September/October 2014

Fall Heating

District heating

Publication Mail Agreement #40063170. Return postage guaranteed NEWCOM Business Media Inc. 451 Attwell Drive, Toronto, Ontario M9W 5C4

Managing volatile fuel costs

INSIDE Q More refrigerant changes on the way Q U.S. contractor group establishes Canadian foothold Q Mentoring key in keeping young employees Q Industry motorcyclists raise cash for Habitat

SEPTEMBER 2014

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Q Contents

Fall Heating

Departments Hot Seat .........................................5 Making the case for fall tune-ups

Industry News ..............................7 Refrigerant changes coming

Letters ..........................................13 Furnace sizing versus efficiency

People & Places ...........................60 Wolseley raises $40,000 for Special Olympics

Coming Events ............................65 New products still the focus at CIPHEX West

Shop Management .....................67 Performance reviews in a small business

Products & Technologies Heating ........................................19

Motor city milestone 50 years of ups and downs with the auto industry

Features

Hot Water Heating......................31 Refrigeration ...............................39 Pipes, Valves & Fittings...............43 Plumbing......................................54 Tools & Instruments ....................56 Residential DHW recirculation

54

Bigger homes, higher expectations drive demand

Cover: Municipalities are looking to district

System commissioning

heating as a way to manage volatile fuel costs.

Please see our article on page 14.

Careful startup critical on high efficiency commercial systems

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

47

Today’s combustion venting

19

Reduced temperatures, new materials changing the game September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

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Q Hot Seat

September 2014 Volume 24, Number 6 ISSN 1919-0395

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

Fall heating checkup Those working in the residential HVAC industry often emphasize the need for a pre-winter furnace checkup. Few in the industry need much convincing of its importance, but many homeowners are not so easily convinced. As a result, the annual fall checkup has largely fallen by the wayside as modern heating equipment just continues functioning year after year if homeowners are savvy enough to change out their furnace filters from time to time.

That means the first step for the contractor is usually to convince the customer that this is important. For them, it’s primarily a matter of peace of mind. If the heating system receives a clean bill of health in the fall, they know they don’t have to worry over the winter.

From a technical standpoint, a professional should periodically give heating equipment a thorough check.

And if you didn’t install the equipment, this may be even more critical as some contractors/technicians are more diligent about doing things right the first time.

However, one of the problems is that HVAC contractors often assign the fall system checks to their lowest cost employee – the rookie or apprentice. But to do it properly, it really needs an experienced technician who knows what to look for and can spot problems before they become serious. It may be just a faint noise, a light discoloration or a slight odor that raises a red flag and would be overlooked by someone with less experience. Price accordingly.

It’s also a great opportunity to chat with the homeowner.

The contractor can provide advice on things, like filter

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replacement, that the homeowner can do themselves. At the same time, they can talk to the customer about how the system is working, the comfort levels in the home, etc. and suggest possible upgrades that they might consider.

However, be careful. I think that some companies push the sales side – the “value added” – just a little too hard.

Keep in mind that you are trying to maintain a relationship and keep this individual as a customer for life.

If you are going to suggest replacement, you need to do a thorough examination of the existing equipment and make a good case as to why it’s better to replace than repair.

Homeowners may subscribe to a maintenance program because it sounds like a good idea – and, well, it is a good idea. But contractors will lose customers if they end up feeling like they are simply paying the contractor to make an annual sales call.

The pre-winter checkup should be included in the annual maintenance fee, it needs to be done professionally and, more often than not, it won’t result in any further work at that time. But when the furnace, boiler or air conditioner does need to be replaced, chances are the contractor will get the work if they’ve nurtured the relationship over the years. Unfortunately, there’s no easy money in this industry.

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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.

NEWCOM Business Media Inc. 451 Attwell Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M9W 5C4 Tel: (416) 614-2200 • Fax (416) 614-8861

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POSTMASTER: Send all address changes and circulation inquiries to: Plumbing & HVAC Product News magazine, 451 Attwell Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M9W 5C4. Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40063170. Postage paid at Toronto, ON. Annual Subscription Canada: $40.00 plus applicable taxes, single copy $5.00 plus applicable taxes. Annual Subscription United States: $60.00 U.S. Annual Subscription foreign: $90.00 U.S. Copyright 2014. The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in any manner without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

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

In Brief U.S. contractor group enters Canada One of the largest U.S. independent contractor organizations has gained a foothold in Canada.

The Waterloo Wellington (Ont.) Mechanical Contractors Association has been accepted as the first Canadian chapter of the PlumbingHeating-Cooling Contractors Association, which has 3,500 members across the U.S. The new chapter will be called the PHCC-Ontario Trades Association.

“Being part of an international association will have tremendous opportunity for us,” said president Henry Jongbloed. One of the key factors in choosing to partner with the PHCC was that it accepted all mechanical contractors, he added. For more information, visit www. phcc-ota.org.

Feds boost apprenticeship in gov’t contracts Jim Thomas with one of the large Dana containers used to ship spent or outdated refrigerants to a hazardous waste disposal facility.

Refrigerant changes coming Governments targeting HFCs in next level of phase-out’s

By Bruce Nagy

reducing HFC use by 85 percent over the next 20 years.

Refrigerants with high GWP numbers would be targeted first. These could include R134a, R134, R143a, R227ea, R236cb, R236ea, R236fa, R245fa, R43-10mee, and R23. Reductions will begin immediately in developed countries like the U.S. and Canada; while developing countries will have a five-year grace period to develop alternative technologies and supply lines.

The winds of change are blowing some of the world’s most ozone damaging refrigerants out of our atmosphere; but where does that leave refrigeration technicians?

“There is a lot going on in refrigeration right now,” reported Jim Thomas, president of Refrigerant Services Inc., in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. “We were able to move from HCFCs to HFCs without Wholesalers can’t stock Replacements too much concern. But now it looks like governments are insist that alternatives that many refrigerants Officials going to move pretty quickly are available. The EPA has been to target the HFCs that have and contractors can’t keep them talking about hydrocarbons the greatest global warming (ethane, isobutane, and p o t e n t i a l ( G W P ) . T h e all on the truck. I think everyone propane) and a hydrocarbon problem is with replacements blend (R-441A) for stand-alone is looking forward to the day for them…” commercial and household European officials are when we can return refrigerators and freezers, very phasing down HFCs with low temperature refrigeration, GWP scores above 2400, to four or five types. non-mechanical heat transfer, which would include R404A vending machines, and room and R507. In the U.S., it appears the Environmental air conditioning units.

Protection Agency (EPA) will de-list these two beginning For air conditioning it is promoting HFC-32. In most next year (and are moving quickly against R134a, which countries officials are now pushing CO2, ammonia, is used extensively for air conditioning in vehicles). propane, butane and a number of blended products In addition, this year the United States, Canada, being developed and studied by chemical companies. and Mexico together submitted a formal proposal for The EPA has published a list of acceptable substitutes the Montreal Protocol to phase-down consumption for AC and refrigeration, which can be found at http:// and production of a larger number of HFCs. It will be www.epa.gov/ozone/snap/refrigerants/index.html. formally dealt with at the next meeting in November.

“Refrigerant manufacturers are working on these Details could change, but current wording recommends blends with lower GWP numbers,” says Thomas. “I think

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

A new procurement initiative will urge contractors bidding on federal projects to use more apprentices. On June 30 Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and Defence Construction Canada (DCC) announced Phase 1 of the program. Requests for proposals and invitations to tender for federal construction and maintenance contracts will include voluntary certification in which bidders agree to use, and require subcontractors to use, reasonable commercial efforts to hire and train registered apprentices and to fully utilize allowable apprenticeship ratios.

“Soft landing” for housing The trend measure of housing starts in Canada reached 189,784 units in July compared to 185,952 in June, reports the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

“The trend in construction has increased modestly in recent months due to in large part to multiple starts, which have strong variability from month-to-month,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC chief economist. “Nevertheless, CMHC continues to expect a soft landing for the new home construction market in Canada.” More information is available at www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca

the best they can do right now is about 1800, without moving to the exotic products like HFOs. The challenge with HFOs is they are flammable and very expensive.”

(HFOs, or hydrofluoroolefins, are chemical compounds composed of hydrogen, fluorine and carbon. – Wikipedia) “Supermarkets have now embraced CO2, but it

Please see ‘Gov’t’ on page 8

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

7

Q Industry News

Mentoring critical, CIPH members hear Strong support in early years lead to rewarding career for new chairman

By Simon Blake The Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating (CIPH) held its annual business conference in beautiful Kelowna, B.C. June 22-24. Over 240 delegates and companions attended the event, titled “Elevating our Passion.”

Mentoring critical Members elected Paul McDonald of Bradford White Canada as 2014/15 CIPH chairman. In his address to the group, he emphasized how important it is to mentor young people joining the industry, recalling that he has enjoyed a rewarding career thanks to Pat Paterson and others at Triangle Plumbing & Heating Supply in Toronto who did just that.

“I’d just finished high school and I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do,” he admitted. But at Triangle (now part of Desco Plumbing & Heating Supply), education and mentoring of new employees was viewed as critical to business success. “They were unique in believing that what goes around comes around,” said McDonald.

McDonald’s other priorities as chairman include working to ensure that CIPH continues to meet the needs of its members in a world of rapidly changing technologies, strengthening regional CIPH chapters and harmonization of codes and standards.

And as a dedicated hockey fan, he couldn’t help but note that he is the 67th CIPH chairman and his beloved Maple Leafs haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967. “I hope this turns out to be a positive omen,” he laughed.

20 years of support One thing that CIPH members have been passionate about over the past 20 years is their support for Habitat for Humanity Canada. The group has donated over $10 million in cash and plumbing/heating supplies to the group, which helps struggling families afford a home.

As well, it has directly sponsored 10 home builds, with a 12-unit town home complex in Burlington, Ont. this year the most ambitious build to date.

CIPH members honoured Case de Jong (Franke Kindred Canada, Midland, Ont.) who spearheaded the CIPH partnership with Habitat. He also served on the Habitat Canada board and the group is recognizing his efforts by naming a street in the Burlington complex Case de Jong Lane.

Business sessions Business sessions at the conference covered numerous topics such as wholesale distribution in a connected world and brand innovation. Keynote speaker Warren Macdonald spoke about setting and reaching almost impossible goals. The Australian mountain climber lost

8

Plumbing & HVAC – September 2014

It wasn’t all business – some CIPH conference participants bicycled along the historic Kettle Valley Rail Trail. his legs in a climbing accident in 1997 and, less than a year later, climbed Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain in a modified wheelchair.

There were recreational events too. Whether participating in the Ed Hardison Memorial Golf Tournament, touring the Mission Hill Winery, or

bicycling along the Kettle Valley Rail Trail over 4,000 feet above sea level, participants couldn’t help but comment on the stunning scenery at every turn.

The next CIPH Annual Business Conference will take place in Quebec City June 14-16, 2015. For more information, please visit www.ciph.com.

Gov’t eyes mandatory HCFC program Continued from page 7 costs more to install and there were some bumps along the road when they first tried it,” reported Dennis Larson, past Refrigerant Management Canada (RMC) chairman. “It was difficult to find qualified people and parts to service the systems, and CO2 wasn’t commonly available. But that is to be expected. The industry is changing dramatically. In the last few years there has been more technical innovation than in all of my previous 30 years in this business.”

He notes that some stores are also using ammonia in secondary loops outside the store. Ammonia continues to be a good choice for arenas and curling rinks. “There is a segment of the North American refrigeration industry that thinks ammonia will continue to grow,” he added.

HCFC collection Environment Canada is planning to toughen up its HCFC collection program and is seeking industry input into proposed new regulations this fall, with a view to implementing a mandatory program next year. “It’s been a long battle and it will be another great accomplishment,” says April Gucciardo, RMC manager. “The industry can be proud of what it has achieved through a voluntary program.

“The new regulations will give us some teeth so that

we can level the playing field between domestic players and importers who are not in the program.”

RMC is a world renowned, Canadian industry-led program that since 2000 has diverted over 2.7 million kilograms of refrigerant through producer levies, refrigerant collection by wholesalers, tank storage, recycling or shipping to destruction centres.

Too many refrigerants “The speed of change is a problem for the industry,” says Thomas. “If you add the old and new refrigerants together you’re dealing with about 50 different kinds.

Wholesalers can’t stock that many refrigerants and contractors can’t keep them all on the truck. I think everyone is looking forward to the day when we can return to four or five types.”

He doubts that will happen very soon. “We seem to be going in all kinds of different directions at the same time.

And there are some interesting new technologies too.

Smaller chillers and compressors, absorption systems that use salt and water in a vacuum, the new HFOs,…I’ve even heard about a process that uses electricity to create cold without refrigerants of any kind.”

Whether they are hurricanes, the winds of positive change, or a lot of hot air from governments, the refrigeration industry is pretty sure that for the next little while anyway, they’ll continue to blow.

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Q Industry News

Habitat Ride raises $12,700 had to scramble at the last minute to find that location when the original destination at Innisfail Beach turned out to be double-booked.

Sponsors, including Plumbing & HVAC Magazine, Grundfos Canada, Emco Corp. and Taco Canada, covered all ride expenses.

The Ride for Habitat is organized by Habitat for Humanity Canada and its Huronia affiliate, with

support from volunteers of the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) and the Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH).

Planning for next year’s event is already underway. If you own a motorcycle, mark your calendar for July 11, 2015 for what promises to be another excellent ride and an opportunity to raise money for a very worthy cause. For more information, please visit www.rideforhabitat.com.

Riders arrive at Knock Community Hall in Innisfail, Ont. Motorcycle riding members of the industry and friends met July 12 on a nearly perfect day in Southern Ontario in a fund raising ride for Habitat for Humanity. By the end of the day, once all the money from riders, their supporters and ride sponsors had been counted, the event raised $12,700 for Habitat.

About 45 people participated on 34 motorcycles.

Organizers were somewhat disappointed at the numbers. The last event in 2012 had drawn about 65 participants. However, HRAI chairman Marc Gendron and his son Marc-Andre came all the way from Montreal to participate.

Riders started at Habitat ReStore locations in Vaughan (north Toronto), Kitchener/Waterloo, Hamilton and Belleville and rode via various scenic routes to Knock Community Centre in Innisfail, Ont., which proved to be an ideal location with lots of shade, washrooms, and lunch. Barrie, Ont. Habitat officials

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Q Letters

Furnace sizing versus efficiency Oversizing doesn’t necessarily mean inefficiency, but thermostat matching is critical Editor’s note: Authors Brian Guttormson and Bob Bettles received this letter in response to their article on thermostats in the July/August issue.

Dear Editor: Good article… well done. I have a few comments: Regarding the low to high fire timings of seven to 10 minutes, in my opinion and based on a lot of research done by Skip Hayden (at National Research Council labs in Ottawa), high-efficiency furnaces reach their peak efficiency in less than one or two minutes and as such the conclusion that the furnaces are less efficient if they are oversized is a myth. Now, true comfort is compromised, but not efficiency. Also there is no damage of components since the components are stainless steel and can handle this.

It really amazed me as to how many high-end appliances are installed without proper matching thermostats so that the benefits of having that appliance can be maximized. The timing modes and shortcuts that manufacturers build in should be

Why would our industry want to allow individuals to marginalize their product and risk damaging their name and reputation?

eliminated. I mean, why would our industry want to allow individuals to marginalize their product and risk damaging their name and reputation? It never ceases to amaze me.

In closing, I do question just how far we are going with regards to the controls technology when we have

not yet reached an acceptable level of professionally installed systems and created a broad awareness of the benefits and reasons for hiring professional HVAC/R installers.

When people know what a HEPA air filter is and have no understanding of what an HRV or ERV is, or that the HVAC/R systems in their homes have the greatest effect on their energy costs and comfort, we have not reached the point yet where we can rest.

If there is one thing that will be a blessing and a curse it will be the entry of the consumer giants who have deep pockets and thousands of SKU’s to use our HVAC/R products as loss leaders, which (will hurt the industry).

On the bright side, however, they market and promote with a 100,000 contacts per day in print, TV, radio, in store, etc… and that creates awareness and educates consumers better and faster than we have been doing alone.

Keep up the great work and, again, thank you for the history lesson.

D. Brian Baker, president Custom Vac Limited Winnipeg

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Q Building Green Controls in the Richmond, B.C. Energy Centre are remotely monitored.

Municipalities look to district heating and cooling for a solution

By Bruce Nagy

Managing volatile

fuel costs

HDPE mains distribute water to and from the geothermal field and the connected buildings.

14

Plumbing & HVAC – September 2014

“Cost stability is the key,” says Alen Postalka, manager of district energy for the City of Richmond in British Columbia. “Natural gas prices are not stable over time. They rise and fall and will soon probably go up significantly. We’re already looking at alternatives like air source, solar thermal, solar PV and sewage heat recovery…With our mandate our projects cannot become an added burden on taxpayers. They are completely covered in the rates tenants pay. If we want to keep the tenants we have to be competitive.”

“Our distribution system is good for 40-60 years,” says Stephan Fevrier, mechanical systems specialist for the City of North Vancouver. “If we add one renewable energy source we can reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of 53 buildings.”

North Vancouver’s Lonsdale Energy Corp currently has six mini-plants that use a combination of high efficiency natural gas boilers, ground source heat pumps, heat recovery from building cooling, and solar thermal panels to heat hot water.

Richmond and North Vancouver are among many progressive cities investing heavily in district heating and cooling. Municipal facilities managers cite a long list of benefits, including operating cost predictability and savings as described by Postalka, economies of scale for capital investment, space savings, dependability (switching between mini-plants), easy adaptability to lower cost renewable energy sources, greenhouse gas

reductions, reduced maintenance costs, new municipal revenue streams and flexibility in future planning.

Providing options “It’s hard to predict the future. The best thing about district heating and cooling is its flexibility during changing times,” says Julian Boyle, manager of strategic energy policy and initiatives for the City of Halifax.

He describes an example in which a house is built with cheap electric baseboard heating throughout, then a few years later the cost of electricity goes way up and the homeowner is trapped. They might scrap everything and re-fit the whole house. On the other hand, if they had hydronic heating with a gas boiler and the price of gas went way up, while renewable technology costs fell; they may have been able to change the fuel source. “It’s the same idea with district heating,” says Boyle. “You can change the system for five buildings or 20 buildings without having to re-fit all the building systems.”

“Interest in district energy is definitely increasing, and for a variety of reasons,” says Ken Church, team leader, communities, at Natural Resources Canada. “A lot of municipalities want to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels, either because of price volatility or because their greenhouse gas policies are being driven by legislation. Sometimes they just want to locally retain community wealth.” Rather than sending budget dollars elsewhere to where carbon fuels are extracted, they invest in district energy infrastructure and clean tech, using local contractors.

Geothermal in Richmond, B.C. The Alexandra District Energy Utility provides renewable geothermal energy for space heating, cooling and domestic hot water for City of Richmond customers. When completed, this will mean 19 megawatts for 3.9 million square feet of residential, commercial, office and institutional space; including 3,100 residential units, a Wal-Mart location, other big box stores and a daycare.

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Tools HVACR Professionals Trust

Gas-fired boilers provide supplemental and backup heat.

The system consists of 385 for natural cooling because the boreholes, each 76 meters (250 jets overhead are too loud. “So ft.) deep, creating a huge geothis is pretty unique among It’s hard to predict exchange field, beneath a city district energy facilities,” says greenway corridor. “Everything Travis Kulak of Corix Utilities the future. The best thing is underground at least four to Inc. of Vancouver, the utility six feet,” adds Postalka. “All you about district heating and operator. “It supplies both heat can see (above ground) is an air and cooling, and it’s a huge cooling is its flexibility during field.” Kulak says the system intake valve header.”

High density polyethylene achieves the efficiencies expected changing times.

(HDPE) mains distribute water during the original modelling, to and from the geothermal field with two 75 horsepower pumps and the connected buildings. at 1750 gpm, two 50 horsepower Inside each building, controls monitor heating and circulation pumps, and three 500-gallon expansion tanks cooling requirements and modulate the flow of water located in the Energy Centre. from the utility. These, and the controls in the Energy Centre, can be remotely monitored. Heat pumps Challenges elevate water temperatures for heat or reject heat back “With the high water table, we did mud rotary drilling into the system for cooling. and kept the trenches fairly shallow at 4 to 4-1/2 feet During the peak winter season, the system is designed so we could work safely,” says Rick Nelson, branch to operate at a minimum supply temperature of -1°C manager at GeoTility Systems Corp. of Kelowna, B.C. (30°F). During the peak cooling season, it operates at a “We had to pump as we went along, but we didn’t maximum of 32°C (90°F). A 1.0 MW condensing, gasexactly do de-watering, which means you completely fired boiler is used for backup and supplemental heat lower the water table. That would have been very at peak loads. expensive. In some cases we did socket and butt (pipe) Richmond is located in the flight path of an airport, fusing on land then dropped the assembly into a trench which means that few buildings use operable windows full of water.”

GeoTility has been installing geothermal systems for a couple of decades and doing its own drilling for the past 12 years.

“At 400-plus tons of cooling and heating, it was the biggest field we had done at that point. There are thirty one-inch loops per header, with four-inch supply and returns back to the vault; and from there 10-inch HDPE to and from the properties.”

Nelson describes the risk that any of its systems might fail in the future, creating the need to re-open the ground, as completely untenable. “We go above and

The Richmond system has been designed with the capacity for future development.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

Please see ‘Attractive’ on page 17

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Q Building Green

Attractive economics suggest bright future Continued from page 15 beyond with testing. Our standards are higher than the industry standards. The guidelines say 6.0 gpm with a one-inch loop when flushing and purging, but we go to 8.0 gpm and beyond.”

They pressure tested each loop before and after installation, conducted pressure and hydraulic tests after connection to headers, did the same after connecting headers to the vault; then used a flush trailer for further purging and hydrostatic testing.

“Purging isn’t just for debris,” added Nelson. “You want to get any airlocks out so that you can achieve the expected efficiency.” Each and every test is documented and signed off.

Energy economics and conservation

saving, clean technologies, including big developers.

The same is true in the world of municipalities. Now that implementation of district heating and cooling is reaching a tipping point, all municipalities will be asked why they are not reviewing its numerous community benefits. Fuel prices in the future may be difficult to predict, but the trend toward district energy for municipalities is likely to grow for many years to come.

WATCO

Bruce Nagy is a Toronto-based freelance writer that reports on green technologies and solutions.

He can be reached at bruce.nagy@ rogers.com.

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Richmond tried to get the project going in 2005, but at the time they could not reach an agreement that made financial sense to development partners. A few short years later, much had changed, including the entry of a builder with geothermal experience. It is sometimes more difficult to plan and structure a district energy development than to build it. They typically involve city council approvals, developer cost sharing, numerous sub-trade specialists, separate operating and maintenance entities, and so on.

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It is sometimes more difficult to plan and structure a district energy development than to build it.

Nonetheless, says Church: “Municipalities everywhere are attracted to district heating and cooling – Vancouver, Toronto, Markham, Burlington, Calgary, Montreal, Whistler, to name a few – because the economics are attractive.”

As reported in the March, 2014 edition of Plumbing & HVAC, Dartmouth, N.S. was faced with replacement of very old chillers using noncompliant refrigerants at $800,000, and boilers at $300,000. Instead, the municipality invested $1.6 million in an innovative borehole cooling system that stores ice-cold harbour water deep in the rock until needed in summer. It saves about $400,000 per year on oil and gas costs, which will pay for the system in about a decade.

The side effect of increased interest in district energy is that a clean tech seed has been sown. The city shows that it can create something, so now it can ask large private developers to do the same.

Once they try it, private developers will begin using cleaner tech for all their projects. The implication is that everyone will be required to incorporate even more energy-

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17

What One Canadian University Learned About Zuba-Central.

And how this new study can lead to more satisfied customers.

Every HVAC system claims to be energy efficient. But how many of these claims are backed by science? Ours is.

An independent study*conducted by Ryerson University in Toronto proves that Zuba-Central: SAVES ENERGY With a COP ranging from 1.4 to 3.19, Zuba-Central delivers energy savings of up to 60% annually over conventional heating and cooling systems.

OPERATES EFFICIENTLY AT LOW TEMPERATURES Our advanced system design and innovative compressor technology ensures effective and efficient operation in temperatures as low as -30°C. IS MORE AFFORDABLE THAN GEOTHERMAL Zuba-Central delivers similar energy efficiency at a fraction of the installed cost of a geothermal system.

Get the facts for yourself and see why Zuba-Central by Mitsubishi Electric is the proven choice for energy efficiency and cost savings. *Study conducted by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Ryerson University: Performance Assessment of a Variable Capacity Air Source Heat Pump and a Horizontal Loop Coupled Ground Source Heat Pump System

*When installed by an authorized HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) installer. Certain conditions, restrictions and/or limitations apply. See warranty terms and conditions for complete details.

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photo courtesy of TRCA

Q Heating

TODAY’S COMBUSTION VENTING Reduced flue temperatures, new materials, code revisions are changing the game

By Roy Collver

I

n last month’s article, I revisited the topic of common venting of pressure vented boilers and it occurred to me, as I was wrapping up, that most gasfired appliance these days are pressure vented, so it is time to look at the state-ofthe-art in venting systems today. We aren’t just talking condensing boilers here. Forced-air-furnaces, water heaters – you name it – are all being vented with “non-traditional” This multiple boiler installation uses venting systems. What has CPVC venting. happened to traditional?

Well it hasn’t changed at all – we just have more choices now because of reduced flue temperatures.

Read through the venting section of the CSA B149 Gas Code and you see page after page after page of prescriptive text and charts – all developed over – well, likely a hundred or so years of trial and error and precise engineering for high temperature (over 250°F /120°C) venting systems. Then, in less than 30 years, low temperature venting and Type BH or “special venting systems” have become the norm – venting systems that

Please see ‘Lower’ on page 21

Traditional metal venting When I started in this industry, the people who taught me had not seen a significant shift in how things were done during pretty much their whole careers. What a difference a few decades makes. Venting of natural gas appliances has been turned upside-down.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

Metal venting has worked well for many years, but corrosion issues have arisen with condensing appliances.

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

19

Q Heating

Lower temperatures, new materials Continued from page 19 most of my teachers could not have imagined.

Condensing appliances needed venting materials that were non-corrosive and able to handle positive vent pressures without allowing ue products to escape (cool ue gasses just don’t want to oat up the chimney on their own). This was a very sudden change and the race was on to develop inexpensive new systems to do the job.

Improved materials Stainless steel alloys with gasketed joints were the ďŹ rst approved systems out of the gate. They are widely used with higher temperature power vented appliances – but their price is high (and may be one reason that these types of appliances have never become really popular).

Enter the condensing appliance. With vastly reduced ue temperatures, plastic vents become possible.

Early adopter appliance manufacturers made the call that ABS (styrene plastic) drain pipe was just dandy – even though the ABS manufacturers never endorsed that use. However, problems and code concerns caused ABS to be phased out and most appliance manufacturers defaulted to PVC and CPVC. Canadian code officials further mandated that

venting systems had to be tested, pushing the upper 90°C limit of CPVC approved and labeled as Type BH, certification as well. However, now certified to the S636 standard – a there is another option. big change (dig up my October Polypropylene (PP) is now widely 2006 article in this magazine). Like available in North America and so stainless BH venting systems, all far two manufacturers that I know components in a S636 “systemâ€? of have brought S636 certified PP had to be provided by a single gasketed venting systems to the manufacturer, who also had to Canadian market. Most contractors I provide installation instructions know have already used this stuff and and engineering information. All are quite happy with it – although of a sudden, you couldn’t just grab they were hoping it would have been any old piece of PVC or CPVC pipe much less expensive. The addition from the back of the truck to ďŹ nish of exible PP to both product lines a job. Many suppliers at ďŹ rst did not was a real bonus for many. If you carry enough inventory, but at least At least two manufacturers are haven’t used it yet (there may be they carried the same material from offering exible polypropylene, a few) I suggest you check out the the one manufacturer in the game in which eases installation. web sites – you will ďŹ nd some useful those early days. information, but be careful. Both sites may show products and applications that may not Pushing the maximum temperature be approved in your jurisdiction yet – most notably Cut to the present. A big concern in the boiler industry is cascade (multi) venting applications, as I covered in that vent temperatures can at times exceed the 65°C upper last month’s issue. limit for PVC S636 pipe, so the more expensive CPVC pipe has to be used. In reality – some boilers may be really Please see ‘Single’ on page 23

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September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

21

1874

1936

1996

2014

C.J. Smith establishes the company

A. O. Smith Patents the glass-lined water heater

Launches the Cyclone速 Commerical Water Heater

Cyclone速 Mxi Launch

Continues to Lead

UP TO 98% THERMAL EFFICIENCY

Provides fully modulating combustion to precisely meet demands. Exclusive advanced LCD electronic control, with built-in diagnostics.

Top mounted components include new spark ignition, quiet operation burner and blower combination.

Enhanced PermaGlas速 glass lining process that provides superior tank protection against corrosion.

For more information, please visit www.hotwater.com.

Q Heating

Single source supply Continued from page 21

System woes As I mentioned, most users are pleased with this type of venting system, with one exception – distribution practices.

Because these products are to be installed as a “system,” you cannot mix and match material from two different manufacturers. Unfortunately, the PP manufacturers initially entered the market by aligning themselves exclusively with specific distributors. At first, wholesaler “A” stocked PP “A”, and wholesaler “B” stocked PP “B” – and you were out of luck if you liked to do business with wholesaler “C”. Things have loosened up somewhat since the start, but the problem still remains.

As a contractor, you may prefer a specific product, but if your favorite wholesaler doesn’t carry it, that can Common venting is allowed in some jurisdictions, but not in others. be a pain. A bigger pain may be when you are out of town doing a job and you need just one more fitting to finish up, but the only wholesaler in town doesn’t carry until the B149 code specifically allows for common that brand. That can get expensive if you are not good venting of pressure vented appliances, code officials are at planning ahead. Hopefully, your favorite wholesaler really being generous by allowing it to be done at all. has come up with a no-charge re-stock policy so you The rules are very strict, and that’s a good thing. can make sure you get to the When it is allowed – it job-site with plenty of extra usually must be engineered “just-in-case” pipe and fittings and approved by the – but please don’t abuse appliance manufacturer – the Venting of natural it – it really does cost them materials have to be supplied gas appliances has been money to do a restock, and it by them – and they have certainly wouldn’t hurt you to to supervise, inspect and turned upside-down. keep some extra stock yourself approve the installation and (this stuff is just going to get the start-up. There is no room more common). for creativity on the part of It does get complicated sometimes. I get it that either the distributor or the installer. I have heard cases distributors may not want to stock two brands – but where an installer and/or distributor (because they they should be able to readily access the other brand if a might not carry that brand, or they think the appliance customer really wants it. On the other hand, contractors manufacturer’s price is too high or delivery is too long) really should support their favorite wholesaler and give – will try to cobble together a common vent system out their chosen product lines a good try. The wholesaler of a different product. Don’t let that happen to you – it has invested in inventory and training. Loyalty does likely won’t have a happy outcome. have many benefits.

Detailed instructions Ah yes – those detailed instructions. Some of the code officials I know tell me that, in general, installations have improved with the new PP systems – primarily because installers are (mostly) following said detailed instructions and using all the bits and pieces that have been purpose designed for things like support, termination, condensate drainage, etc. However, there always seems to be those – how shall I describe them?

– “independently minded” installers and distributors who think they have better ways of doing things. Not so fast! Remember – these are “systems” and will only qualify as such if the installation instructions are followed to the letter.

This is especially true with common venting. IF it is allowed in your jurisdiction, you can’t just decide on your own which product to use. Keep in mind that

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

A SIMPLE AND FLEXIBLE SOLUTION FOR VENTING MULTIPLE POLYPRO® LINERS Run multiple flexible liners in a single chimney or B Vent space.

M&G DuraVent’s new solution for venting multiple PolyPro flue provides a simple and flexible solution.

A great combination when you need to vent multiple appliances within the same space.

All PolyPro terminations and components are listed.

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USEFUL WEBSITES www.ipexinc.com www.duravent.com www.royalbuildingproducts.com www.centrotherm.us.com

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

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

23

Q Heating Modulating gas water heater Offering up to 98 percent thermal efficiency, the Cyclone Mxi 98 percent AFUE modulating, high-efficiency condensing commercial gas water heater from A.O. Smith adjusts the burner’s firing rate to a specific demand, increasing energy efficiency and dramatically reducing operating costs. An advanced electronic control with built-in diagnostics is iCOMM compatible and network ready for remote monitoring. Other features include maneuverability and ease of installation due to lightweight design, a helical coil heat exchanger that maximizes heat transfer and the company’s PermaGlas lining process for protection against corrosion.

A.O. Smith www.hotwater.com

Compact residential boiler The new GC144 from Bosch/Buderus is a compact precision cast Energy Star compliant boiler capable of delivering 85 percent AFUE. It is available with input heating capacities of 74, 103 and 132.5 MBH. It has a durable flexible, corrosion resistant GL180M cast iron heat exchanger and 1 1/2” wrap-around insulation for better heat retention and less fuel usage. A stainless steel atmospheric gas burner with electronic ignition offers precise premixing. The company’s AquaSmart control provides outdoor reset with a heat manager function that adjusts water temperature based on load.

Bosch/Buderus www.buderus.us

Even temperature distribution The A952E Energy Star qualified, 95 percent AFUE two-stage constant torque gas furnace from Armstrong Air is designed to deliver consistent heat with improved temperature distribution. It usually operates at low heat, automatically ramping up to higher heat when required. An efficient ECM motor allows precise temperature control. The company’s EHX technology enhances the durability of the heat exchanger, eliminating hot spots and allowing more air to contact the heat exchanger surface area.

Armstrong Air www.alliedair.com

Efficient fire-tube boilers The new FTXL fire tube boiler line for light commercial applications from Lochinvar offers five models ranging from 399,999 to 850,000 Btu/h. They deliver up to 10:1 turndown and 98 percent AFUE. These units are equipped with the company’s all-in-one Smart System control technology with a redesigned multi-color LCD screen and many new control features. It offers direct integration into a building automation system through communication protocols such as Modbus or BACnet.

Lochinvar www.lochinvar.com

Built-in buffer tank Navien NPE-A series on demand water heaters include the company’s ComfortFlow technology that incorporates a built-in buffer tank and recirculation pump to provide a zero GPM activation rate, eliminating the “cold water sandwich” common with tankless units.

With a return line, the pump saves considerable water. Standard features also include: dual stainless steel heat exchangers, 1/2” gas lines up to 24’ and two-inch PVC venting up to 60 feet.

Navien www.navien.com

Hybrid water heater The Rinnai RH180 Hybrid water heater combines tank and tankless DHW technologies to offer a 180-gallon first-hour rating and reduced recovery time as compared to traditional tank-style water heaters. It uses standard connections – including a 1/2-inch gas line, the same water connections as a standard tank and four-inch B-vent or common vent – for a fast and easy install. The unit also offers a controller with diagnostic capabilities, easy repair and component accessibility, and minimizes standby loss.

Rinnai www.rinnai.us

Most efficient The Coleman Echelon CP9C modulating gas-fired furnace and several LX Series furnaces have been named Energy Star Most Efficient 2014 when combined with the company’s residential communicating control. They had to achieve an AFUE of 97 percent, offer two-way communication with the system controller, automated configuration, and fault mode transmission. As well, the control translates diagnostic and setup information into plain text and provides access to outside temperature data.

Coleman www.colemanhvacdealer.com

Daikin adds gas heat option Daikin Applied has added natural gas heating as an option to its Skyline commercial outdoor air handler line. Installation requires only a single-point gas line connection and a controller, making the air handler virtually a “plug and play” unit, reports the manufacturer. They are designed for harsh weather conditions with a gasketed frame channel, double-wall, injected-foam panels and cross-broken top panels.

Daikin www.daikinapplied.com

24

Plumbing & HVAC – September 2014

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

Z - S E R I E S™ D E S I G N E D T O F I T. FA S T.

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Plus, purchase a Z-Series unit between April 1 and November 30, and get $300 toward a crane rental with each job, at participating Allied Commercial distributors.

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Compatibility refers to the existing curb fit and location of utility connections.

It is the responsibility of the installing contractor to verify fit for each application.

© 2014 Allied Air Enterprises LLC, a Lennox International Inc. Company

Q Heating

Fall

FURNACE MAINTENANCE

Offer your customers peace of mind with a thorough pre-winter checkup

By Bob Bettles and Brian Guttormson

The second technician on the site of this new installation will have to fix a number of problems – some obvious and some hidden.

26

W

Plumbing & HVAC – September 2014

ell, it is that time again with thoughts of the new heating season ahead of us. Some of us work on commercial rooftop models and others work strictly on the residential units, one home at a time. The theory of cleaning, servicing and identifying future problems and presenting those findings to the customer for approval is basically the same.

A visual inspection is always warranted and time should not be a big concern; after all it is part of your service program. Manufacturer’s manuals are required to be on site and within reach for reference

so the technician can look up flash codes, installation information as well as set-up features. As part of the maintenance, the recalibrating of the system is required by code and a temperature rise should be performed before leaving the site. Approved gas pressure test tags should be present on each piece of gas or propane equipment.

The gas line(s) should be inspected, making sure they are supported and not dependent or held solely by the unit. It is possible that supports might be missing or that there is not enough in place. Gas lines should also be leak checked for safety and any non-approved fittings should be removed and replaced in accordance with the CSA B149 gas code. Inspect all exterior panels and make sure they are secure. Any stripped or missing panel screws should be replaced and in some cases will need to be enlarged if the hole is stripped.

Newer installations too We must always be aware that newer installs, as well as older ones, can be bad, or very bad, completed by the “it’ll do” contractor. Sometimes property owners are looking for a savior or a different look-see as to what’s costing them money. Placing red tags or shut-off orders on the equipment may be necessary due to unsafe conditions that the technician recognizes as part of the due diligence package built into the B149-10 code. Do not allow any person to talk you out of these tag placements or to

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Vent terminations need to be checked and brought up to code.

Another poor vent termination. What was the technician thinking?

second-guess yourself. It’s you and your customer on the line and they are relying on your knowledge for safety.

the return of liquid condensate to the drain system within the equipment.

They can sag and the resulting pond or pocket of condensed water. Homeowner renovations may create issues as well!

It should be noted the pressure switch does not usually need to be replaced.

Once repairs have been made, it will resume normal operations.

Checking the AC side

as time progresses, increasing the temperature rise and the possibility of a service call for limit trips. This limit cycling will add unwanted stress to the primary and secondary heat exchangers.

Increased stack temperatures can develop, causing vent motor and/ or draft motor assemblies to fail prematurely. This must be kept in mind during filter selection.

Air conditioning season can also play havoc, resulting in things such as sticking relays, switches and contacts.

These electrical components may need to be spray cleaned for reliable operation into the following season.

The technician should inspect the AC Condensing furnaces evaporator coils. If a visual inspection is more critical not possible, then the next best thing is Condensing furnaces require a close to check the system with the furnace fan look at the vent system, more so than operating and the use of the static tips in years past. More and more problems and a manometer to check the resistance arise every year due to mixing newer drop through the coil. and older systems.

This will show the Pressure switch severity of the dirt failures are occurring built up on the coil. more often due to the Sometimes Further cleaning of closer proximity of the coil is normally an property owners are the pressure switch extra charge above the setting for looking for a savior differential maintenance fees, but safety, made by the can eliminate possible or a fresh look-see manufacturer. limit trips later into Typically, this the heating season due as to what’s costing flash code directs to longer run times. contractors towards a them money.

Of course, filter switch failure, but in systems must be most cases the switch inspected and filters is doing its job! This must be changed or cleaned. In past failure will present itself during longer articles we have covered and explained heating cycles. Our last heating season, the importance of the match-up of with many days at and below design the filter to the duct system. Systems temperatures, highlighted marginal are typically designed with a return air vent installations! These problems static pressure of .10 inches of water didn’t affect only particular models; it column or (W/C). Filters that are built depended more on the route chosen with a dense material will prevent some to place and hang the venting during systems from working. an install. These vent pipes require a For example, a filter density of 0.2” minimum slope of a quarter inch per WC new will become more restrictive foot (one inch every four feet) to allow

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High efficiency furnaces produce condensed water at or above .08 percent acidity within the secondary heat exchanger; this accrues because of the product’s ability to reach over 87.1 percent efficiency ratings.

This condensed water must be

Please see ‘Venting’ page 29

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September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

27

Think Competitively.

Think Thermal Sub-metering.

The innovation, best practices and benefits behind the sub-metering of central hydronic heating and cooling systems in new condominium construction are now being widely recognized and adopted. Installation within the fan coil or heat pump units means energy savings with no impact on valuable suite floor space.

Adding thermal to electricity and water sub-metering will accelerate unit sales given the increased market appeal of lower maintenance fees and enhanced unit owner control of utility costs.

Think EnerCare.

EnerCare Connections is the largest non-utility sub-metering provider in Canada and at the forefront of thermal metering solutions in Ontario.

We understand all the challenges – yours, the developer’s and the unit owner’s. That’s why we offer on-time, cost-effective, turn-key multi-utility solutions that require no upfront capital costs and come with attractive installation allowances.

Think about how thermal sub-metering, as part of a full-utility metering solution, will give your project that innovative, competitive edge you are looking for.

Contact us at 416-649-1890 or visit EnerCare.ca/thermal-sub-metering

Q Heating

Venting more critical in condensing furnaces Continued from page 27 removed from the furnace without affecting operation, so a condensate drain trap is usually located at the end of the secondary heat exchanger. These trap assemblies along with the furnace bodies have gotten much smaller in recent years, reducing tolerance for unusual operating conditions.

Traps that have developed a buildup of sludge or other materials will also cause pressure switch code failure trip offs. Even from the get-go, a new furnace can get plugged up when the byproducts of a new install burn off and deposit a film or oily residue. This will need to be cleaned; check with each manufacturer for approved cleaning procedures.

Dealing with rust There’s a good reason for regular filter maintenance. Where it hasn’t occurred, a thorough system cleaning will be required too.

Rusted components of any commercial or residential furnace are a problem. They do not come apart for service very well and operation may be hindered due to corrosion. Burners of either ribbon or in-shot designs

are affected by rusting, so regular descaling and cleaning is necessary during inspections.

If servicing does not restore the flame pattern back to its original state, then the burner must be replaced.

Improper temperature rise or over fired or under fired appliances can add to the shortened life of these components. Short cycling of the furnace due to incorrect anticipation settings may also increase the chance of excessive burner corrosion.

Whatever the case, a visual inspection with the use of proper instruments will be necessary to complete the product’s annual service.

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 Hot Water Heating

Success by Design, Part II

Building

reliable efficient systems Careful planning and design prevents projects from going sideways

By Barry Cunningham

I Pre-planning and careful design results in a tidy job that works as required. The design drawings for this installation by Bruin’s Plumbing & Heating in Red Deer, Alta. have been pinned to the wall, making maintenance easier in the future.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

n my last article (P&HVAC, April, 2014) we talked about making sure a hydronic system design was done before the quote, equipment purchase and installation begins. Okay, I talked and you listened … hopefully. In this installment we’re going to discuss how that design comes to be and what information the designer needs to properly size and select the system components. I will also try to show why the designer needs this information and what the consequences can be when we don’t supply it (or don’t supply it accurately).

So, first of all, what does a design

Please see ‘Meeting’ on page 33

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

31

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Q Hot Water Heating

Meeting the customer’s needs Continued from page 31

Spotting design errors

consist of? Well, ultimately it’s a collection of information, resulting from a series of calculations and the application of expert knowledge, which provides the installer the necessary data for component selection and installation procedure. Simply put, that means, give the designer the right information and he/she will size the boiler (or whatever heat source you’re

The manual method will also probably utilize some tables out of an old book.

It has to be this way because the rule is, if you can’t do it by hand, you’ll never know if the results you get from the computer are correct. Experienced designers can look at the stuff the computer produces and go: “No way that’s right! What the heck happened here!� and go back to the data looking for the input error.

I can’t tell you how many times I have talked to clients who didn’t get what they wanted because either the builder or the heating contractor talked them out of something they originally had in the plans for their dream home.

planning to use), pumps, pipes and heat terminal units.

They will also probably ďŹ gure out a way to get the water into the system, the air out and keep it out, they will size components to remove dirt and other contaminates, calculate the system’s fluid volume and size the expansion tank you’ll need. In addition, they will probably size and help you place the headers for any remotes you might have or need.

They will probably do this with the aid of some really slick software that helps them do this job faster and neater, but every good designer will have the ability to do this work by hand using a pencil and a calculator. (We don’t allow counting on ďŹ ngers and/or toes anymore due to safety regulations.

Picture a plumber in the ofďŹ ce with his boots and socks off and ‌ well you get the picture!)

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Having already spent a lot of time on it they may not use ‘heck’ as a descriptor if they have to do it again. Just saying. I know some designers. The ability to make that call comes from having done this work, often by hand, and by doing so recognizing when the design outcome just isn’t right. Without that ability and knowledge, the error goes into the design and ultimately into the building’s heating system.

Those critical details So what does the designer need from you in order to do their magic? Well, they need to know all about the space we’re trying to heat. No, it’s not enough to stroll into the office in your muddy boots and say: “I’ve got an 1,800 square foot house. What size boiler do I need?�

The best source of information is

a blueprint or detailed drawing of the building. The drawing will provide most of the information the designer needs to do the heat loss, such as the layout of the building, insulation values and locations as well as window and door sizes.

They will also want to know where the mechanicals will go, how much room there is and where the vents will go if the proposed heat source is burning fossil fuel. They will do a room-byroom heat loss to determine how much heat is required in each area in order for the building to maintain temperature during the most severe conditions.

The designer will then start to grill you on other necessary information, like what the end user expects or had

requested. Very often the customer has already decided that they want radiant oors or maybe it’s baseboard convectors or perhaps it’s a fan coil with air conditioning.

So at this point you need to fill in the designer on everything you know about what the customer asked for in their discussions with you. Or in other words, thinking forward to when the designer grills you, make sure you know the questions to ask your client so you have that information.

Meeting the customer’s expectations I always think it’s best to get the customer to tell you what their needs

Please see ‘Exploring’ on page 35

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Q Hot Water Heating

Exploring possibilities Continued from page 33

kitchen cabinet guys really know how to do this well.

Explain the possibilities and/or expectations are first. Then it’s your job to make it happen. There are always budget considerations and you probably have to qualify them a bit during your discussion to see if they are aware of the potential costs, but don’t make the big mistake of prejudging what they can afford or are willing to pay to have the comfort they desire.

I can’t tell you how many times I have talked to clients who didn’t get what they wanted because either the builder or the heating contractor talked them out of something they originally had in the plans for their dream home. I think that often happens because the one doing the selling is afraid the client will react badly to the sticker shock and punt them off the job or accept a lower quote from another installer. I say, if the concern is that you will lose the job because you are more expensive, then you need to sell the client based on what you are providing or offer them a less expensive option.

Be careful to point out the differences between the two quotes and stress the benefits of the more expensive option. Many people will choose the more costly route if they know what they are getting for their money. The

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Once you get the basic ideas of what they want, try to get some details that will help with the design. Talk to them about zoning. Show them how they can have a nice warm basement recreation area while at the same

If you can’t do it by hand, you’ll never know if the results you get from the computer are correct.

master ensuite? If you want to get a good referral from these folks, you can’t do anything nicer for them than warm towels and robes.

If making domestic hot water is part of the job, and it should be, you need to help the designer with sizing the indirect or storage tank. Look for that big-ass tub or monster body spray in the shower, and ask the clients if they were planning something like that. You have to plan for that in the design.

Oh geez, look at the time! We will have to carry on this conversation in a third installment. In that one, we’ll talk about the design itself and what it means for the installer, how to specify the components, decipher the data the designer gives you and explain a bit as to why it’s important that you stay true to the design during your install. We’ll also try to answer the question posed in the first article, when the guy asked me why they made all those different sized pipes if you always use the same one anyway. I hope you’ll join me then.

Barry Cunningham is general

time the bedrooms can be set at a lower temperature.

For some people that’s a real bonus. The attached garage can be part of the same system but be kept just above freezing. How about a nice towel warmer in the

manager of Triangle Supply in Red Deer, Alberta and a former chairman of the Canadian Hydronics Council.

He can be reached at BCunningham@TriangleSupply.com.

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

35

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Q Refrigeration This small freezer box includes three 1/15 horsepower evaporator fan motors and florescent lighting with low temperature ballasts.

Optimizing refrigeration efficiency Fine-tuning the load can result in significant gains

By Greg Scrivener In the last issue we had an overview of refrigeration system efficiency. We identified three components of a system’s efficiency in which we were interested: refrigeration load, system efficiency and useful output.

In this issue we are going to drill down and look more closely at the refrigeration load.

First, let’s define the refrigeration load as any heat (sensible or latent) that must be removed from the refrigerated space by the refrigeration system in order to maintain space conditions. This should be an obvious starting point for optimizing or increasing the efficiency of a refrigeration system. If we can simply stop the heat from getting into the space, we don’t have to move it; not moving heat is always more efficient than moving it! Here are some of the most common types of heat transfer that we need to consider: • Transmission (heat gain through panels) • Internal loads (forklifts, battery chargers, people, lights) • Infiltration and ventilation • Product load • Defrosts • Transmission loads

Losses through heat transfer Heat transfer through walk-in or warehouse panels is well understood and simple to calculate. It is also often

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not as significant as people think. The importance is dependent on the use of the cooler or freezer. What thickness of insulation to use should be determined on an individual project/application basis.

For example, a small 13’ x 7’ x 8’ freezer has 500 sq. ft. of panel surface if you include the floor. The end user cost difference between four and five-inch panels is approximately 75 cents per sq. ft. (Panel pricing is highly variable and should be checked for every job and analysis.)

Heat transfer through walk-in or warehouse panels is well understood and simple to calculate. It is also often not as significant as people think.

The change in heat gain from four to five-inch panels for this box size at peak load is 450 Btu/h. If we assume the freezer has a COP of 1.5, we need to use 300 Btu/h (88W) of electricity at peak load to make up for the difference if we used four-inch panels.

At first glance an extra $375 to increase the panel thickness seems like a good deal but, in this case, how do the numbers shake out? Remember that the 88W of electricity we are saving is only at peak load. How often does a freezer run at peak load? The answer is of course that we don’t know… they are all different.

Let’s assume our freezer has a load ratio of 70 percent, meaning that it runs 70 percent of the time at design conditions and is off the other 30 percent of the time. This is a pretty generous assumption in most cases. Over the course of a year our 88W penalty would turn into about 540 kWh. Assuming an electrical rate of $0.10/kWh, a decision to use five-inch panels would save us $54 per year for a simple payback of seven years. With the information we have used and all the simplifications we’ve made, it’s pretty much a wash whether to use the thicker panels.

Realize that we are talking about less energy than a 100W incandescent light bulb. If there is a freight increase due to the thicker panels (there usually is), if the thicker panels take more time to install, if the cooler is loaded less than we thought, or if the owner is concerned about losing six percent of the storage volume of the box (we didn’t account for the fact that a five-inch box is smaller), the payback becomes even worse.

I’m certainly not saying don’t use thicker panels,

Please see ‘Fan’ on page 41

Grinders and saws plugged in inside a cooler add to the refrigeration load.

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

39

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Q Refrigeration COOLER 1 Figure 1 – These charts show the distribution of design loads for three different coolers.

Internal Load 17% Transmission 25% Infiltration 35%

COOLER 2

Product 23%

Product 74%

Fan specs can make a big difference Continued from page 39 but merely pointing out that the savings are often smaller than you think.

Remember though, every situation is different and we could just as easily come up with an example that had an excellent payback.

There is degradation of insulation over time and all types of insulation can get wet, some with worse consequences than others. I once observed an insulated cork floor from a 40-year-old freezer being removed. The individual sections had to be lifted with block and tackle, they were so full of water. There would have been no insulating value left.

Internal loads Internal loads are present in every freezer and cooler. The two most common internal loads are lights and evaporator fan motors. Lights generally range from 1 to 1.5W per sq. ft. of floor space. On larger freezers and coolers this can be a lot of energy and there are very often retrofit possibilities for significant savings. In our little 13’ x 7’ freezer this would be about 140W. At the very least make sure the lights get turned off!

The energy (heat) that evaporator fans add to the space can be incredible.

A quick look through a couple different manufacturer’s catalogues shows that our 13’x7’ freezer could have an evaporator with three 1/15 horsepower motors; evaporator fan motors run 22-24 hours a day depending on defrost set up. The two most common types of fan motor in Canada are the shaded pole motor, which uses the most energy and therefore generates the most heat, and the permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor, which is slightly more efficient.

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COOLER 3

Internal Load Transmission 7% Infiltration 9% 10%

The third option is the electronically commutated motor (ECM). This option is becoming more popular thanks in part to energy efficiency requirements in the U.S., but they do cost more money.

In our example the shaded pole motors would require a total of 366W – 3200 kW/year, which costs approximately $320. If we spent some extra money and bought the ECM units we would only consume 1550 kW/year or approximately $155. That is a savings of $165 per year on direct electrical consumption alone and isn’t even including the benefit of adding less heat to the refrigeration load (which is actually what we are talking about here).

Once we make a few assumptions about the COP of the freezer and about how much of the electricity actually gets converted to heat, we can get the savings up to about $275 per year. Obviously there is a premium for the ECM motors, but in my experience the payback is usually less than two years.

(Most people assume that all of the electricity used by the evaporator fans is converted to heat either by the motor itself or by the air resistance of the fan.

Because it is a closed system (i.e. the fan and motor are in the refrigerated space), this is a reasonable assumption. On centrifugal evaporators where the motor is not in the refrigerated airflow, the blower adds only a portion of the heat.)

Other loads There isn’t much you can do about most other internal loads other than try to remove them. If your customer is charging forklift batteries in the freezer or cooler (which unfortunately is pretty common) or operating a conveyor motor, then they are paying for the

Internal Load Transmission 18% 20% Infiltration 32%

electricity almost twice. If they are okay with that, there is not much you can do.

To give you an idea of the load distribution of some coolers, Figure 1 shows three similarly dimensioned coolers with no defrost at a meat facility.

Notice that in Cooler 2 there is a very large product load; often in these cases

Product 30%

the thickness of the panels plays very little role in the energy consumption of the cooler or freezer.

In the next issue we will finish up talking about the product, defrost and infiltration loads and discuss some things we might be able to do to minimize them.

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

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Q Training

Saniflo, college partner on training Mobile classroom will bring training to the contractor

M

acerating toilet manufacturer Saniflo Canada, headquartered in Guelph, Ont., has formed a partnership with Conestoga College, also in Guelph, for the construction and development of its first mobile training centre.

Working alongside instructors from the plumbing, electrical and woodworking departments, students participated in the design and construction the training centre while earning credit towards their program.

“As a company that has strong roots in the Canadian marketplace, we feel that these types of

partnerships are very important for our industry and its future. Fostering relationships with top schools such as Conestoga is one of many such partnerships that we anticipate. We hope to engage in future builds

and projects, which will provide real-life practical applications to students,” said Ross Evans, national sales manager for Saniflo.

The training centre features five working models, a full product display and finishing products. It will be used at trade shows, training sessions and exhibitions for consumers, contractors and wholesalers to showcase the Saniflo line.

The company offers macerating and grinding toilet systems as well as waste water pumping systems for residential and commercial applications. For more information, visit www.saniflo.ca.

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torontohydro.com/AC Subject to additional terms and conditions found at torontohydro.com/business. Subject to change without notice. Funded by the Ontario Power Authority and offered by Toronto Hydro. OMOfficial Mark of the Ontario Power Authority. Used under licence. ®A registered trademark of Toronto Hydro Corporation used under licence. ‘Toronto Hydro’ means Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited.

Conestoga students build the trailermounted classroom.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

45

top performer

Industry-leading Genetron® Performax™ LT refrigerant is the clear leader in its field.

If your bottom line is a better bottom line, no other supermarket refrigerant comes close.

From keeping fresh food fresher longer to energy savings to eco-friendly performance, the list of reasons to choose Genetron ® Performax™ LT over R-438A or R-407A refrigerants goes on and on. Genetron Performax LT offers industry-leading capacity, industry-leading efficiency and low GWP values versus other popular supermarket refrigerants. This saves money in new installations and in R-22 retrofit projects. Plus, a mass flow that identically matches R-22, eliminates expensive expansion valve changes and adjustments in retrofit applications while maintaining superheat performance which protects costly compressors. So go with the gold standard. Go with Genetron Performax LT. Maximize Performance with Performax LT.

Brenntag Canada Inc. Exclusive distributor of Genetron® refrigerants in Canada Ontario & Western Canada: Tel. No. (416) 243-9615 Fax: (416) 243-9731 Quebec & Maritime Provinces: Tel. No. (514) 636-9230 Fax: (514) 636-8229 To learn more, call 800-631-8138 or visit www.genetronperformaxlt.com. © 2010 Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.

Q Engineered Systems

System commissioning in the age of

efficiency Operating savings from effective equipment setup can’t be ignored

By Bruce Nagy

Chillers in an arena complex were found significantly oversized.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

AT

city hall in a medium size Ontario city, some sections of the building are only occupied during business hours, Monday to Friday. Several years ago a rare event was planned for a Sunday afternoon Third-party commissioning often reveals a number of low cost or on the second floor. The HVAC control no cost operating improvements that can be made, says system was reprogrammed to cool the Renteknik’s Marti Foura. space for that event. Unfortunately the new setting was never put back to normal after the done to adjust for any of the building changes. It event, so for more than two years the unoccupied operated on its earlier settings, creating months of building was cooled on Sunday afternoons, before it was complaints and unfounded suggestions about the discovered by a third party commissioning company equipment, the renovators, the whole idea of the that was checking the operation of the system. expansion. Sometimes the reverse happens, with the In another city a system was building staying the same, but boilers are changed, or installed with no balancing air handlers or snow melt systems added over time, valve, just a hand valve. At without proper adjustments. some point someone opened These are only a few of the sad stories encountered the valve and for several by third party commissioning firms and only a tiny months or years – nobody excerpt from a long list of ways our industry can hurt knows for certain – the water itself when proper commissioning is not included in flow through the condenser the process. was twice what it should have been. When it was discovered In pursuit of design operation and corrected during re“We think if we flick the switch and it blows cold then commissioning, there were the system is working,” remarked Darren Cooper of signs that the condenser was Renteknik Group Inc. in Burlington, Ontario. “But likely to fail prematurely. when we give it a second thought, we realize that In a third example a operating does not necessarily mean working according building was extensively to the design goals of the system.” renovated and expanded, Over the years managers of large projects have significantly affecting the learned that including commissioning, in one way HVAC loads and settings, except that nothing was Please see ‘critical’ on page 49

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

47

When he reduced costs by 13% with a new RTU, he wasn’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, they’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.

Q Engineered Systems

A critical second look Continued from page 47 or another, is absolutely essential for preventing grief and for saving money, to the point where it is now included for many building projects of all kinds and sizes.

“In the last few years the owners have been driving fees down for architects and engineers,” says Bill McCartney of Isotherm Engineering Ltd. in Mississauga, Ontario. “So who shows up on site for the handover? Nobody. The contractors are not paid to stick around, so third-party commissioning is a real necessity.”

Pursuing efficiency goals Both ASHRAE and LEED requirements are also having an impact on the need for commissioning. And with building operating costs increasing, savings of 10 to 30 percent created by many commissioning assignments simply can’t be ignored.

“Sometimes you don’t have to do much to achieve decent results,” said Mike Beauchesne, senior commissioning technician at Inland Technical Services in Kamloops, B.C. “You might go through and find all

the filters have collapsed in the air handling units or a heat wheel that should last 25 years, but not if it’s all dirty. And any building that has a new generation DDC (Direct Digital Control System) offers a lot of potential for saving energy, just by making a checklist from the database.”

“The first thing we look for are low-cost, no-cost implementations,” says engineering and project manager Marti Foura of Renteknik Group. “After that we get into more detailed analysis.”

There are, of course, differences between commissioning a new HVAC system and “recommissioning” (if it was ever done in the first place) an older building. Still, in both cases the fundamentals are the same. The goal is to ensure the system is providing comfort and performing as designed, as expected, and therefore optimally.

A secondary goal with re-commissioning is to determine if times and technologies have changed enough to justify significant upgrades to the original system and then, if these are implemented, to ensure the upgraded system is operating efficiently.

“When we deal with the older buildings, we find that most of the chillers are oversized,” says McCartney.

“Everything today is more precise with BAS (building automation systems) and all the envelopes are getting tighter. And the BAS is a tremendous tool for troubleshooting too.

“In the old days they had fewer choices for sizing.

They were deadly afraid of callbacks and concerned about liability insurance, so they oversized everything.

Now the challenge is energy efficiency.”

Sensors are attached throughout the mechanical system.

Grant programs available Because third part commissioning can result in significant energy savings, some governments and utilities are offering programs to help building

Please see ‘Grant’ page 51

The energy use meter tracks operation over a period of time.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

Before and after test results may look something like this.

A chiller system test setup may look something like this.

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

49

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Q Engineered Systems

Grant programs available Continued from page 51 owners with the cost.

For example, Renteknik is helping owners with re-commissioning using a couple of grant programs offered through Ontario Power Authority. The Existing Building Chilled Water program is designed to reduce peak demand and provides up to 80 percent of total recommissioning costs, including 100 percent of the first diagnosis. A second program helps owners with the cost of equipment replacement.

running humidifying and cooling at the same time. In another project in Montreal they had installed an old HRV and were false loading the chiller to make heat they didn’t need…

“One of my worst horror stories happened in a chemical plant in Sarnia. They had a chiller, a big storage tank and a lot of steel piping. They were losing so much refrigerant that they had big regular

When we deal with the older buildings, we find that most of the chillers are oversized.

Green fever gone awry McCartney says that for the last 17 years (of his 48year career) he and Isotherm have been doing a lot of LEED commissioning and they sometimes find examples of green fever gone awry. “In one building we couldn’t find the original LEED commissioning documentation, but we did find that they were

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All Vitodens, all the time: Smart, compact space heating and DHW

The Modern Vitodens 200-W and Vitodens 222-F – featuring advanced Viessmann technology and performance in a small footprint.

VITODENS 200-W Extended application range with increased capacity up to 530 MBH 9 models with input ranges from 12 to 530 MBH Combine up to eight boilers in a single prefabricated cascade system.

VITODENS 222-F *Based on a temperature rise of 70 °F (50 °F to 120 °F). Information subject to change.

The company uses a commissioning package called ClimaCheck that was developed in Sweden. First they install a power meter and some temperature and pressure sensors, collect data for 60 days, then run analytics. “We are able to achieve a full thermal dynamic model. We can look at when compressors come on or off, overcharge issues, flow issues,” says Four. “At City Hall, instead of Module A compressor 1, then Module A compressor 2; we activated Module A compressor 1, then Module B Compressor 1, and so on…

“The sequencing changes helped them save more than 10 percent on energy consumption and helped avoid too much wear on compressors; and potential catastrophic failure,” says Collette Cooper, company principal. “At the Appleby Recreation Centre (arena) we helped them save 18 percent initially and anticipate this will be even more, because we’re doing continuing online commissioning.”

“In the commissioning game there are four seasons,” says McCartney “The construction guy pulls his trailers and gets his money, but we’re still here for three more seasons; to make sure the system works under all conditions.” Even after a year of analysis, reports, owner meetings, staff meetings and training are done, Isotherm and the other commissioning firms we talked with leave behind full documentation to ensure systems continue to operate properly.

“Extensive training plus operations and maintenance manuals are a big part of what we do,” noted Beauchesne.

deliveries of R-11 because everything they put in was leaking out!

“It shows you how important it is to have someone take a second look,” he added. “Commissioning started with public buildings like schools and then healthcare facilities, but I think now everyone has caught on. They used to see commissioning only as an expense; then they realized that they weren’t budgeting properly for big preventable problems, so now they see commissioning as an investment. And they see me as someone who is saving them money. And I am. You know, someone has to put together the big picture.”

Floor standing configuration and zero side clearance requirement 2 models with input ranges from 12 to 125 MBH DHW heating system comprised of plate heat exchanger and storage tank DHW 10-minute peak flow of 60 gallons with continuous draw of 3.3 GPM* (model B2TA-35 only).

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Q Engineered Systems

Better rules needed for engineering firms I spent some time last year working as a contract employee for a large consulting company and it was an eye-opening experience, quite different from the design/build mechanical business in which I was involved from the early 1980’s.

The people within the firm impressed me.

They are talented, hard-working and dedicated to excellence. Their drawings were done to a degree of accuracy so that contractors could use them, scaled off, as a basis for forming in place floor openings for pipes and ducts.

What surprised me most of all, though, was finding out about the very low fees that major consulting firms can command for such major projects as condominium towers and large public works.

I can only attribute that to the fact that in Ontario, and most other provinces in Canada, you don’t have to be a professional engineer (P.Eng.) to own and operate a company that you can, by law, call an “engineering company.”

Questionable qualifications As things stand, your local corner variety store owner can call his business an “engineering company” if he or she: a) fills out a form that indicates that a licensed professional engineer is an employee; b) gets that P.Eng. to apply, in the company’s name, for a Certificate of Authorization to offer engineering services to the public and c) though not strictly necessary, takes out errors and omissions insurance in that company’s name.

Now, would you expect anyone but a licensed medical doctor to own a clinic? Or a lawyer to own a law firm? Or a dentist to own a dental clinic? Of course not! Yet due to what I consider to be a loophole in the Professional Engineers’ Act, anyone can hire a P. Eng. to fill out some forms and he and his pals can then hang up a shingle.

I have had some experience interfacing with such firms and most of it was negative in the extreme.

My biggest gripe has been that, devoid of the requirement to follow the engineers’ code of ethics, they routinely cut corners, issuing drawings and specifications that are laughable in quality. They

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

Loose eligibility criteria results in poor project oversight

By Michael McCartney have devalued the status of bona fide engineering firms, all in the name of money.

Complicated process Engineering a building’s mechanical systems is a complicated process. It starts with liaising with the architects and clients to determine the purpose of the structure and therefore the client’s needs. Complex energy usage studies have to be carried out in order to determine the best possible solution to keeping a building’s fluids flowing and the occupants satisfied. Once a consensus has been arrived at as to the type of equipment to be used (and I’m referring mainly to HVAC systems), then the final design work is undertaken. It’s a costly, time consuming and labour intensive process.

Because of the tight constraints put upon them by the extremely low fee structure many engineering companies now have to conduct their inspections on a “random sampling” basis.

Post-tender, the engineers have to implement the project, starting with initial site meetings followed by monthly meetings and reportage, plus, and here it gets crucial, inspections of the installations for the sake of maintaining quality as per the intent of the project’s specifications.

Without continual, daily inspections of the work in progress taking place, there is no way to guarantee that the workmanship on site will pass muster, yet because of the tight constraints put upon them by the extremely low fee structure many engineering

companies now have to conduct their inspections on a “random sampling” basis.

Ongoing monitoring As I outlined in a previous article in P&HVAC, serious issues have arisen in many modern buildings, postturnover, due to shoddy installation practices. My article dealt mainly with the improper installation of bellows- type expansion devices installed in the risers serving heating and air conditioning equipment in high rise condominiums. Some insurance claims have topped the half-million mark and, in at least one complex, they are ongoing.

This is an issue that can only be overcome by thorough training of the pipefitters on site as well as effective, ongoing monitoring by the engineers.

To be really thorough, a field superintendent from the consultant’s office should be taking the time to visit a site on a daily basis. However this is not happening save for in very few circumstances, for example, in very rare cost-plus projects.

The companies that have chiseled down engineering fee structures have made it difficult for the “majors” to carry out these crucial site inspections and make enough money to cover wages and overhead costs. As a result, the quality of some mechanical installations has deteriorated to the point where, as in the case of some condominium residences, insurance companies are becoming wary of issuing water damage coverage policies except with higher premiums and reduced coverage.

We need to make it mandatory that in order for a company to call itself an “engineering firm” that firm’s ownership must rest with a P. Eng. or a partnership of professional engineers and NOT with someone who lacks those qualifications.

Only if this is made into law will companies owned by less competent, unscrupulous designers whose ideas of professional ethics can best be described as Victorian be closed.

The incremental cost increase to a project if a consulting engineering company can command a realistic fee, of the order of fifteen percent or more of the project cost, is minimal. The increase in job quality will be substantial, and when one looks at the issues likely to occur due to random site visits, or poor training of the trades involved, the higher fees will be well justified compared to the costs of needless repairs through the years.

The Professional Engineering Act needs to have its teeth sharpened! (Oh brother, we’re going to get letters – Ed) Michael (Mike) McCartney is now working as an independent design engineer through M. E McCartney Engineering Ltd., a company he founded in 1992.

He can be reached at MMcceng77@aol.com.

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

53

Q Plumbing

Today’s homeowners, who can choose from an incredible array of faucets, as evidenced by this “faucet wall” at the WaterFlo Kitchen and Bath Gallery in Vaughan, Ont., are less likely to put up with shortcomings in their DHW systems.

Domestic

hot water recirculation Bigger homes, higher expectations create demand for better residential DHW systems

By Sam Steele

54

Plumbing & HVAC – September 2014

One problem most homeowners face is the waiting for hot water to come out of their faucets. Not only is this annoying to most, but it also runs up the water bill while that initially cold water is usually just allowed to drain away.

One way to eliminate this waste is to install a recirculation system. A domestic hot water circulation system consists of piping and valves installed to make hot water available almost instantly at any faucet in the building, regardless of how far the faucet is from the domestic hot water or storage tank(s).

Both the National and Ontario plumbing codes state: “In a hot water distribution system of a developed length of more than 30 metres or supplying more than four storeys, the water temperature shall be maintained by: (a) re-circulation, or (b) a self-regulating heat tracing system.”

There are two types of systems. The simplest is the gravity type. The other is a pumped system.

Recirculation by gravity Due to a difference in temperature within a system, a difference in weight will result in cooler water to fall and hotter water to rise causing a natural convection current. As water is heated it becomes less dense, (lighter molecules move away from each other). When installing a gravity type system it is important to grade the supply piping up and the return piping down. Level pipe will not allow for proper circulation of water.

Water at 16ºC weighs 62.33 pounds per cubic foot.

Water at 60ºC weighs 61.38 pounds per cubic foot; this is almost one pound lighter. This lighter water creates a downward pressure of 0.4331 pounds per inch while the hotter water creates a downward pressure of 0.4265 pounds per inch of water column (1”x1”x12” LxWxH).

Gravity flow will occur as there is a pressure differential – water will flow from the area of high

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pressure to an area of low pressure. The water follows the path of least resistance. This is the principle of natural convection currents. Lighter hot water rises to the top floor and heavier cooler water falls.

However, this old system of recirculation may have been adequate for bungalows, but will not meet the demands of multiple storey buildings nor the requirements of today’s building or home owner.

Recirculation by pump

piping system, a globe or balancing valve is installed in the circulation return piping. The globe valve is partially opened and throttles the flow of hot water in the circulation line. The circulating line should be hooked-up as high as possible on the riser it serves, which is normally the showers, and tied back to the hot water tank or cold water inlet with backflow protection with a grade to the lowest point of connection.

If circulating lines are insulated, the temperature drop inside the lines will not decrease as much; therefore there is less flow. The greater the flow, the more expensive it is to reheat the water.

Pump circulated systems are the norm. When a circulation pump is installed in the domestic hot water distribution system, it will be installed in the return line pushing water back into and through the domestic Larger buildings hot water tank. Pumps are usually made up of stainless In buildings where numerous risers are located at steel, bronze and plastics, which will not contaminate different distances away from the hot water tank, the the water. One item that is commonly overlooked return flow velocity will differ as the temperature is a pump bypass. In the event of pump failure the changes within the risers and mains. The furthest and circulation pump could be removed and the system will highest connection on the risers will show an increase not be affected by a shut down. of flow within the re-circulating lines. The closest When the circulation riser to the hot water line connects to the tank will read less reincoming cold supply, circulation flow (specific a check valve must be One item that is commonly heat of water) therefore, installed in the cold recording a different water supply to prevent overlooked is a pump bypass. lower temperature at the the warm water that return connection to the is returning in the re-circulating main. circulation line from In order to resolve the circulating back into the cold water distribution piping. problem, all re-circulating lines should have the same If it did circulate back in, this unwanted circulation return temperature. Balancing valves should be installed could result in warm or hot water being delivered to calibrate equal velocity of gallons per minute (GPM) from cold outlets. In essence, you are creating a cross and temperature of each individual riser before they connection between the hot and cold water. return to the boiler.

Balancing valves are designed with a lock shield set Controlling the flow point. They have a positive memory feature so that they Most residential recirculation systems may only will reopen to the exact balance set point after being have two or three risers (a water distribution pipe closed in order to service equipment in the system. that extends through at least one full storey), so flow The soft seat provides positive, no-drip shutoff. Some controls are not typically installed. However, larger balancing valves are designed with built-in check valves. systems require them.

It should be noted that these pumps are not meant To control the rate of flow in the circulation to build pressure; they are installed just to move water

around. The code states “where the static pressure at any fixture may exceed 550 kPa, a pressure reducing valve shall be installed to limit the maximum static pressure at the fixture to 550 kPa (79.8 pounds per square inch, psi).

Keep in mind also that code also states “the maximum temperature of hot water supplied by fittings to fixtures in a residential occupancy shall not exceed 49 degrees Celsius.” This is to help prevent scalding, while the temperature at the tank is maintained at 60ºC to prevent the growth of bacteria, which may lead to Legionella’s disease. So provision has to be made to ensure the water coming out of the faucet isn’t too hot.

Sam Steele is a Red Seal licensed plumber with 30 years experience and a program coordinator at Humber College, Trades and Technology, in Etobicoke, Ont. He can be reached at Sam.Steele@humber.ca.

Incorrectly installed pumps resulted in an emergency call to the plumber.

Phasing pumps A while back the crew at Turbo Plumbing in Whistler, B.C. were called in to take a look at a new installation where the pumps were unable to keep up with the required flow.

“After inspection, we found the pumps running backwards,” reported company president Robert Szachury. “Did you know that a pump will flow 10 percent in reverse. Under heavy flow the system would not keep up. A phase rotation tool should have been used (during commissioning) and this problem would have been found by the installer instead of us.”

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

55

Q Tools & Instruments

E

very year Milwaukee Tools brings trade journalists from around the world to its hometown to see its latest offerings and to provide hands on experience. And every year the company demonstrates that it is getting every closer to its goal of a totally cordless – battery powered – job site.

For a company that has been making professional corded tools since the 1920s, it’s a major shift. That shift began seven years ago, remarked company president Steve Richmond.

“It’s no longer just about power tools. It’s about solving (jobsite) problems.” That approach has seen the company branch into everything from heated clothing to hand tools to test instruments.

It’s no longer just about power tools. It’s about solving (jobsite) problems.

Paige Bovard demonstrates a new press/connect system for black iron pipe.

Marching towards the

Milwaukee officials refer to their approach as “disruptive innovation,” which basically means staying ahead of the competition by introducing tools and other products to fill particular needs on the job site that are not currently being addressed.

This ranges from simply adding a loop to the thumbscrew on locking pliers – tradesmen have been welding on a washer for years to get more torque – to heated clothing to the creation of cordless tools that outperform the corded versions of some of the professional tools that Milwaukee is known for – such as the Hole Hawg and the Sawzall.

“The cordless Sawzall was used in certain situations before.

Now contractors will use it for day long demolition projects,” remarked Paul Fry, vice president of product management.

CORDLESS JOBSITE Tool maker continues to push power tool boundaries

By Simon Blake

56

Plumbing & HVAC – September 2014

Evolving battery technology Evolving battery technology has played a key role.

The company introduced lithium ion battery packs in 2005 and then launched its “Fuel” technology – a combination of battery, brushless motor and the electronics that control them – in 2012.

At this year’s event the company introduced a five amp/hour battery pack, which essentially allows a tradesman to use a cordless tool continuously all day with one battery change – typically at lunchtime.

Longer battery life and more power has been achieved by getting more out of each individual battery cell in the pack. However, noted Fry, these batteries are a standard

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size and it may be difficult to get much more out of them.

“As we move forward, this remains the weak link.”

Considerable effort has also gone into making battery packs water proof, remarked Andrew Lentz, product manager for hammer drills. Typically, water can get in through the terminals. Milwaukee has added channels that direct water out weep holes in the back of the battery pack, sealed off the latch and added a waterproof coating for electronics.

Growing product range Lighting is one of the new areas that Milwaukee has entered as it moves to provide solutions for all aspects of the job site. Harsh lighting can often distort colours.

Milwaukee has addressed that with a number of new workplace lights featuring the company’s “True View” technology – basically colour corrected lighting that makes colours appear natural.

“Having good colour rendering is important on the job site. The technician must be able to tell an orange wire from a red wire,” remarked Matt Zeilehofer, assistant product manager for lighting.

“People just work better under better lighting.

Therefore, productivity improves,” he added.

New tools Of course, the biggest news is always new power tools.

The company introduced a number of products aimed

squarely at the mechanical industry.

In November the company will introduce press tools and crimp connections for black iron pipe, adding to its current systems for copper and stainless steel pipe.

A new M-18 (18-volt) cordless bandsaw will cut up to five inch pipe – and six inch by moving the tool around the pipe. The tool will be every bit as durable as the corded model, using as it does 90 percent of the same parts, remarked Milwaukee’ s Bill McCormick.

As mentioned earlier, Milwaukee’s heavy duty right angle ½-inch drill – the Hole Hawg – is now available in

a cordless version that is actually about two kilograms lighter and will drill about 150 7/8-inch holes on one charge. Milwaukee introduced the single speed (high speed) version used by electricians at the event.

However, a two-speed version geared for plumbers – and capable of cutting up to 4-5/8” holes – will be available in 2015.

It’s an interesting time to work in the industry as research and development never stops. For Milwaukee, that means that the reality of a cordless jobsite is only a matter of time – likely a pretty short time.

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September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

57

Q Tools & Instruments Condensate sludge sucker

Groove cutting machine

Uniweld’s Sludge Sucker Maintenance Kit is designed to clean an air conditioning system’s condensate drain line. It includes the tools for cleaning a condensate drain line and cleaning coils without having to access the drain pan. With the use of nitrogen, CO2, or water, suction is created that pulls all the sludge and algae from the drain pan and drain line; then blows it onto the ground outside.

Uniweld ‹ www.uniweld.com

The Pace Model 1000 from MAG Tool is designed to cut speciďŹ cation quality grooves in two through eight-inch Schedule 40 pipe. It comes complete with eight collets, four high-speed grooving blades and a groove gauge. A one horsepower motor driving through a heavy-duty worm gear reducer rotates pipe at 22 RPM for most effective cut grooving. Optional 10â€? and 12â€? collets are available as well as collets for ductile iron and Schedule 80 pipe.

MAG Tool ‹ www.magtool.com

Easy handling

Lighter case Ridgid’s MegaPress Kits pipe pressing tool kits will now feature a new, blow-molded carrying case and are up to 21 pounds lighter than previous models, making them substantially easier to carry. The new kits no longer include pipe end preparation tools, which are now available separately. Kits are available in ½â€? to one-inch and ½â€? to two-inch conďŹ gurations.

RIDGID ‹ www.ridgid.com

General Pipe Cleaners redesigned Speedrooter 92 cable-feed drain cleaning machine is designed for durability with ease of use. A new inner drum is molded to surround and contain the Flexitube distributor tube to prevent cable tangling, while still allowing the operator to see how much cable is left in the drum. The Flexitube spring distributor tube allows the cable to smoothly feed and retract, even if the frame has been damaged. A grease ďŹ tting was added to the hub to make it easier to maintain the machine. The machine is also designed for one-person loading with built-in stair climbers. It’s power cable feed drives and retracts 3/4, 5/8 and 1/2-inch cables at a rate of up to 20 feet per minute.

General Pipe Cleaners ‹ www.drainbrain.com

Extra torque For years tradesmen have been welding a large washer on to the thumb screw on their locking pliers so that they could use a screwdriver to get more torque on it. During job site visits, Milwaukee Tool R&D staff saw this and decided it would make a worthwhile modiďŹ cation to the company’s locking pliers. Thus, the “Torque Lockâ€? series was born with a loop already attached at the factory.

Milwaukee Tool ‹ www.milwaukeetool.com

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September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

59

Q People & Places

HVAC/R contractor marks

MOTOR CITY MILESTONE the security of owning its building has allowed Ideal Heating & Cooling to prosper in the good times and survive the lean times.

The early years

Peter, centre, and Brenda Steffes along with John Murphy navigate the company in today’s challenging HVAC/R marketplace.

Fifty years of ups and downs in the heartland of Canada’s auto industry

By Simon Blake

60

Plumbing & HVAC – September 2014

I

t’s early in the morning as Peter Steffes heads over to the business he runs with wife Brenda.

The 56-year-old HVAC contractor likes to start his day at 5 a.m. so he can get a jump on the business of the day.

Like many small firms in Windsor, Ontario – the heart of Canada’s auto manufacturing industry – Ideal Heating & Cooling has been through many changes in its 50 years. The combination of free trade and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 – both of which caused U.S. manufacturers to reduce Canadian operations – have cost the city of 210,000 nine auto manufacturing plants in recent years.

The company, celebrating 50 years in business this year, operates in a dramatically different business climate from when Brenda’s father, Steve Fodor, founded the business in 1964. At that time the auto industry was booming and Canadians were just beginning to demand air conditioning. A Lennox dealer for 45 years, the company’s reputation along with

Fodor had been a sheet metal worker for about 10 years, working for Harold’s Heating, before he decided to start his own business. He rented a small shop in downtown Windsor.

Business was brisk from the beginning and Fodor was able to employ a couple of technicians. A Hungarian immigrant, he was a perfectionist and not an easy man to work with, adds Brenda. “He liked to do things his own way.”

In 1966 Fodor built a new 6,000 sq. ft. shop in a rural area on North Talbot Road on the edge of town. In 1978 he built the current 3,800 sq. ft. location next door.

“When he built out here, there was nothing,” says Peter. By that time Ideal had become a large contractor with 60 employees. It was doing large residential subdivision projects and installing 200 rooftop units per year on commercial buildings. Both buildings are still owned by Ideal Heating & Cooling, with the larger one rented out.

Fodor butted heads with the sheet metal workers union over the years, but in the early 80s the union dropped the residential sector from its contract, allowing contractors in Windsor to operate a nonunion shop for residential while maintaining a union shop for industrial and commercial work.

Brenda and her siblings were put to work from a very young age. She remembers assembling hundreds of dampers as a 12-year-old. She was promoted to making components on the metal shear until “I almost killed myself.” So it was back to the dampers.

Older brother Larry, who is now a mechanical engineer and the director of utilities and energy management at Wayne State University, just across the river in Detroit, was more heavily involved while younger brother Gary, who is still in the industry with a different company, was also on the damper line.

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Son and daughter Gregory and Lisa Steffes grew up around the business, but both have pursued university and alternate careers.

New beginnings Like any family business, succession planning is difficult. In the normal scheme of things, the company would have gone to the oldest son. However, Fodor was a hard man and after son Gary left the company and came back a few times, that wasn’t going to happen.

Steffes married Brenda in 1982. Neither worked in the business at the time. Steffes was a serviceman for a furniture store and admits that he was a little scared of his new father-in-law. However, he decided he wanted to get into the trade and Fodor could see that he had mechanical aptitude, so Steffes learned to work with “the tough task master.”

While the day-to-day operation can be a struggle, ongoing changes in technology make HVAC/R an exciting business.

There was only one other contractor in town that was tougher and that was J.E. Murphy, recalled Peter.

He remembers seeing him “rip a guy apart at a Union Gas meeting” – the Union Gas rep was trying to defend his company over its encroachment into the HVAC contracting business and Murphy was having none of it.

However, that meeting led to a lifelong friendship between Peter and John Murphy, who eventually took over J.E. Murphy Heating & Cooling from his father.

Although semi-retired, Murphy still works with Ideal Heating & Cooling from time to time, having sold his own shop several years ago.

Today’s reality Inside the back shop, the first thing anyone notices is that it is very clean with everything in its place. The

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Ideal has a full sheet metal shop. The equipment may be old, but it is used regularly and kept in immaculate condition.

sheet metal equipment that served Fodor and his employees so well back in the 60s is still very much in use and kept in immaculate condition.

Today the company numbers only eight employees, but the technicians are highly skilled and hold multiple licenses – sheet metal, refrigeration, gas fitter, for example. “When I send a guy, he’s well trained,” notes Peter. Some employees, like technicians Joe Figliomeni, Joe Rooney and Joel Myea, have been with Ideal for many years. Refrigeration tech Stephanie Cusmaik is one of the few female trades people in the industry.

With the auto industry no longer thriving, Ideal has to find its business where it can. Increasingly, it subcontracts for other companies like National Home Services. With lots of shop space, it also warehouses equipment for another company.

It’s a tough market. The close proximity to the U.S. means that Windsor residents are always comparing prices with those in the U.S. Today’s customer is more knowledgeable, but colder, adds Peter. “It used to be that they made us lunch; now they watch us on web cams.”

But at the same time, being in business 50 years has its advantages. The company is well known and much business continues to come by word of mouth.

Peter is a strong believer in the value of belonging to associations and networking with other contractors. He has been an active member of the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) for 24 years. He has headed up his local chapter, served as a director on the national board and is in line to become national chairman. Peter also sits on the Ontario College of Trades for the sheet metal division.

to accept, notes Peter.

When there’s a problem, it works well for both parties. The customer saves the cost of the initial diagnostic service call while the contractor can order the parts he needs before heading to the job site. Peter sees a bright future for Ideal Heating & Cooling and other HVAC contractors that become experts in stateof-the-art control systems.

It’s just one more thing that helps a business in a tight-knit community with a unique set of challenges.

“Windsor is a different market,” notes Brenda. “What works in London or Toronto won’t work here.”

A future in technology While the day-to-day operation can be a struggle, ongoing changes in technology make HVAC/R an exciting business. Increasingly, Ideal technicians are installing systems with smart controls that can be monitored by the contractor, something that both home and business owners have been more than willing

In one corner of the shop, Peter keeps a little museum of all the HVAC brands that he has come across in his years in business.

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

61

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Q People & Places

Wolseley raises $40,000 for Special Olympics

The grand prize winning team at the Ninth Annual Wolseley Classic were, from left, Perry Neumann, Wolseley HVAC/R Winnipeg, and Justin Habing, Rusty Radley and Chris Radley, all from R&R Mechanical, Warren, Man.

Sixty Southern Ontario Wolseley employees participated in the Second Annual Special Olympics baseball tournament

Wolseley Canada’s annual Special Olympics golf tournament held in Winnipeg June 4 raised a record $40,000 for Special Olympics.

Held at the Bel Acres Golf and Country Club, 160 golfers and 28 sponsors participated in the Ninth Annual Wolseley Classic, which topped last year’s amount raised for Special Olympics by more than $6,000.

On July 12, approximately 60 people consisting of six teams made up of Wolseley Canada employees stepped up to the plate to play in Wolseley Canada’s Second Annual Special Olympics baseball tournament held at Sherwood Forest Park in Burlington, Ont., raising $750 for Special Olympics Ontario.

The

People Flocor, Stoney Creek, Ont., has hired Pam Sovari as the company’s national purchasing manager.

Technician Tyler Pam Radkowski of Applied Sovari Systems Technologies Inc., Woodbridge, Ont. has won gold at the UA International Championships in Tyler Ann Arbor, Michigan. Radkowski previ- Radkowski ously won the Ontario Skills competition in both the secondary and post-secondary categories.

On his way to UA gold, he won the UA Central Canada Competition and then went on to win the UA Canada (District 6) Competition in Edmonton.

Paul Povolo

James Breckenridge

Terry Arcese

Jason Kitchen

Commercial HVAC representative HTS, Toronto, has named six new principals from its Ontario and Texas offices to lead the company’s growth. In Canada, Paul Povolo has been named senior sales engineer in the Toronto engineering department. James Breckenridge will head the automation and control department. Terry Arcese serves as a mentor for

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junior sales engineers and will continue his role as engineering sales manager in London, Ont. Jason Kitchen is branch manager of Ottawa and Sudbury.

Fairview Fittings & Mfg. Ltd., Toronto, announces the appointment of Roberto Verilli to the role of eastern regional sales manager, responsible for Roberto Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Verilli Scott Duncan has joined Desco Plumbing and Heating Supply Inc., Etobicoke, Ont. as sales manager. A mechanical engineer, Duncan was previously with Scott Diana Honeywell. Desco has also Duncan Di Carlo appointed Diana Di Carlo as sales and operations manager for its Water Closet showroom business.

Mike Miller, left, Taco Canada, Milton, Ont., has been named chairman of the Canadian Hydronics Council, replacing Sean Giberson, also of Taco Canada, right.

Harald Prell, president, Canada, Viessmann Manufacturing Co., Waterloo, Ont. was presented with the Canadian Hydronics Council Award of Merit for his contributions to the industry during the CHC Luncheon in Kelowna, B.C. June 24.

Plumbing industry honours Health Canada official The Canadian Advisory Council on Plumbing presented France Lemieux, head of the materials and treatment section for the Water and Air Quality Bureau at Health Canada, with the thirteenth Joseph K. Seidner Award at its annual meeting in Fredericton, N.B. Plumbing Industry Aug. 19. The award Advisory Council chairrecognizes outstanding man Kevin Ernst of contributions to Oakville Stamping & Canadian plumbing Bending Ltd., Oakville, codes and standards.

Ont. presented the award Lemieux has been to France Lemieux. an integral part of the standards development c o m m u n i t y , participating on several committees, task groups and industry advisory bodies over the years. She has been the key voice of Health Canada within the standards community in both the U.S. and Canada. Her most notable recent accomplishments were her role in the Council of Public Health Consultants at NSF, and working with industry to smoothly integrate the Canadian Consumer Product Safety Act into this country’s regime of regulations, codes and standards.

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

63

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Q Coming Events

SECURE SEAL A PRODUCT YOU CAN COUNT ON

One of the biggest advantages of a trade show is the opportunity to speak directly to manufacturers about their products, as these contractors did at CIPHEX West 2012 in Vancouver.

®

QUALITY AND DEPENDABILITY Manufactured from AL29-4C, a superferritic stainless steel designed for extreme resistance to chloride ion pitting, crevice corrosion and stress corrosion cracking, as well as general corrosion in oxidizing and moderately reducing environments.

Mobile app launched for CIPHEX West But new products remain the biggest attraction As technologies change, so do trade shows. A new mobile app (application) will give tech savvy contractors and technicians attending CIPHEX West in Calgary Nov. 5-6 full access to the conference program and a way to quickly and easily plan their visit.

The interactive guide, available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices, allows users to instantly find exhibitors, products and their locations on the show floor at the BMO Centre (formerly the Roundup Centre) in Stampede Park. It includes full information on seminars and workshops that the user can easily slot

Events

Calendar 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 1-800-639-2474 or visit www.ciphexwest.ca.

NOV. 13-14: Ontario Geothermal Assoc. Annual Conference, Taboo Resort, Gravenhurst, Ont. Visit www. ontariogeothermal.ca for more information.

DEC. 3-5: Construct Canada, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, Toronto. Visit www.constructcanada.com or call (416) 512-3815.

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into the calendar on their phone.

In fact, the app allows visitors to quickly and easily create an Expo Plan with the exhibitors they want to see, the seminars they want to attend and to make notes on products and seminars. It is available free on the show website at www.ciphexwest.ca.

New products on display Whether the visitor is tech savvy or not, one thing that hasn’t changed is that an incredible array of mechanical industry products will be displayed and the contractor will have an opportunity to speak directly to the manufacturers.

Products categories at this edition of CIPHEX West, which last occurred in Calgary in 2010, will include plumbing, hydronic heating, forced air heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, solar, geothermal, water treatment, pipes, valves & fittings, fire protection, kitchen and bath, industrial, tools and equipment, trucks and software. Over 250 exhibitors are expected to participate.

Some of the industry’s most cutting edge technologies will be displayed in the New Product Gallery, which this year is expected to feature about 60 exhibits.

The Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating (CIPH), which organizes the show, has announced a competition for wholesaler staff where the individual that “recruits” the most contractors and technicians to attend CIPHEX West will win a tablet computer, reported show chairman Dustin Tamblyn of Emco.

Visitors can also register online.

The show will be co-located at the Roundup Centre with Buildex Canada, so all CIPHEX visitors can also attend Buildex with the same registration, which is free prior to the show.

As reported in the last issue of P&HVAC, there is an extensive seminar schedule covering topics such as hydronic heating, water treatment, codes, pipe sizing, mould remediation, LEED and social media. In fact this edition of CIPHEX West will include a fullblown hydronics conference with speakers such at Dan Holohan, Robert Bean and John Siegenthaler.

For more information, please visit www.ciphexwest. ca or call CIPH show manager Elizabeth McCullough at 1-800-639-2474.

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65

No, it’s not the latest summer blockbuster.

It’s what we strive to provide the first time you call us.

Of all the reasons John Wood® water heaters have been trusted by contractors like you for over 50 years, none is more important than our commitment to service. Sure, our ENERGY STAR® water heaters are designed for years of trouble-free, high-efficiency operation and tested for the Canadian climate. But it’s our Care Technicians, our John Wood Dedicated Contractor Line 1-866-208-8367 and our First Call, Final Resolution philosophy of resolving most issues on your first call that truly sets us apart.

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Q Shop Management starting point. Building in a few questions pertaining to how employees feel about their job and the company can also provide insight into levels of employee engagement and how it can be improved.

For a sample performance review form from Carswell Best Practices: Human Resources Forms Toolkit, please email ezhr@hrpa.ca with “performance review” in the subject line.

The next step is for the manager to have a simple conversation with each employee to discuss what they are currently doing, what the business’s objectives are, and what needs to be modified to optimize success.

These conversations should be documented as they then provide a roadmap and a tool to track progress over the agreed upon time.

Aligning goals Performance reviews should not be a dreaded annual event; rather, they should be part of an ongoing process.

As business goals change over the year, individual goals and objectives should also be evaluated and updated to ensure alignment.

Performance reviews

Do they make sense for a small business?

By Gerlinde Herrmann

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

E

mployee performance reviews are key to employee Regular, less formal conversations with employees development and performance management. should be held to discuss how they feel they are doing A regular discussion between employee and and to assist in identifying and removing obstacles. manager on performance provides an opportunity These conversations could happen monthly, quarterly, to discuss job performance, set goals, establish semi-annually, depending on what works for your objectives for contributing to the business and organization. Following this process will alleviate some discuss expectations and accomplishments. the stress of the more formal annual review as there will However, many small businesses are reluctant to be fewer surprises with issues, challenges, and successes have a formal performance review process. While already documented throughout the year. they understand there is An effective performance a potential upside for the management process enables business, it can seem complex effective goal setting that Performance reviews and overwhelming. As there should ultimately contribute is often no dedicated human should not be a dreaded annual to both individual and resources manager, the task corporate success. Regularly of establishing and organizing event; rather, they should be part tracking progress against the process is left to performance goals also of an ongoing process. individuals—often the owner provides the opportunity or office manager—who are to recognize and reward unsure on how to proceed employees for performance with a performance review. and exceptional effort contributing to their job Some of the things that attract employees to small satisfaction and productivity. businesses are opportunities to have a clearer line of sight Employees want to do well at their jobs and feel they to the business, the potential for expanded roles, broader are successfully contributing to the organization. responsibilities, personal development opportunities, and the desire to be part of building the business. Goal setting and performance reviews provide a perfect Gerlinde Herrmann is the opportunity to highlight the link between individual founder and president of The roles and the impact they can have on the business.

Herrmann Group Limited, a human resources consulting firm based in Toronto. She can be reached at info@ Simple process herrmanngroup.com. The Human The process doesn’t need to be complicated. A Resources Professionals Association simple form with a checklist of an employee’s goals, (www.HRPA.ca) provided this article. responsibilities and performance measures is a good

September 2014 – Plumbing & HVAC

67

Q Shop Management

themselves for succession and are seeking further guidance in this regard. And a surprising number of the business owners appear to have very unrealistic expectations of the value of their businesses.

The majority of the businesses have 10 or fewer employees. In these cases the owners are very “hands-on” in their businesses and therefore are an integral part of the success of those businesses.

Seventy-four percent of the owners want to retire within the next ten years.

Overcoming the issues identified by the survey takes time and effort. The negative effects of these issues can be mitigated.

Fire yourself

Step one of succession planning is to get everything ship shape at the shop

By Ron Coleman

68

Plumbing & HVAC – September 2014

I

n 2012 the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) commissioned a succession survey that highlighted many concerns within the construction industry in British Columbia.

In all, 102 responses, being a cross section of trade and size, were received from throughout the province.

Key findings included: • Sixty-nine percent of owners are at least 50 years of age.

• Fifty-seven percent have been in business longer than 16 years.

• Sixty-two percent have 10 or fewer employees.

• Thirty-five percent want to exit within five years; another 39 percent in the ensuing five years.

• Twenty-three percent will sell to a family member, 67 percent to a non-family member and ten percent will stay on in business.

• Fourteen percent expect to get between $300,000 and $500,000 for their businesses.

• Fifty-six percent expect to get more than $500,000 for their businesses.

• Three percent have a formal written plan.

• Forty-one percent have an informal unwritten plan.

• Fifty-six percent have no plan.

• Thirty-four percent of those with a plan (written and unwritten) got advice from their accountants.

• Seventy-two percent would like to be informed of opportunities to assist with business transition.

The survey results show that most of the businesses have made no significant attempts at preparing

The first step in preparing your business for sale is to establish the right mindset. When the sale of the business is not one of your top priorities, it will keep getting pushed to the sidelines as many other more urgent matters take priority. I didn’t say more important, I said more urgent. We let other people make their priorities our priorities.

Imagine how the business would run without your everyday presence. Give yourself three months’ notice and fire yourself. Identify what you would do if you only had three months to make the business independent of you. Identify the tasks you do. Document how they are done and start training others to take on those tasks.

A surprising number of the business owners appear to have very unrealistic expectations of the value of their businesses.

For example, if you are the company estimator, break down the estimating role into its relevant tasks.

Instead of saying I need someone to do the estimating, maybe you can start delegating some of those tasks to a junior person within the company or bring on a junior. You don’t need to bring on someone with your expertise. You can save a lot of money by delegating this task by task. However, make sure you document each task before delegating it and also ensure that you have performance indicators that will alert you if the tasks

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Q Shop Management

Make the business run without you Continued from page 68

Now

are not being done in a timely and accurate manner.

By taking this approach you will have a much greater opportunity of staying in control and developing an infrastructure that suits you, your company and the people in the company.

The primary reason people fail to delegate is that they fear they will lose control when they delegate.

If you take the attitude that “if you want something done right do it yourself” then you will never grow a successful business. The biggest stumbling block for most owner/managers is letting go; this is because they can’t seem to do so without losing control.

Another way of looking at your business is to think of it like a franchise – franchises are built around structure and systems.

Your role must be that of a teacher. You should go to work not to do the work of the business but to teach others to do so.

Stick to the plan Ask yourself these three questions every day: • Are the decisions I have made today been based on my three-month plan?

• Did everything I have done today move the process forward?

• What can I do better tomorrow?

You should also be encouraging your managers to

Sales

2,900,000

Direct job costs

1,850,000

63.8%

2,213,327

59.8%

Gross profit

1,050,000

36.2%

1,487,889

40.2%

Overhead

850,000

29.3%

1,000,000

27.0%

Pre-tax profit

200,000

6.9%

487,889

13.2%

Valuation multiplier Value of business

3

600,000

1,463,667

Increase in value do the same. As you monitor their progress you will be able to determine who your weaker team members are. I know it’s no fun, but they need to be replaced with more competent people. The buyer is buying your people, so make sure you have the right people with the right skills doing the right tasks.

Other strategies to follow include: • Drop your weak customers • Drop your unreliable suppliers • Identify and drop unprofitable work

ADVERTISERS

70

Plumbing & HVAC – September 2014

MAG Tool ................................................... 43 Mitsubishi Electric ....................................... 18 Mobilio ......................................................... 5 Napoleon .................................................... 12 Navien .......................................................... 9 Noritz ......................................................... 34 NTI.............................................................. 38 Ontario Power Authority ............................ 48* P&HVAC .................................................... 28+ Raptor Cutting Tools ................................... 54 RIDGID........................................................ 72 Robertshaw ................................................ 29 Saniflo ........................................................ 50 Security Chimneys....................................... 65 Smiths ........................................................ 32 Taco ............................................................. 2 Toronto Hydro ........................................... 45* Uponor Ltd. ................................................ 40 Victaulic ...................................................... 11 Viega .......................................................... 71 Viessmann ............................................ 30, 51 Viqua .......................................................... 42 Watco Mfg. ................................................ 17 Williams Furnace Co. .................................. 24 Woodford Mfg. .......................................... 62 Zoeller ........................................................ 35 *Ontario only

3,701,217

3

INDEX to

A.O. Smith .................................................. 22 AHR Expo ................................................... 69 Allied Air................................................... 25* Bibby Ste. Croix .......................................... 58 Bosch Thermotechnology ............................ 20 Bradford White ........................................... 13 Brant Radiant .............................................. 43 Bristol Sinks ................................................ 10 Canada Post ............................................... 64 Canadian Water Quality ............................. 45+ Cash Acme ................................................. 57 CIPHEX West ............................................. 25+ Dettson....................................................... 27 Eco-King ..................................................... 33 EnerCare................................................... 28* Duravent..................................................... 23 Fantech....................................................... 41 Fieldpiece.................................................... 15 Ford ............................................................ 52 Fujitsu ......................................................... 44 General Pipe Cleaners ................................... 6 Honeywell/Genetron Div. ........................... 46 IBC Boilers .................................................... 4 ICP Canada ................................................. 21 IPEX ................................................ 16, 36, 37 John Wood ................................................. 66 Liberty Pumps ............................................. 59

Five Years

863,667 • Increase your prices • Provide added value to your services • Expand the service side of your business where possible • Involve your key employees in the performance of the business All these activities will help enhance the value of the goodwill in your business.

Here’s how to find yourself a great job when you fire yourself. Rehire yourself as the business development officer and stay out of the day-to-day operations and here’s your job description: • Increase your selling prices each year by two percent.

• Increase your annual sales volume by three percent.

• Your sales will grow by five percent annually • Reduce your job costs by two percent – improve efficiency and buy better.

• Your gross profit will be four percent higher – due to two percent price increases and two percent lower job costs.

• Increase overhead by $150,000 to cover the increase in management costs.

For every dollar in value before, your business is now worth $2.44. This increases your nest egg from $600,000 to $1.4 million. In addition, and here is the fun part, your profits are increasing each year. Again in the above example you will likely make an additional half-million in profits over the five years. Thus your next egg will be close to $2 million. So, tell me, what’s stopping you?

Go ahead give yourself three months’ notice. Identify your role for those three months and make it happen.

Then rehire yourself as Business Development Director and give yourself a salary increase.

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.

+ Outside Ontario only

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Does a traditional solder system really cost less than Viega ProPress ? ®

Do the + Math That depends on what you call a traditional solder system. If you’re talking about only the fittings, yes, but pipe joining is more than just fittings. It’s the connection – the pipe, fittings, flux, solder, fire permits, labor to install and more. Count the costs of all your consumables and your labor and you’ll save on your total job costs with Viega ProPress.

It all adds up at www.do-the-math.us 1-800-976-9819

The global leader in plumbing, heating and pipe joining systems

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RIDGID COMPACT2 INSPECTION SYSTEM Introducing our CS6Pak digital recording monitor and Compact2 camera reel.

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