aligns NFPA 20 with the requirements of NFPA 13 and NFPA 14. Additionally, this new criteria is due to the concern that if older test data were to be used it may not reflect the current water supply conditions, resulting in the possible discovery of insufficient discharge pressures to meet system demands during the acceptance test.

Equipment protection NFPA 20 requires the fire protection of pump rooms or pump houses and is summarized in table 4.12.1.1.2.

The addition of new annex language for the “Not Sprinklered” column of the table clarifies a common misinterpretation that sprinklers can be omitted from a fire pump room in a fully sprinklered building. The intent of the “Not Sprinklered” column is to provide guidance for unsprinklered buildings.

Where a fire pump room is located internally and without access from the exterior of a building, NFPA 20 requires an access passageway protected with a fire-resistive rating. Additionally, NFPA 20 requires that a pump operator respond to a fire pump room upon activation of the fire pump. The passageway provides the operator a safe means of access. Previous editions required a 2-hour rating for the passageway, which was sometimes in excess of the fire pump room rating, but now the two ratings are aligned.

Water flow test devices When a flow meter is used in a looped arrangement for annual flow testing of the fire pump, the 2013 edition requires that an additional means of measuring flow be provided. This additional measure has to be located downstream of the flow meter so that it may be used to verify the accuracy of the flow meter.

Test header control valve The previous edition of NFPA 20 required a control valve on a test header only when it was located outside or at a distance from the pump and there was danger of freezing. The 2013 edition revised this section, requiring a control valve in all test header installations. Additionally, a drain valve or ball drip needs to be installed on the test header piping at the lowest point between the control valve and the header. Without the control valve, test header piping would be under system operating pressure up to the header.

There are two concerns: first that someone can open the test header hose valves and use them for non-fire protection use; second the safety of those performing the pump test when connecting the hose to the test header hose valves.

Very tall buildings “Very tall buildings” is a new concept introduced in Chapter 5, Fire Pumps for High-Rise Buildings, of the 2013 edition. The addition of “very tall buildings” provides requirements for high-rise buildings that reach heights beyond the pumping capabilities of

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fire protection

the fire department apparatus. The reason for this is to address the possible limitations of fire department apparatus, which may be incapable of overcoming the elevation loss and friction loss in order to achieve the required pressures at the hose outlets in the building.

Due to the limitation of the fire department apparatus to provide a water supply to the upper portion of “very tall buildings,” the fire protection system needs to have additional provisions, including sufficient water supplies and fire pump redundancy.

These requirements are performance-based and not based on specific building height. The technical committee made this decision based on the fact that fire departments purchase different apparatus with different pumping capabilities.

More details To view all the changes made within the revision cycle the reader should visit the Document Information Pages for NFPA 20 at www.nfpa. org/20, Document Information tab. The Report on Proposals and Report on Comments can be found under the “Archived revision information” link.

CCE Chad Duffy is a senior fire protection specialist in the division of fire protection systems engineering at the National Fire Protection Association in Quincy, Massachusetts and staff liaison to the Technical Committee on Fire Pumps. He has 19 years’ experience in the field of fire protection systems.

standards

continued from page 37

fined in Appendix B (Table B-2.)

In both compliance paths the building performance requirements are defined by the climate zone, and in one location the requirements in one standard might be more stringent than in the other. For example, Victoria is ASHRAE zone 5c and NECB zone 4, while Nanaimo, which is 100 kilometres away, is ASHRAE Zone 5c but NECB zone 5. Therefore, when deciding which path to follow the climate zone must be reviewed.

Space classifications Another area of ambiguity is the classification of spaces. For example, the NECB 2011 does not define a semiheated space (warehouses, factories etc.). In ASHRAE 90.1 a semi-heated space is defined and has reduced requirements resulting in lower construction costs. While the NECB Uvalue requirements may be avoided using an energy simulation of the envelope, such an approach adds complexity and cost and would fall under the discretion of the authority having jurisdiction.

Although the structure of the compliance paths is similar, ASHRAE 90.1 contains a number of mandatory provisions that must be followed regardless of the path chosen. In the NECB, nearly all requirements are prescriptive and don’t need to be followed, but if followed are like a checklist to compliance. Alternatively, if it can be shown that equivalent performance can be met in other ways, the building is deemed to comply. While ASHRAE 90.1 mandatory requirements are typically good design practice, there can be some challenges in meeting them in specific applications. A good example of this is the mandatory requirement in many applications for vestibules in new construction.

Energy cost vs. energy use The most significant difference between the compliance paths is the baseline of net energy cost versus net

energy use. ASHRAE 90.1 was first written in 1975 as a response to the energy crisis and is based on an energy cost basis. The NECB was written to reduce energy consumption and therefore does not look at cost but rather the total energy used.

This difference impacts a large number of factors. The most direct is that ASHRAE 90.1 has various U value requirements for different construction types to balance the increase in construction costs for the increased insulation, so a wood wall would have a higher insulation requirement than a mass wall. The NECB looks at building envelope performance, so only the calculated U Value is considered in compliance and has the same requirement for all construction types. The construction type needs to be reviewed when selecting the compliance path as some assemblies may be costly to insulate to the required values.

Both paths are similar in that you can use area weighted averages to show compliance for differing assemblies and they allow for some form of trade-off on the envelope. However, in the NECB you can only trade similar planes; if you want to trade off dissimilar planes you will require an energy simulation of the envelope. In ASHRAE 90.1 envelope trade-off can be done with calculations or using a program. The NECB also allows for trade-off options in all components of the building, whereas ASHRAE does not have trade-off paths for all building system components.

Due to these and a number of factors; when deciding which standard is the more practical, the answer is simple — it’s complicated! The decision therefore needs to be discussed early in the design process.

CCE Kyle Hasenkox is a senior project manager with Rocky Point Engineering, in its Victoria, B.C. office. He is also Chapter president-elect and XI YEA Regional Coordinator with ASHRAE.

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engineers & the law

By Chad Eggerman, Miller Thomson LLP

The relationship between engineers and Builders’ Lien Acts has been misunderstood, due largely to different approaches across Canada.

Builders’ Lien Acts and Engineers

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builder’s lien is a claim for payment for goods or To what extent do engineering services constitute an services that have been supplied to improve or un- “improvement”? On the face of things, the definition seems dertake construction on real property. The lien must to suggest that there must be some type of physical interacbe registered against the title of the property on which the tion with the land in order to establish that an improvement goods or services were provided. The registration is under- has occurred. For large multi-national engineering firms taken by the local land titles office. which are often engaged in many Builders’ lien legislation in one phases of large projects (sometimes Saskatchewan's Builders’ form or another exists in all jurisdicincluding construction and construcLien Act has clarified tions and territories in Canada. Howtion management), it may not be diffiever, the lien registration deadlines cult to establish such physical interacthat an "improvement" and registration processes, holdback tion. However, for consulting engiincludes services provided provisions and other details vary beneers who often provide specialized by an engineer. tween the jurisdictions. engineering services for a single phase Moreover, the engineer’s right to of a project, establishing such physical claim a lien varies according to the jurisdiction. For exam- interaction can be problematic. A further problem for all ple, Quebec does not have specific builders’ lien legislation engineers is that their services often relate to design. While but does have provisions in the Civil Code providing for essential to the project, such services are not tangible (beconstruction hypothecs, the equivalent of a builder’s lien. yond the actual diagrams and documents) and are not diIn Quebec the legislation is clear that engineers are enti- rectly connected to the land on which the project is situated. tled to file a construction hypothec. Other jurisdictions like Saskatchewan’s Builders’ Lien Act has clarified this point Saskatchewan allow engineers to file builders’ liens by spe- and provides that an “improvement” includes services procifically including engineering services in the definition of vided by an engineer. Alberta, Ontario and the Atlantic an “improvement.” In jurisdictions such as Manitoba, the provinces have not specifically included such a clarification. legislation is clear that engineers may not file a builder’s The benefit of the Saskatchewan approach is an engilien. Jurisdictions such as Alberta, Ontario and the Atlantic neer’s clear entitlement to file a builders’ lien. The disadprovinces, have made the decision not to specifically ad- vantage is that additional administrative costs may be indress the lien rights of engineers within their legislation. curred, and the engineer’s invoices will be subject to the Given the differences in builders’ lien legislation across deduction of the holdback.

Canada as it relates to engineers, we will focus on SaskatchThe benefit of the Alberta/Ontario/Atlantic approachewan, which has a clear legislative position on this issue. es which are not clear in the applicability of the builders’ The Saskatchewan legislation, The Builders’ Lien Act, lien legislation, is that they provide an opportunity in most defines an engineer as a “professional engineer” as defined cases for the owner and engineer to agree to exclude the in the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act, and it applicability of the builders’ lien legislation. At the same includes the holder of a certificate of authorization granted time, this uncertainty creates a risk: the engineer may pursuant to this Act. incur an additional cost by having to negotiate with an Saskatchewan’s Builders’ Lien Act requires that a person owner, or litigate, to clarify whether a builder’s lien or claiming a builder’s lien must supply goods or services to an holdback is available or applicable. “improvement.” The Act defines “improvement” as a thing Because of these and other differences in builders’ lien actually or intended to be: constructed, erected, built, legislation across Canada, advice should be sought from a placed, altered, repaired, improved, added to, dug or lawyer familiar with the issues in the specific jurisdiction in CCE drilled on or into, land, except a thing that is not affixed to which the project is located. the land or intended to become part of the land. While not the most elegant legislative drafting, similar definitions of Chad Eggerman is a partner with Miller Thomson LLP in Saskatoon. Email ceggerman@millerthomson.com “improvement” are used in other jurisdictions in Canada.

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energy

By Bronwen Parsons

At the 2014 ASHRAE Winter Conference in New York City, a researcher presented findings that overturn many of our common assumptions about energy use in commercial buildings.

Surprising Disclosures ©RobertCrum/iStock/Thinkstock

O

ne of the public presentations at the ASHRAE Winter Conference in New York City outlined some surprising findings about building energy efficiency. The findings are based on data gathered during the city's requirement for buildings to declare their energy use.

On January 21, Constantine Kontokosta, Ph.D., P.E., deputy director with the NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP). spoke in the concourse of the Javits Centre.

CUSP is a public-private organization that was an initiative of Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York. It exists to do research on "urban informatics," using New York City as its laboratory and classroom.

Among other things, CUSP studies building energy efficiency, and thanks to New York City's Law 84, they have a lot of data to work with.

Since 2011 the law has required that owners of any building in the city over 50,000 square feet have to report their energy and water use every year. They use the EPA's Energy Portfolio program to do so. Eight cities in the U.S. have some kind of building energy use disclosure policy.

Kontokosta said they now have amassed three years' of data on 18,000 properties in New York. He noted that the city is unusual because its building stock is relatively old. Also, two-thirds of the buildings in the database are apartments and multi-family residential buildings.

Using energy unit intensity (EUI) as the measure (energy per square foot per year), and concentrating on commercial buildings, Kontokosta's team at CUSP has un-

Apartment buildings in Manhattan.

earthed some remarkably useful, and sometimes even shocking, trends. While the research is in its early days, if borne out it has implications for building design.

First, Kontokosta explained that they have found from the data that buildings on "inside lots," i.e. buildings attached to other adjacent buildings, are 9% more efficient than buildings that are freestanding or on the ends of a block.

They found that, while controlling for other factors, buildings constructed in the last 20 years are 40% less efficient than buildings constructed before the 1930s.

They found that the density of workers affects the energy use. For every person in a workplace, they found an 8% increase in EUI. However, as Kontokosta suggested, it's complicated. Even though the EUI is higher when more people are

squeezed into a space, overall it is probably more energy efficient than if they were located in a larger area.

Another finding was that data centres added significantly to energy use. Every 10% of data space in a building added 34% to the building's overall EUI. Masonry buildings were more efficient than glass-and-steel buildings, and — surprisingly — LEED certified buildings (41 buildings in the database) — were no more energy efficient than the general stock. Energy Star-certified buildings were only 10% more energy efficient.

Kontokosta also said they are finding that the physical nature of buildings (i.e. their design and architecture) explain only 25% of the variations in their energy efficiency. Tenants and occupants have much more influence (50-60%) on the energy demand.

Interestingly, Kontokosta also obcontinued on page 42

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products

Innovations on view at 2014 AHR Expo

A

t the 2014 AHR Expo at the Javits Convention Center in New York City January 21-23, 1,900 manufacturers and suppliers exhibited their wares to a record 43,000 attendees.

Among the myriad HVAC&R products that were on display, many were dedicated to saving energy or water resources. Following is a sample.

BUILDING CONTROLS

Quebec-based Distech Controls showcased several products for its automation and energy management suite, which is based on open standards.

The EC-NetAX unified web-based building management platform is powered by the Niagara Framework and incorporates a range of BACNet and LonMark field devices. The new Integrated Room Control Solution enables room occupants to personally and remotely control their HVAC, lighting and shading devices. The Allure EC-Smart Vue is a four-in-one communicating sensor for temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and motion. It displays a green leaf pattern that shows occupant how their settings affect the energy demand.

Founded by a controls specialist in 1995, Distech has supplied large projects in the U.S. and around the world from its plant in Brossard. www.distech-controls.com

ment system. The controller combines BACnet with Tridium’s open Niagara Framework, providing flexibility for retrofits, while the quad core processor gives fast computing power and control. The Microset 4 commercial wall sensor allows occupants to view at a glance the building system’s status. www.alerton.com

There was a lot of buzz around the EnOcean Alliance booth, where batteryless, energy-harvesting technology PUMPS was on display. EnGrundfos launched Ocean’s technology Ecademy, its online (originally develtraining platform to oped in Germany) is educate consulting a protocol integratengineers, installers ed into wireless deand others in selectvices like sensors, Using EnOcean energy harvesting ing pumps for HVAC switches and valves. technology, the COZIR ambient CO2 & R systems. The The chip allows the sensor from GSS can be powered using light from its environment. training portal prodevice to harvest its vides global as well as local content in own energy in order to operate. The a variety of formats, and includes energy is collected from motion (e.g. learning on products, applications the motion of a light switch), from and industry standards. In Europe the light (photovoltaics), and temperature Grundfos Ecademy was launched in differentials. Over 350 product manu2006 and now has 30,000 members. facturers in 37 countries have bought www.grundfos.ca in. www.enocean-alliance.org Alerton, a division of Honeywell, launched the Ascent building manage-

Armstrong Fluid Technology launched ADEPT, its pump selection software continued on page 44

energy

continued from page 41

served that "no-one knows how big their building is." There is a lack of standards on how to measure a building's size. Some owners, for example, include their basements, while others do not. The team is now working with LiDAR mapping technology to get a more accurate picture since in measuring energy use intensity it's important to have accurate building size in order to make fair comparisons.

They were surprised to find that buildings with a high energy use intensity were demanding higher rents. Previously they had thought the opposite would be true (i.e. that developers and tenants would pay more to be in energy efficient buildings). He explained this by the fact that the more expensive buildings include a lot of amenities, and that these have an energy cost, such as corner offices and large fountains in their atriums.

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The team is now turning its attention to studying water consumption, where they are finding a "huge variation" in multi-family residential buildings.

They also want to make the data more accessible to the public and are due to launch a program that will allow New Yorkers to log onto a web site to find out about the energy consumption of buildings in their neighbourhoods. Kontokosta said the idea is to present the information to the "consumers." Like fast food outlets having to declare their calorie counts, making buildings publicly acknowledge their energy efficiency will "let the people decide."

As useful as the CUSP research seems to be, someone in the audience pointed out a caveat: the data collected under Local Law 84 is provided by the building owners themselves, and there is no third party verification.

CCE

January/February 2014

14-02-04 10:08 AM

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continued from page 42

program. The intuitive screen allows users to view line drawings, multi-curves, photos, voltage, motor size, inlets, accessories, construction options, etc. The program then lists the pumps that meet the user’s criteria along with their energy efficiency and costs. www. armstrongfluidtechnology.com

The Bell & Gossett brand Series e-1510 single stage end suction centrifugal pumps were introduced by Xylem. The water technology company has redesigned the complete best-in-class 1510 pump into the e-1510 to provide highly efficient end-suction for HVAC and plumbing applications. www.xyleminc.com HEATING AND COOLING

From Poland, executives from VTS Group called a press conference to announce their launch in North America. VTS manufactures the Ventus range of air-handling units and claims to have become the leading provider in Central Europe, including Russia, since launching in 2009. The units have a frameless casing consisting of polyurethane sandwich panels that eliminate thermal bridging, and a plenum fan with a backward curved impeller that is directly driven by an efficient electric motor.

VTS' new plant in Georgia is due to start shipping units by February. Their goal is to deliver the “plug and play” units within the U.S. in seven days. www.vtsgroup.com ebm-papst presented FlowGrid, a patent44

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pending air-inlet grill tions that eliminate water that can dramatically rewaste and save energy. www. duce noise levels in neptronic.com HVAC air moving equipment. Developed for axial and VTS Group’s air WATER AND HYDRONICS handling unit. centrifugal fans, the grill’s design Uponor displayed a 7-pipe array weakens “vortex strings” that creof PEX piping for commercial ate turbulence in the fan blades. The de- potable and heating/cooling water sysvice reduces overall sound pressure by up tems. In addition to producing its smaller to 3.9 dB(A), and reduces the especially diameter piping for radiant system hydronunpleasant low-frequency noise by up to 16 ics and other uses, the company is now decibels. www.ebmpapst.us making larger diameter pipe, as well as tees and multiports, suited for the comLG Electronics promoted its variable refrig- mercial plumbing market, The new Proerant flow (VRF) technologies, pointing out PEX EP 45-degree Elbow, for example, that the heating-cooling systems require no comes in 1½” and 2” sizes. The PEX piping cooling towers, ducts or air-handling units. is connected mechanically, without chemiThe Art Cool Gallery indoor unit (which cals or welding, using a special tool that allows the wall-mounted cassette to be con- expands the pipe connector and then recealed by personalized artleases it, creating a durable connecwork or photography) tion that holds tight with 1,000 has now been combined pounds of force. www.uponor.ca with LG’s multi-zone duct-free split heat pump One of Navien’s products was the system, allowing up to condensing tankless water heater eight separate zones to be system combined with an air hanserviced with up to 54,000 dling unit which received the first Btu/h system capacity.

CAN/CSA P.9-11 rating in November. Navien’s NPE-240A is combined www.lgvrf.ca LG’s Multi-V with SunTherm’s MMVE air hanvariable dling unit for combined forced air space Neptronic, a Montrealrefrigerant and water heating. Effective April 1, combased company, featured its flow unit. bined air-water systems will need to have the SKD direct steam injection humidifier. The Multi-Steam HDR re-boils CAN/CSA testing rating in order to be recthe condensate generated in its dispersion ognized by the Energy Star Canada new channels. The result is drain-free opera- homes program. www.navienamerica.com

January/February 2014

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conversations

Barry Orr and the organization MESUG are speaking up about the problems new personal hygiene products cause in wastewater treatment plants.

Not So Flushable

M

The Canadian Press/Dave Chidley

ESUG, the “Municipal Enforcement Sewer User Group” in Ontario, involves 25 municipalities. Their representatives such as engineers, plant managers and operators, meet every few months. MESUG has been leading the charge to have a standard to define what personal hygiene products should rightfully be labelled “flushable.” CCE spoke to Barry Orr of London, Ontario, MESUG’s spokesperson.

pected to just deal with the waste as it comes to you. It’s a matter of “That’s your job.”

Q. What’s wrong with the manufacturer labelling now?

For example, here’s the labelling from one product: “For best results, flush one or two wipes at a time, and if connected to residential sewage ejector pumps, do not flush.” The manufacturer has labelled the product “flushable” but then it has included wording to say that the product will plug a sewage ejector pump. But who the heck in the general public knows about their sewage ejector pumps?

So we’re seeing a lot of confusion. Now everybody thinks everything is flushable. We’re seeing plants having to deal with a lot of feminine hygiene products, a lot of condoms, dental floss, cotton swabs etc.

Q. What really is the problem with personal hygiene products?

Wastewater treatment system operators have been seeing pumps and equipment plugging up, and the costs are spiraling out of control.

It’s just not sustainable. So MESUG wanted to get ahead of the issue with the manufacturers and create some education and awareness.

Barry Orr with a mass of rags and other The big thing is that the prod- material that had plugged sewage system ucts out there are being labelled pumps in London, Ontario. “flushable,” when they are not.

Q. What is MESUG’s ultimate goal?

Some of these products don’t break down like toilet paper. To have a Canadian standard for the labelling of “flushThey are material based and create massive quantities of able” products, and to create awareness and education rags, which plug grinders and other equipment. that toilets are not garbage cans. We're raising funds, and We estimate that it costs close to $250 million a year we met with Industry Canada and they said, “go and create across Canada to unplug material in wastewater treatment a standard, and then we’ll enforce it.” plants — material that should be in the garbage can anyway.

Fundraising for the standard has been slowly coming There are 3,700 wastewater systems and the average cost in as city engineers have approach councils for funding seems to be around $50-$80,000 per year for unplugging support. [But] I can’t understand why more municipaliequipment. However, some municipalities say that the cost ties and manufacturers are not getting behind this. is way more than that, and in actuality one plug can cost MESUG estimates that the cost of developing a CSA stanthem as much as $5,000. dard is $153,000. Our environment and infrastructure Not a lot of people have been looking at the figures needs to be well protected now and for our children’s CCE until now because in the wastewater business you are ex- children's future!

Postscript: Robert Haller, executive director of the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, says the CWWA is having discussions with the flushable wipes industry association INDA toward finding a joint solution. CWWA is also providing information to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities about the problem.

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