Announcements

THE CANADIAN HEALTHCARE Engineering Society (CHES) and the International Federation of Healthcare Engineering’s (IFHE) executive committee invite you all to plan a trip to Toronto, to attend IFHE’s 27th Congress. For five days, from Sept. 17-21, you will have the opportunity to share knowledge, learn and network with colleagues from around the world.

The Congress will take place in the city’s downtown core at harbourfront hotel Westin Harbour Castle, which overlooks Lake Ontario. Nearby is the location of the opening reception, the Hockey Hall of Fame — home of the Stanley Cup and the finest collection of hockey artifacts in the world.

The theme of the congress is Unleashing Innovation: Healthcare Engineering Excellence. There will be two keynote speakers: Hayley Wickenheiser (Day 1) and David Williams (Day 2). Now a physician and senior director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Wickenheiser is a former women’s national ice hockey player who represented Canada at the Winter Olympics five times, capturing four gold medals and one silver medal. David Williams is a former NASA astronaut and physician. Most recently, he served as Ontario’s chief medical officer of health from 20152021, navigating the province through much of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to this stellar keynote lineup, three tracks of educational presentations are planned with speakers from around the globe.

On the social side, there will be a gala banquet on the evening of Sept. 19 at one of Toronto’s few heritage complexes, the Liberty Grand. Located just minutes from Westin Harbour Castle along the city’s waterfront, the historic building exudes traditional early 1900s elegance. In addition to this, the companion program includes two tours — one in nearby Niagara Falls and surrounding wine country, and the other of downtown Toronto. An optional golf game is also planned for the morning of Sept. 18, for those that are interested.

On the last day of the congress, technical tours will be offered of three healthcare facilities: University of Toronto-affiliated Hospital for Sick Children, Canada’s most research-intensive hospital and the second largest paediatric research hospital in the world; Humber River Hospital, North America’s first all-digital hospital known worldwide for its high-tech building systems and achieving unprecedented energy efficiency targets; and Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital, a complex care and rehabilitation hospital formerly known as Bridgepoint Active Healthcare.

One of the most anticipated moments of the congress is the awards ceremony. In addition to our regular annual CHES awards presentation, awards will be given in two newly IFHEcreated categories: the Global Healthcare Energy awards, which honour healthcare facilities for reducing their energy use, and the International Building award. Details about these inaugural awards are available on the CHES website, along with information on how to apply.

For more information on the 2022 IFHE Congress, visit www.ifhe2022.org, www.ches.org or www.ifhe.info. Any questions can be directed to steve.rees@ahs.ca.

LONG-TERM COMFORT & CARE

At Kensington Gardens, healthy living and energy savings are achieved in unison, ensuring the deserving residents and community at large reap the rewards of a well-maintained facility

Kensington Gardens is a not-for-profit long-term care home located in the heart of Toronto’s Kensington Market. Serving the needs of 350 vulnerable residents and their families, the facility has an impressive reputation for providing high-level care in a clean and healthy building environment.

For more than 15 years, Black & McDonald has proudly delivered maintenance and management services to the facility, backed by the resources of its Facility Services and Energy and Sustainability Services teams. Improving occupant comfort and safety has always been the main goal, and doing so in a way that improves energy efficiency frees up funds to allow for further reinvestment into occupant care while simultaneously lowering the facility’s carbon footprint.

“The knowledge and experience we’ve gained from working with numerous long-term care and senior living facilities has helped us develop processes and methodologies that are proven to work,” said Stephen Jones, Black & McDonald’s Senior Operations Manager for the Healthcare and Research portfolio. “Recently, COVID-19 has created additional risks for seniors and the LTC sector, making Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) more important than ever. One of our priorities at Kensington Gardens has been to help implement the solutions that best work to minimize these risks, while also benefiting the client through improved energy savings and consistent equipment reliability.”

Through its comprehensive facilities services, Black & McDonald has contributed to Kensington’s Garden’s stellar reputation as a leading long-term care provider in Toronto. Ongoing services provided at the facility include:

BUILDING CONDITION ASSESSMENTS & LIFE-CYCLE TOOLS Conducted annually, Building Condition Assessments take in account all electrical, mechanical, and structural assets to establish an overview of a building’s health. The results from these regular assessments are then used to create a comprehensive budgetary tool for future retrofit planning. Through its 2020 assessment, Black & McDonald was able to identify the need for a Make-up Air Unit replacement project. A winning investment for the tenants and client alike, the installation of the two new units in 2021 has led to improved air quality at the facility and significantly lower natural gas bills.

Black & McDonald has sophisticated life-cycle tools and technologies, which are employed to give detailed insight into the facility including equipment condition, performance, utilities and energy consumption to name a few. Providing critical insight into the service life of more than 300 major building components, these tools enable Black & McDonald to determine the optimal time to replace key building parts, thereby improving energy efficiency and saving money over the long term.

INCENTIVES & FUNDING For most retrofit projects to gain traction and become a reality, sourcing funding, and applying for incentives are critical components of the process. Long before executing the Make-up Air Units replacement project, Black & McDonald began working with Kensington Gardens to allocate funding and identify government incentive programs that would assist with the financing of the two new units. From application through to approval, Black & McDonald managed each step of the way, and eventually secured funding for the entire project via the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The team also worked closely with Enbridge representatives to expedite the timeline and help deliver further savings for the client.

ENGINEERING A crucial first step in all retrofit projects, engineering plays a key role in ensuring a building’s long-term resilience. Given that ASHRAE and CSA codes have changed since Kensington Gardens was erected, Black & McDonald’s engineers have reworked existing designs to reflect the new requirements and facilitate ongoing improvements. From selecting equipment, to issuing stamped engineering drawings for the tendering process, no building upgrade would be possible without engineers—and climate change is only adding more credence to their role.

“Upsizing the cooling capacity and adding improved temperature controls to resident spaces has allowed the staff at Kensington Gardens to maintain stricter temperature and humidity levels, a requirement of the current Long Term Care Homes Act within Ontario,” said Nemanja Vrankovic, Black & McDonald’s Project Manager within the Energy and Sustainability team. “With the summers projected to get hotter, there is a greater need for cooling now to ensure the comfort and safety of residents for years to come.”

PROJECT MANAGEMENT At the heart of every successful project is an effective project manager, and Black & McDonald’s success in this area continually speaks for itself. Ensuring no deadline is missed, and that all purchasing requirements and installations are completed to the desired standards, the dedicated team at Kensington Gardens is involved every step of the way.

One of the overriding challenges and driving goals behind each new project has been to minimize inconveniences for residents, visitors, and the community. As such, close liaison with all stakeholders has been imperative over the years to ensure this goal is achieved, and that the safety of the facility user and the public is never compromised.

ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY An increasingly important aspect of any built environment, energy and sustainability is at the core of Black & McDonald’s service offering. Following the completion of all energy retrofit projects, the team closely monitors the building’s energy footprint and environment to ensure the promised savings and service quality are met.

“The ongoing measuring and monitoring process offered through our live dashboard format has allowed Kensington Gardens to understand the benefits of their capital investments,” said Erica Brabon, Black & McDonald’s Director of Energy and Sustainability. “We provide full transparency into the area of facilities management and operations, with additional services like indoor air quality audits, air balancing, and BAS optimization following large retrofit projects to further push energy savings and occupant comfort.”

FACILITY MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS As a true end-to-end service provider to facilities, Black & McDonald has implemented a comprehensive program that captures all scheduled equipment maintenance at the facility through its dedicated Computerized Maintenance Management System and handheld technology, allowing for real-time monitoring and reactive work dispatching. This work is fulfilled using a team of on-site dedicated Facility Services resources, or One of the carefully planned lifting operations underway minimising disruption to the neighbouring community.

via mobile truck-based trades, such as plumbers, electricians, and HVAC/ refrigerant technicians.

No matter what the emergency situation calls for, Black & McDonald’s 24/7/365 in-house Central Contact Centre ensures emergency response is always available outside of normal business hours to ensure the safety and comfort of the facility users.

ONGOING CLIENT RELATIONSHIP Whether it’s a one-off project with a new client or multiple projects with an existing partner, Black & McDonald always maintains close contact after a project to ensure it fulfills a high level of service delivery. To date, Black & McDonald has enjoyed a 15-year partnership with Kensington Gardens and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to its legacy as a leading long-term care facility in Toronto.

“Having a trusted partnership with a long-standing service provider like Black & McDonald is great because they always present us several options, thereby ensuring we have selected the best path forward and achieved the best value for our money,” said William O’Neill, Vice-President of Residential and Community Care at Kensington Gardens. “This relationship has allowed us to make an informed decision when all options are tabled.”

Of course, each successful project does not end with invoicing and closing a work order; rather a new life-cycle process begins in which Black & McDonald evaluates the work, updates the asset condition tool, and revisits its list of priorities. And then it begins anew.

Visit www.blackandmcdonald.com for details.