News | Newswire | Feb 24, 2010

ATLANTA — With publication of the green building standard, an updated online seminar reviewing its requirements is now available from ASHRAE.                 ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is the first code-intended commercial green building standard in the United States. It provides ...

News | Newswire | Feb 24, 2010

VANCOUVER, BC — The University of British Columbia (UBC) and Nexterra Systems Corp., a leading biomass gasification company, announced last week that UBC will install and demonstrate a unique, on-site biomass-fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) solution developed by Nexterra and GE Power & Water's gas engine division. The CHP ...

News | EM Staff | Feb 10, 2010

ATLANTA – A standard set to be a game changer in the industry was introduced at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers' (ASHRAE’s) 2010 Winter Conference, while work continued on other programs and standards that will help the Society build a more sustainable future.         Some 2,500 people ...

News | Newswire | Feb 10, 2010

On February 5th, the City of Toronto presented Mount Sinai Hospital with a grant of $722,693, acknowledging the hospital’s success in reducing its carbon footprint and increasing its energy efficiency. This grant was in the form of an incentive payment, provided through the City’s Better Buildings Partnership in a funding ...

News | Newswire | Feb 10, 2010

On Tuesday, February 9th, the City of Toronto presented Humber College with a grant of $157,600 acknowledging the College’s success in reducing its carbon footprint and increasing its energy efficiency. This grant was in the form of an incentive payment, provided through the City’s Better Buildings Partnership in a funding ...

News | Newswire | Jan 26, 2010

ORLANDO, FL — Designers of systems for two office buildings, a warehouse and college library were recognized last week by ASHRAE for incorporating elements of innovative building design. First place recipients of the ASHRAE Technology Awards were recognized at the Society’s 2010 Winter Conference, held last week in Orlando, Fla. ...

Features | Joe Zwers | Mar 10, 2010

Canada has abundant resources for energy independence; from the Alberta oil patch to the hydro plants in BC and Newfoundland, and the 3,000 MW of wind farms spread across the provinces. Nevertheless, the distribution of that power isn’t always handled as efficiently as it could. Implementing a smart grid and demand ...

Features | Robert Colman | Feb 25, 2010

Humber College is one of many educational institutes that are growing substantially right now to meet the needs of students. To meet those needs requires heating and cooling facilities that can handle growth while running at peak efficiency. So when the College had to replace an old 1970s central chiller ...

Features | Ron Cox | Feb 10, 2010

One item that comes under scrutiny among facility managers looking to reduce expenses is the HVAC system. It may seem logical to save hundreds or thousands of dollars per year by reducing the frequency of air filter change-outs, or by downgrading to a lower-priced filter. In fact, the small amount ...

Features | Robert Colman | Jan 13, 2010

When considering how to make a building more energy efficient, lighting always seems to be the first thing that comes to mind. However, as Greg Towsley explained at the recent PM Expo in Toronto, there are many savings opportunities related to pumps that aren’t being captured. Towsley is the Innovation ...

Features | Robert Colman | Dec 23, 2009

Over the past year, organizations like the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada (BOMA) and the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) have emphasized perhaps more forcefully than ever that effective and efficient building management isn’t necessarily about spending money on expensive retrofit projects. At the most basic level it’s ...

Features | Glenn Machado | Nov 11, 2009

With production time and cash flow at an all time premium, more and more companies are looking for time and cost saving alternatives to replacing slightly damaged assets. In a refinery, just to cite an example, it is very common to encounter a leak from a hole in a carbon ...

Columns | Alan Sutton | Oct 8, 2009

Traditional boilers in North American heating plants are "non-condensing", which means that they discharge flue gases at a high enough temperature that all water vapour is carried out of the flue (and up the chimney, in a tall building). The water vapour is discharged with the other flue gases and ...

Columns | Scott Martin | Sep 14, 2009

If you’ve been around the heating business for any length of time, you’ll come to the realization that heating plants are almost always oversized. It is common for the heating capacity of a boiler plant to be twice as much as is needed on the coldest day of the year. ...

Columns | Mike Zongor | Aug 10, 2009

By Mike Zongor Hot water is used for a number of different purposes such as showering or bathing, doing laundry, washing dishes, cleaning or sanitizing around the house, or even killing weeds.  Unfortunately, hot water can present a significant health risk; exposure to 60°C (140°F) water can cause first degree ...

Columns | Mike Zongor | Jul 6, 2009

Flue details are regulated by the Technical Standard and Safety Authority (TSSA).  Improper flue design can be rejected by a TSSA inspector, leaving an expensive fix.  At the same time, the rules are confusing and seemingly ever-changing so this is an area that requires attention from a knowledgeable and t...

Columns | Alan Sutton | Jun 3, 2009

A Building Code is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects. The public interest for health, safety, and specific economics issues, are safeguarded through the issuance of a Building Code. Through these documents, governmental authorities require mandatory compliance to building related practices ...

Columns | Scott Martin | Apr 17, 2009

In the Canadian climate, heating is the biggest energy use is most buildings. And most of our heating plants are based on water heated by boilers. This series of articles discusses fundamentals of hot water heating plants. This month’s article is on plant monitoring and c...