Canadian Consulting Engineer May 2009 by Annex Business Media

For professional engineers in private practice

MAY 2009

GEOEXCHANGE SYSTEMS FOR BUILDINGS DEEP GEOTHERMAL POTENTIAL IN SASKATCHEWAN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING COMES TOO LATE

SPECIAL ISSUE

TAPPING EARTH’S POWER

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C E L E B R AT I N G 5 0 Y E A R S ! 1 9 5 9 - 2 0 0 9 5/1/09 8:18:40 AM

Building Information Modeling goes beyond buildings—it also helps civil engineers create, predict, and deliver more sustainable land development, transportation, and environmental projects.

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HOW CIVIL ENGINEERS USE BIM TO MAKE SUSTAINABLE DESIGN THE ONLY DESIGN. Autodesk, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or afﬁliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and speciﬁcations at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

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contents

May 2009 Volume 50, No. 3

Cover: Details from Precambrian rock along highways in Northern Ontario. Photography by David Wood, P.Eng. See page 38.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Geothermal Energy

Burrowing Owl Winery, B.C. See story page 30.

departments Comment

Up Front

Calendar

ACEC Review

Business

Products

Advertiser Index

Human Edge

Next month: 50th Anniversary Special Issue. Also environmental remediation, stormwater control, BIM for engineers.

Ground Source Heat Pumps Earthly Power — Commercial and Institutional GeoExchange Systems. An overview of the technology, past problems, and today’s best practices. By Robert Mancini P.Eng. R. Mancini & Associates

GeoExchange & Quality. The ground-source heat pump industry is maturing, thanks to the development of standards and education. By Ted Kantrowitz Canadian GeoExchange Coalition

Five Case Studies. A cheese-making factory, a seniors’ residence, a Wal-Mart, a winery, and a Halifax waterfront complex use geoexchange systems to heat and cool their spaces.

Whitehorse Survey. Engineers mapped Yukon’s capital city to discover what areas are best suited for geoexchange systems. EBA Engineering Consultants

Natural Resources Deep Geothermal’s Potential. Tapping heat in the earth’s crust could provide almost emission-free thermal energy in provinces like Saskatchewan. By Brian Brunskill, P.Geo. and Laurence Vigrass, P.Eng., P.Geo.

Opinion Geotechnical Considerations Come Too Late. Engineers and architects often design projects without understanding the true impact that ground conditions play. By David Wood, P.Eng., David F. Wood Consulting

May 2009

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

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engineer For professional engineers in private practice

comment

Editor

Bronwen Parsons E-mail: bparsons@ccemag.com (416) 510-5119 Senior Publisher

Is it time again for Big Engineering?

Maureen Levy E-mail: mlevy@ccemag.com (416) 510-5111 Art Direction

Ellie Robinson

he ancient Greek philosophers thought the physical world was made of four elements: earth, air, water and fire. In this issue we celebrate the benefits to engineering of one of those elements -- terra firma. Welcome to CCE magazine’s first special issue on geothermal systems. Most of the articles are about ground source heat pumps, or geoexchange systems (see p. 18 ff.). Today these systems are used for heating and cooling homes, offices, small factories, schools, and even institutional buildings as large as hospitals. They circulate thermal energy from the ground immediately near or below the building, thus offering environmental benefits by reducing the building’s reliance on the grid and traditional carbon-based combustion. Geoexchange technology has had its problems in the past, but most people agree that the industry has matured. The key for designers is to balance the inputs and outputs of energy so that temperatures in the ground loop don’t become lopsided. There are some ecological considerations as well. Research is going on at universities such as the University of Ontario Institute of Technology to measure the slightest temperature changes in the ground over the long term. The results will be used by ecologists to determine impacts at the microbial level. At a dramatic and exciting scale we could be tapping energy sources deep within the earth’s core. Brian Brunskill and Laurence Vigrass’ article on page 36 suggests that Saskatchewan might be a good location to try deep geothermal technology, which would involve drilling down to aquifers more than two kilometres below the earth’s surface where temperatures are 60 degrees Celsius. Indeed, with the pressure to find new energy sources, we’re seeing a resurgence of Big Engineering ideas. Riverbank Power of Toronto, for example, is doing tests for something called an “Aquabank.” It involves installing turbines 600 metres down an underground shaft. Water is sent down the shaft from a river or surface source to drive four 250-MW turbines, then recycled back up to the surface at night (see page 10). Another Big Engineering idea that is not related to geothermal systems, but is so audacious I can’t resist mentioning it, is the brainchild of Rod Tennyson, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. He has proposed building a massive pipeline across Africa that would supply not oil, but another of the Ancients’ vital elements -water. The 2-metre diameter reinforced concrete pipe would run from Mauritania on the Atlantic Ocean to Djibouti on the Indian Ocean, carrying a billion litres a day of desalinated sea water into a network of branches. The pipe could provide water for up to 20 million people. “It’s a megaproject, but it’s doable,” Tennyson said in UofT Magazine. He says that the $24billion project can use existing technology and only needs the political and economic backing to move ahead. In recent decades Big Engineering ideas have fallen somewhat into disrepute. Perhaps it’s time to revive them. Bronwen Parsons

Contributing Editor

Rosalind Cairncross, P.Eng. Advertising Sales Manager

Vince Naccarato E-mail: vnaccarato@ccemag.com (416) 510-5118 Editorial Advisors

Andrew Bergmann, P.Eng., Bruce Bodden, P.Eng., Gerald Epp, P.Eng., Kevin Hydes, P.Eng., Chris Newcomb, P.Eng., Laurier Nichols, ing., Lee Norton, P.Eng., Jonathan Rubes, P.Eng., Paul Ruffell, P.Eng., Ron Wilson, P.Eng. Circulation

Beata Olechnowicz (416) 442-5600 x3543 Production Co-ordinator Karen Samuels (416) 510-5190 Vice President, Publishing Business Information Group (BIG)

Alex Papanou

President, Business Information Group (BIG)

Bruce Creighton Head Office

12 Concorde Place, Suite 800 Toronto, ON M3C 4J2 Tel: (416) 442-5600 Fax: (416) 510-5134 CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEER is published seven times a year by BIG Magazines L.P., Toronto, Ont. EDITORIAL PURPOSE: Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine covers innovative engineering projects, news and business information for professional engineers engaged in private consulting practice. The editors assume no liability for the accuracy of the text or its fitness for any particular purpose. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Canada, 1 year $58.95; 2 years $88.95 + taxes Single copy $7.00 Cdn. + taxes. (GST 809751274-RT0001). United States U.S. $58.95. Foreign U.S. $81.95. Printed in Canada. Title registered at Trademarks Office, Ottawa. Copyright 1964. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full without the consent of the copyright owner(s). ISSN: 0008-3267 POSTAL INFORMATION: Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Dept., Canadian Consulting Engineer, 12 Concorde Place, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M3C 4J2. USPS 016-099. US office of publication: 2424 Niagara Falls Blvd., Niagara Falls, NY 14304-5709. Periodicals postage paid at Niagara Falls, NY. US Postmaster: send address changes to Canadian Consulting Engineer, PO Box 1118, Niagara Falls NY 14304. Privacy: From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us. tel: 1-800-668-2374, fax: 416-510-5134, e-mail: jhunter@businessinformationgroup.ca, mail to: Privacy Officer, BIG, 12 Concorde Place, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M3C 4J2. Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Member of the Canadian Business Press Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations Inc.

Association of Business Publishers 205 East 42nd Street New York, NY 10017

Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada Association des ingénieurs-conseils du Canada

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program towards our mailing costs. PAP Registration No. 11002.

@ARTICLECATEGORY:663; 651; 657;

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

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May 2009

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CCE tools GE Ad_bleed incl 3

16/04/09

15:44

Page 1

LEED® certification

Energy-saving products

Energy & environmental calculators

Regulations & legislation

Environmental trends & data Educational conferences

For our new Environmental Information Center, Mother Nature not only provided the inspiration, but also the model. Introducing the new GE Environmental Information Center. Now you can find everything you need to know about environmental sustainability within the lighting and electrical industries in a single online resource. Get details on LEED® certification, find out the latest news, trends, legislation and regulations.* Read current industry white papers. Calculate energy savings and environmental impact. The new GE Environmental Information Center. The ultimate resource to help your business, and everything else, prosper. To find out which GE lighting and electrical products can gain valuable LEED® certification points, go to www.geconsumerandindustrial.com/environmental info. To contact your local GE Lighting or Electrical Distribution representative, call 1-877-259-0941, ext. 2912, or email us at marketingcdn@ge.com.

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up front

Architectural drama comes to Winnipeg After years of delay, construction is in progress at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg. The $265million institution is the first national museum to be built outside Ottawa. Like other recently completed cultural buildings in Canada, the Winnipeg structure is designed by an international star architect and has a dramatic architectural form.

Canadian Museum of Human Rights, Winnipeg

It is located at the historic Forks area and has been designed by Antoine Predock as a “Tower of Hope” at 1,000 metres, with a surrounding “Cloud” at 50 metres. Halcrow Yolles is the structural engineer, Mulvey & Banani is electrical engineer, and TMP is mechanical engineer. The 24,500-m2 structure is to be completed by 2012. Originally conceived and promoted by the Asper Foundation, the museum is to be a centre of learning where people can “engage in discussion and commit to taking action against hate and oppression.” POWER

Green Energy Act changes things in Ontario By April, Ontario was holding hearings into its proposed Green Energy Act. Groups ranging from power producers, to manufacturers, to environmentalists like David Suzuki voiced strong sup6

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

p06-12 CCE May_09 Upfront_Calend6 6

port for the legislation. The American Council on Renewable Energy called it, “The most comprehensive renewable energy policy entered anywhere around the world.” The main thrust of the Act is to encourage the development of renewable power generation. Strategies include having guaranteed rates for renewable power, streamlined approvals, and a smart grid. On the conservation side, the Act would make energy efficiency “a key purpose of Ontario’s Building Code.” It would also require homes to have an energy audit done before they are sold. The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) is saying this requirement could be interpreted more widely to apply to all buildings, including commercial ones. Meanwhile, the federal government is proposing a voluntary building energy rating system for the whole of Canada that would be based on the U.S. Energy Star program. It began conversations with the provinces, the Canada Green Building Council, BOMA and other groups this spring.

NOTES

Material heal thyself Researchers at the University of Southern Mississippi have developed a polyurethane material that repairs its own scratches when exposed to ultra-violet light. The material incorporates molecules called oxetane-substituted chitosan precursors. When a scratch damages the molecule, reactive ends of the oxetane draw towards broken chitosan rods. COMPANIES

Mergers and acquisitions AMEC is buying Philips Engineering of Burlington, Ontario. Canam Building Envelope Specialists of Mississauga, Ontario, has been purchased by product manufacturer Tremco.

AWARDS

AICQ’s Leonard prize goes to Génivar The Association des Ingénieurs-Conseil du Québec (AICQ) celebrated its annual awards at the Montreal Science Centre on March 26. The Léonard “visionary” prize went to GENIVAR and the Société immobilière du Québec, for Optimizing Energy at La Vérendrye wildlife reserve. The Emerging Professional Award went to Sébastien Legault-Lavallée of Sébastien LegaultAXOR for Revitaliza- Lavallée, AXOR tion of Saint-Joseph Street in Valcourt. Other award winning consulting

Photography: Olivier Samson

BUILDINGS

HISTORY

Name your favourite engineering structure Canadian Consulting Engineer is celebrating its 50th anniversary in June. To help mark the occasion, we invite you to nominate your favourite Canadian engineering project dating approximately from the last 50 years. It could be a bridge, a building, an industrial plant, a dam ... whatever. Send a brief e-mail to bparsons@ccemag. com by May 15.

continued on page 8

May 2009

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up front

continued from page 6

engineering firms, selected from 43 entries, were: Bouthillette Parizeau for Residences, Phase III, l’École de technologie supérieure (ETS) à Montréal; Teknika HBA for Use of BubbleDeck at Residences, Phase III, ETS; Tecsult for Hydroelectric Project at Péribonka; GENIVAR for Seafront Revitalization at Port of Spain, Trinidad; SNC-Lavalin, BPR, Pluritec for Deck Replacement for Laviolette Bridge at Trois-Rivières; Tecsult/CIMA+ for Extension of Boulevard des Allumettières in Gatineau; SNC-Lavalin for Water Transfer at Taksebt Dam in Algeria; Dessau for Modernization of Telecommunications Network for the Montreal Metro. AWARDS

Hatch Mott McDonald tops in B.C. Consulting Engineers of British Columbia held its 20th annual Awards for Engineering Excellence at the Vancouver Convention Centre on March 7.

Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvements, B.C.

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

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INNOVATIONS

Sailing with the sun A team in Kiel, Germany is designing the first solar-powered vessel to sail around the world. The catamaran, PlanetSolar, will travel at around 10 knots carrying two sailors and is to set sail in 2010. Autodesk is a sponsor.

The Lieutenant-Governor’s Award of Engineering Excellence went to Hatch Mott MacDonald for the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement from West Vancouver to Function Junction near Whistler. Awards of excellence went to: BCIT Aerospace Technology Centre Mechanical and Electrical Systems by MCW Consultants; Brightwater Marine Outfall, King County by Dayton & Knight; Kingsway Pedestrian Bridge, Burnaby by Fast + Epp Structural Engineers; NaiKun Meteorological Station by Sandwell Engineering; Clean Energy from Biosolids, Vancouver by Associated Engineering. Awards of merit went to Richmond Olympic Oval Base Structure by Glotman Simpson; Columbia Street Pump Station Upgrade, Vancouver by Associated Engineering; Trent I&I Pump Station, Victoria by Kerr Wood Leidal; W.R. Bennett Bridge by Buckland & Taylor; Beacon Hill Station and Tunnels by Hatch Mott MacDonald;

Upper Baker Downstream Fish Passage, Puget Sound by Worley Parsons Westmar; China Western Roads Project by MMM Group. Terry Terry McQuillan of McQuillan Urban Systems won the 2009 CEBC Meritorious Achievement Award for individual achievement. VOICES FROM THE PAST

In Praise of Outsourcing — 50 Years Ago “In the 10-year period 1948-58, Canada’s population increased 35%; the gross national product increased 110%; the number of registered professional engineers increased 176%, and the best estimate we have of the increase of those engaged in consulting engineering is 225%. “What are the reasons for the marked increase, demand for and acceptance of this service? “Many factors are involved, but surely one of the most plausible is that having the engineering work done by a consultant has been found to be more satisfactory than the alternacontinued on page 10

May 2009

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up front

calendar

continued from page 8

May 19-21 — First National Engineering Summit 2009. Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal. Held by Engineers Canada, ACEC, the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, etc. Theme is “Leading a Canadian Future: the New Engineer in Society.” Tel. 613-747-0262, www. engineeringsummit.ca

tive.” — Editorial, Canadian Consulting Engineer, November 1959. POWER

Waterfalls with a twist Riverbank Power, based in Toronto, has devised a power generation system that drops water from a river or other surface source through turbines into deep underground reservoirs. It is hoping to develop its first “Aquabank” underground pumped storage generation at the Wiscasset Energy Center in Maine. The water would be diverted by the force of gravity down 600 metre shafts into a powerhouse, creating 1000-MW of emission-free power. During off-peak hours, electric pumps return the water to the surface in a continual cycle. The pumps for the water return could be powered by wind turbines, which are most active during off-peak hours at night, while the power generated in the under-

June 1-2 — Consulting Engineers of Ontario AGM & Awards. Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Ottawa. Tel. Liz Thuo, 416-6201400, www.ceo.on.ca Riverbank Power’s Aquabank underground pumped storage generation, daytime operation.

ground turbines would be available at peak times. Geological testing for a $2-billion site at Wiscasset was showing good results by April. The company also has a test site in Sparta, New Jersey, as well as potential sites in Canada.

June 8-11 — National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Conference & Expo. McCormick Place, Chicago. Tel. 617770-3000, www.nfpa.org June 9-11 — Canada Green Building Council National Summit. Montreal Conference Centre. Tel. 866-941-1184, www. everybuildingcanbegreen.ca

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June 14-18 - American Water Works Association (AWWA) Annual Conference. San Diego. Tel. 303-347-6210, www.awwa. org/ace09 June 24-25 — 6th Annual Future of Canada’s Infrastructure Summit. Holiday Inn Select, Toronto Airport. Tel. Strategy Institute, 866-298-9343 x275, http://strategyinstitute.com June 24-27 — ACEC National Summit 2009. Chateau Whistler, B.C. Includes Young Professionals Program. Tel. 613236-0569, www.acec.ca June 24-25 — Conference on Managing Risk at Pre-Tender Stages of Construction. Telus Convention Centre, Calgary. Tel. Canadian Institute, 416-927-0718 x202, www.canadianinstitute.com/ Pre-Tender September 20-24 — Geo Halifax, 52nd Canadian Geotechnical Conference. Halifax, N.S. Held by Canadian Geotechnical Society and the International Association of Hydrogeologists. Tel. 604-277-7527, www.geohalifax09.ca @ARTICLECATEGORY:672;

May 2009

4/29/09 8:12:52 AM

After 30 years, it’s only natural to find Mitsubishi Electric Canada at the forefront of the industry, implementing geothermal technology and pioneering the use of R-410A refrigerant. Through innovations like these, we look to achieve our vision of reducing the impact on the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the ground we walk on. It’s not just something we say. It’s something we live for. And with the constant evolution of our technologies and products, we plan to meet this goal by 2021. We hope you will join us in making these changes for the better.

Innovation. It’s been in our nature for 30 years.

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ACEC review

CHAIR’S MESSAGE

Staying the Course on Engineering Procurement

CEC member firms in most provinces have reported significant downturns in some key business sectors, including mining and land development, and many people in our industry believe that the worst is yet to come. Just when we had become accustomed to managing our businesses in boom times, we now have to re-learn how to manage in recessionary times. For many of the younger members of our industry this will be their first experience of hard times, and will come as a shock. But, as those who have lived through past recessions will know, economic crises can often create new opportunities. Over the past few years consulting engineering firms have found it difficult to recruit sufficient qualified staff to meet client demands. Now, suddenly there are wellqualified candidates applying for vacancies, and many consultants will take the opportunity to recruit for those

hard-to-fill positions, so that they are better prepared for the next business surge. Governments around the world have introduced economic stimulus packages focusing on infrastructure and development. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) has compiled a list of these, which can be accessed via a link on the ACEC website. Export Development Canada (EDC) has announced an expansion of its mandate and greater financial flexibility to support Canadian exporters. And at the same time, there is now open discussion about the possibility that the Canadian International Development Agency’s Industrial Co-operation Program (CIDA INC) may be relocated to DFAIT, where it would have the support of Canada’s international network of pro-business Trade Commissioners. Consulting firms with specialised skills to offer will no doubt use the recession as their opportunity to initiate or increase their international business activities. CHRIS NEWCOMB, P.ENG., CHAIR, ASSOCIAtION Of CANAdIAN ENGINEERING COMPANIES (ACEC)

MESSAGE dU PRéSIdENt dU CONSEIL

L’adversité présente des possibilités

ans la plupart des provinces, les firmes membres de l’AFIC ont rapporté des ralentissements importants dans plusieurs secteurs clés, dont les mines et l’aménagement foncier, et plusieurs membres de notre industrie croient que le pire est encore à venir. Alors que nous venions de nous habituer à gérer nos activités dans une période de boom économique, nous devons maintenant réapprendre à gérer nos entreprises dans une période de récession. Pour de nombreux membres plus jeunes de notre industrie, cette récession est leur première expérience de temps difficiles, peut-être même un choc. Mais comme tous ceux qui ont déjà traversé des récessions, les crises économiques peuvent souvent créer de nouvelles possibilités. Ces dernières années, les firmes de génie-conseil ont éprouvé une certaine dose de difficulté à recruter suffisamment de gens qualifiés pour répondre aux besoins de leurs clients. Aujourd’hui, nous avons soudainement de nombreux candidats qualifiés à la recherche d’empois, et plusieurs firmes de génie-conseil profiteront de cette

occasion pour les recruter en vue de la prochaine reprise. Partout dans le monde, les gouvernements ont introduit des programmes de stimulants économiques axés sur l’infrastructure et le développement. Le ministère des Affaires étrangères et du Commerce international (MAECI) a compilé une liste de ces programmes à laquelle ont peut accéder par le site Web de l’AFIC. Exportation et développement Canada (EDC) a annoncé que son mandat a été étendu et qu’il aurait davantage de flexibilité pour appuyer les exportateurs canadiens. Il y a aussi une discussion ouverte sur la possibilité que le Programme de coopération industrielle (ACDI-PCI) de l’ACDI relèvera du MAECI où il bénéficierait de l’appui du réseau canadien de délégués commerciaux favorables à l’entreprise. Les firmes de génieconseil qui offrent des services spécialisés profiteront sans aucun doute de cette récession pour accroître leurs activités internationales. CHRIS NEWCOMB, P.ENG., PRéSIdENt dU CONSEIL ASSOCIAtION dES fIRMES d’INGéNIERIE dU CANAdA (AfIC)

May 2009

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

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ACEC review

Registration for Whistler 2009 Summit Now Open!

CEC is now accepting registrations for the 2009 ACEC National Summit taking place in Whistler, B.C., from June 24-27. Registration information, along with a preliminary program and accommodation information, can be found on the ACEC website at www.acec.ca. Under the theme of “Facing Our Challenges in Challenging Times,” the ACEC Summit has something for everyone. Speakers’ panels have been organized to speak directly to some of the key challenges facing engineering firms -- human resource challenges; opportunities afforded by domestic and international stimuli packages; future trends and economic conditions; an Owners Roundtable, and the ever-popular cross-country reports and CEO and Principles Roundtables. A pre-event PSMJ Bootcamp is also offered. New for 2009 is the introduction of a parallel Young Professionals Program. Intended for the under-35 professional, this program will allow YPs from across Canada to network amongst themselves and amongst

their more senior peers. The YP business sessions will also allow discussion of top-of-mind issues for the younger demographic -- human resource issues and motivations; social and environmental challenges; a tour of the Whistler Olympic venues; and a cross-country forum where issues and developments at a more regional level will be discussed. Registration fees for YPs have been lowered to encourage

participation from this key group. A full social program is also included. The ACEC Golf Classic; a ride up the spectacular Whistler Gondola; a “Taste of Canada” welcome reception; an elaborate spousal program; a yoga class, and numerous optional tours and adventures are featured. Don’t miss out – join your industry peers and ACEC colleagues in Whistler from June 24-27!

ACEC Co-hosts Engineering Summit 2009

rom May 19-21, ACEC, in collaboration with Engineers Canada and a range of other engineering stakeholders, will host the National Engineering Summit in Montreal, Quebec. The theme of the Summit is “Leading a Canadian Future: The New Engineer in Society,” and is expected to attract participants from the health, environment, infrastructure, industrial, and academia sectors. The stated goal of the Summit

Canadian Consulting Engineer

p13-17 CCE May_09 ACEC.indd 14

is to “define a vision for the future that will inspire a vibrant engineering community to make dedicated contributions towards a superior quality of life and improved societal development in Canada.” Presenters will focus on five key themes, including health; environment; safety and security; competitiveness in a global economy, and quality of life. The Summit is expected to develop and issue a final declaration that will help

to chart the future of the engineering sector for years to come. A complete program, registration and accommodation information, and information on speakers are all available on the Summit website at www.engineeringsummit.ca. Registration is open to all. ACEC encourages you to attend and make your voice heard on the future of the profession and the industry!

May 2009

4/29/09 8:14:10 AM

ACEC review

Details on Stimulus-Related Infrastructure Investment Unveiled

n April 7, the Hon. John Baird, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, along with Jean Perrault, Mayor of Sherbrooke and President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, issued a joint letter to municipal councils across the country updating them on the status of the stimulus-related infrastructure investments announced in the 2009 Budget, as well as prior infrastructure announcements contained in previous Budgets. Among the key developments are: • Confirmation that the federal Gas Tax Fund doubled as of April 1, 2009 from $1 billion nationally to $2 billion. • Parliament approved changes to the Navigable Water Protection Act so as to accelerate infrastructure approvals. • Several funding programs announced in the 2007 Budget under the Building Canada program will

be accelerated. • With regard to the 2009 stimulusrelated funding, the focus of project selection will be on those projects that are shovel-ready, and that can be completed by March 31, 2011. • Given the short time frame, rehabili-

ACEC President Jeff Morrison meets with Minister of International Cooperation, the Hon. Bev Oda, to discuss the role of engineers in international development projects.

tation of existing assets will predominate in terms of project selection, but new construction that can be completed in a two-year window will also be considered. • Projects should be incremental to existing capital projects (i.e. they could not be completed were it not for the new stimulus money). • In the municipal sector, eligible projects can include water/wastewater, transit, roads and bridges, parks and trails, solid waste, culture, and community and social services. • Included in the stimulus package is a $1 billion fund for green infrastructure. Projects under this fund will be built over a five year timeframe, and can include projects such as the generation and transmission of clean energy, carbon capture and storage, wastewater treatment, and solid waste management. Because of the longer time frame, these projects will likely be larger, more strategic projects. Municipal councils are being asked now to submit lists of proposed projects so that approvals can be provided in a timely manner, and work can begin this construction season. ACEC will closely monitor the implementation of the stimulus-related investments, and inform ACEC members of developments associated with the program. May 2009

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

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ACEC review

ACEC Human Resources Promotional Campaign is Well Underway

ver the past several months, ACEC has begun to roll out in full force its student promotional campaign, appropriately entitled “Engineering Legacies.” The elements of the campaign that are now completed include: • The English language website is now fully populated -- it can be viewed at www.engineeringlegacies.com. • The full set of English video modules are now complete, and can be viewed on the website. • The presentation booth and accompanying materials are complete, and a fall roll out schedule with visits to every region of Canada is being completed. • The French version of the videos, website, and accompanying material will be completed shortly. • A presence on several social networking sites has been established to allow students to discuss amongst themselves the value of a career in consulting engineering. • A tracking system is being developed to gauge student feedback and responses. Among the events that ACEC has completed are: • In March and April, student information sessions were held at universities in Atlantic Canada, Ontario,

Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. ACEC also presented to students at the Canadian Engineering Competition in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and has appeared at and spoken before a number of related career fairs. • ACEC met with the National Council of Deans of Engineering and Applied Science to inform university deans about the campaign. • ACEC met with the Directors of Communication of several Quebec firms, as well as l’Association des ingénieurs-conseils du Quebec, to discuss and obtain feedback on the roll out of the campaign in Quebec.

Most important, the response from students has been overwhelming. Many students have reported that this is the first exposure they have had to opportunities in consulting engineering, and many have expressed strong interest in entering the field. As the campaign ramps up in the fall, ACEC fully expects that strong level of interest to continue. The promotional campaign would not have been possible without the valuable support of many generous sponsors. Sponsors can be viewed at the campaign website at www.engineeringlegacies.com.

ACEC Member Organizations: Consulting Engineers of British Columbia, Consulting Engineers of Yukon, Consulting Engineers of Alberta, Consulting Engineers of Northwest territories, Consulting Engineers of Saskatchewan, Consulting Engineers of Manitoba, Consulting Engineers of Ontario, Association des Ingénieurs-conseils du Québec, Association of Canadian Engineering Companies of New Brunswick, Consulting Engineers of Nova Scotia, Consulting Engineers of Prince Edward Island, Consulting Engineers of Newfoundland and Labrador. 16

Canadian Consulting Engineer

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May 2009

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building energy

BY ROBERT MANCINI, P.ENG. R. MANCINI & ASSOCIATES

Geothermal heat pump systems need to be carefully designed and balanced to be successful, says an expert. He explores what has caused problems with these systems in the past.

EARTHLY

POWER COMMERCIAL & INSTITUTIONAL GEOEXCHANGE HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS

he first ground source heat pumps in North America were mostly in single family residential buildings. They usually had two or three boreholes per system. Today, however, the size of these geoexchange systems is limited only by the area available for the installation of the ground exchanger. The largest system in the world is installed at Fort Polk, Louisiana. This system provides heating, cooling and domestic hot water for 4,000 homes on the military base. It reduced electrical consumption by 33%, eliminated 27,429 megajoules of natural gas, reduced peak demand by 43% and reduced CO2 emissions by 22,400 tons per annum. Known as “ground source heat pumps,” “geothermal heat pumps,” “earth energy systems,” or “geoexchange systems,” the technology uses the earth as a heat source, a heat sink and as an energy storage device. Geoexchange is now a mature technology that has been in use for over 50 years. it not only can reduce a building’s carbon footprint but also its operating costs. Some systems use water sources and aquifers, but the commercial and institutional building applications mostly use the ground as the thermal exchanger and have vertical closed loop systems. Geoexchange systems design and installation is governed by the Canadian Standards Association CAN/CSA-448 Series, “The Design and Installation of Earth Energy Systems.” The standard reflects several years of Canadian experience. Past problems In the 1980s and 1990s, the application of geothermal heat pump systems to larger projects such as schools presented challenges for all involved. The designers had no tools to rely on, and with no standards for geothermal equipment and materials, they were at the mercy of equipment and material manufacturers. There were only a few installers available and they were untrained. Due to the absence of the above infrastructure, problems surfaced during this period and as a result some designers abandoned ground exchangers. Many lessons were learned the hard way, lessons that cost designers and installers millions of dollars and in some cases, their businesses. Following are some typical problems that I have encountered over 25 years in the industry. I also have some suggestions for avoiding similar pitfalls and ensuring that the systems are reliable.

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

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Right: Fr. Michael McGivney School, Markham, Ontario. At 182,000-sq.ft. and opened in 1991, it was the first school on this scale to have a geothermal system. The system was, designed by Mancini Saldan Associates.

Learning the hard way In the early 1980s there was no requirement to test the ground conditions, and since design tools did not exist, most designers used rules of thumb developed in the residential industry. By the mid to late 1980s, drilling contractors in the commercial and institutional sectors had learned that it was easy to increase their profits by claiming that the drilling conditions encountered at the site were not what they expected. In an effort to contain these costs, designers started asking owners to provide test bores to a prescribed depth so that the drilling conditions could be logged and inserted in the specifications. My firm, Mancini, Saldan & Associates, was the first to ask for this form of testing, specifically for the Baltimore School for the Northumberland and Newcastle school board in southern Ontario. The school board officials hired a local driller to perform two test boreholes to a depth of 260 ft. for the 30,000 sq.ft. elementary school. The drilling logs were inserted in the project specifications, the project was tendered, a low bidder was selected and contracted to perform the work. The report showed overburden conditions all the way down to 260 ft.. But the first borehole by the drilling contractor found hard Canadian Shield limestone at about 240 ft.. Further investigation revealed that one test borehole had been drilled only to 220 ft., the other to 140 ft.. The problem cost the owner close to $30,000. All subsequent projects from our office required that test boreholes be conducted by a registered geologist or a hydrogeologist. Borehole testing done right Steps in the design of a ground exchanger are: • site survey • determination of regulatory requirements (environment ministries as well as local authorities) • Site testing (test boreholes) • Building energy analysis (to determine energy flows to and from the ground) • Computer simulation to determine performance and borehole length over long term

• Energy balancing to minimize system size. The first step is to evaluate the site for a suitable location for a ground exchanger. A flat site is ideal, while sloping sites can be challenging. Tests must be done to determine the geological and hydrogeological conditions. For vertical closed loop systems this involves drilling boreholes to a prescribed depth, and determining the thermal conductivity of the material adjacent to the borehole. The information derived from the tests will include the stratigraphy, aquifer locations, water quality of aquifers, soil properties and soil contamination. Test boreholes must be treated as system boreholes since they will be incorporated into the overall ground exchanger as working units. All ground exchanger boreholes must be exact copies of the test boreholes. Depth, pipe and grout must be the same. Loop design - Beware of overloads Designing systems using rules of thumb worked fairly well in single family homes. If the ground exchanger did not perform well in heating the home, the mandatory back-up electrical heat would take over. Cooling requirements in homes are smaller than heating requirements; therefore, there were no issues with cooling. But in schools located in most climate zones in Canada and the U.S., the cooling requirement is dominant. Using rule of thumb to design the loop for the ground exchanger could result in either over-sizing or under-sizing. Oversizing resulted in higher capital costs but the systems performed better. Under-sizing resulted in over-heating or over-cooling the ground around the boreholes and pipe. Many designers used to assume that the earth could take the abuses of the energy imbalance without effect, but the result was overheated or overcooled loops, resulting in possible system failure. Computerized solutions to the complex heat exchange formulas involved did not appear until the early 1990s. The original electronic solution was from continued on page 20 May 2009

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building energy

continued from page 19

Lund University, in Sweden. It was awkward and available only in metric units. Energy extracted = energy rejected With larger projects, then, it is necessary to analyze the heating and cooling energy demands of the buildings. Particular attention must be paid to the “thermal balance” -- the balance between energy extracted from the ground and energy returned to the ground on an annual basis. Energy Extracted = Energy Rejected. A thermally balanced ground exchanger is an optimized ground exchanger, and an imbalance will cause long term performance degradation. The balance can be achieved by finding a use for the excess energy. For example, a typical school in southern Ontario will likely be imbalanced due to excessive heat rejection. The value can be estimated and the energy can be used to heat or reheat fresh air, produce domestic hot water, and even provide energy for snow melting. Most of our projects in southern Ontario and in the U.S. have been designed to take advantage of this resource rather than reject it to the atmosphere. In essence, this is energy that the building owner has paid for. The building system design therefore cannot be sepa-

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rated from the ground exchanger design, and a closed loop geothermal heat exchanger must be designed by a competent HVAC engineer trained to design such systems. The designer must be well versed with building energy simulation, energy efficient design and LEED design requirements. The ground exchanger size is calculated based on the building’s monthly energy requirements as well as its monthly peak energy needs. In addition the following information is required to design the ground exchanger: formation thermal conductivity and diffusivity, grout thermal conductivity, borehole thermal resistance, pipe arrangement within borehole or trenches, heat pump performance information, undisturbed ground temperature, circulation fluid properties (specific heat, density and flow rate, design heat pump inlet temperatures in heating and cooling mode, additional system power (pumps, fluid cooler etc.). Installation and materials - Know your enemies Several problems with geothermal systems can be traced to materials and installation. Dirt in the piping systems. This is the number one culprit and has been the cause of thousands of call-backs and thousands of hours of wasted time. The designer must take every precaution in the specifications and drawings to address this problem. The installer must take every precaution to ensure that dirt does not enter the system during construction. I have witnessed everything from welding slag, to ¾˝ gravel, to pop cans in piping systems. Pipe flushing and cleaning in both the ground exchanger and the continued on page 22

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

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May 2009

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building energy

continued from page 19

internal piping system must be done properly. Cleaning solvents must be used to clean metallic piping systems. The ground exchanger piping and internal system piping must be cleaned separately. The designer must witness both and sign off in both instances. Grout. In the first systems installed in Ontario schools boreholes were “backfilled” with materials such as limestone screenings. Although the thermal conductivity of packed limestone screenings approaches that of the original limestone rock, it soon became clear that the limestone screenings were not covering the entire length of the borehole. This was due to “bridging” at locations where the U-bend piping became twisted (the case in many Ubend down-hole exchangers, especially those with smaller diameter pipe and pipe with thinner wall thicknesses). With the increasing number of geothermal systems installations, and ice lensing problems encountered at the Bayview Hills subdivision near Toronto, government authorities began to scrutinize the installation of ground exchangers and were especially concerned with protecting aquifers. It became clear that a better solution was required. Air Entrainment. To prevent corrosion destroying metallic components in the system it is necessary that any trapped air that is not removed during flushing and

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cleaning can be vented either manually or automatically. Air separators and automatic air venting devices are a must. Failure to address this issue has resulted in corrosion at pipe joints with dissimilar metals and has been the cause of poor performance and many call-backs, even when rust inhibitors were introduced in the system. Geothermal Piping. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe is the industry pipe of choice for ground exchanger systems. Typical borehole piping will have a nominal diameter of 1¼˝. Collector or sub-manifold piping connecting boreholes will have pipe diameters ranging from 1¼˝ to 2˝. This genre of pipe has been used extensively in the distribution of natural gas. The principal reason for adopting the material for geothermal building systems relates to its strength and durability. It is not the perfect conductor of thermal energy, but it is unlikely to fail if manufactured and installed properly. It is important to realize that HDPE pipe is not all the same. There were at least three instances where 2˝ pipe installed in projects in southern Ontario failed in the 1990s. The pipe was found to slit longitudinally and curl inward. All the pipe involved was manufactured in the same factory in the U.S. The materials set forth in the engineer’s specifications were correct. What went wrong? One can only point to a manufacturing defect or a quality control problem at the factory. However, at the end of the day all involved were sued and had to pay dearly. The moral of this story is to make sure that HDPE pipe is manufactured to Canadian Standards Association CSA-448 and carries the CSA logo. Antifreeze. Several projects were provided with potassium acetate antifreeze in the 1990s as a result of a ban on ethylene glycol and methanol. This new antifreeze was approved by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment as an “earth friendly” antifreeze. What no-one knew was that potassium acetate in water would channel through threaded joints and leak out. When exposed to air it turned into acetic acid. In one case terrazzo floors in the corridors of a school were destroyed by such leakage. Do not use potassium acetate in a threaded piping system. Capital and operating costs measure up Geoexchange is recognized by organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the EU Commission and in new laws such as the proposed Ontario “Green Energy Act.” In terms of energy savings, a new building with a well designed and constructed geoexchange system with a vertical closed loop geothermal exchanger should not consume more than 10 kWh/sq.ft./year. As examples from my firm’s current inventory of projects, the Gorham Middle School in Maine consumes 9.2 kWh/sq.ft./year. The College of Education, Health and Rehabilitation at the University of Maine consumes 9.1 kWh/sq.ft./year. continued on page 28

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

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May 2009

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standards

By TEd KanTrowiTz C a n a d i a n G E o E x C h a n G E C oa l i T i o n

GeoexchanGe & Quality

Ground-source heat pump technology is becoming more established in canada, thanks to some important programs for quality control that the industry has introduced.

Training and certification As the national association for the ground source heat pump industry, the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition (CGC) represents the industry’s public and private interests. Based in Montreal, the coalition manages the voluntary national quality program and serves as the industry centre for accrediting non-P.Eng. professionals.

Cdn. Geoexchange Coalition

ince 2006, sales of ground source heat pumps, otherwise known as GeoExchange™ technology, have been growing at over 100% annually in Canada. Part of this growth is attributable to the fact that government programs have provided financial incentives for these systems. Indeed, over the course of the last 35 years — essentially since the OPEC crisis of the mid-1970s — energy efficiency programs for ground source heat pumps have been introduced around the world, with varying levels of success. The relatively quick growth of the industry, however, has not been without its pitfalls. Where incentives have been introduced without a direct and firm link to a meaningful quality assurance program, such as in Sweden in the 1970s and here in Canada in the 1980s,1 unqualified and incompetent contractors have actually harmed the industry. Poorly trained, or even totally untrained, contractors and engineers sold heat pump systems to consumers -- in some cases even marketing the subsidy before the system -- and helped create numerous failed systems. In both Sweden and Canada these trends led to a widespread assumption that geo “doesn’t work” or that no contractor may be trusted. In fact, geoexchange technology, first patented in Switzerland in the 19th century, has a proven performance and great potential for energy and carbon emission savings. When executed properly, ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) deliver heat and cooling at efficiencies as high as 1,200% by sourcing ambient heat in the ground and moving and/or compressing it.2 By providing on-site heating and cooling energy for buildings, they can help to smooth the demand for utility power and reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions.

Realizing that the industry had some quality control problems, in 2004 CGC began to build a voluntary, national quality program. The program is called the Global Quality GeoExchange Program, and it was driven by a dedicated national effort to develop training relevant to Canadian geology, climate, standards, and regulations. Those accredited by the program must follow best practice, such as: • analyzing heat load and using design software • supervising and documenting drilling • proper purging and flushing • proper system start-up • delivering an as-built book to customers • operator/customer training. The CGC quality program culminates in CGC System Certification. Certification requires that installers and designers of residential systems deliver systems according to Canada’s Standard CSA C-448-02, “Design and Installation of Earth Energy Systems.” To qualify for residential system subsidies, the Canadian government and several provincial governments have continued on page 26 May 2009

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standards

continued from page 25

What is geothermal energy? Why should engineers care? “Geothermal” energy translates from Latin literally as “ground heat.” Below the frost line, ground temperatures stay more constant than in the atmosphere, ranging from about 7 to 13 degrees in the first 100 metres of the earth’s crust. GeoExchange™ a.k.a. ground-source heat pump systems, circulate a heat transfer fluid through a series of pipes installed below the frost line to capture this low-temperature heat. In summer the ground can be used as a heat sink, cooling buildings or processes. Because this shallow ground heat is essentially inexhaustible, the sourced heat is considered renewable energy by the governments of Canada, the United States, and other bodies like the European Commission. GeoExchange systems qualify as renewable energy systems in Canada and can earn a 50% capital cost allowance tax benefit for large customers.

required CGC System Certification since 2007. Though only Toronto has thus far offered a geoexchange-related rebate for commercial properties, CGC expects to see such incentive programs come on line by 2010. CGC has trained over 2,800 individuals in the past two years, and has accredited over 850 designers and installers who are focused on the residential market. Meanwhile, CGC has deployed courses for commercial system designers in Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. The courses are written by a technical committee of ASHRAE. This year, CGC will work with its member engineers and provincial governments to design a commercial-level certification form for projects. The CGC assists in developing standards and codes, revising its own training materials annually. The link between industry self-regulation based on recognized standards and incentives has been a powerful tool in uniting and professionalizing Canada’s geoexchange industry. Expanding in scope The industry continues to expand in interesting ways. Consulting engineers may be aware, for example, of CGC’s efforts to incorporate direct expansion technology into Canada’s governing standard, CSA C-448. CGC is also working with industry stakeholders to comprehensively revise CSA C-448, including incorporating previously excluded technologies such as standing column wells and hydronic applications, and rewriting various sections to reflect significant innovations. As well, CGC has begun an initiative with the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association to explore the use of wastewater systems for heating and cooling in Canadian municipalities. One idea is to run heat exchanger pipe on the exterior of sewer mains where it could absorb heat. CGC hopes to engage partners to develop pilot sites across the country for demonstration and monitoring. Other developing practices include: the more sophisticated use of diurnal and inter-seasonal thermal storage to increase the efficiency and flexibility of systems; the integra-

tion of solar thermal preheating; seawater and lake water cooling such as in Halifax and Toronto; and integration with low-exergy approaches. Creative engineers are working with clients to find new heat sources and heat sinks, to reconceive how buildings are heated and cooled, and to lower life-cycle costs. A word of caution While Canada’s most creative and experienced engineers have shown great skill in designing geothermal systems, a word of caution is necessary. CGC’s engineering course instructors and some engineering members have expressed grave concerns that engineers and designers of all types must be better trained and more consistently vigilant than they often are for commercial geoexchange applications to match the success of the systems at the residential level. We expect that involving an engineer guarantees a level of technical competence and protection. However, CGC’s engineer members have reported seeing problems such as loop fields oversized by 150% or more; the use of out-of-date or wholly inappropriate software; the misuse of appropriate software; improper specification of pipe, fittings or screening, leading to system seizure or under-performance; failure to oversee key project aspects such as vertical drilling; a general failure to act in a client’s best/fiduciary interest; and so forth. Engineers are reminded by CGC instructors in their classes that without proper training in a given area, an engineer is violating their Code of Conduct in executing work on geoexchange systems. CGC’s engineer members are also finding some engineers who take and pass the CGC Training for Commercial System Designers course and yet fail to engage in best practices consistently, including failing to call on colleagues who may have a valuable knowledge to contribute. As CGC trains more municipal inspectors, and continues to train installers and other trade-level professionals, it will also seek to work with engineers and engineering bodies to help educate continued on page 28

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

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standards

building energy

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those who are designing these systems and to ensure they do the best work possible. Geoexchange technology can deliver outstanding benefits when designed and installed properly. It’s the engineer’s responsibility to become as well trained as possible and to check with more experienced colleagues when any doubt arises. Geoexchange technology has arrived. It’s up to us all to make sure it’s implemented well. cce Ted Kantrowitz is the vice-president of the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition in Montreal,www.geoexchange.ca 1

Martin Forsén, Survey of Markets in Europe (Address). Proceedings of the 3rd National Business & Policy Forum, pub. Canadian GeoExchange Coalition Montreal, 2009. www.geo-exchange.ca/en/national_conference.php Denis Tanguay, CGC Response to Market Barriers and Market Failures in the Ground Source Heat Pump Industry, GeoConneXion Magazine pp. 25-30, September 2008, Montreal. 2 CGC’s national metering project, begun in 2008, will deliver first results in late 2009; CGC case studies show that commercial-sized simultaneous heat-cool geoexchange systems can achieve 1,200% efficiency routinely, and can peak at 1,800% efficiency. @ARTICLECATEGORY:655; 651;

continued from page 22

As for capital costs, an example is one of our current Canadian projects, a 135,000-sq.ft. seniors’ building in Sarnia, Ontario: Geoexchanger: $499,000 Building HVAC system: $1,401,000 Total: $1,900,000, or $14 per sq. ft. The cost of the ground exchanger should be amortized over its 50-year life. In general buildings with geoexchange systems operate in the range of $1 per square foot per annum. Conventional systems will typically run above $1.50 per square foot per annum. Geoexchange systems can also provide a hedge against rising fossil fuel costs. The maintenance costs of several buildings with geoexchange systems have been studied by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The results showed long-term maintenance costing of maximum $13.5/sq.ft./year a year compared to $24 to $35/sq.ft/year for buildings with conventional systems. cce Robert Mancini, P.Eng., is principal of R. Mancini & Associates and Mancini, Saldan & Associates, consultants specializing in geothermal heat pump systems design, based in Toronto and Bolton, Ontario. @ARTICLECATEGORY:651; 655;

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building energy

Ground source heat pump systems 5th Town Cheese plant maintains balance

Enermodal

case studies

Enermodal Engineering

he heat pump design at 5th Town Cheese in Picton, Prince Edward County on Lake Ontario, takes advantage of the fact that the plant needs both heating and cooling year round, either for the building or cheese making. Energy use in Canadian residential buildings is dominated by their heating requirements. They require a net extraction of heat from the ground heat exchanger (GHX) field, which results in the field’s long term cooling. But in a commercial or industrial application where significant heat is rejected from the building or process, that rejected heat can help maintain the temperature of the GHX field over the long term. The 5th Town Cheese plant is designed to process 3,000 kilograms of cheese per day, requiring about 2,000 litres of hot domestic water per day for washing the equipment, milk piping and tanks. At the same time, the water-cooled refrigeration equipment for walk-in coolers and refrigerated display cases rejects about 10 kW of heat, which can be used to heat water. The water-to-water-to-ground heat pump system is based on a nominal 12-Ton IceKube heat pump from Manitoba. Its cooling capacity is 34 kW at 7°C chilled water temperature; its heating capacity is 41 kW at 43°C. The heat pump simultaneously feeds the heating water piping and chilled water piping, each with a 450-L thermal storage and buffer tank. The building is heated and cooled with radiant concrete slabs and hydronic fan coils, using water mixed to the appropriate temperature in the mechanical room and distributed in a two-pipe configuration. The 350-m2 building is extremely energy efficient and needs only 20 kW of space heating and 10 kW (2.7 T) of cooling. Fresh from the cheese making room, cheese rounds are moved down a tunnel into two underground concrete aging 30

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caves, controlled at about 12-15°C and 90% relative humidity. Space temperatures are maintained by radiant tubing cast into the cave floors and walls, and humidity is controlled with chilled water coils and ventilation. When the total requirements for heat in the system match the cooling needs, the heat pump can simply transfer the energy from one load to the other. When there is a difference in load, the heat pump extracts or rejects the balance of the heat to the 380-m2 ground heat exchanger, a horizontal slinky field (see above) which is set directly on the limestone bedrock and backfilled to 2-m depth. Thermal connectivity was enhanced by bedding the GHX tubing in lean concrete directly on the washed surface of the rock. The horizontal GHX is a closely-spaced grid of 20-mm diameter polyethylene tubing arranged in 1-m diameter overlapping loops, sized with commercially available

May 2009

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Cornerstone Architects

Mechanical, electrical, geothermal design, LEED energy and commissioning: Enermodal Engineering (Richard Lay, P.Eng., Tim Dietrich, P.Eng.). Architect: Francis Lapointe. Contractors: Peter Knudsen construction, Adams Plumbing

Savings at Sisters of St. Joseph Chorley & Bisset/Caneta Research

he Sisters of St Joseph New Residence in London, Ontario, is a four-storey, 12,000-m2 nursing and rest home completed in 2007. The building uses a closed loop geothermal system for nearly all of its heating and cooling needs. It achieved a LEED Gold rating, with energy consumption predicted to be 46% better than a building matching to the Model National Energy Code for Buildings. The geothermal system absorbs energy from the ground, which is then used to provide space heating and cooling for the building, as well as heating for the central ventilation air systems. During the cooling season, the system rejects energy to the ground from these systems. The geothermal field consists of 63, 90-m deep boreholes, each with a 150-mm diameter steel casing, high performance grout and a 25-mm polyethylene tubing loop. A pair of circulating pumps move water through the field and back to the building. A second pair of pumps circulates water through an indoor piping loop that supplies water-to-air heat pumps for space heating and cooling, and water-to-water heat pumps that generate heating and cooling water for the ventilation systems. The two loops are connected together in a primary/secondary arrangement, which allows the use of a different flow rate for each loop. Pump energy was reduced by adding on/off control valves to the heat pumps and variable frequency drives to the indoor pumps.

To date, no additional heating energy from the boiler plant has been required to back up the geothermal system. Extensive monitoring over two years has shown the building has used significantly less energy than predicted by the energy models. Mechanical/electrical design: Chorley & Bisset (Derek B. Vakarus, P.Eng., Greg Cygalski, P.Eng.); Geothermal borefield design: Caneta Research. Architect: Cornerstone.

Hybrid geothermal-solar system for B.C. winery Bains Leslie Engineering

t the Burrowing Owl Estate Winery in Oliver, located in B.C.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s southern Okanagan Valley, a ground source heat pump system is combined with a solar energy system. It serves a shop, restaurant, 11-room guest house and a swimming pool in a recent addition to the main winery. The hybrid system supplies space heating and cooling, and domestic hot water. It also supplies 90Â°C temperature water for cleaning the wine casks in the underground cellars. In this desert climate, the solar array collects plenty of excess heat during the hot summers. The heat is stored in a ground loop both short-term for use at night, and long-term Swiss Solar Tech

software. Although there are few GHX slinky fields in Canada, Enermodal has found them to be a practical alternative to vertical boreholes, especially in bedrock geology. The 5th Town system has been operating since summer 2008. This spring the plant and retail outlet was the first industrial building to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

for use in the winter. The ground loop has 30 holes drilled 60m deep, while the solar array consists of 30 collectors feeding eight water tanks with a total capacity of 3,600 litres. continued on page 32 May 2009

p30-33 CCE May09 CaseStudies1.in31 31

Canadian Consulting Engineer

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continued from page 31

A Sonja SR-20 computerized solar control system orchestrates the whole system, sending hot and cold water between the tanks to supply different needs around the building. The system allows the new annex to be almost self sufficient in terms of heating energy. Mechanical-electrical engineers: Bains Leslie Engineering. Solar collector system: Swiss Solar Tech. Geothermal system: GeoTility.

Seawater district cooling in Dartmouth High Performance Energy Systems

www.dancallis.com

n the Dartmouth side of Halifax Harbour, one of the first projects in the world to combine direct cooling using seawater with underground thermal energy storage is being completed. The project provides air-conditioning to a complex of five buildings known as Alderney Gate. The buildings amount to 36,650 sq. ft., and include a theatre, government offices and a ferry terminal. In early April, engineers said they were making final adjustments to the systems’ controls. For most of the year the buildings will be cooled directly using seawater pumped from the harbour. The water is pumped through an underground titanium heat exchanger or “GeoEnergy Vault,” and the cold energy is transferred to a separate fresh water loop for distribution into a district piping system. From late August to October, however, the ocean water is not cold enough to provide the building’s air-conditioning. As a solution, High Performance Energy Systems designed a borehole field that stores cold energy during the winter months for use during the summer. The Advanced Coaxial Energy Storage system consists of 120 boreholes drilled 300 metres deep below a parking lot. The boreholes are 115 mm in diameter with an inner sealed plastic tube and an outer casing of steel. The de-

sign is said to be 300% more efficient than traditional U-tube boreholes.

Speedy installation at Wal-Mart Stantec

elow the parking lot of the Wal-Mart store that opened in Burlington, Ontario this January lies 15 kilometres of piping as part of an innovative closed loop geothermal heating and cooling system. Wal-Mart is “committed to being green,” and intends to roll out prototypical stores that are 30% more energy efficient than the norm. Besides the geothermal system, the Burlington store’s energy saving features include capturing heat from the refrigerators to heat the store, LED lighting, daylighting, and a white reflective roof.

Wal-Mart

building energy

Nuno Duarte, P.Eng. of Stantec explains that the geothermal piping was laid using a “Spider Plow,” which furrows the pipe into the ground and saves excavating. The pipe was laid over six days, creating a horizontal field on two levels at 2.3 m and 1.7 m. The Spider Plow had to be transported from Calgary, but the saving in excavation time offset this cost. Until now the plows have mostly been used for laying gas lines and other utilities. Inside the 10,220-m2 space, Duarte explains, the system includes modular chillers, where the reversing cycle between heating and cooling occurs via the water piping system rather than using heat pumps to reverse the refrigeration cycle internally. A “roll-out radiant mat” was used for the hydronic floor heating and cooling system. The mats incorporate PEX compression fittings, isolated to the fused pipe headers. They are rolled out in 10-ft. x 200-ft. (3 m x 61 m) standard lengths. The concrete is then poured on top. Geothermal & HVAC design: Stantec (Nuno Duarte, P.Eng.). Refrigeration: Cobalt Engineering. Architect: Petroff Partnership. Electrical: Ellard Willson Engineering. Geothermal contractor: Groundheat International. Suppliers: Uponor (radiant floor); Multistack (chillers). cce @ARTICLECATEGORY:651; 655;

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

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energy

E BA E n g i n E E r i n g

Whitehorse survey eBA compiled data and developed maps on a city-wide scale to show what areas of yukon’s capital city would favour geoexchange energy systems.

s part of its planning for sustainable infrastructure and renewable energies, the city of Whitehorse, Yukon asked EBA Engineering Consultants to map out the geoexchange potential of different areas within the city limits. The resulting maps are the first of this type to be done on a municipal scale in Canada. Geoexchange systems rely on capturing mainly solar energy stored in the earth or its water resources, and then transferring it to buildings and facilities for space heating or cooling. The Whitehorse Assessment of Geoexchange Potential project took into account three different types of earth energy systems. Two are well known: the closed loop systems that use a network of piping in the ground, within which a thermal exchange fluid circulates; and the open-loop systems which use water that is pumped from one source (ground or surface water) and is discharged elsewhere. A third, fairly unusual, aspect of the study included a survey of the potential for recovering heat from city sewer pipes. Having compiled all the geological and hydrogeological subsurface data together with land use data and other information, the consultants were able to create simple graphic maps of the portions of the city that could be developed. They colour-coded the maps using red (poor), yellow (fair), and green (good) to indicate which areas would be favourable for using geoexchange energy. In October 2007, the maps were used to convey the scientific data to the public in a four-day city-sponsored charrette on sustainability held in Whitehorse. 34

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p34-35 CCE May_09 EBA.indd 34

Above: Katherine Johnston and Scott Schillereff of EBA discuss the map of the city’s potential for open loop geoexchange systems.

Using engineering judgment For the city-wide study, EBA worked with the city’s official community plan and consulted with city staff. First they defined the geographic areas to be studied, using either developed or “developable” land. Then they compiled a database of information about the subsurface geology and hydrogeology, using 121 control points. Project leader Scott Schillereff, Ph.D., P.Geo., explains that they gathered information using a variety of sources: “paper copies of old reports, on-line bore-hole logs, and other existing sources.” Once they’d defined the control point characteristics they developed a weighted scoring system to evaluate geoexchange potential at each point. These geoexchange scores were then contoured and assigned green, yellow and red colours between established

threshold values. “The contouring was relatively easy,” says Schillereff, adding: “The real engineering judgment came in weighting the scores for each of the parameters. It was not simply compiling information and then mapping. It involved thinking about what the data meant and giving it a numerical score.” Weighting the scores The parameters used to decide on a location’s geothermal potential included: UTM (universal transverse mercator) coordinates, lot size, depth to bedrock, dominant overburden type, bedrock type, depth to groundwater, thermal conductivity, hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity of soils and rock (i.e., its ability to transmit water through an aquifer), and ease of drilling. Whitehorse-specific threshold

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values were calculated for typical “good” and “poor” scenarios using the following formula (each component scores 1-10): Total score = log 10 [(depth to groundwater score) x (thermal conductivity score) x (ease of drilling and installation score) x (lot size score)] A “good” area was assumed to have these attributes (or better): thermal conductivity >2 W/m-K, depth to groundwater <20 m, drilling and completion score >3.75 and lot size >5,000 m2. A “poor” area was assumed to have these attributes (or worse): thermal conductivity <1 W/m-K, depth to groundwater >60 m, drilling and completion score <1.75, and lot size <1,000 m2. For sewer waste heat, the mapping was done along sanitary sewers of 450 mm, 560 mm and 610 mm throughout the city. Facilities within several hundred metres of these sewers were considered to have a potential for using recovered heat. One area of the city that was identified as having good to fair geoexchange potential is the site of a new planned mixed-use neighbourhood development in the northeast known as the Whistle Bend project. EBA is now conducting a feasibility study of the geoexchange, sewer heat recovery and hybrid solar thermal potential for a district energy system in the neighbourhood. cce Client: City of Whitehorse Prime consultant: EBA Engineering Consultants (Scott Schillereff, Ph.D., P.Geo., Andrew Chiasson, Ph.D., P.Eng., Katherine Johnston, P.Eng., Jeff Quibell, P.Eng.) @ARTICLECATEGORY:655; 652;

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

4/29/09 8:23:15 AM

energy

geothermal’s TaPPinG heaT sources deeP in The earTh’s crusT could ProVide almosT emission-free Thermal enerGy in ProVinces like saskaTchewan.

B y B r i a n B r u n s k i l l , P. G e o. a n d l au r e n c e V i G r a s s , P. e n G . , P. G e o.

eothermal energy comes in various forms. Geological hot spots like those in Iceland and in northern California produce steam that is used to generate electricity and hot water that is used for space heating. In Canada and many other places, GeoExchange equipment is being installed to provide both heating and cooling for buildings, using near-surface, ground source heat pumps. This article, however, is concerned with “deep geothermal energy,” which refers to the recovery of heat from hot water in rocks at depth. The earth’s crust becomes progressively warmer with increased depth due to heat generated from deep inside the earth. Generally, in southern Saskatchewan this temperature gradient increases about 30° Celsius per kilometre of depth. The rocks underlying southern Saskatchewan consist of sedimentary layers, and some of these layers host prolific aquifers which contain hot, geothermally-heated water. The energy potential is enormous, and it is literally “beneath our feet.” Many other areas in Canada also host deep aquifers that contain hot water. There may be potential to develop this resource in parts of Alberta, B.C., southern Ontario and the Maritimes. Geothermal energy is a sustainable resource that can provide a very 36

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p36-37 CCE May09 DeepGeothermal_36 36

long term, reliable, nearly emissionsfree form of energy. It represents a stable, long-term revenue stream. Geothermal energy is clean, quiet, and is practically inexhaustible. It can meet some of our heating needs for many generations with very little impact on the environment. How does it work? The Deadwood Formation is present throughout much of southern Saskatchewan, and is one layer of rocks that contains a prolific aquifer. Near Regina these rocks are about 2,200 metres deep with a temperature of about 60°C. Two wells must be completed in the source aquifer to create the geothermal-water loop. A source or pro-

duction well brings geothermal water to the surface, where it passes through a heat exchanger, transferring useful heat to a fresh water circuit. The fresh water circuit carries the heat to the buildings or other heating load. The cooled geothermal water from the exchanger is pumped back to the aquifer via the disposal well; the geothermal water must be disposed underground because of its high mineral content. Putting the water back into the same aquifer also helps to maintain the pressure in the aquifer. A single, centralized geothermal utility could serve as a district heating system, providing heating and domestic hot-water to industry, commercial space, residential subdivisions, com-

Heat g er an E x ch a n t Pl

Above: District Heating System Using Deep Geothermal Energy (From: U.S. Geothermal Education Office, 2008)

May 2009

4/29/09 8:29:57 AM

energy munity centres, swimming pools, etc. Heat pumps can be incorporated in the system to extract additional heat from the geothermal source. Deep geothermal energy is used in many parts of the world and all the equipment required for these systems is available. In France, by the end of 2008 a total of 61 plants were operating, providing heating and domestic hot water for about 200,000 residences. Deadwood aquifer near Regina Development of a deep geothermal energy source requires significant upfront capital investment. However, the resulting energy supply is inexpensive and predictable. Depending upon what mechanical design were to be used, the Deadwood aquifer near Regina could provide up to 19.5 million BTU/ hr (20.5 GJ/ hr or 5700 kW thermal) of energy. This energy would be available for district heating from a single geothermal loop. Assuming no distribution losses, and using the average rate requirement of 16 BTU/ hr/ ft2 of energy for LEED Silver designation for new commercial construction, the geothermal loop could provide heating for up to 1.2 million square feet of space (111,500 m2) -- an area roughly equivalent to nearly 14 CFL football fields! These values do not inc lude any potential benefit from using heat pumps in the system. Purchasing electricity for pumping is the largest single operating expense. Near Regina a total of about 400 HP would be necessary to operate the loop, having a load of about 300 kW. The ratio of the heat energy produced to the electrical energy used is as high as 19:1. Most buildings in Saskatchewan are heated by burning natural gas, with the combustion process releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. Use of geothermal energy produces no direct CO2 except for that produced by coal-generating plants to create electricity to operate the pumps. The hourly net production of 19.5 million BTU

Benefits of Deep Geothermal Energy • Long term. The productive life of a single project will be for 35-50 years, or more; • Sustainable. Geothermal systems are not subject to seasonal variations or weather conditions. Energy production is continuous and predictable 24/7/365; • Adjustable. Differences in daily and seasonal energy use could be accommodated by adjusting the pumping rate of the source well; • Reliable. The temperature of the water is essentially constant over the life of the project due to the massive geological heat-reservoir. The heat is always available without any energy storage requirements; • Stable. The cost of geothermal energy would be relatively constant; • Secure. Geothermal energy is always available; • Environmentally friendly. Deep geothermal energy does not involve combustion so the direct production of CO2, SOx or NOx is avoided; • Adaptable. Experience in other countries has shown that district heating can be adapted to many urban environments. In the future, builders and developers could come to see access to geothermal resources as being as important as access to electricity and water.

using geothermal rather than natural gas would avoid the emission of about 28 tonnes of CO2 per day. In its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop new energy sources, Canada should be looking seriously at developing

deep geothermal sources.

Brian Brunskill, P.Geo. is a consulting geologist in the energy industry in Saskatchewan, e-mail brianbrunskill@sasktel. net. Lawrence Vigrass is professor emeritus of geology at the University of Regina. @ARTICLECATEGORY:659 655;;

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cce

Canadian Consulting Engineer

4/29/09 3:35:37 PM

opinion

Geotechnical Considerations

David Wood

Come too late

Engineers and architects often design projects without understanding the true impact that ground conditions play on the foundation design, says a rock engineering consultant. By DaviD WooD, DaviD F. WooD Consulting

ll large-scale construction projects have a full team of engineers from different disciplines, and over the last decades we have also seen the introduction of geotechnical engineering into the mix. However, as an engineering geologist with rock mechanics training, I have found that design concepts I need to understand are often not considered until relatively late in the design process. It appears to me that project leaders, who are commonly civil and structural engineers, sometimes do not understand the relevance of “ground” engineering to the project and may ignore critical components in the design process. This situation has been the

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p38-41 CCE May09 Opinion_Busines38 38

subject of many discussions, and at a recent meeting of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) in Edmonton, it was said that there could well be a “hole” in the education of traditional engineers with regard to engineering geology. Geotechnical engineering, in the broadest terms, refers to ground engineering, or engineering relating to foundations. Strictly speaking, geotechnical engineering is synonymous with soils engineering and most geotechnical engineers are, in fact, soil mechanics engineers. Many undergraduate courses in civil engineering offer a preliminary understanding of geotechnical engineering, but civil engineers

May 2009

4/29/09 8:29:29 AM

opinion usually graduate without a solid base of expertise in the geotechnical field. The majority of engineers who specialize in geotechnical engineering do so through post-graduate education. So where does this leave us? We have civil engineers and architects designing a project without a realistic understanding of the true impact that the ground conditions can play on the foundation design. Even when the design team uses the services of a geotechnical engineering consultant, the relevance of the engineering geology of the site is commonly not considered until very late in the design process, sometimes leaving the fundamental issues of anchoring a building or bridge to the bedrock until the initial phases of construction. What can go wrong — an example A design team is preparing for a “one-site” hospital to replace multiple facilities. The design specifically calls for elevator shafts that can ensure that access throughout the new building can be maintained even after a strong earthquake -- perhaps even greater than the Canadian Building Code requires. The structural engineer is looking for foundation conditions and calls upon his geotechnical consultant for input. The most common design criterion in soils engineering is the “bearing capacity” of the foundation materials, so the structural engineer is looking for a value of bearing capacity to use in the design process. Bearing capacity, however, refers to the ability of the ground to withstand a specific style of compressive loading in which the loads exceed the capacity. The foundations underneath the hospital elevator shafts are not going to be critically loaded in compression but in tension. In this example, the critical loading configuration is in uplift and so a different type of foundation condition has to be evaluated. As a rock engineer, I was asked to provide input since the designed anchorage system appeared to be inappropriate and non-constructible.

Since the design related predominantly to the pull-out resistance of the anchor bars, the anchorage design required evaluating the effects of bonding and shear strength of the complete system, including the foundation materials, the anchor bars and the proposed grouting medium. Reference to the Post-Tensioning Institute’s recommendations was considered far more appropriate to provide a workable solution than an evaluation of the bearing capacity, as had been requested. The principal engineering issue was to accurately determine the bond length so that the most appropriate anchor bar could be installed to resist the uplift forces. The design guidelines consulted are used to estimate the capacity of the system to transfer loads within the bond length, which is a function of the design load for the anchor, the surface area of the drill hole, and the working bond stress along the interface between the grout and the rock mass. However, the average ultimate bond stress is affected by numerous other considerations, including some rock mass characteristics (shear strength, discontinuities, mineralization), drilling considerations (hole diameter, drilling method, hole cleaning), and grouting (grout consistency, strength, grouting procedures). So rather than develop a mathematical approach to the design, we used an empirical process that looks at relatively simple geological terms to describe different rock masses, and from that we were able to provide average ultimate bond stress values for the rock-to-grout contact. So what started as a request from the structural engineer for a “bearing capacity” value to use as part of the foundation design was changed to a “bond length” value for the anchor design -- an approach that was more accurate and appropriate. A considerable amount of design input had been exercised in completely the wrong direction because the design engineers were not aware of the importance of “rock engineering” at the site.

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4/22/2009 9:27:11 AM

4/29/09 8:29:30 AM

business

By Stephen D. Panciuk, ENCON

Design-Build Problems

Contractors sue consulting engineers for “design growth”

he design-build model has gained popularity in son construction. Part way through the tender process, North America. However, trends have arisen that however, the contractor considers a floating caisson conshow the model is not without its problems. struction as an alternative. For a high risk and low initial reward, the design consulThe choice of the technique affects the design of a major tant is providing documents upon which the contractor is portion of the work. The design consultant is under the basing its tender, a tender that has a guaranteed maximum assumption that the contractor is taking all these factors price. In other words, no price increases will be considered into account. The contractor later says it was relying on the post award, as control of all aspects of the bidding process is design consultant to warn of the cost ramifications of the in the hands of the contractor. The contractor has based its alternate versus the original design. guaranteed maximum price on the design consultant’s preThe contract is awarded to the design-build team that liminary drawings. bids $7.2 million lower than the one other bidder. Once awarded, the design consultant proceeds to preThe final detailed design is completed. The contractor pare detailed design drawings. Inevitably, when the final has opted for a floating caisson design using their own “ready for construction” drawings are produced, there are barges. The project goes over budget to a total of $3.4 milchanges to the preliminary lion. In the whole scheme of design. Previously, these changes “Inevitably, when the final ‘ready things, this represents only a 7% haven’t posed a major problem increase, which does not seem for construction’ drawings are unreasonable. But on individual as the contractor in the tradiproduced, there are changes to items, the increase is 200-300% tional model had not yet tendered its price. In the designthe preliminary design.” and, in one case, over 10 times build model, however, the price the original price tendered. has been fixed and the contracThe contractor cannot claim tor usually has no recourse to recover any additional monies back for any aspects of the over-budget items against the to cover the cost of the enhanced design. owner except for owner-requested changes. The contracConsequently, the contractor has a strong motivation to tor brings a claim against the design consultant, alleging sue for any “design growth” that occurs between preliminary design growth. and final design. The Facts A Case Study The design consultant did not: A contractor teams up with a design firm and together • recommend design contingency they submit a tender for the construction of a 160-metre • did not advise of the completeness of the drawings bridge across a deep ocean channel. The contractor offers • did not guarantee prices to pay the design consultant $60,000 to prepare preliminary • did not participate in the use of a contingency fund. drawings. The design consultant responds with an estimate The contractor: of $140,000 for preliminary sketches. They negotiate and • is experienced in bridge building agree on $77,000. • is one of the country’s largest bridge builders with engiPreliminary sketches are produced by the design consul- neers on staff tant, many without dimensions and containing broad speci- • could have actually designed the project in-house. fications. In fact, some aspects of the project’s final design Since the design consultants are not venture partners in will depend on selections that will be made during the final this scenario and do not share in the construction profits, detailed design by the contractor. The tender is submitted they should not have been exposed to the risk assumed by at $48.7 million. the contractor in determining the project costs. One key component in determining the ultimate price for the job is the selection of a particular construction tech- What’s to be done nique. The preliminary design was based on dry dock cais- There are steps that can be taken in order to minimize 40

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p38-41 CCE May09 Opinion_Busines40 40

May 2009

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business exposure to such claims. Negotiate a written agreement that includes: • price: the contractor is fully responsible for pricing and the tender • drawings: the contractor assumes full responsibility for interpretation of drawings • design: the contractor is aware that the preliminary design is subject to change as new information is developed/discovered • contingency: the design consultant is not recommending the contingency amount or rate • control: the design consultant retains joint control of the contingency fund. Design changes between preliminary and construction drawings are almost certain to occur. It is up to the contractor, who has the experience and knowledge, to determine an adequate contingency fund. It is imperative that a written contract exists between the parties that limits the risk of litigation for the design consultant. As always with loss prevention techniques, communication is the cornerstone upon which foundations are built. When initial contact is made between the contractor and the design consultant, the roles of the two players must be clearly defined and understood by each party. These responsibilities must be built into the contract in order to control the risk to the design consultant. Stephen D. Panciuk, P.Eng. is vice president and manager, AE Underwriting with ENCON, in Ottawa .

opinion

continued from page 39

Not an isolated case I have come across many other examples where relatively straightforward rock engineering would have been very useful early in the design phase. For example, bridge design along new four-lane corridors in Northeast Ontario has commonly been advanced without much understanding of the underlying Precambrian Canadian shield gneisses. Shopping centres are springing up all around, but the specific requirements for blasting often wait for a problem to develop before being discussed. And subdivision housing developments are usually planned in an office, on a flat desk, rather than in the field taking the natural ground into consideration. It appears that more and more civil engineers are graduating with a limited perception of geotechnical (soils) or geo-mechanical (rock) engineering, and they do not understand the limitations that their lack of educational background might bring. Through the Engineering Geology division of the CGS we are hoping to re-establish education in this field for undergraduate engineering students, so that by the time they graduate they are at least aware of some of the pitfalls that can occur on large construction projects if the engineering geological components of the site are not considered early enough. cce David Wood, P.Eng. is the principal rock engineering consultant for David F. Wood Consulting in Sudbury, Ontario. He is also current chair of the engineering geology division of the Canadian Geotechnical Society, and represents all the technical divisions on the CGS national executive board. @ARTICLECATEGORY:652; 3541; 663;

@ARTICLECATEGORY:668; 655;

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

4/29/09 8:29:31 AM

ADVErTOrIAl

manufacturer case study

pumping systems

GRUNDFOS

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ensington Community Centre and Pool located in Vancouver, B.C. recently upgraded its existing heating system to run in an energy efficient manner. The retrofit project replaces the centre’s previous system, which had a constant flow secondary loop. The previous system’s flow rates were established based on peak design condition, which represented only a small fraction of total operating hours. This constant flow rate was maintained throughout the hydronic loop whenever the system was operating, irrespective of demand, thus leading to wasting of energy and higher operating costs. The consulting engineers faced the challenge of converting Kensington’s old heating system to a pump and variable frequency drive (VFD) combination that would provide smooth operation of the system and yet be economical. The design retrofit project converted the constant flow secondary loop to variable flow by utilizing two valves. The new Grundfos system the engineers recommended uses VFD driven pumps that modulate speed based on the heating demand. The system consists of five MAGNA 65-120F inline wet-rotor pumps with integrated VFD. In the fall of 2008 three of the pumps were installed in the centre’s East Wing hydronic loop and two in the West Wing. The MAGNA VFD system was chosen for the following reasons: (1)The pumping system has all the features required for the application, such as the compact design of the MAGNA and VFD combination with sensor-less pressure control capability. It also has the reputation of being reliable and requiring minimal maintenance. (2) The MAGNA pumps located in the East Wing are using a proportional pressure control method, where the differential pressure across the pump is automatically adjusted to match the flow demand of the system. The MAGNA pumps are intelligent enough to alter the differential pressure set-points based on the flow demand of the system, leading to a reduced load on the motor, along with reduced energy consumption. (3) Grundfos has a unique AUTOADAPT control method which the pumps in the West Wing are using. In the AUTOADAPT mode, the MAGNA attempts to learn the characteristics of the system and adapt itself based on this knowledge. This mode allows the MAGNA pumps to obtain an operating profile that is the function of the specific system it is installed into. Since most system capacities are based on peak demand, using the AUTOADAPT shifts the proportional pressure control line to match the actual demand of the system. This leads to lower pump speeds, resulting in even greater energy savings. (4) The application can be continuously monitored by a direct digital control (DDC) system. A major advantage here was that the MAGNA pumps provided the desired functionality without additional sensors or inputs from the DDC, therefore making the system very simple and economical with the ability to offer the right level of comfort and energy optimization. Vancouver Parks Service Department was also provided with a universal remote control which enables them to access all MAGNA and Grundfos “E” products’ internal programs. To this day Kensington’s MAGNA VFD system is fully functioning to the satisfaction of the Vancouver Parks Board and the consulting engineer. Since the installation, the reduction of energy consumption and savings in operating costs is making it much easier for Kensington to better service their community. Grundfos is the world’s largest manufacturer of pumps and pumping systems. Grundfos’ Canadian headquarters is located in Oakville, Ontario. 1-800-644-9599, www.grundfos.ca

www.canadianconsultingengineer.com May 2009

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p43-44 CCE May_09 Lits.indd 44

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May 2009

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Canadian Consulting Engineer

4/29/09 8:32:14 AM

the human edge

Review by Robyn V. McGregor, P.Eng. EBA Engineering Consultants

Polytechnique

A film about the Montreal Massacre

Alliance Films

n the film Polytechnique, director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Jacques Davidts have successfully woven two fictional characters’ stories on a platform of a single violent act. Centered on the actual events of December 6, 1989, when 14 young women were massacred at Montreal’s École Polytechnique, the film takes the audience quickly down one character’s path, and with Scene from the film, starring Katharine Vanasse and Evelyne Brochu. the crack of a rifle, snaps you back to a common point in time to follow another syndrome and survivor’s guilt. path. Filmed in black and white with little dialogue, the You would expect a third story, that of the young man result is an interplay of thought and suspense that thank- with the rifle, but it’s not there. Played by Maxim Gaudette, fully undermines any sensationalism normally associated the gunman remains nameless throughout the film and is with graphic violence. appropriately listed as “the Killer” in the credits. To demThe representation of a Canadian engineering school onstrate that the killer’s actions are not random or procampus in December of 1989 is surprisingly real, from its voked, there is only his purposeful stare, his downturned dreary concrete and brick crowded common areas, where mouth, and a voiceover narrative of him reading a letter in a young man can walk seemingly alone and invisible, to which he says he hates feminists. students spending hours at a bank of coin operated photoThe film closes with Valérie, perhaps five years after the copiers. At first you want to compare the film with the ac- massacre, appearing to have achieved her career goals. She tual events. But, with heart pounding you watch the story is shown reviewing plans, engaging in conversations about unfold from the edge of your seat, forgetting that you al- projects with male colleagues, and then facing a new chalready know how it will end. When it does end, the sadness lenge of motherhood as she finds herself pregnant. and grief is overwhelming as we are reminded of the acIn the last scene Valérie is writing a letter, presumably tual victims and survivors. to the killer’s mother. In it she shares a message to mitiActress and producer Karine Vanesse plays the fictional gate similar acts of hatred and violence in the future and Valérie, who along with her female classmates is separated to foster strength and conviction in young women. She from the male students and gunned down in a classroom. says of her unborn child, “... If it is a boy, I will teach him She alone survives, just as in real life one young woman in to love, and if it is a girl, I will teach her that the world is that classroom did survive her injuries. hers.” In our industry today, almost 20 years later, is there Valérie is burdened with a feminist stereotype prevalent still a need to teach these views, or have we arrived? To in the 1980s. The film accurately portrays that female engi- answer these questions, I recommend that you see the neering students did not want to be labeled as feminists but film, and decide for yourself. cce were quickly realizing that they would have to fight to pursue their chosen career paths. Polytechnique was released by Alliance Films and Remstar this spring In his portrayal of Jean-François, one of the male and played in cities across Canada. Robyn McGregor, now with EBA students ordered out of the classroom, Sébastien Hu- in Calgary, was an engineering student, sitting an examination at the berdeau presents the face of post-traumatic stress University of Waterloo, on December 6, 1989. @ARTICLECATEGORY:668; 3541;

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