SMACNA-BC Contractor-Installed System Wins ASHRAE Technology Award

Canadian design firms won five out of six technology awards presented by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) for 2011.

The international program had 37 entries for innovative energy management and indoor air quality building designs.

In western Canada, Paul Marmion of Stantec Consulting in Vancouver was awarded first place in the new health care facilities category for the design of the HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection systems in the Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre.

The system was manufactured and installed by SMACNA-BC contractor Apollo Sheet Metal.

Two 900-ton chillers are piped in a counter-flow configuration with chilled water temperature reset control to optimize energy efficiency, consuming a maximum of .5 Kw/ton of cooling. The system resulted in an immediate payback because there was no incremental capital cost of adding the courter-flow configuration.

The ARHCC is running 56 percent below the Environmental Protection Agency’s energy benchmark, using just 153 kBtu/ ft2. It is producing 3140 metric tons of CO2, compared to 8470 metric tons of CO2 produced by an equivalent facility.

The majority of Canadian entries came from the Montreal and Quebec chapters, says ASHRAE vice-president David Underwood, P.Eng. Nathan Hart, chair of the judging panel says many of this year’s entries provided more energy efficient systems by taking advantage of their specific geographical locations.

“[This helps] to highlight that one size does not fit all and that a more energy efficient design solution may be available when considering the project as a whole,” he says.