Special Projects Award of Excellence
Espace Montmorency Energy Loop gbi
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A growing mandate The initial mandate for gbi was to carry out the engineering for the construction of two rental towers, a hotel tower and an office tower on a common base, with a commercial section distributed on the ground floor and second level of all the towers, for a total area of 1,360,000 sf. Then, the feasibility study was carried out to assess the possibility of adapting existing energy-sharing loop technology to a large-scale complex in a transit-oriented development (TOD). Modelling energy needs by hour over the course of a year made it possible to compare the annual requirements of a traditional system to a loop that would allow energy to be recovered and shared between the towers, with relation to peak hours of consumption and the different space occupancies. 52
CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEER
The study demonstrated the energy loop would provide many benefits, including the reduction of power requirements for the systems installed at the thermal power plant and, thus, a reduction of operating costs. By emphasizing optimization of the building’s energy consumption, gbi convinced the client to try to integrate the development’s imposing infrastructure with an energy loop. As this technology is normally used in projects of a much smaller scale and for single-purpose buildings, it had to be uniquely adapted for the Espace Montmorency project, so it could meet specific needs at different times for each of the four towers.
How it works The energy loop reaching the building’s various space occupancies is connected to a single thermal power station, to which have been added an electric boiler and two aerothermal modules, among other systems. The centralization of the main equipment was advantageous to the client in respecting budgets and deadlines. There was no delay in the delivery of the equipment and the residential tower was successfully commissioned in June 2022. The project uses a water loop, with temperature varying from 55 to 110 F, allowing heat to be exchanged between uses. Any unused energy ‘rejected’ by the office towers and September/October 2023
PHOTOS COU RT E SY G B I.
he contractor Consortium MGS—comprising construction company Montoni and the Fonds de solidarité FTQ development capital fund—awarded a mandate to gbi to provide engineering for the construction of a new four-tower multi-purpose building in Laval, Que., and to study the feasibility of implementing an energy loop. Modelling highlighted the benefits of the loop, which would allow energy to be harvested and shared between Espace Montmorency’s towers and relieve the hydroelectric network during peak periods.
