Mechanical Business May/June 2016

PM #41536047

MAY/JUNE 2016 $6.95

Too Cool for School: Energy Reuse at John Abbott College

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CONTENTS O F

CMPX 2016 in Pictures

90CMPX REPORT We recap the latest edition of Canada’s largest HVAC/R and plumbing show.

52COVER STORY

What’s Fuelling Cooling?

The two-time World Series champion and 10-time Gold Glove winner now finds himself in a new role: businessman.

Greg Dalgetty

28THE COOLING REPORT From heat pumps to ductless splits and radiant cooling, we look at the latest trends driving the cooling market.

Greg Dalgetty

40PROJECT PROFILE The Anne-Marie Edward Science Building at John Abbott College isn’t just a glowing example of energy reuse and recuperation—it’s also a hit with students. Greg Dalgetty

Stability Stable IN THE

PROJECT

PROFILE

58COMMERCIAL VEHICLES REVIEW

There have been relatively few new additions to the commercial van market, but the latest models are chock full of new features.

Howard J. Elmer

On the cover: Roberto Alomar was the first player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Toronto Blue Jay. Cover photography: Michelle Prata Photography and AA World Travel Library/Alamy. Contents inset: Courtesy of Toronto Blue Jays.

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T A B L E F E A T U R E S 22PROJECT MANAGEMENT

M B

O F

S P E C I A L I S T S

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HYDRONICS Catching Some Air Bob “Hot Rod” Rohr Hydronic-fuelled air systems have been around for decades, and they can be an important part of a total-comfort package.

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MARKETING Warming up the Cold Call Doug MacMillan Cold calls are an integral part of marketing—and there are strategies to make them easier than you think.

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PLUMBING Plumbing an Island Vent Fred Bretzke Doing things the right way, the first time, will save you headaches down the road.

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REFRIGERATION Capacity Control of Screw Compressors Phil J. Boudreau There are a number of different options for controlling the capacity of a compressor.

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NET ZERO HOMES DHW out of Thin Air Andrew Oding The recent push toward net zero homes has led to the emergence of air-source hot water heating units.

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ASK ROGER Moving at the Speed of Technology Roger Grochmal Adapting to technological advances and innovations is key to staying ahead of the curve in business.

44BUSINESS

48REFRIGERATION Battling Burnout Greg Dalgetty

64HYDRONICS From Old to New Eric Riml

68FIND THE FIX 70ROAD WARRIOR: Darryl Struik Greg Dalgetty

72PLUMBING Renovating without the Tear Out Adam Freill

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CONTENTS

Managing Materials Handling David Pelletier

Managing Terminations and Layoffs Lorenzo Lisi

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80HVAC Modern Zoning Matthew Reid

D E P A R T M E N T S 6From the Editor’s Desk 8News 18Profile: Dave Brown 100The Info Page 101Calendar 102By the Numbers

P R O D U C T S 28,86,88HVAC/R 38Plumbing 67,96Hydronics 94Oil Heat 98Stuff You Need CHECK US OUT ONLINE

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FROM Content Media Group Inc. 19 – 1525 Cornwall Road Oakville, ON L6J 0B2 Canada Tel: 905.465.2919 Fax: 905.465.2913 www.mechanicalbusiness.com May/June 2016 Issue Published 6 times per year.

Editor: Adam Freill, ext. 224 adam.freill@mechanicalbusiness.com Associate Editor/Web Editor: Greg Dalgetty, ext. 225 greg.dalgetty@mechanicalbusiness.com National Accounts Manager: Jeff Superle, ext. 221 jeff.superle@mechanicalbusiness.com Controller: Liz Mills liz.mills@mechanicalbusiness.com Production Manager: Caroline Bexfield, ext. 227 caroline.bexfield@mechanicalbusiness.com Art Direction: JJM Graphic Ltd. davem@jjmgraphic.com Circulation Manager: Shila Naik (905) 272-4175 shila.naik@mechanicalbusiness.com Publisher: Bruce Meacock, ext. 222 bruce.meacock@mechanicalbusiness.com PM:41536047 ISSN 1916-0674 MB (Print) ISSN 1906-0682 MB (Online) We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Submissions: Copyright in material submitted to the magazine and accepted for publication remains with the author, but Mechanical Business and its licensees may freely reproduce it in print, electronic or other forms.

Mechanical Business also reserves the right to edit said submitted materials to suit the editorial needs and mandate of the publication.

Notice: Mechanical Business is published for owners, managers and decision makers with mechanical contracting firms and the sector’s supply chain partners in Canada. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information, Mechanical Business, Content Media Group Inc., its staff, directors, officers and shareholders (‘The Publisher’) assume no liability, obligation or responsibility for advertised claims, for errors and/or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. Manufacturers’ instructions take precedence over published editorial. The publisher reserves the right to publish a printed correction in a subsequent issue for editorial errors, omissions and oversights.

Subscriptions are available for $90 plus taxes in Canada and the U.S. Single copies are $15.00. Outside Canada and the U.S., the rates are $150.00 (annual) and $25.00 (single copy).

THE

EDITOR’S

DESK

Stay Safe out There Every time we enter a construction site we put ourselves at risk.

Whether we are climbing ladders to check out rooftop equipment, descending to the bowels of a building to trace and repair a leaking pipe, or removing building materials to gain access to pipes and equipment that are behind the walls or under a layer of insulation, risks exist, and we need to take precautions.

Last month, Canadians observed the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job, but the observance of safety cannot be left to a single day.

Using the Right PPE

How many times have you heard about, or seen, a trench collapse because of improper shoring? What about close calls on ladders and roofs? I’m sure we’ve all had our fair share of those. But we also shouldn’t be overlooking those things that can go unnoticed on a jobsite: fumes and chemicals, small particles like silica dust, and even radiation.

If you are looking for help creating a personal protective equipment (PPE) program for your crew, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is a good first stop. Check them out at www.ccohs.ca.

Many of us who make our livings in the mechanical sector know someone who has fought, or is fighting, an illness related to exposure to materials like asbestos, a material that’s largely been banned but is still present in a lot of homes and mechanical rooms.

Thankfully, we are wiser to what’s out there and can harm us, and we have new protocols and equipment designed to reduce or eliminate risks, but we need to take the training, follow the rules and use the equipment that is available.

I know it is human nature to like the status quo, and that can lead us to protest stricter rules and regulations that are being put in place, or to ignore technologies that are available to make our work safer, but isn’t that counterproductive in the end? minutes dollars A few minu nutes orr d o lars saved ol d iiss hardly enough to offset the loss of income and additional addition o al expenses that you can incur if you, an employee or a co-worker h have to recover from illness or injury. And even yyou’ll yo u’ll feel it eve v more if an accident could have been easily avoided. d So take the time tim to ensure that you are properly tied off on a roof. Wear the th appropriate mask and filter. And encourage your fellow fello employees to be on top of their safety game. We need you to be healthy when you head home hom at the end of the workday – to relax while reading our latest edition. rea

From time to time, Content Media Group Inc. makes subscribers’ names available to reputable companies whose products or services may be of interest to readers. If you would like your name excluded from these mailings, please notify the publisher. © Copyright 2016. The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission of the publisher.

Until next time, stay safe.

Proud members of:

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06.16

News www.mechanicalbusiness.com

Victaulic Talks Fire Suppression

Watts Opens Training Facility

Victaulic hosted its Fire Protection Vic-Day event at the SpringHill Suites in Vaughan, Ont., in March, showcasing the company’s latest fire suppression technologies. Contractors were able to get a first-hand look at the VicFlex flexible fire sprinkler fittings, as well as the Vortex fire suppression system, which uses a combination of nitrogen and water to extinguish fires with minimal wetting. victaulic.com

Watts Water Technologies celebrated the opening of its Watts Works Learning Center in April. The 12,000-square-foot facility, located at the company’s headquarters in North Andover, Mass., offers hands-on learning opportunities with the company’s plumbing, HVAC and water quality products. It boasts configurable classrooms, working mechanical rooms and demonstration labs. “Our world-class learning facility is just one component in our ongoing investment in our customers,” said Watts CEO Robert J. Pagano, Jr. Pictured here, Pagano cuts the ribbon at the grand opening. wattswater.com

Prompt Payment Bill Advances

Daikin Set to Open New Facility The Daikin Texas Technology Park, which will serve as the hub of the company’s North American engineering, logistics, manufacturing, research and development, testing, and customer support departments, is nearing completion. Located northwest of Houston, the 4.1 million-square-foot facility is the world’s largest tilt wall building. Daikin’s distribution and logistics departments have already started transitioning to the new facility.

Manitoba Senator Don Plett introduced Bill S-224, the Canada Prompt Payment Act, at second reading in the Senate in April. The bill is intended to ensure that contractors and subcontractors working on federal government construction projects are paid in a timely manner. Plett, a former plumbing contractor, sponsored the bill, noting that, “Delay in payment is the number 1 reason small and medium sized businesses in the construction industry are going out of business in Canada.”

daikin.com

parl.gc.ca

Follow Us on Twitter! It’s MB’s Twitter Roundup Caught the Twitter bug? We’ve got you covered with tweets about everything that matters to the mechanical trades in Canada. Follow us @mechbusiness.

Alison McGill

WaterNetwork

Zack Pothier

Paul Haitch

@alisonmcgill

@WaterNetwork1

@TheDailyZack

@paulhaitch47

Air con last night, furnace this morning. Canada in springtime.

Researchers at @SFU develop #technology making waves pulling #water from air.

Boiler repair man has been and has fixed it. *removes duvet from under pyjamas*

Apr 19, 2016

Apr 26, 2016

“I’ve never been prouder to be a Canadian!” — My uncle upon learning that Canada is on the cutting edge of lowflow toilet technology.

Apr 13, 2016

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Apr 23, 2016

HeatLink Signs Licensing Agreement with Uponor HeatLink has signed a licensing agreement with Uponor that allows the company to use Uponor’s patented technology for manufacturing PEX pipe. Pictured here, HeatLink president Manfred Schmidt watches the first foot of PEX come off the line under the new agreement.

Recognizing Refrigeration Excellence

heatlink.com uponor.ca

Viessmann Names “Max” Winners Viessmann Manufacturing Company recently announced the winners of its 2015 MAX sales awards recognizing the top two Viessmann sales representatives in Canada. First place went to Quebec-based DisTech Inc. Pictured (top) from left to right: Armin Fleck, Viessmann’s director of international sales for the Western Hemisphere; Simon Guerin, Thierry Wright and Steve Fournier, all of DisTech Inc.; and Kenneth Webster, Viessmann’s Canadian director of sales and marketing. Fleck and Webster also presented the second place award to Paul Berardi of Key to the North Sales Agency, which is based in Northern Ontario.

RSES Canada held its annual general meeting during the CMPX trade show in Toronto in March. The event allowed members of the organization to assess some of the key issues facing it going forward, including the retention of members, as well as to recognize some of its own for their work with the society and within the industry at large. Among the award winners were rising star Brendan Myers (Spirit of RSES Award), who also scored the highest CMS mark in Canada; speaker of the year, and Mechanical Business refrigeration specialist, Phil Boudreau of Bitzer Canada; and Nick Reggi, who received the H.T. McDermott Award. In addition, the Linwell Centennial Chapter was named chapter of the year, Gary Struhar was made an Honorary Member of RSES Canada, and Ontario’s Barry Hawse was elected RSES Canada president. Pictured here: Curt Minor (left) accepts the W.J.A. Marshall Chapter of the Year Award on behalf of the Linwell Centennial Chapter in St. Catharines, Ont., from outgoing RSES Canada president Denis Hebert. rsescanada.com

viessmann.ca

Can-Mech Tops with OS&B Brent Cornelissen, president of OS&B (left), and Bob Evans, OS&B’s vice-president of sales (right) present Trevor and Cliff Hobbs of Can-Mech Agencies with OS&B’s Agent of the Year award for 2015 during the recent CMPX show in Toronto. osb.ca canmech.com

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APP ALERT Jobsite Reporting App NoteVault’s Notes! app is designed to allow contractors to dictate notes about the progress of work on a jobsite. The notes are then transcribed by NoteVault staff and provided in PDF format the next day. Contractors can also use the app to take photos, add and edit comments, and create daily reports. It is available for Android and iOS devices. notevault.com

Calculator App MultiEducator’s Plumbing Formulator app features over 120 formulas for contractors in the plumbing, hydronic and HVAC trades. Among other calculations, it is designed to determine pipe velocity, velocity head, heat loss, length of pipe, pressure of pipe, optimum water flow, volume of water flow and domestic daily hot water usage. It is available for iOS devices. multieducator.net

Watts Offering Wild Ride The Watts Wild Ride Sweepstakes is currently underway, giving contractors the opportunity to win a variety of Harley-Davidson prizes, including the grand prize of a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy Motorcycle. From now until September 30, 2016, contractors in Canada (excluding Quebec) are invited to submit invoices and purchase orders for Watts brand products at wattswildride.com for a chance to win. Eligible brands include AERCO, Ames Fire & Waterworks, BLÜCHER, BRAE, Dormont, Febco, HF scientific, Mueller Steam Specialty, Orion, Powers, Sea Tech, SunTouch, tekmar, Watts and Watts Radiant. wattswildride.com

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Pleased to Meade You After 31 years with the company, Judi Meade has retired from OS&B. She was first hired in 1985, because she “looked strong and drove a truck.” Meade started off as a plant packager and then became a machine operator, before she eventually transitioned into a role as the company’s sole customer service and order entry agent. She plans to spend her retirement in Toronto and notes, “This time, I am the boss!” osb.ca

Goodman Launches Clean Comfort Website Goodman has launched a new website for its Clean Comfort Indoor Air Essentials product line. The site is designed primarily to educate consumers on Clean Comfort IAQ products, but it also contains consumer brochures, spec sheets and a line card for the entire product line.

It can be accessed directly at cleancomfort.com, or through the Goodman or Amana websites. cleancomfort.com goodmanmfg.com

Welland Contractor Wins New Wheels Nico Marcantonio of Pac Heating & Air Conditioning is the owner of a new Chevrolet City Express LT van, courtesy of the CMPX Show. Marcantonio entered a draw to win the van, which features a custom racking interior

by Farmbro, at the mechanicals show in March. He picked up the keys to his new ride at a dealership in Mississauga, Ont., on April 15. Pictured here, Marcantonio (right) accepts the keys to his new van from HRAI president Warren Heeley. cmpxshow.com

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What’s the best reason to sell TEMPSTAR?

News www.mechanicalbusiness.com

AtlasCare Wins Community Award

• Easier to install • Easier to service • Easier to SELL!!!

AtlasCare, a heating and cooling contractor based in Oakville, Ont., has won the HomeStars Giving Back Award for raising close to $70,000 for the Peel Dufferin chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada in 2015. AtlasCare has been the title sponsor of the chapter’s charity golf tournament since 2012, and has helped raise more than $184,000 over the last four years. Pictured here, AtlasCare president Michael Grochmal accepts the HomeStars award. atlascare.ca homestars.com

Milwaukee Tool Announces Innovation Tour Winner Mick Nealon of Calgary has been named the 2015 Milwaukee Innovation Tour (MIT) grand prize winner, taking home a $5,000 M18 Milwaukee workshop. Milwaukee Tool hosts MIT events throughout Canada each year, offering attendees a sneak peek at pre-released tools and new products, as well as a chance to talk to tool experts.

Become a TEMPSTAR dealer today and benefit from:

milwaukeetool.com

• Full service custom packages • Parts when you need them • Toll free personal support • Prospect marketing support materials • Exclusive Territories available in Ontario

Edmonton Contractor Wins Excellence Award

For more information: Tel: 1-800-461-7610 extension 262 Email: info@tmlsupply.com Website: www.gotempstar.com

Dealer opportunities available

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Patrick Driscoll of Ironclad Mechanical Plumbing & Heating in Edmonton has been named the April winner of the Caleffi Excellence contest. Driscoll’s winning design is a heating and cooling system in a 3,500-sq-ft bungalow that features seven radiant zones servicing the house, garage, patio and indirect water heater.

Driscoll received an iPad mini for the win, and is also eligible for Caleffi’s grand prize of a trip to Italy to tour the company’s global headquarters. Pictured here, Stephen Sawatsky (left) of Mechanical Systems 2000 presents Driscoll with an iPad mini. caleffi.us

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POTENTIAL AIR LEAK

WORK FASTER. ACT FASTER. WORK SAFER AND MORE EFFICIENTLY with the new FLIR® CM174 clamp meter with built-in thermal imaging camera. Featuring Infrared Guided Measurement (IGM) technology, the CM174 visually points you to the precise location of duct leaks, inefficiencies and potential electrical issues. You’ll find problems faster, get more done, and boost your credibility.

To see IGM in action go to www.flir.ca/CM174

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06.16

Movers & Shakers www.mechanicalbusiness.com

Weil-McLain We il-McLain Names Nam Sales Reps Weil-McLain Canada has divided d sales of the company’s boiler line in Norther Ontario between a pair of sales reps. Residential boilers (up to 400,000 BTUH) will be sold by Sean Clifford at Integrity Sales in North Bay. Clifford can be reached at 2 249-358-0870. Commercial boilers (exceeding 400,000 BTUH) willl be sold by Terry Lee at Northern Mechanical Sales in Garon, Ont.. Lee can be reached at 705-693-2235. weil-mclain.ca

TMI Launches Canadian Subsidiary TMI Climate Solutions has launched a new Canadian subsidiary, TMI Climate Solutions Canada, and opened a new manufacturing plant in Pointe-Claire, Que. The plant will expand TMI’s product line of air handling units. tmiclimatesolutions.com

Wolseley y Announces Acquisition and New Branches Wolseley Canada’s Waterworks division has acquired all the assets of Underground Specialties, an Ontariobased distributor of water, sewage and drainage products, including its three branches in Windsor, Chatham and Cambridge. Wolseley has also opened a new plumbing and HVAC branch in Airdrie, Alta., located at 127 Kingsview Rd. SE. The company’s plumbing branch in Windsor, Ont., located at 3585 Rhodes Dr., has been expanded to include HVAC products. And in Kitchener, Ont., Wolseley’s plumbing and HVAC branches have merged into a new facility at 780 Wilson Ave. Pictured above: the Wolseley Windsor team. wolseleyinc.ca

Raven Supply pp y to Rep p Weishaupt and De Dietrich

CONDENSAZIONE

Raven Supply in Surrey, B.C., has been named the manufacturer’s rep for Weishaupt burners and De Dietrich boilers for customers in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. ravensupply.ca

Camus Acquired by Cleaver-Brooks Camus Hydronics has been acquired by Cleaver-Brooks, a boiler equipment manufacturer based in Thomasville, Ga. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Radiant Enters Canadian Market Italian boiler and water heater manufacturer Radiant has entered the North American market. In a joint statement, t both Radiant and its exclusive distribution partner, Thermal Hydronic Supply Ltd. of Woodbridge, Ont., announced the launch of the Aqua 2. A full slate of products will follow in the coming months. radiant.it radianthydronics.com

cleaverbrooks.com camus-hydronics.com

Enertech Global Celebrates 20 Years Enertech Global is celebrating 20 years in business this June. The company started out as a geothermal heat pump distributor in 1996, and began distributing its own geothermal brand in 2003. Enertech moved into manufacturing in 2007 7 following its acquisition of Hydron Module.

Viega H.Q. on the Move Viega has announced that it is moving its North American headquarters from Wichita, Kansas, to Broomfield, Colorado. The company is beginning construction on a new headquarters and training facility this summer, with the move to the new site expected to be completed by December 31, 2017. All current Wichita employees will have the opportunity to move with the company.

enertechgeo.com

viega.us

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Hydronic water treatment filling units Water is the “life-blood” of hydronic systems. Just as we strive to maintain the health of our own circulatory systems, it’s important to maintain the “health” of water and water based solutions that circulate through the hydronic systems we construct and maintain.

HYDROFILL™ portable water treatment filling units remove “hard water" scale producing minerals, such as calcium and magnesium from job-site water. Salts and other soluble minerals are eliminated to prevent premature equipment malfunction including reduced efficiency or component failure due to scale formation.

HYDROFILL™ is a convenient tool for installers to use job-site water to produce ideal grade demineralized water at an economical cost per gallon.

Components for today's modern hydronic systems

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06.16

People in the news www.mechanicalbusiness.com VINCE CRAMAROSSA has joined Masco Canada as the regional sales manager for Ontario.

He brings extensive sales management experience in the telecommunications and education industries to the role.

TRAVIS LUTES has been named the president and COO of IPEX. Lutes joined IPEX in 1994 as a sales representative in New Brunswick, before moving on to a variety of managerial roles in sales and marketing. He joined the IPEX leadership team in 2013, when he was named the vice-president of innovation and strategic planning.

Masco Canada has appointed PETER ASHTON as the company’s new vice-president of trade sales. Ashton has been with Masco for over 14 years, serving most recently as the director of trade sales. He has also served as a board member of MCAC.

SHELLEY PETERS has been named president of the Canadian Water Quality Association.

Peters is currently the director of business development for Canadian independent water dealers with Canature WaterGroup. She has served on the board of the Canadian Water Quality Association for over six years.

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ADAM HEDDEN (left) has joined Equipco as the outside sales representative in Northern Ontario and the Ottawa Valley. He has 10 years of experience in the HVAC/R, hydronic and plumbing industries. Also at Equipco, sales representative NICOLE WALL (right) has had her territory expanded to Southwestern Ontario, including coverage in Brampton and Mississauga.

KEVIN HAINE (left) has been named the new director of manufacturing sales for Ecco Manufacturing. Haine joined Ecco as the company’s director of sales and marketing in 2005. Glen Bolger (right) has been named Ecco’s director of manufacturing operations.

Bolger first joined Ecco as a machinist in 1999, eventually moving on to roles as a machine shop supervisor and designer. He rejoined Ecco in 2015 as the company’s operations manager in Langley, B.C.

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EARL DUCHARME has been named the vice-president of trade for Lixil Water Technology Canada.

He will oversee the development of the company’s American Standard, DXV and GROHE brands in the commercial space, including wholesale distribution, showrooms and boutiques.

Ducharme joined American Standard Canada in 2014 as the company’s vicepresident of trade.

TRACEY NICHOLLE has been named the manager of Goodman Canada’s Burnaby, B.C., branch.

Nicholle started at Goodman in 2014 as a branch manager trainee in Edmonton.

STEVE PEPIN is the new Montreal area territory sales manager for Goodman Manufacturing. He has over 20 years of experience in the HVAC industry, including 12 years as Daikin product specialist.

MARK PARLIAMENT has joined Rheem Canada as a trainer and support technician. He brings over 20 years of experience in the HVAC and energy sectors to the role.

ROBERT PRYOR has been named the new vice-president and general manager of Bardon Supplies. He started at Bardon as a branch manager in 1997 and spent six years as a regional manager before moving into his current role.

Making the Most Out of Your Water Conditioning Opportunity?

Plumbers are constantly performing repairs resulting from poor quality water. Hard water, iron and chlorine cause significant damage to pipes, seals, water heaters, boilers, fixtures, humidifiers, dishwashers and clothes washers.

As a trusted water professional, you owe it to your customer to ...

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KEK EsK, EsK, WͲϭϱϬ KEK ϯϬϬ KEKͲϯϬϬ KEKͲϯϬϬ EsK, WͲϭϱϬ ϯϬϬ

10

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Sales Materials

06.16

Profile Dave Brown: Standing Up for Oil

Oil heat plays a major role in the comfort and safety of many home and business owners in Canada, and particularly so on the East Coast. Incoming COHA chairman Dave Brown and his team at Western Petroleum Newfoundland do their best to ensure that fuel gets delivered to their customers in Newfoundland in the safest

Q A Q A

How did you get started in the industry?

An opportunity came along in a sales position with Irving Oil. There wasn’t any real formal training program. I had to learn an awful lot about the industry in a very short period of time. Some might migh call it baptism by fire. I moved over to Western Petroleum in 2007.

What do you enjoy most about the industry?

W You never know what’s going to happen in the run of a day. We supply heating oil and diesel, bot both commercial and industrial markets, so you get to learn a lot about the many different industries that you deal with.

Q BIO

Photo: Brian Carey

Name: Dave Brown Title: Operations & Sales Manager Company: Western Petroleum Newfoundland Limited Age: 50 Born in: St. John’s Resides: Mount Pearl, NL Family: Married, with three children

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and most cost-effective manner mann as possible. While he admits the reputation of oil continues to live under a negative perception, he firmly believes it’s unwarranted, unwarrante and has been stepping forward through his company and his work with COHA to help build the future of the oil heat industry. industry

What are the top three W things that you’d like to see accomplished as the incoming chair?

A

Q

What’s the most interesting development you’ve seen in oil heat?

A

The changes in technology for furnaces and hot water tanks, and storage and leak detection. Any technology that enables our industry and our customers to handle and store our products in the safest way possible is technology that I promote.

1. Industry growth.

2. Increasing training and d knowledge.

3. Building relations with wit ith our strategic partners and government. The Th he only on way we can impro improve ove our industry and help it grow is to take away some of the myths about oil and have everybo ody d looking everybody from the same page.

“Newfoundland made Expedia’s list of best places to experience spring in Canada.

They mentioned the scenery and the hiking opportunities and, of course, icebergs, which we are quite well known for,” says Dave. “My advice would be to experience the natural beauty and also experience the culture.

You have to experience George Street, but you also have to see Gros Morne and all the other places outside the city of St. John’s to experience the true Newfoundland culture.”

Put your customers in control from anywhere in the world Optional new Wi-Fi remote control system for commercial and residential use Now you can offer your customers this add-on accessory that will enable those with smartphones and tablets to control temperatures remotely, access usage data and receive diagnostic notiďŹ cations on all Navien products (NPE-A, NPE-S, NCB-E, NHB). Additionally, recirculation activation can be scheduled for any hour of any day on the NPE-A...an industry ďŹ rst.

To learn more visit Navien.com.

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Condensing tankless water heaters

T H E

L E A D E R

I N

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NCB-E Condensing combi-boilers

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Condensing boilers

T E C H N O L O G Y

HYDRONICS

B y B o b “ Ho t R o d ” Rohr

catching some y first choice for supplying heat to a home will always be a hydronic system. I am a huge fan of radiant surfaces, be they floors, walls or ceilings. The clean, quiet comfort is hard to match.

M

These radiantly heated rooms are free of any space-consuming heat emitters, and designers and homeowners appreciate the unencumbered space.

Radiators are a second-best choice. You get much the same feel and comfort from cast iron or panel radiators, and they may be easier when retrofitting and zoning for individual temperature control.

However, we must all must acknowledge that there is more to providing a comfortable home or space than just room temperature. We should look at the bigger picture and consider the heating system to be a major part of a total-comfort system.

To do this we may want to consider some air handling in our comfort control bag of tricks.

There are some applications where hydronics or thermal solar can be used for cooling. Hydronics can be used to dry desiccant wheels used for cooling or humidity removal, for example. With appropriate temperatures, solar thermal could drive an absorption chiller. Consider how a propane refrigerator works in an RV, or how steam-powered refrigeration works in some of the cities that offer district steam. Hydronic heat can be tapped in much the same way.

M e c h a n i c a l

B u s i n e s s

With an airside component, we have the ability to humidify or dehumidify, depending on the needs and wants of the occupant, as well as adding a way to improve indoor air quality.

The good news is that hydronics can still play an important role in the airside design and installation.

Hydronic-fuelled air systems have been around for decades. In their simplest form, a hot water coil is added to the air handler to provide heat via a ducted system.

COOLING WITH HEAT

20

Bob “Hot Rod” Rohr has been a plumbing, radiant heat and solar contractor and installer for 30 years. A longtime columnist and trainer, he is manager of training and education with Caleffi North America. You can reach Hot Rod at bob.rohr@caleffi.com.

0 6 . 1 6

The same hydronic heat source that drives the radiant zones can also provide the energy by sending heated fluids to the coils.

And we have the ability to modulate that supply water temperature (SWT) based on outdoor, indoor and changing weather conditions. Variable speed motor technology allows quiet, low-speed operation and adjustability to exactly match the demand. No more blasting overheated air in pulses to maintain the room’s set temperature point.

Consult with a rep when sizing the air coils, and remember, sizing for low-SWT operation may be beneficial for leveraging mod-con boiler performance.

You may have noticed more and more hydronic product manufacturers are adding airside products to their offerings. In some cases they are merging with one another, or private-labelling product from a current manufacturer.

Look for more plug-and-play offerings as well as better control integration from these partnerships.

Proper control of hybrid radiant/air handling systems is crucial, as that can be one of the challenges when combining systems at one central control thermostat.

Think of the airside component as your gateway into comfort systems and IAQ. I know several hydronic contractors that have partnered with, merged with, or bought out HVAC shops to springboard into the airside of the heating business.

Regardless of how you go about providing the comfort system your customers want – and are willing to pay for – get on board. We will not think of you as an airhead, if you do.

THE PSYCHROMETRIC CHART

Delivering on IAQ Air quality is an important part of a comfort system. We need to replace stale, unhealthy air within our living spaces. Chemical pollutants in our homes and workplaces can include tobacco products, combustion from appliances like gas stoves, as well as offgassing from building products.

Exhausting stale inside air and replacing it with cold outside air presents a challenge in hydronically heated homes. There was a time when opening a window or running a ceiling fan would help, but new homes and buildings are being constructed to tighter, higher energy efficiency standards, so air change needs have to be more formally identified and addressed.

Understanding the required air changes per hour (ACH), as dictated by building codes, has become an important component of HVAC system design.

Occupants with allergies or sensitivities may require additional filtration, possibly HEPA filters, to provide the best comfort.

Psychrometric charts can help plot absolute and relative humidity data alongside temperature for a site, to help understand how much humidity control might be needed in the design of a comfort system. The horizontal lines are absolute humidity, while relative humidity is shown in the curved lines, from 10 per cent at the lowest, to 100 per cent (the dew point) on the upper left edge of the graph.

All of this leads us to search for a means to move and condition the air. This could be a multiple-step process, with a ducted system and some sort of energy recovery unit to temper the incoming outside air.

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF HUMIDITY Radiant heating systems are often blamed for wood flooring problems. Certainly a prudent radiant load calculation will dictate when supplemental heat may be needed to avoid excessively high operating temperatures of a radiant surface – the high temperatures that cause occupant discomfort and can create humidity issues.

Maintaining proper humidity is not only good for your health, but also any wood floors or furniture in the space. Stable humidity plays an important role in reducing the movement, shrinking and expansion of wood. Wide changes in moisture levels will be most noticeable in wood flooring.

The tongue and groove joint in nail-down wood flooring was designed, in part, to compensate for the movement of the wood strip flooring.

The wider the board, the more noticeable the movement caused by varying humidity in the space.

Flooring manufacturers generally suggest a humidity level of between 45 and 60 per cent.

Some exotic woods may be more comfortable at higher levels of humidity, but if you are not sure what level is good for your customer’s flooring, check with a wood flooring expert.

On the high side, excessive humidity can lead to mould, which can cause serious health issues. Keep the fog out of the living spaces! And bathing areas will need particular attention when it comes to controlling humidity.

So get out those psychrometric charts. Those will give you a better understanding of how temperature and humidity are related.

DID YOU KNOW Health Canada’s website, www.hc.sc.gc.ca is a great place to search for basic, understandable guidelines for air quality.

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21

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

B y David P elletier

clean

site; clear mind

Managing MATERIALS HANDLING

T

Housekeeping, safety and attitudes go hand in hand. How many jobsite shipping/storage containers have you been

he costs of rough-in materials

in where you couldn’t

handling are an enormous

find material quickly,

part of a project’s labour

or move safely without

component, usually in the 20 per cent range. The most important part of the control and handling stage of project planning is control. Without it, handling

tripping on material on the floor or stacked in an unsafe manner? This can contribute to hidden additional costs on a

becomes inefficient, which can create

project, and can also

other issues and additional costs. A

negatively impact the

number of simple steps can make

attitudes and productivity

everyone’s lives easier.

of workers.

Building a Plan Open cardboard boxes thrown onto shelves, or material stacked loosely or in plastic bags, isn’t control and handling.

That’s being a little better organized than this container of rough-in materials.

realizing that work crews require 100 per cent of all relevant materials to complete a task before they need to actually use them. This is usually done by the supervisory and support staff.

A shortage of materials for a task may result in empty parts bins, the use of incorrect materials, late and misdirected supplies, or the hoarding of materials.

These can all be called shortages.

Going to a shipping/storage container to pick up a bunch of one-inch fittings after a coffee break and taking them to your work area, or a foreman dropping a box of fittings off to the work crew, also isn’t control and handling.

Control and handling involves laying out tasks in detail, counting the materials, filling in all purchase-order paperwork, and ordering the right quantities to be delivered to the jobsite before they are required. This can be done up to a month before the materials are needed.

A specific work task with shortages can easily add four to six hours to an average task. These hours don’t only relate to the work crews. They also mean extra time for supervisory and support staff, both on and off the site. These costs are never truly seen or understood; they just seem to happen, and they can be substantial.

Control and handling is the processes of

22

continued on page 24

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continued fromcontinued page 32 from page 22 MATERIALS HANDLING

WHAT ARE THE HIDDEN COSTS IN HANDLING? Hoarding, hunting for and waiting on materials are all the result of an inefficient, or non-existent, material control process.

Hunting for materials can easily waste an hour for a crew; moving to another task and then back to the original can waste twice as much time. Having to place orders to cover shortages can also add hours to a task. Before you know it, hours of wasted time are adding to the hidden costs of a project.

once a month per crew, that’s still up to $60,000 that’s evaporating each and every year. This is huge money.

When you experience these hidden costs with larger numbers of crews, even just running into a shortage every week or two can add up.

To see what kinds of savings can be gained from an efficient materials handling program, it can be helpful to look at manufacturing plants and the steps professional engineers take to improve their processes.

They have turned to such programs as Lean, where supplies arrive in a timely manner to allow for the uninterrupted production of products.

Let’s use a worst-case scenario of 10 crews running into a shortage that adds $200 to $500 of additional labour cost. If that happens once a week per crew, that’s an extra cost of $2,000 to $5,000 per week, or $104,000 to $260,000 per year.

Even if a shortage is only experienced

Building a Control Process QR codes, like this one, can be added to bins to identify all aspects of an item (item description, item weight, bin weight, package weight, etc.) as part of a materials control and handling program.

Handling isn’t a standalone task. A control process for all associated paperwork and tasks that go with a process is the key to efficient handling.

You need ways to confirm and track orders, deliveries and receiving. Additional checks are needed for delivery errors (right parts, proper quantities), defects and back orders.

Using weight to count small parts can speed up the inventory process.

Once delivery of material is confirmed, the parts can then be placed in storage containers – often shipping containers – in corresponding bins or locations on site. The next step will be delivering the material from its storage location to work areas.

The final step in the control process of handling is re-checking stock levels in the storage locations and comparing this to the job schedule. This will allow you to anticipate the need of more materials for upcoming tasks. In manufacturing environments, this is called material replenishment planning, or MRP. Comparing the stock levels to what the estimated job cost is, and to the material actually used to date, is not only useful for restocking purposes, but also for ongoing job-cost tracking and projections.

The $2 Million Question Not long ago, I was able to implement a small number of control and handling processes on a large project.

These were not applied to all tasks, and I wasn’t dedicated to that role full-time, but within a few months we set up a system that saved the company several thousand dollars most months. That was just from delivery charges and paperwork.

When you count the cost of hunting, hoarding, housekeeping and safety, along with positive attitude changes on productive output, the savings on the three-year project were well worth the effort.

It can take a few months to put a program together, but it should easily have a payback of six months or less.

*

Watch for future articles in this series that will cover strategies to enhance material handling programs for basic rough-in materials on jobsites, from the placement of orders to workers getting the parts they need to complete tasks on time and on budget.

David Pelletier is a plumber in Manitoba who offers consulting services in preconstruction planning. He can be reached at david@sw5.ca.

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M e c h a n i c a l

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And, with a functioning plan in place, it is not unusual for a medium-sized contracting firm to add $200,000 of profit to its bottom line each and every year. At the end of 10 years, what would $2 million do for your company?

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Marketing with DOUG MACMILLAN

Warming up the

Cold Call

M

ention cold calling and even the most hardened marketer will shudder. Wouldn’t you rather have a root canal than spend an evening phoning strangers to try to get an appointment or sell them a home comfort plan? Probably.

Doug MacMillan is president of The Letter M Marketing in Guelph, Ont. To reach him, email doug@thelettermmarketing.com.

And let’s face it: the vast majority of the people on the other end of the line would rather hold the dental drill than talk with you.

But a good phone call creates an opportunity to make a human connection, to share your knowledge and passion for your work, to gather valuable information about the prospective customer, and to leave a strong first impression.

The secret is to warm things up first.

Gamify the Experience With some creative thinking around a contest or promotion, and some advance marketing, the call might be what they’ve been waiting for – an exciting first step to winning a prize or significant discount on an installation.

Heck, invite people to a website where they supply their phone number to be in the contest.

Ever hear a phrase like “We’ll be calling one lucky listener, and they are going to win big!” during your drive into work? It works for radio stations – it can work for you.

26

M e c h a n i c a l

Set the stage in advance Believe it or not, if you actually let people know you may be phoning them, there is a greater likelihood they’ll take your call. So use direct mail, advertising or social media to tell the market you might be calling, and what’s in it for them.

Most contractors know their markets Go Where well but don’t always narrowcast You’re Needed their calling strategies. Older neighbourhoods that are more likely to need a top-to-bottom plumbing update or are ripe for a furnace change-out are prime targets. Find the phone numbers in those areas.

Gather, Don’t Hunt Too often, we only define telemarketing success by “closes” – products sold, appointments set, commitments made. But a phone call can be a great way to capture useful information about the market, all while making a personal connection with someone.

A short survey can help you understand how customers feel about your industry, who they consider best in your market, their purchasing plans over the next few years, and how they prefer to finance or purchase your services – all valuable intelligence.

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One of my Pick the Right clients has a call People centre staffed with exceptional, service-focused operators who have a stellar reputation for exceeding customers’ expectations and building genuine connections.

Initially, their work was exclusively focused on service – not sales. When they introduced a sales strategy with the same team, the wheels fell off the bus right quick.

Selling over the phone isn’t for everyone, yet often smaller businesses will assign salesfocused calls to someone on their marketing or service team.

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RADIANT HEATING AND COOLING A Crucial Step Toward High-Performance Building

JSF High School ©Patrick Kennedy Photographer

REHAU radiant heating and cooling helped JSF High School achieve LEED® Silver certification while creating a comfortable, enjoyable learning space for its students.

Hydronic radiant heating and cooling is used in about half of net-zero energy buildings. It’s a cost-effective way to downsize forced-air HVAC systems, cutting energy consumption while enhancing comfort. Our experts can help you at every step from design and specification to on-site installation support.

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2016

Cooling Report

What’s Fuelling Cooling?

B y G r e g D a l g e t ty

Geothermal Heat Pumps KeepRite’s line of geothermal heat pumps offer efficiencies of up to 30 EER and 5.2 COP. Units are available in capacities ranging from 1.5 to 6 tons. They come in packaged, split and water-to-water models designed to fit a variety of applications. keeprite.com

T

here’s never a dull moment when it comes es to the cooling market. Rising energy prices and new government regulations leave the industry in a constant state of change.

Homeowners and business owners want lower utility bills, and governments have made energy efficiency a priority. Add to this the growing popularity of heat pumps and ductless split systems, and you’ve gott a continuously evolving sector, presenting new challenges—and opportunities— at every corner.

Maximizing Comfort Rooftop Units The Energence line of rooftop units from Lennox offer efficiencies of up to 18 SEER and sound levels as low as 81 dBA. They are available in 3- to 50-ton models and come with a control system that offers 250 adjustable parameters for climate control.

There is also an option to integrate directly to solar power. lennoxcommercial.com

While warm weather will always be the main driver of air conditioning sales, today’s homeowners are looking for a system that delivers overall comfort— not just a respite from scorching summer temperatures.

“When I first started in this industry, ACs were seen as a luxury,” recalls Mike Cantin, Napoleon’s director of Canadian sales. “But now ACs aren’t just weather-related—they’re seen as a necessity.”

Homeowners are treating cooling as one part of the home comfort puzzle, paying close attention to how their air conditioners work in harmony with heating and humidification equipment to create optimal indoor air quality.

“A lot of people with breathing issues want to make sure they can close the doors and turn on the air conditioner without having any problems,” explains Ron Vanhevel, Rheem’s technical services manager. “Along with air conditioners, they’re putting in two-stage furnaces with variable-speed fans for humidification removal.”

Heat Pumps Mr. Slim M series heat pumps from Mitsubishi Electric feature variable-speed compressors and offer efficiencies of up to 30.5 SEER. They use R-410A and are available with four styles of indoor units.

Cooling capacities range from 6,000 to 24,000 BTUH. mitsubishielectric.ca

28

Air quality is just as important in commercial settings—and even more so in critical environments.

“For commercial buildings, ensuring the indoor environment meets ventilation and IAQ guidelines, energy efficiency standards, and occupant comfort needs is a critical part of achieving the mission of the business,” says Timo Lucas, Trane Canada’s national equipment leader. “For example, hospitals need HVAC systems to meet indoor air quality guidelines in patient rooms and in surgical suites.”

He a ti ng

2016

Cooling Report

Keeping Things Cool —with Heat Pumps Once thought to have limited application in colder climates, heat pumps are becoming more popular in Canada thanks to advances in

Commercial Rooftop Units

technology. Vanhevel has seen the sales of heat pumps grow in the past few years due to their everincreasing efficiency.

“The air-to-air heat pump market went away for a while, but it’s coming back stronger due to inverter technology,” Vanhevel says. “We’ve found heat pumps are more popular in Western Canada and Quebec, where the

Daikin Applied’s Rebel commercial packaged rooftop systems are available in 16- to 28-ton sizes. The cooling or heat pump units are suitable for use in low-rise commercial buildings and offer efficiencies as high as 20.6 IEER. They feature variablespeed inverter scroll compressors and variable-speed ECM motors on all fans. daikinapplied.com

electricity rates warrant their use.”

By providing cooling in the summer, as well as supplemental heating during colder months, heat pumps have a versatility that has allowed them to establish a strong foothold in the cooling market.

“I have a lot of customers who will sell a heat pump instead of an air conditioner,” says Cantin. “They’re selling the first stage of heating with their cooling to separate themselves from everybody just trying to sell an AC.” “The ability to operate at lower ambient temperatures has definitely improved the use of heat pumps in cooler climates,” adds Beth Stevens, communications manager for Goodman Manufacturing. “Plus, in a ducted system, the use of a heat pump paired

Ductless VRF Systems Trane’s water-source ductless VRF systems are suitable for multi-unit residential, commercial and institutional applications.

They use water or geothermal sources to provide cooling and heating. The units deliver efficiencies of up to 30.1 IEER and 27.4 SCHE and provide up to 48 tons of capacity. trane.com

with a gas furnace delivers optimal comfort by maximizing heat pump operation and switching to gas heating when necessary.”

In addition to cooling and providing supplemental space heating, heat pumps can be put to other uses as well.

“When a building has a concurrent heating and cooling load, the heat from cooling the building can be utilized for heating the perimeter zones and domestic water heating,” explains Lucas. “Four-pipe heat pump chillers that have the ability to function as chillers, air source heat pumps, and water-towater heat pumps are gaining popularity—especially in moderate climates.”

continued on page 30

Two-Stage Air Conditioners Rheem’s RA17 series of two-stage air conditioners offer efficiencies up to 17 SEER. Available in two- to five-ton sizes, the units feature scroll compressors designed to operate at 67 per cent or 100 per cent capacity. rheem.com

Cooling g Products 29

2016

Cooling Report

continued from page 29

Finding a Fit with a Ductless Split While conventional air conditioning units still account for the bulk of cooling equipment sold in Canada, ductless split systems have shown steady growth in recent years.

“I think you’re going to continue to see an overall increase in ductless

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systems, just due to energy costs,” predicts Vanhevel. “People are trying to cut energy costs. By doing a ductless system, you can put the cooling right where you need it.”

Once thought of as a popular cooling source only in certain regions, ductless systems are now gaining traction right across the country.

“I’m amazed at how my sales are growing in Ontario and even in Saskatchewan. I’m quoting ductless systems where I never thought I’d sell many,” Cantin says.

The popularity of ductless systems has been growing hand in hand with VRF technologies.

“The ductless and variable refrigerant flow market has been continuing to gain traction and growth,” Lucas explains.

“Manufacturers are seeing an increased demand from building owners and facility directors in commercial real estate, hospitality and healthcare markets.” continued on page 32

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AVXC20 air conditioners from Amana come in 2- to 5-ton sizes and deliver up to 24.5 SEER. They feature variable-speed swing and scroll compressors, as well as an ECM outdoor motor. The units come fully charged for 15’ of tubing length and use R-410A refrigerant.

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Cooling Products 30

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No Fooling: Radiant Cooling Open a Door of Opportunity

While radiant cooling hasn’t developed a significant presence in the United States—particularly in warmer regions where cooling loads can be quite high—it has gained traction in commercial projects north of the border.

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By Fred Bretzke

PLUMBING

PLUMBING AN

island VENT B

ack when I was first the manager of A&B Plumbing & Heating in Calgary, I would occasionally visit jobsites to check on the quality of the work being done in the field.

I would tell my servicemen to make sure they had a code book in their van at all times. I did this so that I wouldn’t have to explain the code to the guys on every job. My boss used to tell me that it was their responsibility to interpret the code as they were journeymen. But that doesn’t always work—especially with island vents.

In order to fully explain the challenges faced when plumbing an island vent, I’ll recount two different stories and touch on several code clauses.

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CONFLICTING CODES I remember sitting in class at SAIT in 1984, listening to my excellent, humorous teacher, Ken St. John, who was one of the main reasons that I became an instructor myself. He could recite code by heart. He explained that we could do an island vent as it was illustrated in the back of the code book. The illustration, which appeared to be a loop vent, was how they did it in the east part of the country, and it complied with the national code.

However, back then we had our own Alberta code book, with a slightly different version of the island vent. I must have only remembered the Canadian version, and hence that’s the one I did. If you want to check it out, it’s still in there: clause A-2.4.8.2.(1) of the NPC 2010 version.

This version shows the vent looping from the trap arm up and back directly down into the fixture drain under the island sink. It’s an easy job, and when I was working in a bar on Electric Avenue of downtown Calgary, I performed this installation in copper DWV for a bar island in a fancy establishment.

I remember doing a great solder job and, as usual, I was very proud of my work. I stood there staring at it, admiring it as though it were a piece of art by Leonardo da Vinci. And that’s exactly what I thought it was until that Friday, when Frank Metcalfe—the reigning chief plumbing inspector for the City of Calgary—decided to inspect my work.

He very abruptly described how bad my island vent was and that I would have to rip it out and do it over again.

I remembered cursing to myself, but— obliging the inspector—I ripped it out. I then looked at my notes and the Alberta code book and completed it the Alberta way.

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Fred Bretzke is a full-time pipe trades instructor with SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary and the general manager of A&B Plumbing & Heating. He can be reached at fred.bretzke@sait.ca.

OR

TO CHEAT NOT TO CHEAT… In Alberta, we can’t just loop the vent directly back into the kitchen island fixture drain. We must drill it below the floor and run it separately to a dry vent and tie it in above the flood level rim, complete with cleanouts.

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I’ve always remembered what a pain it was to change that island vent I installed on Electric Avenue.

When I was the manager of A&B, whenever I went to check on my guys’ island vents, I never knew what to expect. No one could ever seem to remember how to do an island vent properly. I remember two particular plumbers on two different sites—one commercial and the other residential—fouling up the island vents badly. They looked like continues on page 36

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“

PLUMBING

continued from page 35

pieces of art, all right—but more like abstract art!

Many plumbers hated island vents so much that they would resort to secretly installing air admittance valves—or what we called cheater vents—that plumbing inspectors couldn’t find.

It used to be a game in Alberta.

Plumbers would always try to install a cheater vent in a hard-toreach place so it was too hard for the inspector to find. Hence, many illegal cheater vents were sold and installed across Alberta.

Now, to fully clarify this, cheater vents are used around the world, and they work great. It’s just that they need to be accessible for repair or replacement. They have a small rubber diaphragm that opens and allows air in when the fixture drains.

But after a while the diaphragm may crack, which can allow sewer gases to enter the room.

That’s why there were many service calls later on complaining of stinky bathrooms and kitchens that had hidden cheater vents installed in the walls. Many a hole was broken into drywall in a quest to locate a cheater vent. All this simply because plumbers didn’t remember how to do an island vent properly.

THE RULE OF THUMB The rule of thumb in most provinces is that one should install an island vent if it is possible to do so. In Calgary, we only allow the installation of air admittance valves (without first having to ask for permission) on brand new residential home kitchen islands.

Otherwise, all islands must be island vented, unless the inspector directly approves the cheater installation on a

Eventually, Alberta finally ended up allowing air admittance valves, found in 2.5.9.2. of the national plumbing code. They can now be installed without violating code, but only under certain conditions, and they have to be accessible for repair or replacement. But they have been allowed in the Northwest Territories for years, due to frost closure in a lot of their vent terminations.

renovation due to extreme or unusual conditions.

For more info on island vents and air admittance valves, please look up SAIT’s YouTube videos on Plumbing Island Vents and Plumbing Air Admittance Valves. They’re filled with animations on the codes of each application.

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PLUMBING

Products

Tankless Condensing Water Heater The Aqua2 tankless condensing water heater from Radiant, distributed by Thermal Hydronic Supply, features a pipe-within-pipe heat exchanger and a flowrate of 7.02 gpm. It can be vented with 2” PVC, CPVC and polypropylene pipe.

PVC Adapters Sharkbite’s PVC adapters are designed to connect PVC pipe to a male NPT adapter using a push connection on the PVC end of the joint.

They are available in 1/2”, 3/4” and 1” sizes.

www. sharkbite.com

www. radianthydronics.com

Elbow Fittings Viega’s double-drop elbow fittings are engineered to reduce water stagnancy and keep fresh water close to each fixture. They are available in 1/2” and 3/4” sizes and feature a flow-through design.

They can be used in series or ring installations, and are suitable for hot or cold water systems.

www. viega.us

The Romans were the first people to have in-home faucets.

Thermostatic Balancing Valve The Circuit Solver self-actuating thermostatic balancing valve from ThermOmegaTech is designed to continuously maintain water temperature at the end of each domestic hot water supply without the need for balancing or re-balancing. It is engineered to allow only water that cools below the setpoint to flow to the return.

www. thermomegatech.com

Electric Tankless Water Heaters Hubell HX/TX electric tankless water heaters, available from Wesmech Technical Sales, are designed for commercial and industrial applications. They have a capacity of 8 to 54 kW and offer thermal efficiencies of up to 98 per cent. The TX model has a minimum flow rate of 0.2 gpm and a maximum flow rate of 8.0 gpm.

The HX model has a minimum flow rate of 0.5 gpm and a maximum flow rate of 40 gpm.

High-Efficiency Pumps Little Giant’s 6EC series of pumps are suitable for sump, dewatering, water transfer and light effluent applications. The 1/3 hp units consume 5.0 amps to produce 53 gpm at 5’ of head, with a maximum shut-off of 28’. They have PCM motors and are designed for continuous use.

www. wesmechtech.com 38

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PROJECT

PROFILE

By Greg Dalgetty

Photo: Marc Cramer

2cool

Photo: François LeClair

FOR SCHOOL I

n the ever-evolving pursuit of maximizing energy efficiency, few are as dogged as Nicolas Lemire.

“Energy efficiency isn’t only a matter of turning off lights when you don’t need them,” says the president of Montreal-based consulting engineering firm Pageau Morel. “It’s about paying attention to all aspects of energy consumption.”

And that’s exactly what Lemire’s firm did when it was contracted to build the Anne-Marie Edward Science Building at John Abbott College in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que. Named after a John Abbott College graduate who was one of the victims of the 1989 École Polytechnique Massacre, the six-storey building boasts 51 geothermal wells and low-flow plumbing fixtures, as well as a variety of features geared toward energy reuse and recovery.

“We were trying to look at the building and see how we could reduce pretty much everything we were using,” Lemire explains. “Instead of looking at energy sources at the beginning of a project, we try to reuse everything we have within the building, and then look for other energy sources.”

Pageau Morel’s attention to detail and laser focus on energy reuse and recuperation ended up paying off in spades. The Anne-Marie Edward Science Building recently won an ASHRAE Technology Award in the educational facilities category.

We spoke to Lemire to learn how the building works, and why it’s become one of the most popular places at John Abbott College.

CONTROLLING THE CLIMATE The 51 geothermal wells at the building serve as the foundation for the building’s climate control system.

“Heating and cooling is primarily dealt with by the geothermal wells,” Lemire explains. “The system features a closedloop heat exchanger that uses propylene glycol, and we have about 20,000 feet of heat exchanger. This is installed in the Oval, which is a piece of land in front of all the buildings at John Abbott.”

The propylene glycol flows through the building’s mechanical room, which houses five heat pumps that have a total capacity of 142 tons.

“The heat pumps are installed in between two reservoirs—one cold and one hot,” Lemire says. “That gives us just a small amount of reserve that prevents the heat pumps from cycling all the time.”

The heat pumps provide heating or cooling, depending on the season, and draw from the hot and cold reservoirs.

continues on page 42

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“During warm seasons, we’re sending excess heat to the reservoir, and when we need heat, we’re extracting it and bringing it back to the loop,” Lemire says.

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PROJECT

continued from page 40

PROFILE IAQ IN THE LABORATORY Indoor air quality is of critical importance in laboratory settings, and ensuring that the air entering labs is free of contaminants is a must.

“Usually when you do a lab building, you have an HVAC system for the classrooms and the offices, and you have a separate one for the labs,” Lemire explains.

But instead of installing separate HVAC systems, Pageau Morel used an innovative approach: reusing return air as compensation air in laboratories.

“We’re always assessing how much air we have and how much air we need. We don’t exhaust air that might be used as makeup air in the labs. And we don’t use fresh air as make up air for the labs, since we already have good air that can be used there.”

The building also uses coil condensation water to humidify exhaust air—just another small piece of a larger energy efficiency puzzle.

Photo: François LeClair

Pageau Morel used an innovative approach: reusing return air as compensation air in laboratories.

SERENDIPITREE

Photo: Marc Cramer

“Let’s say you have 100 per cent fresh air that you’re sending to the classrooms and the offices,” Lemire says. “When you take the return air from those areas, that air is still very good and can be sent elsewhere in the building. So we’re using that and mixing it with a part of fresh air and sending it to the labs.

ageau Morel ran into a unique challenge when planning the construction of the AnneMarie Edward Science Building.

P

42

“One of the main obstacles was a century-old ginkgo tree,” Lemire recalls. “We didn’t want to cut it down to put in a new building. We didn’t like the statement that would have made.”

So rather than get rid of the tree, Lemire’s team decided to build around it.

“That’s why the building has an odd-shaped bit… to make sure we could keep the tree there,” he explains. “By building to keep the tree in place, it gave us the opportunity to create an inner courtyard. The students are using it quite a lot.

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If it weren’t for the tree, there never would have been a courtyard.”

Besides enjoying the courtyard, students can also explore mechanical rooms that have been made accessible for educational purposes.

“We designed the mechanical rooms so students can tour the building and see boilers, chillers and HVAC units,” Lemire says. “The mechanical rooms are accessible to small groups, with a tour guide who can explain how things work.”

This meant building wider corridors to allow for group access, and ordering HVAC units with larger window ports so students could see their inner mechanical workings.

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BUSINESS S

B y L o r en zo Lisi

hether it is due to a volatile economy, a restructuring of the busi business or simply the decision that someone no longer fi fits in with the organization, terminating employees is some sometimes a necessary evil. While the decision itself is never an easy one, making sure it it is done properly can often reduce the emotional toll and impact on the workplace em and, most importantly, limit legal liability.

W

In Canad Canada, the rights of employees when their employment is terminated are determined in part by employmen legislation and, with the exception of Quebec, in part by what is known as co common law.

Each province, and the federal government for federal employees, has leg legislated minimum entitlements that apply when a termination occurs on a “without cause” basis.

Managing terminations and layoffs in today’s economy

standards legislation outline the varying ways Employment stand employment agreement can be terminated and the that an employmen required in each circumstance. Notice can length of notice re advance of the termination date (working be provided in adv notice) or paid to the employee in a lump sum or via salary continuance.

Requirements for notice across Canada vary, but an employer is generally required to provide an employee with one or two weeks’ notice per year of service, up to a maximum of eight weeks’ notice. In addition to this notice, employees working in Ontario or those working for federal employers are entitled to severance pay, which is a lump sum payment equivalent to an employee’s wages, based on how long they were employed at the company.

All Canadian provinces and territories aside from Quebec are “common law” jurisdictions. Under common law, an employee whose employment is terminated without cause is generally entitled to reasonable notice, which is basically the amount of time a court believes it would take an employee to find a continues on page 46

THE TERMINATION MEETING The meeting should be relatively brief and be held away from other employees. Preferably, have two members of management present. Generally, the end of the day works best.

GLOSSARY Termination without cause | When an employee is terminated for reasons that do not involve misconduct.

Working notice | When notice of termination is given in advance of the termination date.

Severance pay | A lump sum payment based on an employee’s wages and length of service.

Reasonable notice | The amount of time it would take an employee to find a similar job.

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Make sure the employee is treated with dignity and respect. Some employers offer outplacement counselling in the severance package, or have a counsellor on site to assist the employee. If the employee is upset, angry or volatile, it is better to terminate the meeting with an offer to discuss details at a future date.

Managing the fallout from a termination decision is very important. To other employees, it may signal a downsizing or management approach that undermines their own sense of job security. Any communication of a termination, if necessary, should be neutral. Advise employees that the individual is no longer with the organization and that they are wished the best of luck.

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Lorenzo Lisi is a partner with Aird & Berlis LLP and is the practice group leader of the firm’s Labour & Employment team. He has 25 years of experience in labour and employment law. He can be reached at llisi@airdberlis.com.

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similar job. The exact amount of notice is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Length of reasonable notice is generally based on the employee’s age, service, overall compensation and position. If an employee was induced to leave a secure job, this may be considered as well.

Generally, reasonable notice is much higher than the minimum legislative requirements.

When an employer gives less than adequate notice of termination, the employee may sue the employer and claim damages equivalent to what they would have earned during a reasonable notice period.

The entitlement to reasonable notice can be limited by an enforceable employment contract that outlines provisions under termination, provided that the minimum statutory entitlements are met. It is also inclusive of the statutory amounts, and can be satisfied by providing actual working notice.

An employee’s entitlement to damages during the reasonable notice period – the value of all compensation and benefits of any kind that they would have been entitled to had they been given working notice – can be reduced by a court if the employee finds another job during the reasonable notice period.

In the absence of an enforceable agreement limiting damages, an employer must determine what kind of notice and severance they want to provide the employee. It can’t be less than statutory minimums, and if it’s too low, they might be sued for wrongful dismissal.

GATHERING INFORMATION

An employer should carefully consider not only the cost, but the manner in which a termination will occur. This is information that should be provided to the organization’s human resource professional and/or legal counsel in order to get an assessment of a reasonable period of notice. It is important to consider the following: • Is there a valid employment agreement limiting payments (notice or pay in lieu) on termination?

• What is the employee’s overall compensation? This can include any bonuses, commissions, perquisites, the cost of benefits, stock options, car allowance, pension entitlements, etc. Common law will calculate compensation as the sum of all these entitlements during the reasonable notice period.

• Are there confidentiality or intellectual property issues? Does the employee have external access to company files or information?

Can the employer restrict access?

• Is there company property in the employee’s possession that needs to be returned?

• Are there any post-termination restrictions (for example, non-solicitation) that apply to the employee?

THE TERMINATION LETTER The termination letter should address the date of the termination; whether it is immediate or if working notice is provided; the payment of all outstanding wages and vacation pay; and the provision of a Record of Employment for employment insurance purposes. It should also request a return of all company property and remind the employee of any obligations of confidentiality following their employment. It should make specific reference to any separate documents that they have signed with respect to disclosure of intellectual property.

It need not include a reason for the termination if it is on a without cause basis. If a severance package is being offered that is greater than the minimum legislative requirements, it should be carefully set out and should request a release of any liability to the

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company in exchange for the severance monies.

The structure of the settlement can be quite specific and can be fairly creative; the important thing is that it must comply with minimum statutory requirements.

The letter should also provide a specific date for a response, giving the employee a reasonable amount of time to review the offer and consult a lawyer and financial advisor. General practice is to give seven to 10 days. Under no circumstances should an employee be forced to review the letter at the termination meeting and sign the release as this will impact its enforceability.

If the employee chooses not to sign, the employer is under an obligation to provide the statutory minimums.

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Refrigeration

By Greg Dalgetty

Battling Burnout When a Moxie’s Grill and Bar in London, Ont., was having issues with its refrigeration condensing unit—compressor burnout being chief among them—a manufacturer, contractor and wholesaler came together to find a solution. The restaurant, now a Chop Steakhouse and Bar franchise, had nine coolers running off a fixed-capacity condenser that was unable to adjust to varying refrigeration loads.

“With places like this, it’s very common to have all these small refrigerant loads. The prep lines, subcoolers—all these 2,000 to 4,000 BTUH loads,” explains Ben Kungl of Oxford Energy Solutions, a refrigeration equipment manufacturer based in Woodstock, Ont. “And they tie them all together and put them on one little two- or three-horse condensing unit.

Photos: David Chidley

“As each load comes on, a normal condensing unit does not have the ability to regulate its capacity.

Here, the old unit had been equipped with a hot gas bypass, which was made to trim the top 30 to 40 per cent of the mass flow off at the most. But if you try to bypass 80 per cent of your mass flow, you just overheat and bake the compressor.”

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And that’s exactly what was happening. The restaurant was going through three compressors a year, on average.

“We had several compressors fail,” recalls Victor Orzech, owner of Orzech Heating & Cooling, whose business serviced the restaurant. “It was really starting to become a nuisance, both for us and for them.”

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From left to right: Ben Kungl of Oxford Energy Solutions, Jim Blak, Jr., of Thermal Resources, and Victor Orzech, owner of Orzech Heating & Cooling.

“A lot of these guys—even the business owners—are convinced that that’s just the way refrigeration works,” Kungl says. “But in reality, the old condensing unit wasn’t engineered for this type of load. People don’t realize there are better ways of doing things without getting overly complicated.”

Moving to VARIABLE CAPACITY “When the renovation opportunity arose, we suggested a variable capacity unit to Orzech, who in turn sold it to Chop,” says Jim Blak, Jr., general manager of Thermal Resources. “Oxford Energy was able to supply us a plug-and-play product within the time allotted and assist with the setup.”

“Once they made the change to a Chop restaurant, we wound up convincing them that this was certainly going to be a better long-term solution for them,” says Orzech.

“It was going to save them a lot of grief and aggravation, not to mention money.”

Todd Neve of Orzech Heating & Cooling was part of the team that installed the new condensing unit, which features a digital scroll compressor designed to respond to varying refrigeration loads.

“When the capacity is lower, it accommodates that by unloading the compressor,” Neve explains. “It’s not running at 100 per cent when it’s not needed to be at 100 per cent. If they only have one cooler that needs to be

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Ease of USE The Oxford Energy unit was designed not only for energy efficiency and lower operating costs, but ease of use as well.

“We put all the controls you need in the condensing electrical panel with a cut through the door,” Kungl explains. “You see the suction pressure on a digital display, and you have a set point that controls it. There’s no frustration or stress about getting it to work. You give it a set point, it shows you the suction pressure at all times, and away you go.”

Oxford Energy used system components that were compatible with one another—and made by the same OEM—to ensure that the condensing unit ran as smoothly as possible.

“We paired the digital scroll compressor with—here’s the kicker—the controller that’s designed to be used on the compressor,” Kungl says. “That’s where the key is. Some guys might be trying to save a hundred dollars by using a thirdparty component. That’s where complexity might arise.”

ENERGY SAVINGS NG GS Since its installation in September, 2015, the new condensing unit has been meeting expectations, and at the time of this writing, it has yet to blow a single compressor.

“It’s exactly what they wanted,” Neve says. “They haven’t had any issues with the compressors. With the old system, they probably would’ve had to put in a new compressor by now.”

And the new system isn’t just more reliable—it’s far more energy-efficient.

“One of the biggest things, aside from the savings on service, is the energy savings,” Kungl says. “If you’re running a two-horse condensing unit 24 hours a day nonstop with a hot-gas bypass running at 80 per cent most of the time, that’s not a good thing.”

While modulating refrigeration technology may not be widespread yet, both Neve and Kungl see its potential for growth.

“A lot of places don’t have the budget for one of these condensing units, because they are more expensive, but they see the energy savings if they do go for them,” Neve says. “Like anything else, once more people start to use it, the technology will get cheaper and you’ll start to see it become the norm.”

cooled, it can just run at 10 per cent capacity.”

As part of the renovation, the Orzech team replaced the evaporators in all nine of the restaurant’s refrigeration units, and converted one of them from a freezer to a cooler. Installing the Oxford Energy unit was a fairly straightforward process.

“We did have a few little issues trying to get the condensing unit and the evaporators dialed in to the temperature that the customer wanted,” Neve recalls. “That just took a little bit of fine-tuning with the temperature controls. Oxford Energy came in to adjust some of the parameters in the condensing unit to get it right where the customer wanted.”

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COVER STORY

All About Alomar Sports

By Greg Dalgetty

Alomar Sports is a Toronto-based sports marketing agency that allows people to connect with sports icons at corporate events and on fantasy trips.

“We wanted to create a company that specializes in athlete bookings and hospitality experiences that are unmatched,” Alomar explains. “There are a lot of event planning companies in Toronto, but we wanted to create a company that was designed by athletes, and specialized in unique experiences.”

Alomar Sports represents a growing list of athletes, including fellow Jays greats Carlos Delgado and Devon White, as well as Maple Leafs fan favourite Curtis Joseph. Alomar has also started Club 12, a group whose members can join Alomar and other athletes on sports outings throughout North America.

“Club 12 is my hospitality program that gives clients and friends unrivaled access to myself and my network of friends,” he explains. “We get to know the members in ways that are meaningful and we create memories.”

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Michelle Prata Photography

hen it comes to Toronto Blue Jays alumni, few are remembered as fondly as Roberto Alomar.

The 12-time All-Star second baseman helped lead the Jays to back-to-back World Series victories in the early ’90s, and was a Gold Glove winner in each of his five seasons in Toronto. He was the first Blue Jay to have his number retired, and in 2011, he became the first—and so far, only—player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Toronto Blue Jay.

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Alomar was born into a baseball family in Salinas, Puerto Rico. His father, Sandy Alomar, Sr., enjoyed a 15-year MLB career. His elder brother, Sandy, Jr., played 20 seasons in the majors, and was a teammate of Roberto’s on the Cleveland Indians.

Some players might be content to kick back and relax after their retirement—but not Alomar. With his playing days now behind him, he finds himself in a new role: businessman. We caught up with the Blue Jays legend, who has a home in Toronto, to learn about his new business venture, Alomar Sports.

Succeeding in Business For Alomar, running a successful business isn’t all that different from succeeding at the highest level of sports.

“I think there are a lot of things that are consistent in both the business world and professional sports,” he says. “Both take hard work and passion to be successful.”

And, just like in the sports world, Alomar has found that teamwork is the key to advancing in business.

“It always takes a team to achieve something great, and business is no different,” he says. “I always appreciated what a great leader Cito Gaston was for the Blue Jays. He allowed you to be yourself, but always made you understand the team came first. He understood the game so well, and always put you in positions to succeed.”

While coaching and training are essential components in the recipe for success, at the end of the day Alomar maintains that you have to love what you’re doing in order to succeed at the highest level.

“Make sure it is your passion. Business, like sports, is very tough,” he says. “If you want to succeed at anything in life, it’s important that you give it everything. And make sure you have a great team around you to help.”

Remembering History In Game 4 of the 1992 ALCS series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics, Alomar hit one of the most important home runs in Blue Jays history.

It was the ninth inning, the Jays were down by two, Devon White was on base and Alomar was facing off against Oakland’s ace closer, Dennis Eckersley. He still remembers what happened next as though it was only yesterday.

“I just remember staying focused and trying to do my job to help the team win,” he says. “I just remember looking for a certain pitch and then taking advantage of it.”

Alomar’s two-run homer tied the game, and the Jays went on to win the series, later winning the World Series for the first time in franchise history.

“As time goes by, you learn to appreciate how important a moment it was for the Blue Jays franchise,” he says. “I am just happy we were able to win the series and capture a World Series title for the country of Canada. I was happy to be part of such a great team of guys.” www.alomarsports.com

Alomar with fellow Blue Jays great Kelly Gruber (left) at a Club 12 Dinner.

Giving Back to the Community Now that he’s hung up his baseball uniform, Alomar is more than just a businessman—he’s also philanthropist. He and his wife, Kim, operate Foundation 12, a charitable organization aimed at helping youth baseball players.

Proceeds from Club 12 are donated to Foundation 12 to provide financial assistance, program support and educational opportunities to young baseball players throughout Canada.

“I come from a very small town in Puerto Rico,” Alomar says. “My parents always instilled in me the importance of helping people who are less fortunate. I remember how hard it was on my family when I was growing up. We didn’t have much money, but I always had big dreams.”

Providing opportunities to Canadian ballplayers was important to Alomar, since Canadians were so welcoming to him after he was traded to Toronto by the San Diego Padres.

“When I came to the Blue Jays in 1991, I didn’t know anything about Canada,” he recalls. “What I do remember is that the fans and the community embraced me from day one. I became part of their community and they opened their arms up to me and accepted me right away.

“Anytime I can give back to the Canadian people, and youth in general, it’s great. My wife is Canadian, and we have a lot of roots here,” Alomar says. “I always remember thinking, if I could ever be in a position to do something to repay the fans and the community, I would like to do that.

That’s why I asked to be inducted into Cooperstown as a Blue Jay. It meant that much to me to give the fans something special.”

DID YOU KNOW ALOMAR’S MLB STATS? AB

R

H

HR

RBI

SB AVG. OBP OPS

9073 1508 2724 210 1134 474 .300 .371 .814

2

2

12

World Series American League Championships Championships

All-Star Game Appearances

10 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards

View Alomar’s complete statistics at MLB.com

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53

REFRIGERATION

B y P h il J. B o u d r eau

CAPACITY CONTROL OF SCREW COMPRESSORS C

ompressor technologies are available with different options for capacity control, based on the construction of the compressor.

For example, suction cut-off cylinder unloading is an appropriate capacity control method for reciprocating compressors. With this approach, the suction is blocked off at the valve plate, preventing refrigerant from entering certain cylinders.

Of course, screw compressors do not use pistons to compress refrigerant and, therefore, require other techniques.

The Fixed-Position Hydraulic Unloader One method of capacity control used with screw compressors, particularly with smaller open-drive and semi-hermetic models, is the fixed-position hydraulic unloader.

With this type of capacity control, a solenoid valve controls the flow of oil to the hydraulic control piston. Since oil pressure is needed to push the piston into its loaded position, these types of unloaders are generally energized to load. At compressor start-up, the unloaders are de-energized by default. Once the compressor is up and running, the pistons are loaded as required. This allows the compressor to be started in an unloaded state.

The compressor’s helical rotors discharge high-pressure refrigerant through a port in the discharge pressure flange. The area in yellow highlights the discharge flange area.

This area has ports that are designed to accept the control pistons. In other words, the

control pistons actually form part of the discharge flange.

Note that when these pistons are de-energized, the oil in the control piston area is slowly bled to suction, allowing the pistons to move away from the discharge flange.

As can be seen in the diagram, it is actually the pressure within the rotor profile area that pushes the unloader away from the discharge flange as the oil is bleeding from the control piston area. In an unloaded state, more of the rotor profile is exposed to suction and, therefore, less compression will take place.

continued on page 56

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continued from page 54 continued from page 82 REFRIGERATION

To unload the compressor, the slide valve moves toward the discharge port. This exposes more of the rrotor profile to suction, reducing the effective length of the rotors. len

Slide Valve Capacity Control In larger twin-screw compressor models, the slide valve capacity control method is often used.

Both suction and discharge pressures are used in order to control slide valve movement. The slide valve is connected to a control piston that is housed in a chamber which periodically receives oil.

The slide valve actually forms part of the housing that encloses the rotor profile area. Note that the slide valve on twin-rotor screw compressors has two curved edges that meet to form an apex between the two rotors.

In the loaded position, the slide valve is as close to the suction end of the rotors as possible. This results in the entire rotor length being used for compression.

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High-pressure oil is the force that drives the slide valve toward a more loaded position. In the illustration showing a slide valve operated by four solenoids, CR4 is the valve that opens to allow oil to enter the control piston area. Solenoids CR1, CR2 and CR3 are basically vents that permit oil flow to the suction end of the rotors. Note the position of these vents in the control piston area.

If CR1 is energized, the slide valve will move to the 75 per cent position. CR2 is the 50 per cent position and CR3 is the 25 per cent and fully unloaded position. The actual amount of unloading that will take place is determined, in part, by the compression ratio.

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Therefore, 75 per cent, 50 per cent and 25 per cent represent certain slide valve positions. For the actual capacity at each step, refer to the manufacturer’s software and literature. In order to return the slide valve to the minimum capacity and position, CR3 is energized.

These four solenoids are generally pulsed in such a way that permits a varying of speed of the slide valve, which will depend on a signal from the controller.

In the illustration using four solenoids, note that it is also possible to cycle only CR3 and CR4 to control the pistons using an infinite step approach. This allows for even more precise control of the slide valve as the load changes.

• S l i d e v a l v e c ap acity co n tro l • Feeling t he pr es s ur e • Follow t he r ight or de r

7R ,QÀQLW\« Follow the Right Order When controlling the unloaders or slide valve of a screw compressor, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions indicating the sequence in which the unloader solenoids should be energized.

Operating them using an incorrect sequence may result in some damage to the compressor over the long term.

Feeling the Pressure Whether a compressor uses fixed-position unloaders or a slide valve, sufficient high to low system pressure differential is required.

The system must be designed to ensure that the system can develop and maintain at least the minimum pressure differential indicated by the compressor manufacturer.

It is also important to ensure that the compressor is not unloaded beyond its limits. These limits are established for each refrigerant type, for a range of saturated suction and discharge temperatures.

Infinite speed control using a variable frequency drive (VFD) is another technique that can usually be applied to most compressor types. However, it is important to ensure that the compressor manufacturer approves the use of a VFD for the model of compressor you are installing. Additionally, it is important to adhere to the application guidelines in order to prevent premature compressor failure.

Also, in many cases, it is not permissible to use VFD in conjunction with unloading. The main reason for this in semi-hermetic installations is because insufficient cooling will be available for the motor. Issues with the oil management circuit can also arise. For example, excessive oil could enter the rotor profile area.

For further information on VFDs and appropriate ways to incorporate them into a system, be sure to consult the application manuals and operating instructions published by the compressor manufacturer.

Phil Boudreau is the Ontario sales manager for Bitzer Canada Inc. and provides training and technical support for Bitzer’s clientele. He can be contacted at pboudreau@bitzer.ca.

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www.oxfordenergy.ca 519-532-6373 M e c h a n i c a l

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COMMERCIAL VEHICLES: VANS

Stability Stable

B y Ho war d J. Elmer Howard J. Elmer is an automotive journalist and the founder of the Canadian Truck King Challenge. Be sure to check out the test drives of 2016 vans at www.canadiantruckkingchallenge.ca.

IN THE

he European invasion is over, but that doesn’t mean the Europeans went home. After several years of new models and design innovations coming at breakneck speed in the commercial van market, it’s finally slowing down.

T

For 2016, there is only one new model introduction – the he mid-size Mercedes-Benz Metris – and and significant updates to existing models are few and far between. But this ring. doesn’t mean the segment is lacking; it’s simply maturing.

Cab Style:

Van

Wheelbase:

104.8”, 120.6”

Engine size:

2.5L I-4, 1.6L EcoBoost I-4

Max. Payload: Towing capacity:

2,000 lb.

Van interior:

130 cu.ft.

Cargo space:

Length: 72.6” Width: 48.1” Height: 59.1”

Dimensions:

Length: 189.7” Width: 72.2”

2016 FORD TRANSIT

According to Ford, its full-size Transit took the sales lead in North America within six months of its introduction in late 2014.

Replacing the long serving E-series, the Transit is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive design that incorporates several body lengths, two wheelbases and three roof heights. Initial options created seven different cargo van configurations, including passenger vans.

New for 2016 is the addition of SYNC3, Ford’s new infotainment system. A rear-view camera is now also standard, as is a front dome lamp, map lights and theatre dimming. Also new is a second sliding door option that gives customers a total of 58 vehicle configurations.

CNG/propane and E85 flex-fuel capability are also on offer.

2016 FORD TRANSIT CONNECT CONN

Cab Style:

Van

Wheelbase:

129.9”, 147.6”

Engine size:

3.7L V6 (base), 3.5L EcoBoost V6, 3.2L Power Stroke diesel

Power (hp/torque):

275/260, 310/400, 185/350

Max. Payload: Towing capacity:

The smal smaller Transit will soon be completing its first decade of se service on our shores. Its versatility has earned it a firm market and Ford continues to tinker with its offerings – though it remains largely unchanged for 2016.

CNG/propane and E85 fuel options are now being offered to the base 2.5L engine. Electronic upgrades centre on Ford’s MyKey system (allowing fleet managers oversight and programmable limits on the vehicle’s operations) and Ford Telematics, which lets owners monitor the operation and location of several vehicles in real time.

4,650 lb.

7,600 lb. (w/HD tow package)

Van interior:

487.3 cu.ft. max.

Door opening:

74.3”

Rear Height:

81.5” max.

Cargo space:

Length:171.5” Width: 69.8” Height: 81.5” max.

Cab Style:

Van

Dimensions:

Length: 266.1 max. Width: 82”

Wheelbase:

144”, 170”

Engine size:

3L V6 turbodiesel, 2.1L I-4 turbodiesel

FORD E-SERIES

NOT QUITE GONE

While the E-series full body vans are no longer in production, the HD E-series cutaway and stripped chassis will continue to be offered to upfitters through most of this decade.

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1,620 lb.

Power (hp/torque):

2016 MERCEDES-BENZ SPRINTER 1500 TO 3500 Last year Mercedes added a 4WD option to

the Sprinter – that’s the latest and greatest update to this van line. For the buyer that needs that feature, the Sprinter is the only vehicle in its class that offers it, and it works well. Other than that, these well-received vans remain the same this year.

They are available in cargo and passenger versions, various roof heights and also GVWRs. B u s i n e s s

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188/325, 161/266

Max. Payload:

5,375 lb.

Towing capacity:

7,500 lb.

Van interior:

547 cu.ft.

Door opening:

Side sliding door: 51.2”

Cargo space: Width: 53.1” between wheel arches Height: 65” (standard roof), 76.4” (high roof) Dimensions:

Length: 289” Width: 79.3”

continued on page 60

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COMMERCIAL VEHICLES: VANS

2016 MERCEDES-BENZ METRIS The new Metris, from

2016 RAM PROMASTER CITY

Mercedes, was introduced last winter at the NTEA Work Truck Show. This mid-size commercial van complements the larger Sprinter MB and will compete with the Transit Connect, ProMaster City and NV200. In keeping with the lower pricing in this segment, Mercedes opted for a gas engine, but offers as much as 29 per cent more interior space than its competitors. It’s a rear-wheel drive with a 7-speed automatic transmission.

The smallest ProMaster, the City, is now in its second year and gives Ram a nice cross-section of offerings. Built in Turkey by Fiat, it’s sold around the world. This small van runs a nine-speed automatic transmission in a frontwheel-drive platform and has great inner-city maneuverability.

Cab Style:

Van

Wheelbase:

122”

Engine size:

2.4L I-4 MultiAir2

continued from page 58

Cab Style:

Van

Wheelbase:

126”

Engine size:

I-4

Power (hp/torque):

208/258 2,500 lb.

Power (hp/torque):

178/174

Max. Payload:

Max. Payload:

1,883 lb.

Towing capacity:

Max. Towing capacity: Van interior: Door opening:

2,000 lb. (w/tow package)

Dimensions:

Length: 187.5” Width: 72.1”

Side: 49” tall, 37.5” wide

Rear:

26” (side)Rear Height: 49” Length: 87.2” Width: 60.4” Height: 51.8”

186 cu. ft.

Door Opening:

131.7 cu.ft. max.

Cargo space:

5,000 lb.

Cargo Space:

48.2” tall, 50” wide

Cargo space dimensions:

Dimensions:

Length: 111.5” Width: 66.3” Height: 54” Length: 202.4” Width: 88.3”

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2016 RAM PROMASTER 1500 TO 3500

Also a Fiat, the ProMaster is Ram’s full-size van. Like the City, it’s a FWD platform that offers van, chassis cab and cutaway versions. There are two roof heights and even an extended body style.

New for 2016 is an available window on the 159” high-roof extended configuration. For upfitters, a second battery prep package can be ordered.

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Cab Style:

Van

Wheelbase:

118”, 136”, 159”

Engine size:

3.6L Pentastar V6 (base), 3L I-4 EcoDiesel

Power (hp/torque):

280/258, 174/295

Max. Payload:

5,189 lb.

Towing capacity:

5,090 lb.

Van interior:

530 cu.ft. max.

Dimensions:

Length: 195” to 250” Width: 82.7”

continued on page 62

FOR YOUR BUSINESS, FORD TRANSIT GOES TO GREAT LENGTHS. AND HEIGHTS.

Three heights. Three lengths. Three engine choices.

Transit has the most vehicle configurations* in its class.

Not to mention best-in-class cargo height^ in the highroof Transit. So, regardless of your tools, your trade or your workday, there’s a perfect Transit for your business

Meet the Transit: • Available 3.2L Power Stroke 5-cylinder Turbo Diesel • Maximum payload 4,560 lbs† • Towing capacity 7,500 lbs**

MEET THE TEAM BEHIND YOUR TEAM. FORD.CA/BUILTFORBUSINESS * Class is Full-Size Vans based on Ford segmentation (Based on body type, body length, wheelbase and roofheight). ^ Class is Full-Size Vans based on Ford segmentation. † When properly equipped. Maximum payload 4,560lbs with available 3.5L V6 EcoBoost engine in Transit 350HD LWB-E High Roof Van. **When properly equipped. Maximum towing with available 3.2L I5 Diesel engine. Achieved with low and medium roof height. ©2016 Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. All rights reserved.

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES: VANS

continued from page 60

2016 CHEVY EXPRESS E 2500 AND 3500

Cab Style:

While the dem demise of these last-generation vans has long been forecast, GM not only continues to build fo them them, but to update them as well. For 2016, Chevy is adding standard digital AM/FM radio, Che OnStar with 4G LTE and Wi-Fi hotspot, six On standard air bags and six standard D-ring sta tie downs. New options include a 220-amp generator, dual-battery system, natural gas ge package packag and a 6.6L Duramax turbo-diesel with biodiesel capability.

B20 bio

Van

Wheelbase:

135”, 155”

Engine size:

4.8L, 6.0L, 6.6L Duramax turbo-diesel

Power (hp/torque):

285/295, 342/373, 260/525

Max. Payload:

4,145 lb.

Cab Style:

Van, Cutaway

Wheelbase:

139”, 159”, 177” single or dual rear wheels 4.8L, 6.0L, 6.6L Duramax turbo-diesel

Towing capacity:

10,000 lb.

Engine size:

Van interior:

284.4 cu.ft.

Power (hp/torque):

Door opening:

20.8”

Cargo space:

Height: 53.4” Length: 146.2”

Dimensions:

Length: 224” to 244” Width: 79.2”

285/295, 342/373, 260/525

Max. Payload:

9,156 lb.

2016 CHEVROLET CITY EXPRESS

Introduced last year, the City Express is a rebadged Nissan NV200. It’s offered in LS and LT trims and is distributed through Chevy’s dealer network.

2016 CHEVY EXPRESS CUT-AWAY 3500-4500

These upfitter-ready chassis get the same electronic and safety upgrades as the full-body vans get this year.

We offer both...

Open-End Lease

Closed-End Lease Walk-Away

No KM Charges

Low Risk

After Market Accessories

Ease of Management

True Lifecycle Costs

Find out more: www.jimpattisonlease.com vancouver

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victoria

M e c h a n i c a l

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calgary

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edmonton

|

toronto

|

montreal

Cab Style:

Van

Wheelbase:

115.2

Engine size:

2L I-4

Power (hp/torque):

131/139

Max. Payload:

1,500 lb.

Van interior:

122.7 cu.ft.

Cargo space:

Length: 82.8” Width: 54.8” Height: 53”

Dimensions:

Length: 186.3” Width: 68.1” Height: 73.7”

take the

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Style:

Van

Wheelbase:

146.1”

Engine size:

4L V6, 5.6L V8

Power (hp/torque):

261/281, 317/385

Max. Payload:

3,858 lb.

Towing capacity:

9,000 lb.

Van interior:

323.1 cu.ft. max.

Door opening:

Rear Width: 61.6”

Cargo space:

Length: 150.2” Width: 70.2”

Dimensions:

Length: 240.6” Width: 79.9”

2016 NISSAN NV1500 TO NV3500

Nissan’s big reveal this year is the newly redesigned Titan pickup truck, which we will explore next issue when we look at the trucks side of commercial vehicles. With focus being on pickups, the NV work vans remain unchanged.

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2016 NISSAN NV200

This is the smallest commercial van and occupies a unique market niche. Its standard features include dual rear sliding doors, power windows and 40/60 split rear cargo doors with available tinted glass. Up front is a centre console with storage, file folder Cab Style: Van bin, fold-down Wheelbase: 115.2 mobile workstation, Engine size: 2L I-4 20 interior Power (hp/torque): 131/139 cargo-mounting points, six Max. Payload: 1,500 lb. floor-mounted Van interior: 122.7 cu.ft.

D-rings, vinyl floorCargo space: Length: 82.8” Width: 54.8” Height: 53” ing, a 150-amp Dimensions: Length: 186.3” Width: 68.1” Height: 73.7” alternator and 12V power outlet.

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63

HYDRONICS

B y E r ic R im l

From Old to New Avoiding pitfalls when changing to mod-con boilers.

E

ventually, every system needs to be replaced.

With all the hype about mod-con boilers, it can often seem that this new technology is the way to go when updating an existing heating system. It’s not always as simple as dropping in a new boiler, however. Some systems aren’t designed for lowmass or low-temperature, and the cost-vs-efficiency payoff, which wholesalers like to push, may not actually happen if the system isn’t designed, or at least modified, to suit a mod-con.

a effectively giving residents an upper limit also o their room temperatures as well. That on c further reduce heating costs and prevent can a abuses.

It’s often this route I recommend first w when an owner requests additional heating e efficiency through an upgrade.

Add More Rad Many older apartment buildings use hightemperature boilers and low-mass emitters, such as fin-tube baseboards. Due to wall-space constraints, and sometimes in an attempt to minimize costs, mize installation costs there is often less emitted surface area than we’d like.

To work with the smaller emitter surfaces, these old systems were often designed for water temperatures in the range of 190 to 200°F, and they need 140 to 160°F water before they can do any appreciable heating of the space.

If you are unable to add more emitter, there’s really no point in installing a mod-con because you’ll rarely get into condensing range, even for portions of the spring and fall shoulder seasons.

In these older systems, you may see the piping configuration shown in Illustration 1, which we’ve simplified for the purposes of the current discussion.

Typical to this design is a constant heat call, as thermostats from zones are rarely linked back to the boiler demand signal.

That does not prevent the installation of an outdoor reset control, however.

The outdoor reset will reduce water temperatures and provide some cost savings while

W this piping design, there will be a need With f a single, larger pump on the main. Most for often, the large boiler pump serves double duty, acting as the system pump as well.

Without knowing how many zone valves will be open at any one time, you need a constant high flow to serve any possible (design) heating load, and a pressure bypass for when some of the zone valves are closed.

Another typical impact of this design is the need to insulate the main lines, as they will always be hot and could bleed heat into nearby corridors.

Last, these boilers need to be set to a high differential (20°F), as light loads may cause a great deal of boiler cycling if attempting to maintain a tighter setpoint. In practice, the boiler cycling and resulting temperature cycling isn’t terrible, but it’s not as minimal as we’d like.

By contrast, let’s look at the typical modcon. These tend to be low mass with low water volumes, often have a five-to-one (5:1) turndown ratio enabling them to fire at as little as a fifth of their maximum BTUH range, and they are generally programmed to maintain a tight differential with a fixed setpoint that is adjusted by outdoor reset, modulating to maintain this setpoint. continued on page 66

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HYDRONICS

continued from page 64 continued from page 32

So what can be done if you are attempting to install a mod-con in an older heating system?

There could be some benefit from the use of a lowloss header, to separate flow rates and add additional air and dirt filtration. The additional water mass can also reduce cycling in the low-mass mod-con.

Of course, the addition of more emitter surface area is a great way to get the required water temperatures down. This, unfortunately, is not always possible.

WATER QUALITY, FLUSHING AND DIRT SEPARATORS The biggest problem with installing mod-cons in an old system is, frankly, the water quality. A lot of older commercial systems are piped with black iron, which will corrode over time, and these systems tend to hold some sediment inside them. There’s no faster way to clog a mod-con than to move this accumulated gunk through it.

Most designers will recommend a descaling product to loosen the sediment and neutralize any acidity when replacing the boiler with a mod-con unit. Dealing with pH is particularly crucial when retrofitting with a boiler that has an aluminum heat exchanger, since these are particularly sensitive to high or low pH. To eliminate as much particulate as possible, you must power flush the system. You need to run water through it using pressure that’s far higher than what your system circulators will give you, so you need a power flushing kit.

Unfortunately, old systems aren’t terribly receptive to being thoroughly flushed, and the sediment itself could be what’s preventing pinhole leaks! There’s very little you can do about these leaks once you find them, other than repairing water damage and replacing pipes.

If you go this route, I highly recommend trying to get someone else to sign off on taking responsibility for the possible water damage – and you should refuse to guarantee that there won’t be any such leaks.

In an old system like this, even after power flushing, I recommend an aggressive dirt separation strategy. I’ll include a slightly oversized low-loss header with a drain large enough that it doesn’t easily get plugged with sludge, and one dirt separator per boiler, on its return line.

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These separators will need to be purged of dirt at least once a week for the first month, and once a month for the first three to six months. This is extremely inconvenient to do yourself, so I recommend training the building operator to do it, preferably in a safe manner so he doesn’t burn himself on the hot water.

QUICKTIP The use of a system feeder, where you premix chemical into the feeder, will help you maintain your chemical balance, and will also give early warning of leaks, as the tank reservoir will drop rapidly if a pipe springs a leak somewhere.

WASTE PRODUCTS: CONDENSATE With the installation of a mod-con boiler, plan to deal with the condensate it produces. Almost all boiler rooms will have a drain, but many will be cast iron, which will be rapidly p y destroyed y byy acidic condensate.

It’s also possible that the drain that you can see is ABS or PVC, but that there’s iron further down the sewage line, so try to trace the line if you can, and ask appropriate questions if you can’t confirm it for yourself.

Uncertainty about existing drain lines, and also concern for dumping this acidity into the local water supply, is why I recommend using a neutralization tank. These come in many sizes and brands.

Eric Riml is a certified hydronic designer working in Calgary, Alta.

He can be reached at hydronichelp@gmail.com.

Hydronic Products PEX Pipe and Fittings Uponor’s PEX pipe and ProPEX expansion fittings are available in 2-1/2” and 3” sizes for commercial hydronic applications. The piping features an oxygen barrier for hydronic heating and cooling, and is available in a variety of coil lengths and straight lengths.

www. uponor.ca

Wet Rotor Circulator

Snowmelt Systems

Bell & Gossett’s ecocirc XL large wet rotor circulator pump features an integrated drive and an ECM motor. It has three standard control modes: proportional pressure, constant pressure and manual set constant speed. It can accommodate chilled and heated water with a temperature range of 14° to 230°F.

Watts Radiant’s hydronic snowmelt systems can be specified with Onix tubing, which uses an aluminum oxygen barrier, or with RadiantPEX+, which uses an ethylene vinyl alcohol oxygen barrier. Systems can be controlled using the tekmar Snow Melting Control 680, which supports communication with BAS systems using BACnet or Modbus.

www. wattsradiant.com

www. bellgossett.com

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Jeff House is an experienced industry professional and hydronics trainer. He handles the sales territory from the Niagara region to the Greater Toronto Area for Jess-Don Dunford, a manufacturers’ rep in Ontario. He can be reached at jhouse@jessdondunford.com.

Find the Fix

MULTIPLE ZONES, MULTIPLE TEMPERATURES You are looking at a primary/secondary, series, multi-zone, multi-temperature system drawing – talk about the potential for complexity. The secret to a P/S system is the spacing of the tees, and remember, the main piping should be sized for the maximum flow of the boiler or that of the distribution system. This system has four zones of heating. Based on the load sizes and descriptions of the zones, let’s do some designing.

1. The total heating load is 335,500 BTUH. Do you size the boiler for this load? a) Yes, on design conditions. b) Yes. You have to by code. c) No. Prioritize the DHW load and size for 180,000 BTUH. d) No. A safety margin needs to be added to the total load.

2. If you size the boiler for the largest load, what size piping should be used? a) 2” b) 1-1/2” c) 1-1/4”, like the boiler fittings. d) 1” would work with a delta T of 30°F.

4. With DHW tank fittings at 1”, the tank piping should be 1” as well. a) Yes, if the delta T is over 40°F. b) It should be 1-1/2” if you are using a standard 20°F delta T. c) 1-1/4” would work better. d) Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. e) Either A or B would be appropriate.

3. If 1-1/2” piping is used and the primary pressure drop is 3.5’, what speed should the primary circulator be set at?

WIN!

a) High. You want good flow. b) Medium. You can change speed up or down. c) Low. d) A three-speed pump is not right for this installation. A flat-curve pump, sized at 18 gpm and 3.5’ head would be a better selection.

Email your answers to adam.freill@mechanicalbusiness.com.

Please include your name and daytime phone number.

Looking for the March/April answers?

If you need the answers to last edition’s quiz, you’ll find them on our home on the web, www.mechanicalbusiness.com. Just click the “Looking for Answers?” button on our homepage.

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Customize ustomize Your Impact Solve our puzzle this month and you could win yourself the power to customize impact driver setups to match specific fasteners and materials, along with the impact driver to go with that power.

The Milwaukee M18 Fuel 1/4” Hex Impact Driver Kit with One-Key delivers up to 3,000 rpm and 1,800 in-lb. of torque, and is equipped with the One-Key mobile app for customization and control of the tool’s performance. Send your solution by July 8 for your chance to win.

See our full line of products ntiboilers.com

Road Warrior

By Greg Dalgetty What’s your service area?

All of the Halifax Regional Municipality

Favourite band: Led Zeppelin

How much time do you spend on the road each day?

At least two to three hours every day.

Favourite concert: Ozzy Osbourne was awesome. I saw him about 10 years ago in Halifax.

What’s your favourite place to be dispatched to?

On a nice day, anywhere along the coastline.

What’s your company philosophy?

I’m a firm believer in doing things properly. There’s no such thing as shortcuts. There are alternatives that can be made, but there’s no such thing as a shortcut.

What’s your favourite thing about the trade?

It’s hard to name just one thing, but certainly the ability to remedy people’s problems is up there. To become their hero, as some have called me.

What’s the most memorable project you’ve worked on?

About 10 years ago, I worked on a house that was gutted down to the foundation and it was all redone with in-floor heating throughout on both levels. I take a lot of pride in that one.

Favourite movie: We Were Soldiers Favourite TV show: Yukon Gold Favourite book: Pumping Away by Dan Holohan Favourite cartoon when you were a kid: Bugs Bunny, hands-down Favourite outdoor activity: Washer toss Favourite meal: A good steak and a couple cold beers.

Favourite beverage: Coors Light

Photos: Steve Jess

Close Encounters…of the Furry Kind

70

Struik has seen some strange things in his time on the job, but nothing as strange as the time he was called to a house to rescue a cat.

“The homeowner boarded rescue animals,” he says of the emergency call.

“It was a bit of a skittish cat that had just got into a strange home, and the homeowner thought the cat had got out the door. But a week later she heard M e c h a n i c a l

B u s i n e s s

meowing coming out of the ductwork, and she was in quite a panic about what to do.”

After getting the runaround from the local fire department, the homeowner turned to Struik to save the day.

“We ended up going out and finding a spot where we were able to open up the ductwork without destroying anything, and we let the cat out.”

0 6 . 1 6

Favourite vehicle: That would be my current truck, which is a Ford F250 Platinum Edition.

What’s one place you’d love to go?

Australia. It’s on the other side of the world and they’ve got some neat critters.

Name: Darryl Struik Company: Candu Enterprises Job Title: President

If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?

If I could meet anybody, it would have to be Darryl Sittler. We share the same name and he’s my childhood hero.

Age: 49 Lives in: Brookside, Nova Scotia Born in: Toronto Daily mileage: 150 to 200 km

What’s your greatest accomplishment?

Bringing up four beautiful daughters would be my greatest accomplishment to date.

Equipment, Tools and Know-How

Darryl Struik D

arryl Struik joined the mechanical industry in 1987, but his passion for fixing things started long before then.

“My grandfather used to explain how things worked all the time,” he recalls. “I would drive my mom nuts because I used to take apart things that weren’t working, but I’d make them work again a lot of the time.”

Struik got his official start in the industry when his friend, a plumber, asked if he’d be interested in leaving his job at a trophy shop.

“He was working for a company where his boss liked him and asked if he had any other hardworking friends,” Struik says. “I started out as a helper. I mostly ran gas lines for commercial, high-intensity propane heaters.”

With a taste of the heating trade, he then joined an apprenticeship program at Nova Scotia Community College to become an oil burner mechanic. He’s enjoyed a life in the trades ever since, and while he’s now the president of Candu Enterprises, he still enjoys getting his hands dirty.

“My job title is president of the company, but I always considered myself a service technician first,” he says. “I wear a lot of different hats. But nothing can’t be accomplished if you approach it with the right equipment, tools and know-how.”

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PLUMBING

Renovating without the Tear Out

K Pfister

itchens and bathrooms generally top consumers’ wish lists when it comes to rooms they would like to update or change in their homes. They also tend to be the most fashion-conscious spaces in which we live, which makes them ideal targets for plumbers willing to help customers turn a space that works into a space that a homeowner wants to use and show off.

Of course, not all renovations need be major.

While a renovation of either room does result in the highest payback of almost any work that can be done to a home, even a modest project can get a customer loving their kitchen or bathroom again, and plumbing product manufacturers are offering solutions that can allow for quick and easy updates that can keep plumbing firms busy, and profitable.

Lending a Hand in the Shower “One of the most popular upgrades in the bathroom is the addition of a hand shower to an existing shower system,” says Garry Scott, vice-president of wholesale marketing and brand development with Moen Canada.

re-do any of the plumbing,” he says. “By only having to put two screws into the wall, you’ve been able to completely change the

At one time, that upgrade would have involved the removal of tiles and digging into the plumbing behind the wall of the shower to add in a new diverter valve and piping, but now Moen and several other manufacturers offer solutions that minimize the time and effort needed to add a hand shower to a bathroom.

Moen

“The new Annex shower rail allows homeowners, or their plumber, to simply and stylishly add a hand shower and slide bar to the existing plumbing without having to tear through the wall or

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After completing a retrofit project in Quebec a few years ago, Grohe developed its Retro-Fit shower system to simplify the addition of hand showers. Their system also includes an integrated diverter and slide bar, and all piping that is in front of the wall.

“We started with two models, but have added a few more with different hand and showerhead options,” explains Maria Bosco, director of marketing and training with Grohe Canada. “You don’t have to touch the valve at all, whether you have a thermostatic, pressure-balance, or any in-wall valve, all you are doing is changing your arm and your showerhead.”

continues on page 74 Grohe

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look of the shower.”

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Moen

B y A d am Freill

速

PLUMBING

continues from page 72

Recognizing that not all shower stalls are tiled right to the ceiling, and that there can be different distances between the existing shower valve and shower arm, Grohe offers spacers to keep the pipes plumb, and two lengths of shower bars upon which the hand shower is mounted. The line also includes an extension that can be used to raise the height of the showerhead, if a homeowner finds the existing shower outlet to be too low.

Delta

“Regardless of what’s behind the wall, a tradesperson or homeowner can potentially upgrade their showering experience in minutes,” says Luciano Marone, builder sales representative at Masco Canada, parent company of Delta.

One Valve, So Many Options While not exactly a new concept, a renovationfriendly idea that has gained a lot of traction among plumbing product manufacturers is the use of common or universal valve systems across their product lines. By using a common base, these allow a plumber to quickly change the look and style of a faucet or shower, or to customize the functionality of the shower for their customers.

Moen offers a standard valve for most of the products in both its faucet and shower kit lines.

“The common valve system lets you upgrade the style of your faucet, or the shower, as easily as changing a lightbulb,” says Garry Scott. “It makes a changeover very fast, it is an easy retrofit to do, and Moen has a lot of different styles of faucets and shower trims that you could go in and give somebody a brand new faucet – the visual parts, at least – without having to break tile or get behind the wall to do plumbing work.”

While most valve systems are unique to a single brand, Pfister has a universal trim kit that is designed to work with its valves, as well as those of two of its major competitors, allowing plumbers and homeowners to install Pfister trim in a wide range of existing showers.

“If you have one brand’s valve, you can easily upgrade with new trim regardless of what’s behind your wall,” explains Barry Moulsdale, Pfister’s business leader. “You don’t have to go into the wall. You take the trim off and you put the clean, updated tub shower trim on top of the branded valve.”

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TOP OF THE DECK Installing a new faucet used to mean ducking under a counter and working wrenches in tight spaces, but the installation process is evolving to minimize the time spent under sinks.

Delta recently introduced a commercial faucet with the mixing valve and solenoid contained within the body of the faucet, and with factory-installed supply lines designed to speed up and simplify the installation process.

And the company offers top-mounting assemblies for above-the-deck installation of some of its faucets.

“It’s about bringing installations above the deck to save trades backs and knees,” says Marone. “Eliminating all the up and down work saves time, making installation quicker.”

Don’t Overlook the Pipes Not all renovations will go as planned, and there are times when the pipes just won’t take another year of use. This can mean a goodsize plumbing job for the firm that identifies the need for new pipes. It can also mean the removal of a lot of drywall to put new pipes in place. Of course, there are some tips that can help minimize the impact on the built space in a home.

“Finished spaces are difficult because you don’t know what lies behind the walls. For the most part, you can determine the location of structural beams before opening up the structure, but getting around structural members can be difficult. With flexible pipe such as PEX, it can make avoiding these easier, but there is still only so much you can do,” advises Daniel Worm, senior plumbing product specialist with Uponor.

Amercican Standard

“By installing one rough-in, there are three function options and hundreds of style choices for unlimited design flexibility,” explains Masco Canada’s Luciano Marone of Delta’s universal shower valve offering.

Delta

Delta Faucet also has a unit that can turn a fixed showerhead into a dual head with minimal time and effort. Its In2ition two-in-one showerhead has an integrated hand shower that can run separately or simultaneously with the showerhead.

“Oftentimes the best solution for stud cavities with multiple pipes is to cut and remove the entire vertical section of drywall so that the installer has access to securing the pipes. Then, the drywall piece is reinstalled and finished.”

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s the building industry explores net zero homes and buildings, it is becoming clear that domestic hot water loads are a significant contributor to overall home/building energy consumption. It is not unusual in a net zero home that the domestic hot water energy load is nearly equal to heating and cooling loads.

This has resulted in a growing interest in ultra-efficient domestic hot water technologies, one of which is air source water heating (ASWH) units. Although this technology been around for more than 20 years, growth in the ultra-low load, net zero home and building sector has brought the technology back onto the industry’s radar.

AIR SOURCE WATER HEATING

ASWH TWO WAYS Air source water heating units are available as both integrated units (heat pump bundled with water tank) or in split unit configurations.

The split configuration is similar in concept to common mini-split air source heating/cooling units, where the condenser is located outside of the home and is connected with a line set to the indoor unit.

An air source water heater can contribute positively to a home where air conditioning is the predominant required space conditioning. The unit essentially exhausts cooler, dryer air back into the interior of the home, theoretically minimizing both the sensible and latent load of the home’s central air conditioning.

Integrated ASWH units feature the full heat pump and air exchanger, as well as the water tank, all in a single unit. The energy exchange takes place by drawing heat from the indoor ambient air, passing it into the water and then exhausting the cooled air back into the room.

In colder climates where space heating is common, the concerns with integrated units are obvious.

In addition to contributing to the heating load of the home while extracting heat for hot water, there is the potential to lower the temperature of a mechanical room, creating colder spots within the living area around mechanical closets. This problem can be avoided by using electrical heating for the water tank during cold weather, as almost all ASWH units

These units have been used predominantly in warmer climates, taking advantage of the elevated indoor and outdoor temperatures.

are electrical hybrids. Additionally, some manufacturers allow the cool exhaust air to be vented outside, though this scenario may not be ideal in cold climates as the air moving out of the home will be replaced by air leakage coming in through holes in the building envelope.

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continued from page 76

Preliminary Design Considerations

A Hybrid Approach

Most manufacturers will require an ASWH unit to be placed in a room with a minimum volume of air available. In other words, pushing the unit into a small closet is not ideal as the space will cool quite quickly, lowering the efficiency of the unit and potentially creating cooler surface temperatures that can lead to condensation.

ASWH units are generally twice as efficient as electric water heaters.

However, electric units can provide around 15 to 22 gallons of hot water er er per minute, whereas air source water heaters are slower to recover, heating ng g seven to 10 gallons per minute. For this reason, most ASWH units are hybrids that include electric backup heating alongside the primary heat pump capacity.

Due to the heat pump placement atop most units, the ceiling height of the room needs to be considered. Some units are between 70 to 80 inches tall.

A condensate drain will be required in the area of the tank.

As electric hybrids, ASWH units are capable of stepping up the heating capacity with the heating coil, assisting the recovery process when the hot water draws are significant. It’s worth noting that the recovery time of ASWH units can also be optimized d through the use of low-flow water fixtures and pre-heating technology,, such as drain water heat recovery.

the supply line enters the water heater.

The recovered heat results in higher inlet water temperatures during showering events. This enables shorter recovery times for the water heater and an overall efficiency boost to the entire system.

Over the next year of monitoring, the project team hopes to validate the actual efficiency of the installation configuration. This will include identifying:

Working in Cold Climates I recently had the opportunity to work on three project homes where ASWH units are being used as the primary domestic hot water equipment.

These are production-built, singledetached homes ranging from 1,700 to over 2,800 square feet, and are designed to meet the Canadian Homebuilders Net Zero Ready Home program criteria. The homes are fully operational with a variety of equipment and behaviour-monitoring devices in place. Our project is intended to validate a variety of ASWH installation configurations and to develop best practices for applications in low energy homes in heatingdominated climates.

One of the project homes happens to be my own. We have installed an ASWH/electric hybrid integrated unit with an EF of 2.5. The installation configuration has two significant features.

First, the exhausted air coming off

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the condensing coil is carried by an 8” duct that is split by a branch “Y” connection. One branch off the Y is tied directly to the return air plenum upstream of the air handler (a ducted low-ambient heat pump HVAC system).

The other branch has a zone damper installed and terminates directly into the mechanical room where the water heater is positioned.

The zone damper is connected to a thermostat within the utility room and activates the damper, forcing the cooler exhausted air into the return air duct whenever the room temperature falls below 62°F. During the summertime, the cooler exhausted air is directed back into the return air at all times.

Based on current energy models and in theory, this should offset some of the air conditioning load for the home.

Also installed was a 72” drain water heat recovery (DWHR) unit, to take advantage of both showers on the second floor.

After passing through the DWHR unit,

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The actual performance of the DWHR and its contribution to the efficiency of the integrated ASWH unit; The effects of the cooler exhausted air coming from the ASWH unit into the home by identifying and monitoring the effect on space heating loads and the potential benefit of offsetting sensible and latent cooling loads in the summertime; and The effect of lower flow fixtures and drain water heat recovery on water heater recovery time.

With the low cost of natural gas and the incredible efficiency of gas-based water heating systems, ASWH may not immediately be the most cost-effective option in all geographical locations across Canada. However, as various technologies like drain water heat recovery, water efficient fixtures and truly integrated mechanicals come of age in net zero, ultra-efficient homes, we will see more opportunities for ASWH technology.

Andrew Oding, EA, LEED AP, is a senior building science associate with Building Knowledge Canada. He’s also an instructor with HRAI and chair of the CHBA Net Zero Council. He can be reached at andy@buildingknowledge.ca.

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HVAC B y Ma t the w R e i d

MISSING MODULATION

Modern

zonıng

Z

oning is always a good idea. Yes, it can be complicated and needs a lot more preplanning than simply adding zone dampers or valves and some thermostats, but delivering the right amount of energy to specific locations in systems that are continually being squeezed for higher and higher efficiency levels is always a great idea.

right direction to make zoning systems easier through the use of modulating equipment and variable-speed motors. This trend has really caught on in the heating side. In cooling, however, there is still a need for further adaptation of more advanced equipment, but there are options available for you to build efficient zoning systems for comfort cooling.

Several points need to be addressed and considered before a proper zoned system can be planned out and installed, however.

By adopting some of these new modulating and variable technologies into your arsenal, and by having an open mind to some of the learning that is available from your equipment suppliers, you can really make your work stand out.

The industry has taken a lot of steps in the

With a properly designed system, it should give you peace of mind knowing that, with every degree change outside, the systems you install can efficiently meet the exact requirements for the day, and the expectations of your customers.

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We all know that if we are zoning a heating system, certain aspects of the job will require us to use something that modulates. When it comes to the cooling side, however, time and again we see a single-speed condensing unit that is expected to cover the load.

And while that unit certainly will deliver to design conditions, problems and inefficiencies may arise during the many other operating conditions the system will see during its lifespan. I think of AC condensers as the hardest-working part of a home. When called into service, they do their work running full-out, at which point they will need a bit of a break before their next shift, and the more time between cycles, the less chance of problems with the system.

fast FACT

The cooling or heating load is always changing, depending on the outdoor temperature.

HVAC

continued from page 80

PRESSURES AND CYCLES Air conditioners are all about pressure and phase changes.

As you likely know, in an air conditioner cycle the refrigerant enters the compressor as a low-pressure gas.

There, it is transformed into a highpressure gas and sent to the condenser portion where it gives off its heat and turns into a liquid.

This high-pressure liquid then goes through the expansion valve, which slows down its flow and lowers the pressure. This low-pressure liquid then goes to the evaporator, where the refrigerant absorbs heat and changes back to its initial form of a low-pressure gas.

“

Compressors only like gas.

When you send liquid to them they get a pressure spike. This can make it sound like there is a helicopter landing in the yard – every three minutes.

”

When the call is over, the pressures in the high and low lines start to equalize, which makes the next start up smooth and efficient.

When you have a short cycle in an air conditioner you can get some of the liquid refrigerant that hasn’t had a chance to boil into its gas stage thrown back through the compressor. This is where problems start to happen.

Compressors only like gas. When you send liquid to them they get a pressure spike. This can make it sound like there is a helicopter landing in the yard – every three minutes.

When a zoned cooling system calls, you don’t necessarily get a short cycle. Rather, what you get is a small cycle. The unit doesn’t prematurely shut down due to any issue with the system; it just satisfies its call and shuts down.

This isn’t necessarily an issue. This is how you want a zone system to operate – delivering the right amount of cooling BTUs to a space when the system calls. Issues can arise when you have one small cycle call after another.

When the system provides way too many BTUs to a space, that’s where things get complicated. That can generate callbacks where the system shows all the signs of short cycling, even though it’s doing exactly what it is told to do.

That will take some troubleshooting that may be difficult or costly to fix.

ZONING WITH

VRF

So, how do we avoid callbacks resulting from short and small cycles in a zoned cooling system?

One option that’s been gaining momentum is to use variable refrigerant flow (VRF) technology when zoning an HVAC system.

I like to think of VRF as a modulating burner for cooling. It modulates its refrigerant flow based on superheat calculations. It knows how many BTUs the system is taking, and it adjusts itself to only allow that amount of refrigerant flow.

Theoretically, a thermal expansion valve does a similar thing on a single-stage AC operation, but with zoning we can have micro loads that even the TX valve cannot compensate for.

Several massive advantages come from adopting VRF technology into your portfolio.

The systems themselves are more efficient – period. They deliver the right amount of cooling by letting the compressor modulate its speed, not just restricting the flow of the refrigerant.

The nice thing is that they are not complicated to install. If you can install an air conditioner, you can install a VRF system. All the logic is in the unit, and the refrigerant and electrical lines are similar to what you would install with an air conditioner.

From a designer’s point of view, I love this technology. When I can look at my cooling loads in a house and know where the end user wants to create their climate zones, the math makes it easy to pick a unit that meets the BTU requirements. And I can trust the unit to deliver exactly what we need it to.

START WITH THE MATH If you are not working with a designed heat load calculation then zoning shouldn’t even be in your proposed arsenal of product selection.

Zoning is complicated, to an extent. You need to do the math for it to work properly. We can’t guess at sizes, and we have to use the right equipment. The equipment needs to work just as well when the micro load calls as when the macro load calls.

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Matthew Reid is the president of Reid Design and Consulting Inc., a firm that focuses on mechanical system design. He can be reached at reiddesignandconsulting@gmail.com.

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with Roger Grochmal

Moving at the Speed of Technology

W

Roger Grochmal is the CEO of AtlasCare in Oakville, Ont. To submit a question about your company, business practices, or the industry in general, send an e-mail to Mechanical Business Magazine’s editor, Adam Freill, adam.freill@ mechanicalbusiness.com.

Jumping on the IOT This is the dawn of the Internet of Things (IOT).

Pretty soon all these products will be talking to each other. Will we be listening?

This is an opportunity to revolutionize how service works in our industry, providing (for a fee) remote monitoring and proactive customer care that can mean midnight furnace breakdowns are nearly non-existent.

hen I reflect back, I feel I have been quick to try new technology and integrate it into my life. As a company, however, we have not been so quick to bring new technology to our customers.

We can get stuck in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality, where we expect every product must last forever, to be replaced only when it gasps its last breath.

Or we might worry that the new technology may not meet customers’ expectations. If that happens, will we understand why, or how to manage their expectations?

LIFE ON THE EDGE Technological change is coming at us so rapidly it seems that we just get comfortable with one thing and the next is upon us.

A good example is wearable technology. I have had heart monitors for years to track my heart rate during exercise. I own pedometers to track the number of steps I take. I also have a watch that measures distances on some 16,000 golf courses all over the world.

I recently got a new Fitbit that measures my heart rate in addition to steps walked, eliminating the need for standalone heart rate monitors and pedometers.

I also have a Fitbit scale that talks to the Fitbit. No more manual input, so I can’t lie to myself anymore.

I have yet to succumb to the lure of the Apple watch, which is effectively a computer on your wrist – we’ll see how long I can last without one.

Then again, what if we avoid new technologies and our customers go elsewhere?

FROM THE SHOW, TO THE OFFICE, TO THE CUSTOMER I recently spent a lot of time at the two big trade shows in our industry: AHR an CMPX, and I can see that there is a sea of change in technology coming and at us. u It is most mo evident with thermostats. It was a big deal 25 years ago to have a thermostat that you could program to set different temperatures at different times of the day.

Now we have thermostats that connect to other HVAC products in the home or building, and Wi-Fi thermostats allow you to change the temperature in your home from any internet connection anywhere in the world.

And thermostats are only the beginning. We have GPS for our trucks, and electronic tools and diagnostic apps to troubleshoot service problems. There are tablet apps for training as well as technical information, pricing, warranty, parts and customer information. Almost everything we service connects back to a tablet and smartphone.

How good a job have we done at taking these new products and services we learn about at trade shows and integrating them into our businesses?

To survive, we must embrace the future and not fear it.

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Why are homeowners talking about Goodman?

Seems like lots of people are talking about the Goodman brand these days. Nearly every day, comments and ratings from homeowners across North America are now being captured and placed on display. To find out how homeowners rate Goodman brand products simply visit www.goodmanmfg.com/reviews. ®

Spoiler Alert:

Goodman Locations

Regardless of the type of Goodman brand product, the reviews are quite exceptional. When homeowners have their local dealer install a new Goodman brand heating or cooling system, it’s not unusual to get a review that reinforces the brand’s slogan, “Thank goodness for Goodman®”.

Review*

++++ 4.7

I purchased this equipment after researching the major brands and speaking to several HVAC installers. The equipment is well built g and a great value. Goodman has an excellent warranty program.

The installer was professional and his workmanship is of the omfort highest quality. I noticed an immediate difference in the comfort thke of my home. I am impressed at how quiet the unit is. - smithke

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*Goodman uses the industry leader in homeowner reviews, BazaarVoice, to administer and validate the reviews you see on the website. This means reviews are directly from homeowners, with checks to prevent fabrication, modification, or fraudulent activities. To see how Goodman authenticates reviews, please see BazaarVoice’s Authentication Policy at www.goodmanmfg.com

For more information about the complete high-efficiency value product line from Goodman, simply contact your local Goodman brand distributor or sales representative.

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HVAC/R Products P Air Filter Monitor CleanAlert’s Filterscan WiFi air filter monitor is engineered to send text and email alerts when air filters require servicing. It is compatible with Android and iOS devices, and can be used with any tablet or computer with an internet connection. It can also be hardwired for use with many BAS systems.

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Infrared Heaters Brant Radiant’s DX3 single-stage, low intensity tube heaters feature a stainless steel burner and black-coated titanium-stabilized or aluminized steel radiant tube exchangers. With a heating range of 50,000 to 200,000 BTUH, they are available in lengths of 20’ to 80’ and run on natural or propane gas.

Temperature/Humidity Monitor The NotifEye remote monitoring system is designed to allow refrigeration contractors to monitor temperature and humidity conditions using wireless sensors and gateways. Each system comes with four lithium-battery temperature sensors that have a 300’ range, depending on conditions. Sensors have a temperature range of -40°F to 257°F and a humidity range of 0 to 100 per cent RH.

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Airflow Meter

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The wireless ABM-200 Airflow & Environmental Meter from AAB Smart Tools features temperature, humidity and pressure sensors. It is designed to measure temperature differential, dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures, heat index, relative humidity, dew point, and a variety of other indoor air conditions. A free app, available for iOS and Android devices, allows readings to be sent to a smartphone or tablet.

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HVAC Monitoring System Sensaphone’s 1800 system provides 24/7 remote monitoring of environmental conditions and unattended HVAC/R equipment. It is designed to detect temperature and humidity fluctuations, water leaks, power failures, CO and CO2 levels. It has a battery backup that allows for 24 hours of continuous monitoring in the event of a power failure. The system can alert up to eight people when a problem is detected.

sensaphone.com 86

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TOOL TIP

HVAC/R Products P Multiplee Styles for ple Multiple Tasks

M

anufacturers offer a whole slew of styles and sizes of lockin locking pliers to match pretty much any use and application you can think of.

On the plumbing side, dealing with round pipe means that straight jaw pliers are a good addition to the tool box, but curved jaw pliers are good for tightening or holding those hex nuts. And HVAC technicians can avoid sharp edges on ductwork with the use of straight jaw pliers. But that’s just scratching the surface of plier options and uses.

Long-nose pliers are generally available in six- and nine-inch models, and are great for getting into tight areas, like behind pipes or in some of those HVAC and refrigeration units where components are tightly packed.

Curved locking pliers work well for holding straight materials; angle iron and metal channel struts and tracks, for example.

Straight jaw pliers work well for holding round shapes, such as pipe and conduit. They also allow a tradesperson to grip materials that should not be touched with bare hands.

Air-to-Water Heat Pumps Robur’s gas-fired air-to-water reversible heat pumps, distributed

by D-B Cooling Systems, are suitable for residential, commercial and institutional applications. They offer heating capacities ranging from 120,000 to 741,000 BTUH, and cooling capacities from five to 30 tons.

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Filter Driers Goldstone HVACR’s GAD series of solid-core liquid line filter driers are engineered to remove water residue and debris from air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

They feature a corrosion-resistant epoxy powder coating and are designed for use with systems using R12, R134A, R22, R404A, R407C, R410A, R500, R502 and R507 refrigerants.

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AN EXTRA SET OF HANDS Need to hold parts in place before fastening?

Why not grab a set of C-clamp locking pliers?

This is a great trick to temporarily hold parts together, especially when working at heights.

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Spectroline’s MDE-2000NC Marksman II is designed to detect refrigerant, natural gas and pressurized air leaks by converting ultrasonic sounds to audible sounds using heterodyne circuitry. It features a signal intensity indicator and audible alarm engineered to pinpoint leaks, as well as an internal noise control feature designed to safeguard the unit from ambient noise.

www. spectroline.com

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Temperature/ Humidity Data Logger Senonics Bluefin 1.0TH compact temperature and humidity data logger, available from ITM, communicates with iOS devices using a free app. Its wireless connectivity range is up to 12 metres. The device can record a temperature range of -20 to 60°C with a temperature resolution of 0.04°C. Its humidity range is 0 to 100 per cent RH, with a humidity resolution of 0.1 per cent.

www. itm.com

CIPHEX WEST November 2&3, 2016 VANCOUVER CONVENTION CENTRE

REGISTRATION OPENS JUNE 15 at ciphexwest.ca

NNECT O C

BU I L D

F LO W CONNECTING WESTERN CANADA’S

Heating & Plumbing Industry NEW SHOW HOURS We’re open late on Wednesday to make it easier to attend after work!

Wednesday, November 2 Thursday, November 3

10 am – 8 pm 10 am – 4 pm

• CIPHEX West trade show > CONNECT with 250+ manufacturers and SEE thousands of products • Canadian Hydronics Conference > INCREASE your hydronics expertise at in-depth workshops and seminars • Plumbing & HVACR Seminar Program > Get ideas and practical tips to BUILD your business • HVACR & Plumbing Design Forum > Take advantage of the FLOW of information and ideas with advanced training for heating and plumbing engineers, designers, specifiers and contractors

ciphexwest.ca For information about exhibiting, contact Elizabeth McCullough at e.mccullough@ciph.com or 800-639-2474

• CWQA Water Treatment Workshop • New Product Showcase > SEE the newest products and technologies • CIPH BC Region Industry Dinner > Tuesday, November 1 with speaker Brian Thwaits, the Brain Trainer

What: CMPX Show 2016 Who: Presented by CIPH & HRAI Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre When: Wednesday, March 16 to Friday, March 18

CMPX 2016 in Pictures This past March, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre played host to the largest HVAC/R and plumbing show in Canada: CMPX 2016!

The aisles were busy as the Canadian mechanical industry descended on downtown Toronto to learn about the latest products, network with industry colleagues and attend a variety of learning sessions. More than 550 exhibitors filled the convention centre’s 200,000-square-foot showroom floor, taking over 1,000 booths.

As always, Mechanical Business columnists were on hand to share their expertise with attendees.

“Water quality can affect the efficiency and performance of equipment,” advised Caleffi’s Bob “Hot Rod” Rohr during his “Fluid Quality for Healthy Hydronics” Learning Forum session.

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As part of his Friday session on high-efficiency water heaters, Gord Cooke of Building Knowledge asked, “How much energy do people want to waste?” and outlined some of the new products and strategies that contractors can use to meet the expectations of their clients.

New to this year’s event, Mechanical Business partnered with Emerson to set up a photo booth that allowed visitors to appear on the cover of our magazine! Over 1,000 of you had your pictures taken, some of which we’ve included in this current edition (see page 92).

Be sure to catch the next CMPX in 2018, when it will return to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from March 21 to March 23.

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1. The lineup for the Mechanical Business cover shot photo booth was often so long you could barely see the photographers. 2. Visitors to Milwaukee’s booth got a hands-on look at the company’s latest tool offerings 3. Mechanical Business hydronic specialist Bob “Hot Rod” Rohr answers questions after his presentation about water quality in heating systems. 4. Taco’s Sean Giberson (right) discusses pump technology with some of the show attendees. 5. Rick Ellul from Belimo (left) and Peter Steffes of Ideal Heating & Cooling contemplate placing a bid on an autographed Taylor Hall Oilers jersey at the CIPH Gala in support of Habitat for Humanity. 6. From left: Alex Martel, Dave Sauve and Luc Geneau of Kean Plumbing in Ottawa, found a few comfy seats in the American Standard booth. 7. Husband-and-wife comedy duo Deb McGrath and Colin Mochrie entertain the crowd at the CIPH Gala. No stranger to these pages, Mochrie appeared on the cover of Mechanical Business in 2013. 8. Mark Parliament (front right) congratulates Nigel Degroot, a student at George Brown College, for placing first in the PostSecondary Skills Competition. 9. Those who attended the CIPH Gala were dressed to impress.

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Viega system solutions

The right choice for commercial properties “Our standard is Viega ProPress®. It’s turned out to be one of the best plumbing innovations I have had the pleasure to work with.”

The Smart Connect® feature provides installers added confidence in their ability to ensure the integrity of connections

Fred Morissette Southland Industries

Cylindrical pipe guides ensure proper alignment Press fittings are available in multiple materials, configurations and sizes

Finish your next repair or installation faster with Viega ProPress systems.

With system-matched tools and jaws, no calibration is required and connections are made in less than seven seconds, making them ideal for large commercial or residential properties such as hotels, apartments and condos. Viega ProPress is the original copper press joining solution and is also available in stainless.

• Fast installation and repairs in occupied facilities with minimal shutdown time • Confident connections with the patented Viega Smart Connect feature • No soldering means connections are made without burn permits or fire watches For more information, call 800-976-9819 or visit www.viega.us T H E

G L O B A L

L E A D E R

I N

P L U M B I N G ,

H E AT I N G

A N D

P I P E

J O I N I N G

S Y S T E M S

SOME OF OUR READERS WHO GRACED THE MECHANICAL BUSINESS COVER AT THE CMPX SHOW

OIL Products P Oil-Fired Burners Riello’s 40-series oil-fired burners are available in five models with firing rates ranging from 0.5 to 6.4 gph. They feature an integrated electronic control box with interrupted ignition, as well as automatic air shutters designed to eliminate heat loss.

Optional ducted air intakes are designed to channel external air directly into the burner.

www. riello.ca

Steel Boilers Caprice boilers from NTI offer AFUE efficiencies of up to 86.9 per cent. They are available in sizes ranging from 72,000 to 104,000 BTUH for residential applications, and 188,000 to 210,000 BTUH for commercial applications. The boilers feature built-in controls for domestic hot water priority. Some models can be direct-vented.

www. ntiboilers.com

Follow Us on Twitter @MechBusiness

Residential Oil Tanks ks

Oil Safety Valves alves

Granby’s Fibrestor Series 2800 res-idential oil tanks feature fibreglass construction and are suitable for indoor door and outdoor installations. The come e with four 2” openings at the top of the tank and measure 28-7/8” wide. e.

Tanks are available with either a 1/2” or 2” side tap, or without a side de opening for top-draw applications.

Capacities range from 680 to 1,135 5 litres.

Suntec’s PRV-38 oil safety valves are designed to prevent nt oil tank siphoning and line ne leaks.

When a vacuum leak occurs between the PRV-38 and the burner, the valve is engineered ngineered to close and shut off oil supply to the pump. It has a pop-up indicator to alert service ce people when a loss of vacuum/prime has occurred.

www. granbyindustries.com

www. suntecpumps.com

Oil De-aerator SPX Flow’s Tigerloop Plus oil de-aerator is designed to allow the use of a one-pipe system in all types of heating installations.

It is engineered to ensure that only the amount of oil used by the burner is drawn from the oil tank. The unit features 1/4” female thread connections for the pump and tank connections. Its maximum oil flow is 50 gph and its maximum operating temperature is 105°F.

www. spxflow.com

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Cast Iron Boilers Weil-McLain’s Ultra Oil cast iron boilers come in sizes ranging from 99,000 to 173,000 BTUH and offer efficiencies of up to 87 per cent AFUE. They feature threepass cast iron heat exchangers and can be vented directly or through a chimney. The boilers are pre-wired for automated control systems.

www. weil-mclain.ca

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Don’t take chances with your Flue Gas Venting system installations

System 636® Flue Gas Venting provides a complete product offering to get the job done on-time and to the finished quality customers need.

Avoid uncertainty and go with the proven system solution – System 636 by IPEX. Everything an installer needs for quality, safe vent installations.

• Unmatched quality • Permanent solvent weld connections • Rugged Schedule 40 thickness

• Installer training • Leading distributors • Technical support

System 636 – Ask for it by name.

System 636® is available in PVC and CPVC For Flue Gas Venting Applications ipexna.com

Toll Free: 1-866-473-9462

Products manufactured by IPEX Inc. System 636® is a trademark of IPEX Branding Inc.

Hydronic Products Hydronic Control System Taco’s iWorx control platform is designed to allow building owners, commercial system designers and installers to control and monitor hydronic system settings from a tablet or smartphone to maximize system performance and energy management.

Split-coupled Pumps

tacocomfortsolutions.com

www. grundfos.com

Grundfos LCSE split-coupled end suction pumps come in 21 different models. They feature variable speed motors that range from 3 to 30 hp at 3,500 rpm and 3 to 25 hp at 1,800 rpm.

They are suitable for new commercial and retrofit applications and have a plug-and-pump design.

Fire-Tube Boilers

Gas-Fired Boilers

Lochinvar’s KHN Knight floor-standing fire tube residential boilers offer AFUE efficiencies of 95 per cent. Models range from 55,000 to 285,000 BTUH and offer a turndown ratio of 10:1. The boilers feature stainless steel fire tube heat exchangers and can be controlled remotely from any internet-capable device.

The Phantom X line of boilers, distributed by Ward Heating, comes in four heating inputs ranging from 210,000 to 500,000 BTUH. They feature stainless steel water tube heat exchangers and offer AFUE efficiencies of 95 per cent. The boilers have a turndown ratio of 5:1.

www. lochinvar.com

www. wardheating.com

Follow Us on Twitter @MechBusiness

System Cleaner Radiant Floor Panels Legend Hydronics’ VersaTherm radiant floor panels have a 3/4” profile. The naturally water-resistant panels snap together and are designed for use with 1/2” tubing. The entire surface of each panel is designed to radiate heat.

www. legendhydronics.com

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Fernox’s DS40 system cleaner is engineered to remove limescale, magnetite and other deposits from boilers. It is designed to be compatible with all mixed-metal systems and is suitable for use with power-flushing units. It can also be used separately to descale a boiler.

www. fernox.com

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The feature-rich Fieldpiece Instruments SC660 is a loaded swivel-head clamp meter that connects wirelessly to the Job LinkTM Mobile App. All meter measurements are included in your Job Link reports, and Job Link calculates both SEER and EER. You can also verify the order of three-phase voltage lines with just two leads. In addition, trusted Dual-Temp provides reliable temperature testing in fast changing environments, and calculates your Delta-T.

fieldpiece.com LUXAIRE LX SERIES TC3 SPLIT SYSTEM AIR CONDITIONER (13 SEER, 1.5 TO 5 TON) MicroChannel coil construction creates a superior heat exchange surface that allows a smaller unit to provide higher performance. Dependable compressor technology has been proven in a 5-year accelerated test facility. Durable steel coil guards provide optimum protection against coil damage.

bardonsupplies.com OBSERVER® COMMUNICATING WALL CONTROL More than a standard thermostat, the Observer® communicating wall control with Wi-Fi® capability offers easy-to-use touchscreen convenience with remote access. Plus, it delivers zoning capabilities, which can help optimize energy costs and keep bills down. It seamlessly integrates with KeepRite® equipment and alerts customers when it’s time for routine maintenance.

Heating & Cooling Products

gokeeprite.com NEW FLOOR-MOUNTED SYSTEM Mitsubishi Electric’s MFZ-KJ is a new addition to our industry-leading Hyper Heat lineup. These single split floor mounted heat pumps feature a contemporary design and are the perfect solution for unobtrusive heating at floor level. Equipped with our latest Rapid Heat Technology, MFZ-KJ quickens ens the time to reach set temperature. All 4 sizes are Energy-Star qualified.

SPOTLIGHT PROFILES

COMING SOON - WIRELESS CLAMP METER WITH MOBILE CAPABILITY

Marketplace Ads

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STUFF YOU NEED Press Tool Ridgid’s RP 340 press tool is designed to join copper and stainless steel tubing 1/2” to 4” in diameter, and PEX tubing and black iron pipe 1/2” to 2” in diameter. The tool weighs eighs 8.3 lb. econds. Its and has a cycle time of four seconds.

0 degrees jaws can be rotated up to 270 to access tight spaces.

Driver Bits Milwaukee Tool’s Shockwave Impact Duty driver bits are offered in a variety of bit tip sizes, lengths and kit configurations that include Phillips, square, torx, slotted, ECX and hex driver bits. Each bit features a proprietary geometry engineered to absorb torque.

www. ridgid.com

www. milwaukeetool.ca

Tote Kit ESAB’s TurboTorch TDLX 2010B rolling tote kit is designed to transport a 50-lb. acetylene B tank.

It features a telescopic pull handle and multiple pockets specifically engineered to hold brazing and soldering equipment. It also has a metal sleeve for hot-tip storage and Velcro straps for securing a gas hose.

Asset Management Software

www. esab.com

Trimble’s AllTrak Cloud software allows contractors to track tools and other assets to allow for proper jobsite allocation, service scheduling and project utilization. It displays the location of all tools and the person responsible for each asset.

It supports both barcode and RFID technologies, using a mobile scanner.

www. trimble.com

Crimp Tool Kitt

Vehicle Safety Partition

The Ratchet Action Crimp p Tool Kit from Wiring Pro comes with four interchangeable dies. The crimping tool features an vergonomic progressive pivo oting design engineered to g provide maximum crimping force with minimal hand pressure. Its ratcheted design is crafted to ensure consistent crimping.

Ranger Design’s Max View safety partitions are made of thermoformed ABS and polycarbonate and are engineered to resist damage from impact. They feature a clear top and 180° rear visibility. The partitions are contoured to allow for the movement of seats with minimal impact to cargo storage space.

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SPOTLIGHT PROFILES

VIEGA PROPRESS® The original copper press joining solution with more than 900 fittings in multiple configurations for copper and stainless is available in sizes ½" to 4". Viega is the only company with the Smart Connect® feature allowing installers to easily identify unpressed connections. With system-matched tools and jaws, connections are made in less than seven seconds.

www.viega.us DYSON HAND DRYER WASHES AND DRIES HANDS IN ONE The Dyson Airblade Tap washes and dries hands at the sink. Infrared sensors locate hand positions and releases water from the tap stems.

Integrated circuitry triggers the Dyson digital motor V4 and creates two sheets of air at 675kph towards hands, which are dry in 14 seconds.

Airblade™ technology passes dirty washroom air through a HEPA filter, removing 99.97% of bacteria at 0.3 microns from the air used to dry hands.

dysonairblade.ca WOODFORD MODEL 19 ANTI-BURST FAUCET The Woodford Model 19 Freezeless and Anti-Rupture faucet prevents bursting—even if the hose is attached. The Woodford Model 19 outdoor faucet features a patented Pressure Relief Valve e that prevents pressure build-up and burst tubes. This product is backed by a 5 Year Limited Warranty.

woodfordmfg.com JOMAR LEAD-FREE PRESS VALVES Jomar’s 1/4" turn, lever operated, dezincification resistant, forged lead-free ree brass ball valves feature a full-port, blowout-proof design. Made in Italy and 100% 00% factory tested, they have a triple-stem seal with two Viton o-rings and a Teflon seal to provide a lifetime warranty against leakage through the stem. They ey are available in ½” to 4” sizes. Distributed in Canada by NEO Valves: 1-800-565-8515.

Marketplace Ads

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2016 CALENDAR CSA Group Annual Conference June 20-21, 2016 Vancouver, B.C. www.csagroup.org CIPH ABC 2016 June 26-28, 2016 Banff, Alta. www.ciph.com HRAI AGM August 24-26, 2016 Calgary, Alta. www.hrai.ca CHES National Conference September 11-13, 2016 Vancouver, B.C. www.ches.org

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EVENTS

Contemporary Approaches to Hydronic Heating & Cooling September 13, 2016 Guelph, Ont. www.edenenergy.com Interior Design Show West September 22-25, 2016 Vancouver, B.C. www.idswest.com CIPHEX West November 2-3, 2016 Vancouver, B.C. www.ciphexwest.ca BUILDEX Express November 3, 2016 Vancouver, B.C. www.buildexexpress.com

M e c h a n i c a l

MCAC AGM November 14-17, 2016 Orlando, Fla. www.mcac.ca Construct Canada November 30-December 2, 2016 Toronto, Ont. www.constructcanada.com KBIS 2017 January 10-12, 2017 Orlando, Fla. www.kbis.com International Builders’ Show January 10-12, 2017 Orlando, Fla. www.buildersshow.com

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bythenumbers

Compiled by Mechanical Business

RADON ROUNDUP After smoking, radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in Canada. Here are some sobering statistics.

6.9%

Percentage of Canadians who live in homes with levels of radon exceeding 200 Bq/m3.

3,000

GOLDEN YEARS

Canadians killed each year by radonrelated causes.

With many baby boomers now enjoying their golden years, here’s a look at some facts and figures pertaining to Canada’s aging population:

5 million Canadians 65 or older.

58% of senior citizens are women.

50% of senior citizens are physically

96%

Percentage of homeowners who have not tested their homes for radon gas.

WATER CONSERVATION ON THE HOMEFRONT 138

gallons of water used each day in an average household.

active on a regular basis.

33% amount of residential water use that is hot water.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS ON COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION REDUCING EMISSIONS WITH HIGH-EFFICIENCY BUILDINGS LEED-certified buildings have led to a cumulative reduction of over 1 million tons of CO2 emissions in Canada. These buildings also account for:

Commercial building construction has been a huge boon to the economy, employing thousands of Canadians across the country.

86,296 people work in the sector.

12,366 businesses active in commercial construction. nnual revenue. $30 billion annual

12.8 billion litres in water savings 1.6 million tons of recycled construction materials

231,608 m2

ON A ROLL

of green roofs

The average person uses

20,805

sheets of toilet paper each year.

PM# 41536047

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Introducing the QM Delmar Series Drains from bronte™ Collection.

Available in Centre Point and Linear style in D ZLGH VHOHFWLRQ RI ÀQLVKHV DQG GHVLJQV

www.brontecollection.ca

THE WATTS WILD RIDE IS BACK FOR 2016

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QUALIFYING WATTS PRODUCTS INCLUDE:

ENROLL AT WattsWildRide.com TODAY!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Open to licensed contractors in the US and Canada (excluding Quebec). See official rules at WattsWildRide.com. Sponsored by Watts. Harley-Davidson Motor Company is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise affiliated with this promotion. Actual Harley-Davidson速 FAT BOY速 motorcycle year and model awarded will be based upon availability of local dealership at the time of drawing.