Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/354800
pal project in Coquitlam that includes City Hall are as much as 250 metres. The downtown Coquitlam retrofit should eliminate the need for most of the boilers in the police and City Hall buildings. "If clients request it, we out- source energy modelling or information on payback, this avoids any conflict of interest." Hall says. Thermal exchange and transfer are also part of the mix for saving energy at TRAK International. "When we do an ice arena, we take the heat out of the water to make the ice. But we don't waste it, as is done in most arenas. We recycle the energy instead of burning new fuel," says Jeff Maxwell, president of TR AK International. The extracted heat is used for space heating, showers and floodwater for the Zamboni. Despite the fact that utility costs today don't align as well as they did a decade ago for geo-exchange, some firms are working with this technol- ogy. WSP Canada Inc. is designing a geo- exchange system for a remote location in Manitoba. "Using geo-exchange, it will provide as much as 50 per cent of the energy for the HVAC," says Burhan Bagran, manager of mechanical engi- neering at WSP. He says that it will add between 15 to 25 per cent extra cost for the HVAC sys- tem, but that the geo-exchange compo- nent has the advantage of lasting about twice as long as most chillers. Most North American HVAC sys- tems use air and water to move the heat around, but other parts of the world have been using variable refrigerant f low (VRF) systems. Now, these sys- tems, which have been around for over three decades, are attracting interest in North America. This is happening partly because VRF technology has improved in the last few years. Paul Pilutti, director of Canadian operations at HTS Engineering Ltd., says his company has seen a distinct shift towards the VRF systems in North America. HTS has been providing dedi- cated support to project teams who have come to realize and value the energy efficiency, high performance, compact sizing and ease of retrofits delivered by this technology. This has resulted in HTS supplying VRF systems to a variety of high-profile recent projects, including the three main venues of the Pan Am Games (sta- dium , aquatic centre and velodrome), the upcoming rehabilitation of the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, Brock University's new medical centre and The Bruce Hotel in Stratford. Reduced space requirements are among the favoured attributes when it comes to rental HVAC systems these days, and manufacturers are addressing this bias. A new unit with an 80-tonne cooling capacity might take up only half the space of one made just five years ago, says Dustin Hubert, operations manager at L.M. Temperature Control Inc. Rentals are getting better in other ways. "The increase in people using rental HVACs has pushed manufactur- ers to improve product. Today's sys- tems are easier to operate with quick connections for ducts and electrical. Once on site, they're easy to get up and running," he says. The range of events requiring tempo- rary HVACs certainly sounds extensive. Hubert lists outdoor tent events, an archaeological dig and for warehouses in Toronto when movies are being filmed there during the summer. In what some might be seen as a telling comment on one of the country's cultural indus- tries, Hubert says, "Most studios in the Greater Toronto Area ( GTA) are con- verted warehouses." ESC Automation is a designer, installer and service provider of advanced build- ing automation solutions. ESC's HVAC systems provide build- ings with precise temperature, CO2, air pressure and humidity control. Using entleiWEB as the central operating system means ESC can integrate other building systems such as lighting and access. ESC recently partnered with Delta to create CopperTree Analytics – part of an emerging service that uses energy sensors linked to a dashboard to analyze functioning components of smart buildings in order to calibrate them for optimal energy performance. While the automation industry con- tinues to rapidly evolve, ESC has the necessary skills to stay ahead. "I think automation controls will increasingly become a commodit y business and there will be more of a focus on energy conservation," says Jim Van Spronsen, general manager. "We're well positioned to handle this market because we're thinking ahead and investing in energy analy tics and fault detection with CopperTree." 48/ AUGUST 2014 Mechanical and HVAC Systems Follow us: williamsengineering.com Innovative multi-disciplinary engineering solutions to vibrant communities Providing The Meadows Community Recreation Centre and Library Edmonton, Alberta Rendering by Group2 Architecture Interior Design