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FEBRUA RY 2018 | 31 Energy Management PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY FORTISBC + NORMAN DISNEY & YOUNG (NDY) Transparency, benchmarking, and standards are taking energy management in a new direction by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI I t's an interesting time for those involved in energy management. Regulations are quickly changing, technology is fast advancing, incen- tives are in place to help reduce costs and move Canada toward a sustainable future, and individuals in companies are collaborating to share experiences and further advance the sector. "There's conversations being had today that just weren't happening a year ago," says Eric Chisholm, sus- tainability and energy technical lead at WSP Canada. "Three big changes we see are increased scale, a focus on carbon, and a desire for transparency." Indeed, as far as scale goes, things are getting big- ger. "Where organizations were looking at buildings as silos, owners are now looking at solutions across their portfolio, and rather than just picking the low hang- ing fruit like lighting, there is a desire to reach to the higher branches such as mechanical overhauls, better windows, and aging building renewal," says Chisholm. Today you can't mention energy management without talking about carbon. "It's the new buzz word, because globally it's what we truly must address," adds Chisholm. The third big change, transparency, is also lead- ing energy management practices in a new direction. "In Ontario we now have mandatory energy bench- marking so building owners will need to disclose how much energy they are using every year. We'll see energy performance improve because nobody wants to be the black sheep," says Chisholm. WSP's project history includes a great number of buildings that demonstrate the benefits of well implemented energy management. One example is 77 Bloor Street West in Toronto. The aging office space was in need of a serious overhaul. "Instead of look- ing to balance annual cashflows, the owners realized that a co-ordinated deep renovation done all at once could get a better bang for their buck. The building envelope and HVAC were renewed, spaces were mod- ernized, cash flow and property value increased. Almost 20,000 square feet of new leasable space was unlocked due to modern, low-profile HVAC allowing mechanical rooms to be repurposed, and the building reduced energy use by 36 percent saving almost half a million dollars a year. All because they decided to go deep," explains Chisholm. Over at Williams Engineering Canada they are see- ing the effects that not only regulations are having on energy management, but advancing technologies and integration. "Regulation is definitely driving the direction, and in general the industry is growing to a better engineering practice as green building design is a fundamental thing. In addition, with the technology, entrepreneurs are designing better products that can be utilized at an acceptable premium," explains Peter Kuo, mechanical team lead. Williams is currently collaborating with many technology manufacturers to help them develop new products that the market is looking for, but not yet available. "Further, we are having staff go through Passive House design training, as we are designing the tallest and largest Passive House building in the world. The project is currently registered under the Passive House Association in Germany," says Kuo. The building Kuo is referring to is 1488 Alberni Street in downtown Vancouver. "We are aiming to utilize less than 60 kWh/m2/yr energy usage inten- sity [EUI] level, which is almost half of what a typical building consumes." In general, Williams has noticed more projects with lower total EUI and higher energy recovery efficiency as a result of new technologies. "For example, buildings constructed five years ago have a EUI range from 140 to 160 kwh/m2/yr, and recently a typical building consumes from 100 to 120 keg/m2/yr," says Kuo. The team at Norman Disney & Young (NDY) agree that technology is quickly changing, and keeping up with the latest and greatest equipment can be chal- lenging. "We are working with municipalities and utility companies to help share some of our energy management systems experience and common prac- tice in the hope of adoption into their requirements," explains Gideon Loh, project manager, NDY. Understanding energy usage is essential and with the cost of information meters on the decline, mechanical systems are incorporating more informa- tion meters to provide feedback on the client usage. "The building management system point list has increased exponentially and has allowed for a more comprehensive network to respond to the actual demand and not over deliver; thus reducing energy consumption," explains Loh. One NDY project that exemplifies energy man- agement is the Shannon Mews project in Vancouver, which utilizes a district energy plant. "The use of information meters to determine each building demand allows for precise operation of pumps in delivering building heating, cooling and domestic hot water. The plant efficiency is optimized based on the overall site demand and excess energy is put back into the system," says Loh. Another great example is Sunridge Place in Langley, B.C., which achieved a 60 percent energy saving compared to a LEED baseline building by installing such things as in-floor radiant heating, high-efficiency boilers, and being connected to solar heating and a ground loop geothermal system. Of course, energy affordability is also key to the progress of the sector, and NDY's global director of sustainability, Tony Arnel, says that the International Energy Agency has found in many developed coun- ties, improvements to energy efficiency have slashed power bills by up to a third. Coming Together A FortisBC pilot project looked at a more energy-efficient alternative to standard rooftop units called condensing make-up air units. Rooftop solar heating at Sunridge Place, Langley, B.C.

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