July/August 2014 by Plumbing and HVAC

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Solar DHW GAINS GROUND

Municipalities back projects for energy efﬁciency, operating savings INSIDE ■ ■ ■ ■

Oil heat industry struggles with spill cleanup costs Ontario adopts two-year phase-in for sprinkler trade TSSA appoints ombudsman to hear contractor concerns Solid corporate structure boosts success rate

July/August 2014

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Q Contents

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Hot Seat .........................................5 A shift in training

Industry News ..............................6 Oil heat group sets priorities

People & Places ...........................41 Emco boosts Habitat for Humanity

Distribution Channels .................42 Industry veterans launch new wholesaler

Shop Management .....................45 Creating an effective corporate structure

Coming Events ............................46 CIPHEX West seminar schedule announced

Products & Technologies Heating ........................................14

Multiple boiler venting Expected code changes may make it easier

Features

Air Conditioning..........................19 Controls .......................................22 Refrigeration ...............................27 Tools & Instruments ....................31 Plumbing......................................33 Faucets & Fixtures .......................36 Top apprentices compete

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Skills Canada national competition held in Toronto

Solar DHW GAINS GROUND

Municipalities back projects for energy efﬁciency, operating savings INSIDE ■ ■ ■ ■

July/August 2014

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Cover: Geoff Domenico, left, and Dave Hubman report signiﬁcant energy savings at the Elevation Place Recreation Centre in Canmore, Alta. Please see our article on page 10. (Photo by Bruce Nagy) www.plumbingandhvac.ca

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If it looks like a plumber and walks like one … July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

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Q Hot Seat

July/August 2014 Volume 24, Number 5 ISSN 1919-0395

Publisher Mark Vreugdenhil (416) 614-5819 mark@plumbingandhvac.ca

A shift in training ‘There is little doubt that training authorities across the country are keeping a close eye on Ontario as it transitions trade training and certification from government to an independent industry driven body. And as the Ontario College of Trades moves further into its mandate, the industry is seeing for the ﬁrst time in many years the introduction of new compulsory trades. The College recently announced a two-year implementation period for the Sprinkler and Fire Protection Installer trade. In a presentation to the annual meeting of the Canadian Water Quality Association in Niagara Falls May 15, College of Trades registrar and CEO David Tsubouchi expressed a willingness to work with that industry to create a water treatment technician trade. Other sectors, such as hydronic heating, have also expressed an interest in a specialized trade. There are a lot of good reasons for this, not least of which is that ever more complex technology in many of these sectors requires a degree of specialization that sometimes isn’t taught well as a small part of a larger trade program. Keeping the trade within a narrower scope would make it easier for the journeyperson to keep up to date as well. But at the same time, I worry that this fragmentation can’t help but make life difﬁcult for the contractor. Will the contractor need to hire multiple different trades depending on what each project entails? Or, more likely, is each tradesman going to require multiple tickets to

be able to do what they currently do under one allencompassing certificate? (And many journeymen already have multiple licenses.) As part of these more focused trades, do we really need to have a three or four-year apprenticeships? If the scope is narrower the duration should be shorter. I was speaking to a contractor in Calgary the other day and he mentioned one of the major problems he sees is that once the tradesman has his journeyman certiﬁcate, he has it for life. They can leave the trade for 20 years and there is no need to receive additional training if they decide to come back. Many tradesmen upgrade their skills continuously through training offered by manufacturers and wholesalers, while others don’t. Engineers receive training credits for participating in these sessions; perhaps a similar system should be created for the licensed trades as an added incentive. The industry has been talking about these issues for many years and demanding more control over trades training. The cash-strapped Ontario government took that as an invitation and dumped trades training on the industry by creating the industry-run – and funded – College of Trades. Suddenly, all these issues are on the table and things are happening. Other provinces can’t help but take notice.

Editor Simon Blake (416) 614-5820 simon@plumbingandhvac.ca Design and Production Tim Norton production@plumbingandhvac.ca Production Manager Lilianna Kantor (416) 614-5815 lily@newcom.ca Circulation Manager Pat Glionna Corporate Services Anthony Evangelista

PLUMBING & HVAC Magazine is published eight times annually by NEWCOM Business Media Inc. and is written for individuals who purchase/ specify/approve the selection of plumbing, piping, hot water heating, ﬁre protection, warm air heating, air conditioning, ventilation, refrigeration, controls and related systems and products throughout Canada.

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We acknowledge the ﬁnancial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. A member of: • Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating • Canadian Circulation Audit Board • Mechanical Contractors Assoc. of Canada • Ontario Plumbing Inspectors Association • American Society of Heating Refrigerating & Air Conditioning Engineers • Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada • Refrigeration Service Engineers Society of Canada

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Q Industry News

COHA sets priorities

In Brief

Spills, insurance dominate discussion at oil heating conference

Manitoba Hydro backs geothermal project

solution. As well, the Ontario chapter of COHA is working with the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) to create a task group to review comprehensive spill reports and create data that will allow it to better work with regulators and insurance companies.

Oil burner training

Bob Briggs, left, of Lorax Systems Inc., Bedford, N.S., explains the company’s LineGuardian technology during the trade show, where a number of new oil heating technologies were on display.

By Simon Blake

One challenge for COHA is that some provinces and colleges are cutting back on oil burner technician (OBT) training due to a lack of enrollment. It ‘s a trend that the industry needs to reverse. “If we don’t, we can’t have a long-term industry,” remarked Koch. In Newfoundland, the College of the North Atlantic ended its OBT program due to low enrollment, but put together a new all-encompassing Heating Systems Technician program that incorporated OBT training. However, the provincial government then cut the new program due to budget constraints. COHA offers training through its GreenTech program, which teaches best practices and the latest oil burning technologies. “A lot of people are very proud to be GreenTech certiﬁed,” he added. COHA is working with colleges to have it incorporated into their training so that it is recognized by government and regulators and not simply viewed as a program the industry is running for its own purposes. The goal is to have it accepted like the WETT certiﬁcate for wood burning equipment. As well, COHA is working to make GreenTech training more accessible by alternate methods – online, for example – so technicians in provinces like Newfoundland can still get access to training.

New oil tank technologies along with a concerted effort by the oil heating industry have resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of leaks and spills in recent years. However, the cost of cleanup has increased substantially, about 120 delegates heard at the group’s Streamlined organization annual conference – Cleaner Heat 2014 – at the Chateau One of the key priorities for Koch and his staff is to reorLaurier Hotel June 18-19 in Ottawa. ganize COHA into a “reverse top-down approach” that “Remediation costs in the past 10 years have gone allows the provincial chapters to set the agenda. “The through the roof,” remarked COHA chairman Robert rubber hits the road at the chapter level,” he noted. Fortin. “What used to be 50 grand; now it’s multiplied At the same time, the group will work on ways to by 10.” make the operation more cost effective. This includes In fact the cleanup in one relocating head offices for case near Orangeville, Ont. was both the Ontario and national estimated at $170,000, but the organizations to Lindsay, Ont. ﬁnal bill came it at $1.1 million. Remediation costs from Markham (Toronto). In a lawsuit that followed, And Koch plays a dual role, the judge noted that better in the past 10 years have heading up both the national oversight of the company hired association and Ontario gone through the roof. to do the cleanup was needed. chapter. The insurance industry has The group will focus on the told COHA that it is paying out three key issues – insurance, 114 percent of what it is bringing in, remarked COHA education and reorganization – to maximize its president Stephen Koch. effectiveness and not spread itself too thin. “They are indicating that leaks and spills are down. “We don’t have the resources to do everything we The problem is, insurance companies are there to make want,” said Koch. money… this is not sustainable,” he added. At the same time, he asked for volunteers to serve on As a result, one of COHA’s priorities for the coming committees and spread the workload. “We need bodies, year will be to form an advisory council that includes inpeople that are excited about the industry.” dustry, insurance companies and brokers to develop a For more information, please visit www.coha.ca.

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2014

Manitoba Hydro has announced a new Power Smart program that will see the utility ﬁnance the installation of 1,200 geothermal systems over the next three years in a unique partnership with First Nations, the province, the Manitoba Geothermal Energy Alliance and Aki Energy. Hydro will provide the upfront capital cost of the installation based on the value of the energy saved over the lifespan of the equipment under its Pay As You Save program, where homeowners pay for the system based on energy savings. Under last summer’s pilot project, Chief Peguis Construction and Fisher River Builders converted 113 homes on the two Interlake First Nations with a total capital investment of over $1.6 million. Previously heated with electricity in a province with just about the lowest electricity rates in the country, the savings were signiﬁcant. Despite record cold temperatures last winter, Fisher River Cree Nation resident David Hart reported saving over $195 in February compared to his bill for the same month in 2013.

NTCCC to launch provincial chapters The National Trade Contractors Coalition of Canada (NTCCC) will launch provincial and territorial chapters across Canada after unanimously approving a bylaw change at the group’s April meeting. “With this new development, we can see local trade contractor groups becoming more organized and, as a consequence, more inﬂuential vis- à-vis local industry issues as they speciﬁcally relate to trade contactors. It is important for trade contractors to have their own voice and not have others speak on behalf of the entire construction industry,” remarked John Blair, NTCCC director and also chairman of the Ontario caucus. For more information, visit www.ntccc.ca.

Building permits on upward trend Municipalities issued building permits worth $6.9 billion in May, up 13.8 percent from April, reports Statistics Canada. This followed a 2.2 percent rise in the previous month. The increase in May resulted primarily from higher construction intentions for commercial buildings in Ontario and Manitoba, as well as multi-family dwellings in British Columbia. The total value of permits has been on a slight upward trend since the beginning of 2014. Gains were posted in every province in May, except Quebec and Nova Scotia. Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba registered the largest increases. For the full Building Permits report, please visit www.statcan.gc.ca.

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Two-year implementation plan for Ont. sprinkler trade Ontario will allow a two-year transition phase for the new compulsory sprinkler and fire protection trade. This comes after the Ontario College of Trades received an independent review panel’s decision to move the trade from voluntary to compulsory on April 23. The two-year period will allow those currently working in the trade to bring their qualifications up to date. During the first year, a “grand parenting” provision will allow an exception to the certificate of qualification exam to those that qualify by having a certificate of apprenticeship in the trade or the equivalent qualifications and experience. Those that do not apply for the exemption in the first year will have to challenge the exam, although they may continue to work while they do so. “The resolution is the result of a collaborative approach between the College and industry. This important step moves us closer to putting a two-year implementation plan with a one-year exam exemption in place,” said Ron Johnson, College chair.

of Trades to maintain their certiﬁcate of qualiﬁcation. Where the tradesman holds multiple tickets, there are no additional fees, noted Charlevois. The Ontario College of Trades is an industry-

driven, professional regulatory body that protects the public by regulating and promoting the skilled trades. One of the main responsibilities of the College is to ensure that individuals performing the skills of compulsory trades have the training and certiﬁcation required to legally practice. For more information, visit www.collegeoftrades.ca.

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This is not only necessary, but fair to those currently working in the trade. “This is not only necessary, but fair to those currently working in the trade. It will, once in place, give all those currently working in the trade who are not members of the College the time to become members or write and pass the Certificate of Qualification exam.” The College will now work with the Regulations Committee, the Board of Governors and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to develop the regulation. The College aims to have that completed by the fall, reported spokesperson Tyler Charlevois. “We’re moving very quickly.” The regulation must then be posted on the Ontario government E-Laws website (www.e-laws.gov.on.ca), after which the two-year transition period will begin. There are currently about 2,000 people that have either a certificate of apprenticeship or a certificate of qualification in the voluntary fire sprinkler trade. However, because it is a voluntary trade, the College doesn’t know the total number of people currently working in the trade. Many plumbers install fire sprinkler systems without the certificate of qualification in that specific trade, so they will need to apply for the new certification. Tradesmen currently pay $120 per year to the College

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In May the Technical Standards and Safety Authority of Ontario (TSSA) appointed an ombudsman to help contractors in disputes, something the industry has long sought. “Many contractors don’t know there’s an appeal process beyond talking to an inspector,” remarked Sandra Cooke, who addressed the annual meeting of the Canadian Oil Heat Association June 19. While she can’t make decisions, her new role is to help contractors and others that have issues with TSSA “articulate and write out their position for a better response” and make sure it gets into the hands of the right people. The engineer, who was previously manager of compliance at TSSA, noted that she has a duty to deal with all complaints. “If someone brings it to the ombudsman, we have to discuss it further. We cannot just say we’ve discussed it before and dismiss it.” She added that, as much as possible, she intends to travel to the contractor’s location. “Sometimes it’s hard over the phone to get to what the real issue is.” One contractor suggested that her previous role with TSSA is a conflict. However, Cooke noted that it is also

Sandra Cooke addresses contractors at the COHA annual meeting. an advantage in the contractor’s favour because she knows the people at TSSA and knows exactly who to take a problem to for a speedy resolution. Another contractor asked what to do about “an inspector who is always in a battle with everyone.” Cooke said the normal course of action would be to ﬁrst talk to the inspector, and then the supervisor, “but you can contact me at any time (in the process),” she added. Cooke can be reached at (416) 7343545 or at ombudsofﬁce@tssa.org.

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Dear Editor: The most disturbing thing I read in the report on apprenticeship (P&HVAC, May/June 2014), was the starting point being nearer 25 or older. I had my journeyman’s papers by the time I was 23 because I obtained an apprenticeship with Vickers Armstrong Engineering (UK) straight out of high school. My apprenticeship was indentured, working four days per week with either a journeyman or master, as I moved from one skill area to another – average every six months. The fifth day was spent at technical college, plus two evenings of night classes (7 to 10 p.m.). After ﬁve years of practical training and a total of 5000 hours of trade education, I got my papers. Yes, the pay was poor, but lots of overtime/weekends made that up. My tuition was covered by government sub-

sidy programs, which also covered part of the insurance and beneﬁts available from the employer. The whole deal was a contract between government, employer and apprentice, with penalties in place for whoever failed to do their part. Very few two or three-man companies signed on unless they were financially stable. One apprentice per journeyman, or two per master, was the limit and it stopped some companies from overcharging while employing too many apprentices. What are these missing young men doing between leaving high school and being apprenticed at 25? Find that out and perhaps you have the answer to the problem, i.e. get them earlier. Maybe enforcing penalties will curb the low completion rate in Canada. Frank T. Gilmore MIES (Ret) Leamington, Ont.

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Q Building Green

MUNICIPALITIES ADOPT

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Energy efﬁciency, long-term operating savings drive projects By Bruce Nagy

The Rocky Mountains provide a perfect backdrop for this solar installation in Canmore, Alberta.

When governments get involved with clean tech, the debates are usually loud and rancorous. Why is the government picking winners among technologies? Why should taxpayers foot the bill for these wacky programs?

Municipal ﬁnancing

The team from Dr. Solar in Halifax typically does a solar hot water installation in one day.

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2014

When there is record citizen uptake on a government renewables initiative and almost no criticism leveled; and when solar thermal systems can be retrofitted into homes by the hundreds, it can only be described as progress. What forward-looking city has pulled this off in Canada? Is it Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver? Nope, it’s Halifax. The Halifax Solar City Program will cost a little more than $8 million dollars, but the actual cost works out to zero in the long run. It’s structured so that homeowners pay 100 percent of the cost for solar thermal hot water systems, but the city helps by ﬁnancing the up-front $7,000 installation cost over 10 years, billing homeowners on their municipal tax bill at 3-1/2 percent interest. If they choose this financing option, it takes the homeowner the same 10 years to get the money back on the investment through the savings they realize by using more sunshine and less oil. After the 10 years, the homeowner pockets the monthly savings. The city says homeowners save about $20,000 in total, with a return on investment of about nine percent,

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

Slim duct creates a tidy installation and protects the solar piping.

In Canmore, getting the panels on the roof was a challenge, but it’s all smiles for, from left, maintenance technician Mike Peterson, Geoff Domenico and Dave Hubman, as energy savings have exceeded expectations.

assuming the system lasts 25 years, (the manufacturer says it will last 30 years) and they suffer no up front outlay. The city invests $8 million for the hardware, but gets it all back plus interest, guaranteed through liens signed by the homeowners.

full time local jobs, including installers, assessors and administrators.

How it works

Solar thermal technology for domestic hot water is simple and proven. Each system is installed in one 1,000 home retrofits day by a team of three. It consists of a heat exchanger Thermo Dynamics Ltd. of Dartmouth manufactures the that Thermo Dynamics calls a Solar Boiler Module, systems and oversees installation. Just under 300 homes which preheats the incoming cold water for the 279have been fitted since March, 2013, with 700 more litre (60-gallon) solar water tank. Heat energy comes scheduled for completion soon. The waiting list indicates from one panel (for one or two residents) or two solar a runaway success, partly fuelled by early adopters. The thermal panels. The homeowner’s existing oil-fired majority of them opt for the web-based monitoring water heater becomes the backup, providing heat when option, so they can brag to their friends about their water temperatures fall below 45ºC. solar power savings on a daily, monthly or annual basis. Solar heat reaches about 75 ºC on the best days, Perfect for cocktail parties, the colourful site shows these reported Thermo Dynamics president Peter Allen. The company did the first 30 installs itself to understand Solar thermal technology for domestic the challenges. And it has hot water is simple and proven. added some innovations, such as a tiny PV panel to savings totals for each home, along with C02 reductions, generate 12 volts that power the solar pump, and the temperatures at various system locations, hot water use of outside slim duct under-eave pipe runs. usage, and the status of the backup oil fired heater. “We’ve had a very good reception in Halifax,” Oil heat is generally not needed in the summer and says Allen. “Out of 100,000 homes, two thousand only intermittently during cooler months. Solar heat expressed interest, and about one thousand have takes care of 50 to 75 percent of the annual load, reports been approved.” Babak Farsi, operations manager for Scotian Windfields Inc., Dartmouth, which is currently contracted for Quality of life installs under the name Dr. Solar. The kids are squealing down the water slide 30 feet to your “We were surprised we had to add more crews,” left while you lounge in the hot tub with your paperback, says Farsi. In addition to other benefits, the city reports occasionally glancing through huge windows at a breaththe program will create the equivalent of 30 or more taking panorama of Canada’s Rocky Mountains. Are

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

you in a dream? Nope, you’re in Canmore, Alberta, at the Elevation Place Recreation Centre. You may be an hour from Canada’s oil capital, but in Canmore, they take solar thermal as seriously as natural gas. In this facility they use both to heat water for an

Please see ‘Controls’ on page 13

The two-panel version of the Halifax residential solar installations.

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

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Q Building Green

The Canmore system provides hot water for showers and swimming pools.

Controls monitor solar savings

The control system permits real time monitoring of its performance and operation status. “So far we’re producing more energy than was projected in our modelling,” said Dave Hubman, Canmore supervisor of facilities. Since commissioning in the spring of 2013, the system has produced a total of 48-megawatt hours of energy, equivalent to approximately 192 gigajoules of natural gas, and has produced an estimated 9,000-kilogram reduction in CO2 emissions. “That’s just the solar thermal system,” says Hubman. He is also enthusiastic about gains made through cooling the entire building using ground source pumps connected to the aquifer below, re-using pool filter backwash water to flush toilets, HRVs and many other initiatives taken in this building and other municipal facilities in town to reach LEED silver or gold status. The new recreation centre was built to replace an older pool and a smaller library. It’s award winning design includes far better versions of both, plus a 30-person hot tub, waterslide, lazy river, leisure pool, a

Three 450-litre storage tanks ensure there is an ample supply of hot water. huge climbing wall, art gallery, gyms and workout rooms, lounge and cafe areas; all surrounded, of course by the incomparable Rocky Mountains. Ahh, the Canmore dream. So far, taxpayers are not complaining. Bruce Nagy is a Toronto-based freelance writer that reports on green technologies and solutions. He can be reached at bruce.nagy@rogers.com.

Continued from page 11 800,000-litre competition lap swimming pool and 40 change room showers. Up to 1,000 Canmore residents use the bright new recreation centre over 16 hours each day and, for an average of 6.5 hours per day, the showers and pool demand heat from the panels on the roof. “The nice thing about both high temperature needs and low temperature needs is that as conditions change you get more efﬁciency out of the system,” says Geoff Domenico, president of KCP Energy, Calgary, the solar thermal specialist. On the roof there are thermistors at the top of three banks of solar panels, each consisting of 12 Veissmann flat plate Vitosol 200F collectors angled at 45 degrees toward the sunny Alberta skies. There are also thermistors (and heat exchange coils) in the bottom of three Veissmann Vitocell 450 litre solar tanks in the mechanical room. Domenico explains that when there is a 10ºC temperature difference the system turns on the pumps, with the first priority being to add solar heat to the domestic hot water system. The second priority is the lower temperature swimming pool.

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Installation challenges “One challenge was getting panels to the roof. From the third ﬂoor inside up to the roof there is only a ladder. We had to install a temporary staircase outside from a lower roof level,” reported Trevor Rohling, estimator and project manager at Mystique Mechanical Ltd. of Calgary, the HVAC contractor on the project. “It was all brazed copper on the solar side and everything else was black steel… There were some delays at the beginning so we were a bit rushed at the end. There were a few minor bugs with the integration, but other than that it all went pretty smoothly. Geoff really knows his stuff,” he added.

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July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

Q Hot Water Heating

Viessmann displayed this installation at the CMPX Show. One vent serves two boilers, a common practice in Europe.

Multiple boiler venting revisited Code revisions anticipated for Category III and IV boilers By Roy Collver A decade ago, I predicted that combining multiple condensing boilers together in smaller commercial applications would become a preferred option. In the July/August 2006 issue of this magazine, I wrote an article extolling the virtues of this approach, and pointing out some potential traps. Well, the future is here and unlike many of my prognostications, this one turned out to be correct. I suggested back then that multiple 399,000 Btu/h boilers were a good choice for boiler plants up to two

million Btu/h. However, as these systems have evolved the economics have led designers to use them in installations of plants up to six million Btu/h. A number of manufacturers offer pre-piped modular systems to make procurement and installation easier, but one stumbling block remains and it is a big one. Multiple venting of Category III and IV (positive vent pressure) appliances into a single chimney is still prohibited in the current CSA B149.1 Code: “An appliance that operates at a positive vent pressure shall not be

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2014

connected to a venting system serving any other appliance.” This clause has been in the code for as long as I have been in the industry and for very good reasons. I wrote a rather cheeky article eight years ago asking “why, oh why can’t we common vent these appliances?” I actually knew the answer then; it was really quite simple. The CSA B149 Technical Committee had been unable to consider a change because, despite the widespread use of various common venting technologies in Europe and elsewhere, manufacturers in North America had not yet presented acceptable options for multiple venting systems. Any options have to be guaranteed safe enough to protect the public from danger and injury – that is the committee’s prime directive. We

might, however, be seeing changes soon as the B149 is currently open for revision.

Multi-venting issues We have been seeing various common venting systems presented at trade shows around the continent. A number of manufacturers at the CMPX Show in

The current CSA B149 Code requires a separate vent for each boiler.

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Also seen at CMPX, is this one vent or four? Toronto last March told me that they were soon going to be making presentations to the technical committee in an attempt to have the code changed to allow the

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newer technologies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it may be easier for some than the ďŹ ring appliances. When that happens, the gas/air others. So what are the issues? ratio goes rich and, well, say hello to carbon monoxide, Have a look at the drawings on page 14. The ďŹ rst backfiring, sooting â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all that stuff. Really dangerous two show a negative vent (atmospheric) multiple vent situations can result. How do we make it work then? system. It is pretty much foolproof. The draft hoods (or barometrics if so equipped) relieve any backSolving the problems pressure and prevent ďŹ&#x201A;ue products from getting back Here are the options (that I know of): into the combustion chamber. 1) Operate all connected appliances simultaneously, all A number of years ago, they were made even safer the time. Provide a means to prove safe operation. This by the requirement to install spillage switches to sense method negates one of the biggest beneďŹ ts of multiple ďŹ&#x201A;ue gas reversal at the draft boiler plants by limiting their hood and then, just to make turn-down capability. Some sure, roll-out switches were manufacturers produce installed at burner openings what I call â&#x20AC;&#x153;stealthâ&#x20AC;? multiManufacturers in as well. Either switch will vent systems by packaging cut off the fuel, and they North America had not yet pretwo or more boilers inside have to be reset manually, a single case and putting on guaranteeing (supposedly) sented acceptable options for a single rating plate. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not that corrective action is sure who is buying into that multiple venting systems. taken. one. The three drawings on 2) Install what I call a â&#x20AC;&#x153;ďŹ&#x201A;ue page 17 show a positive gas reversal prevention pressure multiple vent system. device.â&#x20AC;? The present state of Things can go wrong. As long as all of the appliances are the art can supply us with: operating at the same time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; everything should vent as a) A motorized damper with positive seal, proof of full intended. If any appliance connected to the system is shut closure and proof of full open position safety switches. down, it is highly likely that ďŹ&#x201A;ue products from the ďŹ ring They should be pretty much foolproof. boilers will ďŹ nd their way through the unďŹ red appliance, Please see â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Flueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; on page 17 back through the combustion air path, and back into

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Q Hot Water Heating

Flue gas reversal prevention

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Continued from page 15 (Similar dampers with less positive seal have been used successfully for years on negative vent appliances.) b) Or a flow reversal check valve with positive seal that closes when its appliance is not firing and easily pops open with low flow resistance when the appliance is firing. The ones I am familiar with are for polypropylene venting systems and have been used widely in Europe for many years. I have seen both a disk-type check and a ball-type check – gravity actuated (there may be some spring actuated ones, but I haven’t seen one). The big question with these devices is how do you prove closure? They are very light weight, so how do you ensure they don’t jam in the open position, or freeze open, or get crud on the seating surfaces, resulting in leakage? This is one of the main concerns that code officials have. The “flue gas reversal prevention devices” close to prevent flue products from getting back through to the combustion air supply, be it a direct vent system, or an indoor air application. In the case of a motorized damper, the boiler control will drive open the damper, waiting until the “proof open” switch makes before initiating a burner run cycle. When the boiler shuts down, it will drive the damper closed until the “proof closed” switch makes. If it doesn’t receive a “closed” signal, it will signal the cascade control to shut down the whole boiler plant. In the case of a gravity check valve – the boiler combustion fan pops it open and away we go. When the boiler shuts down, gravity, and the lack

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of positive pressure, will allow the valve to drop closed. We have to be assured that the valve is reliable enough to be foolproof – an assumption that code officials (me too) are unwilling to make yet. It is up to the venting manufacturers and the boiler manufacturers to provide the assurance that these devices are safe for use in our environmental conditions. So it looks like a number of manufacturers have trotted off to make presentations to the Venting Subcommittee of the CSA B149, and that is a good thing. Finally the technical committee will be able to assess these various technologies. I would be very skeptical if I was sitting on that committee. I would want proof that they were fail-safe. I would want to see appropriate reference standards governing the construction and materials of these systems from Europe. I would want to hear from engineers and code officials from Europe and I would want the presenters to prove that the code should be revised to allow them. Hey, this from a guy who really wants to see this technology blossom – but never by compromising safety. Right now, I would caution you when considering the cascade venting systems being displayed at trade shows. When you ask about them, there is much shuffling of feet and clearing of throats. I can’t say it is true in every jurisdiction, but in the ones I have checked out, special gas permits are almost always required, the systems must be signed off by an engineer, and they have to be supplied by the appliance manufacturer and come with detailed installation and start-up procedure instructions. These are reasonable precautions and should ensure safe installations. I believe the code officials allowing them even with these strict caveats are being quite generous. They could just say NO – that’s what the B149 says – and Canadians have been well protected by that code for generations. Let’s hope the manufacturers are up to the task. I’m rooting for them – they have the ball. Roy Collver is an author and consultant on hydronic heating based in Peachland, B.C. He can be reached at hoth2o@shaw.ca 800-835-4429 www.duravent.com ©2014

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

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Q Air Conditioning Power outage protection Protection from power surges, brownouts and short cycles in today’s HVAC/R equipment with computerized controls is just as important as it is with computers. The Compressor Defender from Intermatic provides all-in-one protection and can be installed inside a condensing unit or externally on an AC disconnect to protect compressors and circuit boards in residential and light commercial applications. Intermatic www.intermatic.com

Coil cleaner RectorSeal Desolv is a coil and blower fan blade cleaning agent formulated speciﬁcally for the evaporators and sensitive environments of minisplit air conditioners. Odorless, it dislodges dirt, biological contaminants, debris and films within minutes without harming the aluminum, copper and metal alloys of sensitive evaporator coil tubing, fins and the unit’s plastic housing cover. The non-caustic formula is suitable for sensitive environments such as clean rooms and datacenters. It’s also safe for all piston, diaphragm and peristaltic style condensate pumps, reports the manufacturer. Rectorseal www.rectorseal.com

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Vertical air handler The new Vertical Air Handler from Unico is designed to provide efﬁcient, quiet operation and can easily be installed in tight spaces. Available in 2, 2.5 and 3-ton sizes, it is a single cabinet with a blower and heat pump coil for heating and cooling. A hot water coil can be added to this mix or a hot water only unit can be ordered. Unico Systems www.unicosystem.com

Quiet heat pump Modine has redesigned its Airedale ClassMate single packaged vertical DX and heat pump system for better efﬁciency, noise reduction and a smaller footprint. It is offered in four capacities, from 24-60 MBH, in two cabinet sizes. EER is boosted 12 percent over the existing ClassMate HE for integrated part-load values up to 16.1. A new microchannel evaporator coil replaces a much larger coil and, combined with a reduced refrigerant charge and airside pressure drop, allows extra space for multiple supplemental heat exchangers such as a hot gas reheat coil, hot-water coil or electric heat elements. Modine www.modine.com

Innovative micro-channel coil Alcoil recently received a patent for its new aluminum micro-channel AC coil. Designed for residential, commercial or industrial systems, innovations include a built-in mini-receiver, vertical tubes and lower pressure drops for improved performance as a condenser or evaporator. The patent represents the ﬁrst of a number of coil innovations the company is planning to introduce, reported Steve Wand, Alcoil president and CEO. Alcoil www.alcoil.net

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

Q Efﬁcient Design

Energy assessments on existing structures Careful evaluation of the entire building results in a better hydronic system By Art Irwin

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2014

or many years I have been carrying out energy assessments on existing structures, which primarily consist of residences, churches and small apartment buildings. Historically, energy audits by government, for example, consist of a blower door test and other basics with little or no emphasis on the heating system, which is my primary focus. Instead of simply preparing a report that explains the problems, I prepare my reports similar to a speciﬁcation that spells out the changes to be made and how they should be carried out. Using this approach, the building owner can hand my report to a heating contractor and advise them to quote on the revisions based on my report. This keeps everybody on track. Many of my clients state they have been hiring heating installers for years to make changes and correct the problems that continue to exist. This is usually because of lack of experience on the part of I always the installer.

A low mass boiler, indirect tank and insulated plumbing add up to maximum energy savings for the homeowner.

install. The existing window trim can be left in place undisturbed both on the interior and the exterior. In many cases, the homeowner is aware of the level of existing insulation in the exterior walls. If they purchased the building in recent years and do not know if the walls are insulated or not, removing a light switch or electrical outlet in the exterior wall will provide an indication if any insulation exists. Blowing insulation into an empty wall cavity and in the attic can reduce energy costs by as much as 35 to 45 percent. Cellulose insulation is a better choice as it is manufactured from shredded newsprint with a fire retardant added. It has greater resistance to air movement than glass fiber, for example, and blows easily with little or no matting. If the exterior of the structure has ask if the a wood shingle exterior, this makes blowing much easier. If contractor performed an The initial interview the exterior is finished with a When I first arrive at a home, efficiency test before sugmetal or vinyl siding, removing I usually suggest we sit in specific strips is more of a the kitchen and discuss the gesting a replacement and the challenge as it can often be problems. I check the weather difficult to replace in an orderly answer is usually “no”. stripping on the front and back fashion. If the basement is not doors, check the condition used as a living space and is not of the windows and examine heated, insulating the exterior the sashes to see if they are in good condition and are walls will provide a slow payback on investment. It is tight. Because window replacement is expensive with important to insulate that space above the foundation a long payback on investment, they must be in bad as this is usually an area of considerable heat loss. shape before I suggest replacement. If the frame is in good condition but the sashes are bad, I usually suggest Asking the right questions inserts, which are less costly to both purchase and At this point, I discuss the existing heating system with

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is also a good idea if any piping exists in a crawl space. I usually recommend insulating the piping with pre formed glass fiber pipe insulation, which not only helps freeze prevention but also reduces water temperature drop from the time the water leaves the boiler until it reaches the radiation. Keeping the Btu’s in the water also helps reduce heating costs. I always stress the importance of night temperature setback unless they have in ﬂoor heating.

Converting from steam

This isn’t part of the mechanical system, but something the contractor should be aware of. In this case, a metal threshold with vinyl insert has been installed under an exterior door to reduce drafts. the owner. I ask if all areas are heating properly. There is a great tendency for the oil heat service industry to replace the existing boiler with another of the same size. I go through the home and list every radiator, regardless if it is freestanding cast iron, both large and small tube from different eras, convector cabinet or convector or cast iron baseboard. I have radiation catalogues going back to the thirties and I prepare a chart listing every radiator and the

Adding zones

If the home is controlled by one thermostat with a single zone, I often suggest re-zoning. This is usually simple providing the basement is unﬁnished. If the piping consists of very large piping, this usually indicates that at one time it was a gravity system with no circulator and perhaps a circulator was added along the way. Removing this large piping is quite labour intensive. The question of course at this stage, should you simply re-pipe the system re-using the existing radiation or install In many cases, the baseboard radiation and remove the existing cast homeowner wants to keep the iron radiation. Installing existing rads as they match the his- baseboard will mean there will be much less water to toric decor of the home. heat, resulting in a faster performing system. In many cases, the homeowner heating capacity. This is an accurate wants to keep the existing rads as they method of calculating the heating load match the historic decor of the home. to really determine what size boiler Pricing the job should be installed. I discuss these options with the In many cases, existing boilers homeowner and provide approximate are drastically oversized. Many replacement costs. I naturally charge a homeowners are being told their higher fee if I prepare a piping schematic. boiler should be replaced because it I size and list all circulators, zone valves is twenty or thirty years old. I always and size all piping. In many cases, the ask if the contractor performed an systems are performing reasonably well efficiency test before suggesting a but there are complaints about noise. replacement and the answer is usually This indicates lack of air vents for the “no”. Boiler replacement should be system and I always recommend a based on performance and not on age. Spirovent or similar air removal device. Eighty percent efﬁciency is regarded as If the homeowner is often subjected acceptable. If it is in the mid seventies, to power outages, I usually recommend for example, replacement is probably installing an anti-freeze solution. This in order.

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Recently, I redesigned a boiler room for a church that had a steam system in the church with large tube, cast iron radiation along with hot water ﬁn type radiation in the hall and convector radiators in the classrooms. I also converted the system to natural gas. New piping was installed in the church basement to replace the steam piping and this area was converted to hot water using the same radiation. The church was zoned for the north and south sides. More heat was required for the north side and thermostats in each of these areas provided excellent control. In churches, seven-day programmable

thermostats should be used instead of the ﬁve and seven day types. This is because they must be programmed to operate on Sundays and they should have locking covers to prevent unwanted tampering by busy parishioners. I usually have a backlog of calls, especially during the past winter with such high fuel costs. A few homeowners have replaced their oil-fired boilers with electric boilers as, in some areas, the cost of heating electrically is comparable to heating with oil. Ductless heat pump systems have been very popular as well because summer cooling can also be provided Heating domestic water with a tankless coil or stand-alone heater is expensive. The best combination is a low mass boiler with an indirect water heater. Arthur A. Irwin operates Irwin Energy Consulting Services in Halifax. He can be reached at irwin.a@ns.sympatico.ca.

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

Q Controls The Lyric from Honeywell senses when the homeowner is a few kilometres from home based on smart phone location and adjusts the indoor climate to suit the occupant’s preferences.

Thermostat

evolution

A simple device becomes increasingly sophisticated with today’s electronics By Bob Bettles and Brian Guttormson

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Programmable thermostats

Wall Furnace Floor Furnace Gas Fireplace Infloor Radiant

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The earliest known thermostat was invented by Cornelius Debbel around 1620 in England. This was a primitive design that worked with mercury and regulated the temperature of a newly constructed chicken incubator. In the 1830’s Andrew Ure invented the bi-metal based thermostat, which allowed for quicker response and better accuracy to a set cut-off point. Warren S. Johnson of Wisconsin invented the first electronic room thermostat in 1885. Albert Bust invented the electric thermostat, patented in 1886. In 1879 British engineer Charles Hearson took poultry incubators to the next level when he was able to incorporate an accurate new thermostat that regulated a more precise temperature to hatch eggs faster and in a natural state. From this point, the design of the traditional thermostat was established with further evolution a matter of refining electronics and features. Today thermostats are used in everything from automotive applications through residential and commercial spaces to spot heating of outdoor mingling places. Environmental issues have brought the use of mercury to a halt, so all thermostats today are electronic and many are surprisingly low cost.

(fits in wall behind thermostat )

The Two-Wire Kit from Venstar allows contractors to easily convert older, two-wire furnaces and boilers to accept programmable thermostats. thermostats with seven-day, five and two-day, ﬁve, one and one-day, allowing occupants to pick the temperatures at which they would like to wake up, sleep in to, leave dwellings empty and then return to a desired comfort level. These thermostats also allowed commercial property owners to save on operating costs. Ofﬁce spaces occupied on a five-day, forty-hour work week did not require comfort heating or

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2014

cooling during off hours. Commercial thermostats may also be programmed to disable economizer fresh air ventilation during the unoccupied hours to save even more operating dollars.

Two-wire models “Power stealing” models allowed the heating control to operate with two wires for heating only operations. This worked reasonably well with older gas

valves and relays requiring a high inrush to complete the heat call. However, once energized, in some applications, the power stealing demand would leak enough voltage to hold the control in the open position. Newer furnace control boards would pull in the board relays, resulting in the vent blower cycling on, but once the pressure switch circuit was completed the additional voltage required wasn’t there, so the system would shut down again. This glitch cost contractors and manufacturers many dollars to add resistors to their control circuits after the fact. On arrival, the service techs would complete the circuit with the stat turned up to give a clean call and break during testing. The systems would perform as designed. After several trips and part changes, the thermostat was replaced with an older design and the problem would be gone. The ﬁnal correction was the addition of a high value resistor to absorb the leakage of the wall control.

Excessive temperature swings Early thermostats would cycle the heating equipment based on room temperature in the living areas; this would result in excessive temperature swings with the oversized equipment having to return to room temperature after the burner cycled off. This overshoot condition was corrected with the addition of a small resistance wire on the thermostat’s bi-metal sensing coil to preheat the coil and eliminate the

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The Venstar ColorTouch Wi-Fi thermostat allows homeowners to program up to four periods per day (morning, daytime, evening and night time) along with different schedules for different days of the week or weekdays/weekends.

The Luxaire Wi-Fi capable Acclimate residential communicating control allows the homeowner or contractor to check on system operation from a remote location. With the homeowner’s permission, it will automatically e-mail system faults and notiﬁcation alerts to the contractor. SMAN460 SMA SM AN46 460 60

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wild swings. This feature was adjustable based on the amp draw of the burner control. The adjustment setting was determined by measuring the load with 10 turns of the stat wire on the analog amp meters of the time to provide a two decimal point reading of the actual load of the control. Most of today’s digital amp meters will provide this value without the 10-turn requirement. Even today, many equipment manufacturers still reference the setting of the anticipator during commissioning of their products.

Today’s thermostats Today’s thermostats are sophisticated electronic digital devices. A tour of any big box home improvement store will reveal many rows of new controls. The packaging is almost identical to those available to the trades, but the thermostats will have fewer features and, in some cases, less warranty coverage. Of course, the DIY gang sees these pieces on the shelf and feels that you, the certified contractor, must be overcharging them for this part. However, when you are on the job after Mr. Handyman has no heat or cooling, your call to the manufacturer will result in the response: “This is a retail product that we don’t support on the trade side!” Depending on the cost, base units may have limited capabilities such as dedicated battery requirements, or limited anticipation cycles such as a switch for fast or slow heating cycles, or gas or electric settings. Short heating cycles and the resulting inefficiency, lack of comfort and noise became a problem for occupant comfort levels. As with your service vehicle, short runs of start and stop affect your fuel costs. The high efficiency heating and air conditioning products of today may not achieve their designed efficiency levels without a long run. Many, if not all, of two-stage furnaces will have a delay timer to force a seven to ten minute run time on low fire prior to switching up to full capacity to satisfy the heat call.

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If the cycle rate is not long enough the thermostat cycles off at the end of the timed cycle, the call comes back to the furnace and another low fire cycle is activated. The furnace control does not have a memory to say start on high, but runs again on low fire. In shoulder seasons, this may not result in a call for heat at design conditions. However, you may be called by the homeowner about insufﬁcient heat. Over time, short cycling will make itself evident through internal corrosion of burner pouches and primary chambers, which even today continue to be a warranty problem for manufacturers. Thermostats continue to evolve as sophisticated and compact electronics become available at lower cost. The new “smart” thermostats work with algorithm memory to gather information on past heating and cooling cycles, store that information and make constant adjustments to maximize comfort and efﬁciency. Remote access through a Wi-Fi connection allows the contractor to monitor and troubleshoot the system, when needed, from a remote location.

Bob Bettles HVAC author and trainer Robert (Bob) Bettles is technical service adviser and product trainer for B&B Trade Distribution Centre. He can be reached at bbettles@ bandbtrade.com. Brian Guttormson HVAC author and trainer Brian Guttormson is technical service advisor for Trent Metals Ltd. (Supply). He can be reached at techsupport@tmlsupply.com.

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Q Refrigeration Increased use of heat recovery makes calculating efﬁciency more complicated. This ammonia to glycol heat exchanger recovers heat to warm locker rooms and preheat domestic hot water.

Energy efficiency IN REFRIGERATION Getting straightforward numbers for building owners can be complicated By Greg Scrivener

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

major part of what many of us do for a living depends on people caring about efficiency, energy use and the environment. I am asked daily about the efficiency of some system or another and, more importantly, what effect this will have on utility bills. These can be very difficult and sometimes even impossible questions to answer. There can be hundreds of variables to consider and the more complex the system and installation becomes, the more difficult it is to figure anything out. Without answers, however, owners rarely proceed with projects or upgrades. In order to get a feeling for what makes a refrigeration system efficient, let’s take a look at what’s involved. First we need to define a few things. ‘Energy efficiency’ itself a tricky term; it means different things to different people. The words are relatively easy to define but they are used in a couple of very different ways. Usually the definition of efficiency is the ratio of how much useful output a system has compared to its input. For example, in a natural gas furnace we know how much energy is contained in the natural gas and by measuring the temperature rise and air flow through the furnace we can compare the energy used to the

energy available from the natural gas. In a refrigeration compressor, we know how much energy we put in and how much work we get out, this allows us to calculate the efﬁciency of the compressor, as per the formula below: Efﬁciency =

Useful Output *100% Input

Efficiency numbers like this are pretty easy to understand. They are reported in percentages. A 90 percent efficient furnace converts 90 percent of the energy input into useful energy output. A five percent efficient incandescent light bulb converts five percent of the electricity it uses to light (and 95 percent to heat).

A different measurement So far, the examples I’ve used have been simple, but what about a refrigeration system or a heat pump? When was the last time you heard someone say that my cooler is 90 percent efﬁcient. The reason you haven’t heard this is that it doesn’t really make sense. If you used the deﬁnition above, then you might tell me that

Please see ‘Three’ on page 29

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

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Q Refrigeration

Three levels of efficiency Continued from page 27 your heat pump is 400 percent efficient because it provides four times more heat energy than it uses in electrical energy. In this regard, thermodynamic systems are more complicated than electrical or combustion systems. The maximum efficiency of a thermodynamic system changes based on its hot sink and cold sink temperatures (the evaporating and condensing temperatures). An electric heater is essentially 100 percent efficient no matter what you put around it and you cannot get more than 100 percent of the energy out of natural gas, but a refrigeration plant’s maximum efficiency could change if you change the temperature of one cooler. The efficiency of refrigeration systems are usually compared using a Coefficient of Performance (COP) at predetermined temperatures. This doesn’t necessarily work that well in all cases because a system that operates great at one condition might be terrible at another. (The SEER rating on an air conditioner is one way we try to account for varying loads.) Suffice it to say that the business of calculating an “efficiency” becomes complicated.

Different situations There are also different scopes of efﬁciency that are appropriate in different situations. There is what we might call system level efficiency; this is what we have been discussing so far. An amount of energy goes into a system, a certain

Neither of these efﬁciency numbers tells you why the furnace needs to be 100,000 Btu/h, for example. The next level might be a site or installation level efficiency. In the previous example, by adding insulation and/or using other building technologies (i.e. better windows) in your house you

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most important one of all, could be called the financial efficiency. Most of us know that electric heat is more efficient than natural gas heat. Why then is natural gas so much more widely used? It’s much cheaper. That’s it – an efficient use of financial resources is the ultimate deciding factor in almost every case.

How well a refrigeration system can take its input (usually electricity) and turn it into cooling is essentially its efficiency. There are numerous factors to consider including compressor efficiency, condensing temperature, evaporating temperature, control strategy, etc. This topic alone is probably worthy of an entire book. It takes a person who really understands the refrigeration cycle to look for inefficiencies and areas for improvement. A common example of this is floating head pressure technology. With new TX valve technology, it is now possible to let the head pressure fall quite drastically in the winter. This results in a significantly more efficient refrigeration system.

Useful output

This capacitor bank automatically adjusts to the correct power factor for a small warehouse freezer. can reduce the output required from your furnace. This is the efficiency that most people care about the most and it is the one that ultimately determines the utility bills. The final level of efficiency might be called global efficiency and it includes all of the losses right from power or energy

Without answers, however, owners rarely proceed with projects or upgrades. amount of energy goes out as a useful output and a certain amount is wasted. This is useful when comparing systems but it does not consider the question of how much output you need. In your house, we would be talking about your furnace. A 90 percent furnace is more efficient than an 80 percent furnace.

System efﬁciency

generation (or even prior to in some cases) to the final output of the system; included would be transmission losses, production efficiency, etc… This type of efficiency is very important to people calculating overall environmental impacts of systems. The final type of efficiency, and the

Let’s take a closer look at what makes a refrigeration system efﬁcient. There are three distinct areas to consider: 1. The refrigeration load 2. The COP or efﬁciency of the system 3. What output is “useful”?

Refrigeration load The amount of refrigeration required doesn’t affect the efficiency of the refrigeration system, but it most certainly affects the cost and efﬁciency of the building or installation. Every Btu of heat that makes its way into the cooler or freezer has to be moved out. A few parameters that make an impact in this area are door inﬁltration, insulation condition and thickness, pipe penetrations, ventilation air, and process requirements such as the temperature and timing of product that enters the cooler or freezer and the length of time allowed to cool it.

The determination of useful output is becoming increasingly important as systems become more complex. In most, but not all, cases the main output from a refrigeration system is cooling of some description. What makes things complicated now is the increasing use of heat recovery and heat production from refrigeration systems. CO2 refrigerant has made this even more interesting as it is capable of achieving high heat recovery temperatures without having an additional heat source. The bottom line is that the energy efficiency of a refrigeration system is dependent on the exact system and its configuration. In future articles, we will be exploring the refrigeration load, system efﬁciency and useful output with examples and more details. There is a lot to digest when discussing energy efﬁciency in refrigeration and we will try to take a look at most of it.

Greg Scrivener is president of Cold Dynamics, Meadow Lake, Sask. He is a journeyman refrigeration mechanic, holds RSES CMS designation in commercial refrigeration and is a mechanical engineer in training. He can be reached at greg.scrivener@colddynamics.com

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

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Q Tools & Instruments IAQ meter

Urinal auger

The AQ Comfort from E-Instruments is a handheld indoor air quality meter and data logger that allows contractors to quickly determine which residences are in need of HVAC and ventilation components thanks to the immediate response time provided by the internal sampling pump. E-Instruments www.E-Inst.com

The Teletube Urinal Auger from General Pipe Cleaners features a specially designed 48-inch spring designed with the toughness and flexibility to negotiate tight urinal bends, allowing it to also clear stoppages beyond the urinal. Weighing less than two pounds, it includes a rust resistant steel tube, vinyl grip handle with “Grip Clip” for securing the cable, and a rubber bumper to protect the urinal bowl. General Pipe Cleaners www.drainbrain.com

Utility locator

Nitrogen flow indicator The Uniweld NV1 NitroVue nitrogen flow indicator simplifies the purging of nitrogen during the brazing of copper tubing in AC and refrigeration systems. An easy to read flow indicator label and a precision adjustable valve control the low flow of nitrogen gas. A bright orange float ball and tube are fortified and protected in the aluminum body with windows for a clear view. The ball visually confirms the nitrogen is flowing and allows the technician to first purge at 20+ SCFH and then reduce the flow to “braze” at 3-5 SCFH. Uniweld www.uniweld.com

Versatile roll groover

The Ridgid Seek SR-24 is a locating receiver that streamlines creating accurate maps of underground utilities. It uses integrated Bluetooth communications to transmit locating data to either a third-party survey grade GPS or a mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone. Data logging capabilities allow recording to an onboard micro SD card. In addition to passive locating capabilities, it can detect any active frequency from 10 Hz to 35 kHz. Omnidirectional antennas capture the complete signal field, making it easy to locate a line and follow its path. RIDGID www.ridgid.com

The PACE Model 1112 portable roll groover from Mag Tool uses just three top rollers and three bottom rollers to produce speciﬁcation quality grooves in pipe from one-inch through 12” diameter Schedule 40. It is easily portable and its 110 volt 1.5 hp motor rotates pipe at speeds of 35 RPM. The hand hydraulic pump delivers up to 15,000 PSI pressure. Standard equipment includes a groove depth gauge, hydraulic hand pump, top and bottom rollers for 1”-12”, guards, foot switch and storage box. A nipple bracket and top and bottom copper tube grooving rolls are optional. Mag Tool Inc. www.magtool.com

Compact wall hung and utility electric water heaters from Bradford White save valuable floor space and offer installation flexibility when your options are limited. Perfect for point-of-use or intermittent draw applications; both models feature the quality components you expect in a Bradford White water heater. • Available in eight sizes from 2 – 30 U.S.G. • Vitraglas® – An exclusive enamel lining provides unsurpassed tank protection.

• Wall Mounting Bracket – Factory installed bracket for easier installation allows for secure worry-free fastening to the wall

• Alternate Connections – Six and 12 gallon utility models have alternate • Immersed Elements – Copper heating connection tappings on top elements transfer heat directly and efficiently to water • Heat Traps – Reduce potential noise and save energy • Dielectric Waterway Fittings – Factory-installed fittings are plastic lined to prevent corrosion ©2013, Bradford White Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Built to be the Best ™ 866.690.0961 | www.bradfordwhite.com

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

Mechanical engineers and contractors are converting from metal piping systems to System XFR® and System 15®

XFR

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PROVEN BENEFITS IMPROVED FLOW – Larger inside diameter and smoother interior walls for more efficient waste removal

THERMAL PROPERTIES – Storm drains can often be used without insulation LONGEVITY – Extremely durable, will not rust or corrode JOINING METHODS – Solvent welding or MJ Grey mechanical joint TM

coupling options

PLENUM/HIGH-RISE – System XFR carries 25/50 Flame/Smoke ®

A cost-effective “workhorse” designed for low-rise, light commercial and underground applications.

requirements

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Drain, Waste & Vent for Non-Combustible Buildings www.ipexinc.com

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DWV Systems Products manufactured by/for IPEX Inc. System 15®, System XFR® and MJ GreyTM are trademarks of IPEX Branding Inc.

Q Plumbing The crew at Turbo Plumbing in Whistler, B.C. model the latest in plumbing attire.

DRESS for SUCCESS

they knew until ﬁnally one day it happened to me. I was in a lakeside pub in Leamington, Ont. when I saw this guy and I knew by his appearance alone that my fellow reveller was also a fellow tradesman. Somehow I could just tell. The evening got even more bizarre when I saw another gentleman in the bar and I knew he was a plumber too. I was right on both guesses, leading me to think that there must be more to it than mere coincidence. Plumbers look like plumbers. Since there was no trade show in town, perhaps it was by mechanical attraction that we picked each other out of a crowd and were drawn within earshot of each other in a noisy bar. The three of us discussed the subject of our identiﬁability and many other worldly topics at great length. I enjoyed hearing their stories of all the B.S. they have to put up with and found their perspective on the state of the trade interesting, if not unique.

Please see ‘Solving’ on page 35

A day in the life of a plumber

By Mark P. Evans

he get-ups that some fitness buffs are parading around these days really catch the eye, don’t they? Cycling or jogging, they make a great effort to publicly demonstrate their vitality by dressing funny and getting in the way of traffic. Needless to say, I don’t care for that style myself. Not that I have much choice really; you see, when I’m doing my most strenuous work-outs, I’m required to wear work-boots, safety harness and a hard hat with eye, ear and nose protection. I’m usually wearing a T-shirt and dirty jeans too. To top it off, I accessorize with about 20 pounds of tools to complete my ensemble. Once I was asked if I thought I could do the twenty minute work-out and the short version of my answer went like this: Most days I start my all-day workout with an hour or two of heavy lifting and hyper extending while loading materials into and onto the truck. I make sure to hit certain target areas hard during this stage of the program. You can really feel it in your shinbones after one of these exercise regimes. When the truck is crammed with as much as it can carry, I move on to the activity that always gets my blood pressure up... the drive across town to the jobsite. Pot-holes, traffic circles and fitness jerks on the road quicken my heart and alert my senses. After a brief cool-down period and a medium double-double energy drink (coffee), it’s time for the

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callisthenic portion of the work-out... dragging the tools and equipment out of the truck and humping them into the building. Sometimes improper lifting and twisting during this stage of the regime ensures a memorable experience. I realize that the money earned will be long forgotten but the effects could last a lifetime. Luckily I’ve gotten through it all with little to no ill effect, so far. Many suffer from their years in the trade because they failed to use proper safety methods and equipment, but it is a rough business that will take its toll regardless of one’s best efforts. Nowadays I try to use the unloading portion of the job to warm up and to do lots of stretching, choosing to take smaller loads and making more trips. Truly it’s hard to break from certain ingrained instincts like needing to carry all the groceries in at once, but my father would have called that a lazy man’s load. Take it easy, all that equipment has to be set up yet and then the real work begins, so it’s important to work at a comfortable pace. These days, having a helper carry everything in and set it up is proving to be a real comfortable pace for me. I’ve been using this method lately and I’ve got to say, it feels great. Soon that young lad will have his own tales to tell of all the hardship and character building he went through to learn a trade. Poor sap.

Looking the part Every now and again someone says to me; “hey, you look like a plumber.” Well I blush and thank them for such a ﬁne compliment, but I always wondered how

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

Q Plumbing

Solving the DIY puzzle Continued from page 33

Customer purchased; contractor installed Much of our talk focussed on the DIY craze and how it has affected the way we address jobs involving customer purchased but contractor installed items. It seems this situation is not exclusive to residential renovations as product availability increases and even the commercial/industrial sector becomes more â&#x20AC;&#x153;labour onlyâ&#x20AC;? based. The need for both parties to clearly understand where manufacturer and contractor obligations start and end is very important. One of those Leamington pipe jockeys said he is considering refusing to work on customer supplied jobs because of the lack of material mark-up and all the extra work fussing with unfamiliar and sometimes inferior products. His unpaid experience dealing with callbacks that often turn out to be

manufacturer defects has taught him to be more selective in his undertakings. For the customer, a good relationship could turn sour if costs have to be paid to the installer for a malfunction that was caused by (and must be corrected by) others. By supplying and installing all materials and equipment, the plumber can avoid the awkward situation of billing customers for service calls that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t involve any remedial physical action on his part. He admitted that it was a great theory, but when the work slows down he must take jobs that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ideal but pay more than sitting at home.

The harsh reality The whole point of our efforts is to make money in this business. It occurred to us that a smart business man should think â&#x20AC;&#x153;outside the boxâ&#x20AC;? and take advantage of current trends. Those road hogging joggers got me to thinking that maybe there was another way to prosper from our profession.

What if we set up a reality TV show where we take those people looking for a challenging physical adventure and have them pay us to do our work. Similar to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tough Mudder Competition,â&#x20AC;? contestants would enter into a tournament that would test their mental and physical endurance. Season 1 would offer the challenge of roughing in an underground drainage system. Oh thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plenty of mud and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tough alright. We could contract a town house job where all the foundations were poured and left open to allow for easy ďŹ lming. The contestants would have to climb down a ladder, dig out the trenches and assemble the piping system exactly to plan. The winners would receive a prize for being the ďŹ rst to pass inspection! Hollywood could exploit all the human emotions with highlight clips showing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The mechanical industry would beneďŹ t from the broader

exposure with clever product placement and most importantly, by not having to do the crap work ourselves. Perhaps we could score some government grant money too. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need more funding to produce future episodes for season two where the contestants will have to assemble scaffolding and hang pipe and season three where they will have to clean out my truck. The next time I meet my mechanical mates from the tomato capital of Canada, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure they will be impressed with my new business plan. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve combined peoplesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; passion for the pursuit of the perfect plumberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proďŹ le with our need to make more money while contributing to the community. I think the biggest contribution will be getting those loudly dressed cyclists and joggers off the road for a while.

Mark P. Evans is a contractor, master plumber and heating technician based in Waterloo, Ont. He can be reached at mark.evans@live.ca

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July/August 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Plumbing & HVAC

Q Faucets & Fixtures Combined form and function The Geberit Cascading Tub Filler is integrated as a bath waste and overflow (BWO), assuring reliable filling and draining in an all-in-one unit. A soft, crystal flow of water fills the tub at 18 gallons per minute with virtually no splash. It can be installed in bathtubs and tub/shower enclosures. It is available in several models to accommodate different tub wall thicknesses and fits most tubs 17” - 24” deep. Finish choices are polished chrome, ForeverShine PVD brass and ForeverShine PVD polished nickel. Geberit www.geberit.us

Sweep spray

WATCO

INTRODUCING The

Innovator Drain ®

Kohler’s unique Sweep Spray replaces circular pattern sprays with a wide, powerful blade of water, making kitchen cleanup quicker and easier. The company will offer it on four existing Kohler faucets: Cruette, Bellera, and Simplice with a three-function sprayhead: Sweep, aerated stream and pause; and the Sensate faucet with a two-function sprayhead: sweep and aerated stream. Kohler www.kohler.com

Transitional style A recent National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) homeowner survey revealed that transitional design – historical designs that are updated with cleaner lines – are the most popular. The Etch kitchen suite from Moen ﬁts squarely into that category and adds timeless, comfortable elegance to any transitionally designed kitchen. The handle, base and spout offer a high-end look. Clean lines and soft shapes carry the transitional style throughout today’s larger, premium kitchen. Moen www.moen.ca

901N SSeries-White i Whit

Sturdy grab bars

Designer White Bathtub Drains! • Quick, one-person installation; installs in minutes • Integrated strainer body/drain elbow eliminates one solvent weld joint; fewer joints = fewer problems • Standard high gloss designer white; biscuit and chrome also available • 12 other finishes available with Quick Trim® or Universal NuFit® • Corrosion resistant material • Overflow and drain come standard with test membranes; testable up to five floors (22 psi) • Available in ABS or PVC; Flex Series in PVC only. ABS drain elbow is white • Removable/replaceable crossbars make drains easy to clean and maintain • Five year limited warranty Watco Manufacturing Company

Always A Step Ahead

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Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2014

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Vision Parts & Accessories in Markham, Ont. is now the exclusive Canadian distributor for Grabcessories ADA compliant non-corrosive stainless steel grab bars. They feature no-slip rubber grips, chrome & brushed nickel ﬁnishes, and support up to 500 lbs. Transitional curved designs seamlessly integrate into bathroom décor. Patented hollow wall anchors and ﬂanges allow quick and easy mounting. Vision Parts & Accessories www.vision.ca

Improved shower valve Chicago Faucets has expanded its selection of pressure-balancing tub and shower fittings with a new valve that incorporates several significant updates. A finely tuned ceramic operating cartridge offers improved flow management, precise hot and cold water mixing, simplified hot water volume adjustment, and a reduced flow rate (GPM) for both tub and shower service. Hot and cold supply inlet check stops are built in. The complete fittings feature modern wall trim styling, with a polished chrome wall plate. Chicago Faucets www.chicagofaucets.com

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PHVAC_JulyAug_2014.indd 37

7/25/14 7:43 AM

Q Training

Top

2012 Canada Skills winner and 2013 World Skills winner in refrigeration Michael Scheideman was back this year as a judge.

apprentices compete for

gold in Toronto By Simon Blake Apprentices in multiple trades from across the country gathered in Toronto to compete in the 20th annual Skills Canada National Competition June 4-7. Each of the 500 competitors had earned the right to compete at the International Centre in Toronto’s west end by winning the first place gold medal at provincial competitions. The mechanical trades were well represented in the plumbing, refrigeration and air conditioning, sheet metal and steamfitter/pipefitter categories. In the refrigeration category competitors had 12 hours to build a bare tube evaporator from scratch and demonstrate it, reported Dave McCutcheon, an instructor from Red River College in Winnipeg and a contractor in Portage la Prairie, Man. The project was the same as that used at the World Skills Competition in Leipzig, Germany last year. As well, they had one hour to ﬁnd four built-in electrical faults on an A2 simulator. Judges included Michael Scheideman, the gold winner in 2012 who went on to win gold in Germany last year. The refrigeration tech for Albright Refrigeration Ltd. in Grand Prairie, Alta. admitted that coming back as a judge was considerably less stressful than his last visit to the National Skills competition. And after his victory at World Skills,

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he noted that he received “lots of good offers, but I like where I am.” Sponsors for the refrigeration section included Emerson Canada, Great Lakes Copper, JTAC (Joint Training and Apprenticeship Committee) and Metco. The winners in the mechanical categories were:

Plumbing: Gold Kendrick Howe, Alta. Silver Cody Beck, Ont. Bronze Michaël Lavoie Vallée, Que.

Steamﬁtter/Pipeﬁtter: Gold Pat De La Sabionniere, Sask. Silver Tyler Hamel, Alta. Bronze Luc Parent, Ont.

Aaron Wright won the refrigeration category at the New Brunswick Skills competition held at the MEET Show in May and bronze at the national event.

Refrigeration and Air Conditioning: Gold Marc-Antoine Bettez, Que. Silver Keiran Hodges, Alta. Bronze Aaron Wright, N.B.

Sheet Metal: Gold Tom Martin, Ont. Silver Steve Lapointe, N.B. Bronze Spencer Tomlin, Yukon The gold medal winners will represent Canada at the next World Skills International Competition, to be held in São Paulo, Brazil in 2015. Full results and more information can be found at www.skillscanada.com.

Every competition area featured a Try-A-Trade booth, like this one for plumbing, which allowed students and other spectators to try their hand at a trade.

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

When he reduced costs by 13% with a new RTU, he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just saving money. He was setting a precedent. Once your clients start seeing the benefits of our incentives for upgrading to high efficiency HVAC systems, they will want to look into making other areas of their building like refrigeration and building automation systems more efficient too. When they do, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be joining companies like Canadian Tire, Shoppers Drug Mart and Sears who are already enjoying the energy savings that our programs deliver. Take a look at their stories and our incentives at

saveonenergy.ca/plumbing-hvac

Subject to additional terms and conditions found at saveonenergy.ca. Subject to change without notice. OM Official Mark of the Ontario Power Authority.

PHVAC_JulyAug_2014.indd 40

7/25/14 7:43 AM

Q People & Places

Noble donates two truckloads to Habitat In June, plumbing and HVAC supplier Noble, Concord, Ont., donated more than two truckloads of building materials to Habitat for Humanity’s Halton Region chapter. “Noble has a long-standing commitment to give back to our local communities,” said Jim Cochrane, Noble director of sales and marketing. “With 40 Noble locations across Ontario, it is important that we play an active role in supporting the

communities in which we live and work. By partnering with Habitat for Humanity, we are able to help local families in need.” Habitat Halton’s goal is to build 75 homes over the next five years, with seventeen planned for 2014. This year’s schedule includes the chapter’s largest build ever – a thirteen-unit townhouse complex in Burlington sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating.

Noble driver Albert Zamm, left, delivers donated building materials to Kevin Whyte, procurement coordinator for Habitat for Humanity Halton.

Wolseley branch brings plumbing, HVAC/R under one roof The counter was busy with customers picking up products and checking out the newly renovated location during the grand opening.

The

People The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI), Mississauga, Ont. has appointed Frank Diecidue as director, operations and services. Dobbin Sales, Toronto, has appointed Gabriel Martin as territory manager, Quebec. Gabriel Uponor, Mississauga, Martin Ont., has appointed Bill Hooper, CET, as regional sales manager for Atlantic Canada. Security Chimneys, Laval, Bill Que. and M&G DuraVent, Hooper Vacaville, California, announced that Karen Galaise has been promoted to the position of regional sales manager for the newly Karen created Quebec region along Galaise with the Ottawa area. P&HVAC author and engineer Michael McCartney has been designated a consulting engineer in the Province of Ontario and Michael is now operating as M. E. McCartney McCartney Engineering

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Wolseley Canada, Burlington, Ont., announces that its existing Mississauga, Ont. HVAC/R location located at 5235 Timberlea Blvd. now carries plumbing products. This brings all the company’s

offerings and expertise under one roof with the ability to provide a variety of specialists for hydronics, HVAC, refrigeration, mechanical, plumbing, etc. On June 4, the branch held a grand

opening featuring one-day only vendor specials, a barbecue lunch and customers had the chance to enter for a trip for two to New York City. Darren Wright, previously branch manager at Wolseley’s Brampton location, is now managing the Mississauga branch. The company plans to open several new plumbing and HVAC/R branches over the next few years.

Ltd, Consulting Engineers, Toronto. Rinnai, Peachtree, Georgia, has named Frank Windsor as general manager, in charge of strategic growth in Canada and the U.S. Windsor spent the past 23 years with Kohler, Kohler, Wisconsin.

The

Companies Vision Parts & Accessories, Markham, Ont., has appointed ConCur West Marketing, Coquitlam, B.C., as their representative in British Columbia, and Tans-Atlantic Sales for the province of Alberta. Zoeller Canada, Kitchener, Ont., has announced its sponsorship of Allied Technical Services, Inc. (ATS), Toronto, to make all Zoeller products available on the ATS Spec Canada online speciﬁcation system at www.atsspec.ca. Viega LLC, Wichita, Kansas, recently announced its Million Dollar Club award winners – those companies with over a million dollars in sales in 2013. Three of 14 winners are Canadian. They are Canadian Aqualine, Delta, B.C., Agences J.P. Sylvain, Boucherville, Que., and J.F. Taylor Enterprises Ltd., St. John, N.B.

Happy 60thAnniversary Congratulations on this amazing feat ! From Bob, Mona, Peter, Jim, Rob, Massimo, André, Brad, Elvina, Dan and the entire staff at John L. Schultz Ltd.

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

Q Distribution Channels

Back in business Industry veterans build new distribution company in busy Toronto marketplace By Simon Blake

wo industry veterans that are taking their second major run at the plumbing wholesale business have learned few things over the years. One of those things is that there is life outside of business. When lifelong friends Michael Storfer, 45, and Brahm Swirsky, 46, founded Noble Trade by combining their Toronto wholesale businesses in 1998 they expected to work 16 hour days, seven days a week. That work ethic, and a similar work ethic among many employees, allowed them to build what eventually became one of the most successful plumbing supply companies in Ontario. Selling that business to home improvement retailer Rona in 2007 provided the ﬁnancial backing to expand outside Ontario. But that didn’t do much to alleviate the long hours nor the strain on their families. By 2012 both were still far shy of 50 years old and yet both decided retirement looked good. But nobody in the industry that knew these two very competitive individuals believed they would sit on the sidelines for long However, neither wanted to end up working 16-hour days again – maybe 10, but deﬁnitely not 16, Storfer laughs. So, they were looking for the right opportunity although not necessarily in the plumbing industry. Still, plumbing kept calling them. Former employees, colleagues and vendors continued to ask what was next. For both Storfer and Swirsky, their original companies had felt like family and it became obvious to them that heading back to plumbing might provide an opportunity create that environment again.

A new opportunity That opportunity came soon enough when a longestablished Toronto wholesaler became available. Fulford Supply was established 85 years ago and had built a strong customer base in the Leaside – downtown – area

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2014

At the height of the Rob Ford crack scandal, NEXT extended-back T-shirts proved popular with local plumbers. of the city. It was particularly well known for its expertise in hydronic heating along with residential plumbing. Storfer and Swirsky –part of a new ownership group – quickly beefed up the plumbing side to also serve the commercial/institutional market and rebranded the company as NEXT Supply. Buying an existing wholesale business signiﬁcantly eased their move back into the industry. But it also created some challenges. On the plus side, Fulford had strong relationships

with suppliers, so they didn’t face the same struggle with getting manufacturers to sell to them as they did in the early years of their ﬁrst companies when they couldn’t even get a valve line. It immediately brought them into the Octo Purchasing Group, a co-operative of independent wholesalers that negotiates programs as a group with manufacturers. Had they not bought an existing company, they would have had to wait three years. Things got tricky when they advertised for employees to staff new branches they intended to open across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In a short time they had close to a 100 applications, including many from among their former employees. “For some people, it’s like coming home,” remarked Storfer. “They told us: ‘I want to be part of building something.’” Word spread fast and soon people were reaching out to make it clear they wanted to join the team – in any capacity. Some even took pay cuts to make the move. And while that type of loyalty is a great thing on one level, it also led to legal challenge by Rona, Noble’s former owner, in 2013. As Storfer and Swirsky expected, the issues were recently settled without consequence. It’s also a homecoming of sorts for Storfer and Swirsky. NEXT is very much designed to operate in a large urban centre, something the pair is comfortable with having lived and worked in Toronto all their lives. And with such a busy construction market – tower cranes dot the skyline – they felt there was room for another wholesaler, particularly one that would concentrate on making products available quickly and easily in a city where trafﬁc seems to worsen every day .

Rapid expansion Expansion has been quick. After barely a year in business, NEXT Supply includes a 60,000 sq. ft.

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The crew at NEXT Supply includes, from left, Josh Rose, Kevin Ryan, Alex Monardo, Joe Perruzza, Brahm Swirsky, Michael Storfer, Jed Hamilton, Bijan Bavazadeh and George Badovinac.

distribution centre and head ofﬁce in Vaughan (north Toronto) along with ﬁve warehouses around the GTA, typically in the 15 to 20,000 sq. ft. range. That is about six times the size of Fulford Supply with a far greater breadth of product.

The best way to keep (contractors) productive is to keep product in their hands. At the same time, the company has invested heavily in sales and service staff with knowledgeable people. They look for employees that have and can develop relationships, but most importantly, can share those relationships with others within the company so that any time a contractor calls, they can talk to somebody that understands their needs. “We want (contractors) to deal with us as a group of people,” said Storfer. NEXT expects to add a seventh location in Scarborough (east Toronto) to give the company full coverage in the GTA. At that point, they don’t plan further expansion and will focus on building the GTA business, for five years at least. One of their key business strategies has always been to have virtually everything they offer in stock so that they can provide a high fill rate on orders. In fact their goal is a 99 per cent fill rate and a half-day turnaround on back orders. “The best way to keep (contractors) productive is to keep product in their hands,” said Storfer. “Labour is expensive – people want to be active.”

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To achieve this, the company has also invested heavily in infrastructure. It already has 28 trucks and is growing. “It’s been very important to get the infrastructure in place to service what we set out to service,” remarked Swirsky. As they grow, the goal will to complete jobsite deliveries in the GTA by 8 a.m. every day. “Every hour on the hour a truck is leaving to serve the (ofﬁce & condo) towers,” added Storfer.

Growth without craziness This may seem like a remarkable amount of growth in a very short period of time, and it is. But the key, adds

Storfer, is “we work very hard not to go crazy.” Both he and Swirsky have discovered the value of taking time off and the importance of a skilled team right out of the gate. From a business standpoint, it means controlled growth with a targeted customer base. “In Toronto the contractor is more sophisticated than the (wholesale business) generally gives them credit for.” That respect for customers combined with employees that are enthusiastic about their jobs, but can have fun while looking after business, bodes well for a successful future for NEXT Supply.

NEXT opened a new headquarters and distribution centre in north Toronto.

July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

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Q Shop Management

Creating an effective

corporate structure

Putting the pieces in place early will reduce headaches later on By Ron Coleman

The basic structure is that we have an operating becomes do you sell shares or assets? There is a One of my Vancouver clients was looking to expand. company (Opco) and it does the work. It is our legal significant difference. He asked me to phone a specific mechanical contractor entity and does offer us protection against liability and The seller usually wants to sell shares but the buyer that he had heard was retiring. I phoned the guy and helps to defer income tax. That works. But let’s take it to usually wants to buy assets. The overriding reason for asked him if he was interested in selling the business the next level – who owns the shares of Opco? Is it you buying assets is that the buyer is not buying any of the and he said no. He had just closed it down; all the or you and your spouse, you and a business partner or history/skeletons of the company. All liability issues up equipment was going to auction, he’d just laid off all your holding company (Holdco)? In the initial stages, to the date of the sale belong to the seller. He still owns his employees and he was getting on his boat and sailing that doesn’t matter very much. But what happens if you the shares so he still owns the exposure. If the buyer back to New Zealand. become successful like you hope you will? is a family member or an employee who knows the I was stunned. The company had an excellent history The problem arises when you, you and your spouse history of the company well, then this is likely less of a and a very nice client base doing small projects and or you and a business partner own the shares personally. concern. The seller would prefer to sell shares because retrofit work. It never competed in the open market. I That means the profits you make in the business – the he can get the first $750,000 of the sale of shares taxbelieve the guy walked away from a lot of money. It was retained earnings – have to stay in the business. If you free. Likewise a spouse or other business partner gets like he had never been there. He wasn’t interested in take them out you will pay a lot of tax. the same advantage. any residual value in the business; what a shame. If you don’t take them out then they are exposed If you are selling the business to a family member When we start our businesses we tend to form to liability because they are in the Opco and if you sell there are different tax treatments than if you are selling a company and go from there. We tend not to the shares of the Opco how do you get your retained it to an “arms-length” purchaser. Again talk to your think about the tax, the liability or the succession earnings out? The answer is you take dividends and advisors. implications. No matter what you intend to do in the If you own your shares through future all three of these areas need to be a Holdco you need to get your addressed from the outset. accountant to crunch the numbers At some stage you are going to stop for you. I don’t want to start trying working. Ill health, a lack of motivation or Having the right structure from day one will to explain the intricacies of tax; just the desire to “smell the roses” is going suffice it to say you won’t get too to make you face the question: “what do save you taxes, reduce your liability if things go excited about me explaining how the I do with the business”? There is no one Refundable Dividend Tax on Hold answer. As we get closer to making the sideways and make succession planning easier. works (RDTOH). If you really want final move we often find we have boxed to know, then send me an email. But ourselves into a corner and don’t have pay lots of tax. The simple solution is to have a Holdco it is just one of several calculations you will need to many options. This three-part article will cover the owning the shares of the Opco. That way you can pay have done. options for your corporate structure, how to position dividends from Opco to Holdco without attracting By being aware of the pros and cons of selling assets your business to make it attractive to a buyer and in income tax. You also move the money out of Opco, versus shares your accountant can calculate what the final part how and where to find a buyer and some thus reducing liability exposure. If your Holdco needs the price difference should be so that each party gets keys to protecting yourself. to loan money to Opco, it can take a security just like treated equitably. For example, when you sell the shares Establishing a structure your bank would. There is a legal wall between Opco the purchaser acquires the retained earnings and is Having the right structure from day one will save you and Holdco that adds a lot of protection. generally responsible for collecting receivables, paying taxes, reduce your liability if things go sideways and However, there is no protection against trust payables and dealing with any corporate issues. This make succession planning easier. A business that has liabilities - these include GST/HST and source is very clean from the seller’s perspective. But do you been set up to minimize taxes and liability will be easier deductions. Contractors also have a trust exposure want to give away the retained earnings? Do you want to sell and will likely sell for a higher figure. This article when they receive payments against contracts. They to let someone else collect the receivables if the sale is general in nature because I don’t know your exact must use the money received to pay the costs of that agreement has a clause that holds you responsible for situation. You need to explore any changes you are contract. any bad debts? considering with your advisors. You wouldn’t expect Having a Holdco own the shares of Opco makes a lot The number crunching does take expertise so make a homeowner to design their own mechanical system of sense – ask your accountant for guidance. sure you get the right advice. Make sure your advisor is without expert advice and you shouldn’t design your aware of your history with capital gains and losses. corporate structure without expert advice and looking Shares or assets to the future. When it comes time to sell your business the issue Please see ‘Buying’ on page 46

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July/August 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

Q Coming Events

Calgary hydronics conference announced CIPHEX West will offer wide range of seminars The CIPHEX West trade show will return to Calgary Nov. 5-6 with an impressive seminar schedule. In fact, in addition a wide range of seminars for mechanical contractors, the Canadian Hydronics Council (CHC) will present the first CIPHEX West Hydronics Conference during the event, to be held at the BMO Centre in Stampede Park. Three of the hydronic heating industry’s most prominent authors and educators will present various hot water heating related topics. On Nov. 5 John Siegenthaler will talk about ‘Low Temperature, Low Mass Heat Emitters for High Performance Hydronic Heating,’ covering hydronic systems with a maximum 120ºF supply temperature. He will also present design information on low temperature panel radiators, ﬁn-tube baseboard and convectors. On Nov. 6 Siegenthaler will explain contemporary ways to conﬁgure hydronic systems to provide domestic hot water, covering boilers and renewable energy systems such as solar, heat pumps and solid fuel boilers. Dan Holohan will present a session on troubleshooting titled ‘The Top Ten Dumb Things we do With Hot Water.’ Robert Bean will talk about ‘Building Science 101,’ noting that today’s heating contractor is by necessity also becoming a building and systems advisor. On the second day Bean will present a session on updated ASHRAE design methodology for snow melting systems, featuring an introduction to the “Percentile Design Method” as it relates to snow melting, including storm characteristics and their effect on control strategies and slab performance. On Wednesday afternoon all three hydronics luminaries will come together for an “Ask the Experts” panel discussion in which contractors are invited to bring any questions they may have about hydronic heating. David Hughes of the Northern Alberta

Institute of Technology will moderate the session. Modest fees apply to all sessions except for the experts panel. Registration and fees can be found under ‘Visitor Info’ at www.ciphexwest.ca.

CIPHEX West seminars A number of other seminars covering a wide range of topics are planned, all of which are free. Aaron Biffert of Ecowater Systems Calgary will present a workshop on drinking water disinfection, why it is needed and maintaining integrity of systems. He will also speak about his experience during the Calgary ﬂoods of rehabilitating and replacing systems. Suresh Parmachand of Stratovate Inc. will offer contractors ‘Ten Ways to Convert Prospects Into Customers,’ with an emphasis on techniques they can use right away.

Buying property and vehicles Continued from page 45

Buying property Another reason for having a Holdco is that it can be used for buying a building. And in the provinces that don’t have provincial sales tax it may make sense to have the vehicles and equipment owned by the Holdco. In B.C., for example, any rental of equipment and vehicles from Holdco to Opco would be subject to PST. The bottom line is that most experts would recommend that you have a Holdco owning the shares of the Opco and

Adam Stoker, P.Eng., will talk about what the industry can expect in Version 4 of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Brian Husband, chief plumbing inspector for Victoria, will provide insight into ‘Velocities and Water Pipe Sizing Tables in the National Plumbing Code.’ The discussion will deal with discrepancies and review velocity tables with accurate ﬁxture unit values. Mona Shum, occupational hygiene and safety team lead, AMEC Environment and Infrastructure, will talk about mould remediation with a summary of guidelines on how different mould situations should be dealt with. Finally, local contractor Freiso Pouwer of Clean and Pure Water will offer down to earth tips on how contractors can improve their effectiveness in the use of social media. For more information or to register, visit www. ciphexwest.ca.

that any building should also be held in a Holdco. Each Holdco must own a minimum of 10 percent of the shares in Opco in order to allow dividends to transfer tax-free. Start looking at your corporate structure now. There are ways of cleaning up your structure. Your advisors will tell you about Section 85 Rollovers and Family Trusts and a variety of other processes that you can implement. Ronald Coleman is a Vancouverbased accountant, management consultant, author and educator specializing in the construction industry. He can be reached by e-mail at ronald@ronaldcoleman.ca.

Events

INDEX to

ADVERTISERS Allied Air*................................................... 12 AquaTech ................................................... 15 Bardon Supply* .......................................... 37 Bibby Ste. Croix .......................................... 34 Bradford White ........................................... 31 Brant Radiant .............................................. 21 Canadian Water Quality+............................ 40 CIPHEX West ............................................ 12+ Duravent..................................................... 17 Fieldpiece.................................................... 23 Fujitsu ......................................................... 38 General Pipe Cleaners ................................. 16 Honeywell/Genetron Div. ........................... 44 IBC Boilers .................................................. 18 ICP.............................................................. 35 IPEX ............................................................ 32

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2014

John L. Schultz ............................................ 41 MAG Tool ..................................................... 8 Mitsubishi Electric ....................................... 26 Mobilio ......................................................... 5 Napoleon .................................................... 30 Navien .......................................................... 9 Ontario Power Authority* ........................... 40 P&HVAC+ ................................................... 37 Raptor Cutting Tools ................................... 33 Rheem Canada ..................................... 24, 25 RIDGID.................................................... 4, 48 Taco ............................................................. 2 Uponor Ltd. ................................................ 28 Victaulic ........................................................ 7 Watco Mfg. ................................................ 36 Woodford Mfg. .......................................... 47 Zoeller ........................................................ 19 Zurn............................................................ 13 *Ontario only + Outside Ontario only

Calendar AUG. 20-23: HRAI Annual Meeting, Montreal. Call 1-800-267-2231 or visit www. hrai.ca.

SEPT. 24-27: Mechanical Contractor’s Association of Canada 73rd National Conference, Delta St. John’s Hotel, St. John’s, Nﬂd. Call (613) 232-0492 or visit www.mcac.ca.

NOV. 5-6: CIPHEX West Trade Show and Conference, BMO Centre, Stampede Park, Calgary. Contact Elizabeth McCullough at 1-800-6392474 or visit www.ciphexwest.ca.

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