Award

August 2018

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AUGUST 2018 | 41 Mechanical & HVAC Systems Leaders in the mechanical and HVAC systems world remain one step ahead by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI I nnovation and sustainability have undoubtedly driven technological advance- ments in the world of mechanical and HVAC systems over recent years, and yet for leaders in this realm, this is nothing new. Mention Passive House, Net Zero or even zero carbon, and those same leaders are well ahead of the current curve, looking instead at ways to achieve positive-energy buildings – namely those buildings that produce more energy than they consume. One such example is Cachet Woods Court in Markham, Ontario, which plans to be the first net-positive energy office building in Canada, generating more energy than needed for annual operation. The latest geothermal technology will be able to heat and cool the building with automatic load sharing and individual office controls. According to Jeff Weston from Thermenex, he believes this kind of technology as well as thermal storage (often in the form of geoexchange) is what lies in our very near future. "If you can store excess summer heat to use it in the winter, it is fairly easy to have a Net Zero carbon or even a positive-energy building with sharing, and these are all things we can do, and have done, with our system," says Weston. Thermenex is a HVAC system that harnesses, manipulates, and transforms thermal energy into a dynamic flowing resource, guiding it to where the build- ing needs it, when the building needs it, through technology, logic, and exergy principles in a revolutionary way of applying first principle thinking, with the objective to do as little as possible and waste nothing. Practical Pacesetters "Thermenex isn't new. Our first ever system installed at Langara College was proven to be zero carbon, and that was 10 years ago. Standards and the industry are finally catching up," says Weston. "However, there are always improvements that can be made. Every project we strive to make the system better – we monitor the buildings in which we install our product, see how they operate and then fine tune according to the data." In what is a huge leap forward, Thermenex has recently been approved by the B.C. health authorities to go into its hospitals. For example, BC Children's and Women's Hospitals aging steam infrastructure will soon be replaced with a more modern, low-carbon, water-based heating/cooling thermal network (with heat reclaim) based on the Thermenex principles. Thermenex is also now involved in various projects across Canada including Toronto, which has set some fairly aggressive targets to reach Net Zero carbon energy. "We have also found a way to implement Thermenex as a phased retrofit, so that some systems can remain until they reach end of life, and then be replaced with a low carbon system." Over at Aqua-Tech, the Canadian master distributor for Lochinvar Boilers and Water Heaters, the message is the same: "The federal government's push for improved efficiencies is great for us, as we are already there," says Darryl Singleton. "We have been hearing a lot more discussions for alternate energy uses over the past 12 months, including the promotion of different types of technology such as heat pumps as opposed to conventional heating solutions." For Aqua-Tech, the team continues to see demand from the commercial sector for the FTXL Fire Tube Boiler, which is capable of delivering up to 10:1 turndown and up to 98 percent thermal efficiency. This turndown range allows the FTXL Boiler to adjust its heat output to meet demand, minimizing fuel use. Lochinvar's Smart System control integrates seamlessly with a variable speed pump on the FTXL Boiler to keep its boiler temperature rise at an optimal setting. "These systems have now become the norm. I think the biggest change is that the cost of new technology has come down so much because of sales volume. Take for example the condo market in Toronto – it has turned its attention from standard efficiency products to condensing boilers and is leading the way," says Singleton. Most recently, Aqua-Tech has been working closely alongside the Department of National Resources and the Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating on amendment 14 and 15 of the Energy Efficiency regulations, which looks to improve the energy efficiency of appliances and equipment, and includes effi- ciency for domestic water heaters and hot water boilers. "Trying to get harmonization is difficult in this industry, especially as B.C. and Ontario have done their own provincial thing beyond federal government standards. Manufacturers are trying to appease all those standards, which can be tough, so the drive is to try and harmonize model codes and regulations across Canada," says Singleton. Thermenex HVAC system, Science and Technology Building – Langara College, Vancouver, B.C. Lochinvar FTXL Fire Tube Boiler available from Aqua-Tech.

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