Canadian Property Management GTA

F O R B U I L D I N G O W N E R S , A S S E T A N D P R O P E R T Y M A N AG E R S

VOL. 23 NO. 4 • AUGUST 2016

HVAC MAINTENANCE Q&A LIGHT RECYCLING CANADA ADVANCES HFC PHASE-DOWN

BUILDING PERFORMANCE MATTERS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS

18

08

IN THIS ISSUE

08

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT

14

GOING WITH THE FLOW

The role of lamp recycling

What Ontario’s new energy and water benchmarking policy could mean for building owners

11

INDUSTRY Q&A: HVAC SYSTEMS

18

CANADA ADVANCES HFC PHASE-DOWN

Maintaining your property's essential equipment

New regulations will prompt low-GWP cooling and insulation options in buildings

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2015-11-06 12:23 PM

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PUBLISHER STEPHANIE PHILBIN stephaniep@mediaedge.ca | x262

EDITOR MATTHEW BRADFORD matthewb@mediaedge.ca

CHECKING UP ON ESSENTIAL SYSTEMS Property professionals often say a building is like a human body. When you think about it, the analogy makes sense. Like the human body, buildings rely on a structural “skeleton”, protective “skin”, and a network of systems to make it function. And like the body, those systems and equipment need consistent maintenance.

For this issue, we've taken a microscope to some of those essential building “body parts”, and we've done so with help from a handful of our industry contributors.

Those include Gal Power Systems' Dustin Hubert and Ambient Mechanical's Linda Duttmann who join us for a Q&A on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) maintenance; and Waste Diversion's Michael Colligan and Aevitas Inc.'s Dan Power, who take us through the ins and outs of lighting recycling, discussing best practices for disposing old lamps.

WSP Canada's Mark Bessoudo and Eric Chisholm also join us this issue to walk us through the potential changes to Ontario's water benchmarking programs, and how they might influence the province's approach to water conservation. Our own industry insider, Barb Carss, returns as well to explore impending regulatory changes in her article, Canada Advances HFC Phase-down.

We've drawn on a handful of industry experts in this issue – and for good reason.

Tackling the subject of HVAC and other vital assets takes insights from many fields.

And while I'm confident we've covered a lot in the pages ahead, there will be plenty more of this topic to explore in future issues.

As always, if you have any feedback, ideas for an article, or are open to participating in a Q&A on your corner of the industry, please feel free to reach out to me at matthewb@mediaedge.ca.

MATTHEW BRADFORD matthewb@mediaedge.ca

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

MARK BESSOUDO BARB CARSS ERIC CHISHOLM LINDA DUTTMANN DUSTIN HUBERT

ADVERTISING SALES SEAN FOLEY seanf@mediaedge.ca | x225 MITCHELL SALTZMAN mitchells@mediaedge.ca | x222 PRODUCTION MANAGER RACHEL SELBIE rachels@mediaedge.ca

DIGITAL & SALES PAULA MIYAKE COORDINATOR paulam@mediaedge.ca | x263

SENIOR DESIGNER ANNETTE CARLUCCI annettec@mediaedge.ca

DESIGNER JENNIFER CARTER jenc@mediaedge.ca D IGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR STEVEN CHESTER stevenc@mediaedge.ca | x224

CIRCULATION MARIA SIASSINA marias@mediaedge.ca | x246

PRESIDENT KEVIN BROWN kevinb@mediaedge.ca

GROUP PUBLISHER MELISSA VALENTINI melissav@mediaedge.ca | x248 ACCOUNTING MANAGER SAMHAR RAZZAK samharr@mediaedge.ca

GTA & Beyond is produced as a supplement to Canadian Property Management magazine, published 8 times a year by:

5255 Yonge St., Suite 1000 Toronto, ON M2N 6P4 Tel: (416) 512-8186 • Fax: (416) 512-8344 Email: info@mediaedge.ca

CORRECTION In a previous article, Setting a Standard for Human Wellness (June 2016), it was indicated that WELL provided a “Compliance” pathway (rather than full certification) for Core and Shell projects. However, subsequent revisions to the WELL Building Standard have since been made. Core and Shell projects must now pursue the WELL Certification pathway; there is no longer a WELL Compliance pathway.

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AUGUST 2016

THIS MONTH’S ONLINE EXCLUSIVES ALL THE BUZZ

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FROM THE GREEN BIN

The GTA rental market today A new report from Urbanation indicates the GTA rental market is in healthy shape, with tightened conditions due to fewer completions and less turnover.

Emerging trends in green cleaning technology.

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Pasadena Apartments to become upscale condos The entrance to the Pasadena may be one of few exterior clues as to the interior restoration that will transform the heritage-designated apartment building into upscale condominiums with modern amenities.

The case for moving to predictive maintenance.

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LIGHTING

WHEN THE LIGHTS

GO OUT The role of lamp recycling

BY MATT BRADFORD

L

amp recycling is an indispensable part of the lighting chain; if not to steer harmful contaminants away from landfills, but to ensure properties are in line with provincial regulations.

The goal of lamp recycling is threefold: to recapture mercury from burnt-out bulbs, recycle metal components, and collect glass for re-use in other materials such as concrete (wherever possible). Achieving these objectives, however, requires a buy-in from building managers and staff (aka generators).

“Most condos or large commercial buildings will have thousands of mercurycontaining lamps in service. The lamps start out as light-producing assets, but once they're spent they are transformed into a liability that costs money to dispose of responsibly,” says Michael Colligan, President and Founder of Waste Diversion, emphasizing, “There needs to be a serious commitment from the owners and managers to ensure lamps are recycled, especially now with all the conversions to LED.”

SUPPLIER RESPONSIBILITY

Top: Bentall Property Management Middle: An 8-foot recycling tomb is easy to ship, load, and stack. It is a versatile tool for large lighting projects and re-lamps.

Bottom: A tenant recycling station provides tenants, contractors, and building operators a go-to spot for waste lamps, ballasts, electronics, and batteries.

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The concept of “supplier responsibility”, with respect to lamp recycling, considers the involvement of lighting and electrical distributors and large big box retailers (i.e. those who sell new mercury-containing lighting equipment to large end users and contractors) in a reverse supply chain.

Under supplier responsibility, suppliers of mercury-containing lighting equipment would be urged or required by regulation to accept the return of waste lighting equipment from their customers or other generators. The premise of the model is that organizing and consolidating waste makes transport and final processing more efficient.

This model has been deployed for other types of waste. For example, in many jurisdictions around the world a deposit systems drives the empty glass bottles back to a space where they can be consolidated and organized.

“Once organized the cost of moving them to a processing or recycling facility can be executed far more efficiently” notes Colligan.

LIGHTING

The recycling process itself requires three key players. These include the generators; the large volume handlers who consolidate and deliver them to a recycling processor; and the processor itself, who is responsible for crushing lights and collecting mercury in a sealed environment.

Regarding the former, Dan Power, Account Manager with Aevitas Inc., says it's important that the processor have a certificate of approval from the Ministry of the Environment to process the material, as this will ensure the mercury is handled appropriately. “If that material isn't handled and disposed of properly at an approved government recycling facility, it may end up in a non-hazardous landfill and leach into the ground, contaminating water and soil.”

“The whole idea is to have a closedloop process that can recycle the materials safely and capture materials that need not be going to regular landfills,” he adds.

It bears repeating that this closed-loop process relies heavily on the generators and large-volume handlers to collect and store used lighting assets safely and properly for pick-up. It also relies on recycling services being written directly into supplier contracts, and on generators partnering with reputed lamp recycling transporters and processors that can deliver the most responsible and costeffective recycling strategies.

“Property managers are an important stakeholder for lighting recycling,” agrees James Gray-Donald, Vice President of Sustainability with Bentall Kennedy (Canada) LP. “They are key decision makers for whether a property has a bin to collect old bulbs and tubes, and the ones who will specify recycling in base lighting retrofits or re-lamp contracts.”

Gray-Donald adds generators like property managers must also make sure the recycling process is being tracked.

“You could be dealing with small volumes of materials across a large number of properties on a monthly basis, so tracking that progress requires diligence.”

PROPERTY MANAGERS ARE THE KEY DECISION MAKERS FOR WHETHER A PROPERTY HAS A BIN TO COLLECT OLD BULBS AND TUBES, AND THE ONES WHO WILL SPECIFY RECYCLING IN BASE LIGHTING RETROFITS OR RE-LAMP CONTRACTS.

EMERGING INNOVATIONS By and large, the mechanics of lighting recycling have remained unchanged over the years. What has evolved, however, are www.REMInetwork.com

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LIGHTING

THE COST OF RECYCLING The cost of lamp recycling is minimal when one looks at the entire life cycle cost. Of course, notes Colligan, that percentage can vary depending on the type of lamp being shipped away for processing.

“Some lights cost $50 to buy and $0.80 cents to recycle, and some are $3 to buy and $0.40 to recycle. But by far the largest cost of artificial light is the electricity used to energize it – which is well over 90 per cent

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of the cost ownership. The cost of purchasing the equipment is 7 to 9 per cent and the cost of recycling 1 to 3 per cent.” These estimates apply even for LEDs.

the provincial regulations governing the disposal of burnt out lamps.

Currently, there is no federal legislation that bans lamps from non-hazardous waste landfills. Because of this, there remain provinces where the ability to recycle (or to do so conveniently) does not yet exist since the market for lamp recyclers is not yet viable.

However, Power predicts there will be greater awareness for lamp recycling down the road, and this could result in the creation of more uniform rules that govern their disposal. “As soon as the federal government makes a move to ban lamps from non-hazardous landfills, the provinces will follow suit.”

Power also foresees light stewardship programs becoming more popular across Canada, adding, “Right now, there are stewardship models in British Columbia, Manitoba, and Quebec, but only for small generators and not office buildings. The rest of the provinces do not have these, but we're on the path now where eventually they will roll out right across the country.”

There are also innovations being made to the way used lighting materials are stored and handled by generators. At Waste Diversion, for instance, Colligan has patented a stand-up storage container designed to store bulbs in a more organized fashion and protect them against fall damage or the rigours of shipping.

Looking ahead, Colligan envisions even more progress in the lighting field, suggesting, “There is room for innovation in the storage, handling, and shipping portion of the supply chain. The key is to get intact lamps to a mercury management facility.”

Surely, whether it's to stay in compliance with provincial rules or keep contaminants out of the eco-system, lamp recycling cannot be ignored. And with just a little investment, the right partners, and property-wide awareness, it won't. ■

QA

INDUSTRY Q&A

INDUSTRY Q&A: HVAC SYSTEMS Maintaining your property's essential equipment

&

Linda Duttmann, Senior Account Manager, Ambient Mechanical Ltd.

Dustin Hubert, Rental Manager, Toronto, with Gal Power Systems

BY MATT BRADFORD

S

ummer months can strain property equipment; and when it comes to the health of one's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, going without is not an option.

For tips on protecting HVAC systems and dealing with inevitable maintenance, we reached out to Dustin Hubert (Gal Power Systems) and Linda Duttman (Ambient Mechanical Ltd.) for their industry advice.

HOW IMPORTANT IS PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE, AND WHAT CAN BUILDING OWNERS / MANAGERS DO TO GET STARTED? LD: HVAC preventative maintenance is extremely important. As many know, in the role of a building manager or property manager, stress becomes a way of life.

You can minimize that stress by having a good, solid preventative maintenance program that ensures your equipment life is prolonged and that owner and tenant comfort is not compromised.

Also, there is less equipment downtime with a maintenance program in place.

This in turn maintains that owner and tenant comfort. Building managers and property managers should also ensure that they hire a reputable contractor with good references.

The first step, however, is making sure the Board of Directors in a condominium, or an owner in a commercial building,

understand the importance of an effective preventative maintenance program.

DH: Preventative maintenance (PM) is imperative to the life expectancy of your equipment. Building owners and managers can get started by reviewing and making notes of the their assets, documenting their asset locations, condition, how long the equipment has been in operation, and their life expectancy. Then, you can begin to develop a plan for your maintenance, which should include who will take care of the PM for each piece of machinery and how often this routine PM should occur.

The key to this is assigning specific tasks for each piece of equipment to team members so that everyone is clear about what needs to be done and there are no proverbial “dropped balls”. Contact your preferred mechanical contractor to do an assessment and make recommendations for repair or maintenance.

What it boils down to, is turning your preventative maintenance management into a proactive, rather than a reactive, system. This will save you a lot of grief, time, and money.

WHAT HVAC SYSTEMS ARE MOST AT RISK DURING THE WARM MONTHS, AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO BETTER PROTECT THEM? LD: Obviously, the cooling and heating equipment (e.g., chiller, cooling tower,

heat pumps, and boilers during winter months) in a building needs to again have a good solid maintenance program in place. Also important is to have staff (e.g., superintendents and building operators) do a daily mechanical room inspection in order to log temperatures and other factors to ensure there is nothing going on in the mechanical room that might jeopardize owner comfort. When daily site inspections are done, if there are any issues, you can quickly contact your mechanical contractor in order to ensure as little downtime as possible on your HVAC equipment.

DH: Cooling towers, A/C coils, remote condensing coils, and fan motors are most at risk. Following the specific manufacture’s maintenance program is the best route to ensure reliability by creating checklists for each piece of equipment. As your team follows the checklist, they are less likely to miss any vital issues or steps in the maintenance process. Ensuring, for example, that cooling towers are free of dirt and leaves that can clog air and water passages will keep the equipment running smoothly; and making sure there are no solids in the cooling tower water due to biological growth, which can be promoted by a warm, moist environment, ensures www.REMInetwork.com

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INDUSTRY Q&A

that spray nozzles stay clear. All of this affects the efficiency and performance of the equipment.

WHAT ARE THE TELLTALE SIGNS THAT AN HVAC SYSTEM IS IN NEED OF SERVICING OR ABOUT TO BREAK DOWN? LD: During the daily site mechanical room inspections, using your senses is always a good first step. That means sight, sound, smell, and touch. If you hear any usual

noises, find water on the floor, or smell anything like gas for instance, this could be a telltale sign that something is not right. And if you feel strongly that there could be an issue, call your contractor.

In a condominium, for example, if you are receiving calls from more than one owner with complaints about no cooling, or no DHW, this is a telltale sign that there are issues with the system and not just one suite.

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DH: Poor performance and abnormal sounds and smells are telltale signs. This can include complaints about hot and cold spots as well as humidity and air quality problems. Humidity that is too high or too low can also cause additional damage to wood moldings and furniture while fostering illness-causing bacteria and mold.

Issues with AC and heating systems can also lead to water leaks. Torn or misaligned ducts, for example, can greatly decrease the efficiency of a building’s climate control system. Most equipment will give off some sign prior to failure, so it is important that your team learns to spots the signs. The key is that if someone finds a problem area, to nip it in the bud before it gets too big. Routine inspections of equipment must always include listening and touching equipment as well for unusual sounds or vibrations.

WHAT HVAC TECHNOLOGIES / BREAKTHROUGHS CAN WE EXPECT IN THE COMING YEARS? LD: Energy efficiency continues to be at the forefront of the HVAC industry.

Excellent incentives are still available through the utility companies, and will hopefully continue to drive the replacement of inefficient HVAC equipment.

Once on the horizon, smart building technology has now arrived in a big way.

When we think of a smart building, we think of integrating all of a buildings’ systems. Systems can include HVAC, building automation (BAS), and life safety, among others. All of these systems are brought together to ensure optimal energy efficiency, and owner comfort along with sustainability. New and innovative technologies will continue to be developed, making HVAC systems run better, more efficiently, and – most importantly – cleaner for our environment.

DH: There are many new technologies emerging in the marketplace, including high-efficiency heat pumps and furnaces, variable speed motors, thermal imaging tools used to detect problems in equipment, and modern testing tools for energy efficiency. With remote monitoring through apps on your tablet or phone, your PC may turn into your new heating/cooling system. 3D printing for filters is also a new technology being developed.

AUGUST 2016 2016-03-04 9:46 AM

INDUSTRY Q&A

WHAT HVAC MALFUNCTIONS OR BREAKDOWNS CAN GO UNNOTICED, AND HOW CAN PROPERTY OWNERS / MANAGERS KEEP BETTER TRACK OF THESE? LD: Once again, if you ensure that your staff is doing their daily checks of all mechanical rooms and keeping a log, you are well on your way to hopefully determining a small problem before it becomes a much bigger problem. As an example, water on a mechanical room floor can be a sign of a problem, or not. If your staff is doing their regular daily inspections, a major problem may be avoided. Bottom line? Know your building, and don’t be adverse to going up an inspecting the mechanical room yourself in order to become familiar with the usual sights and sounds of your equipment.

Above all, use your mechanical contractor.

A good contractor will have no problem giving you the "101" on how your specific equipment is operating and helping you understand how to detect any problems.

DH: One common issue that goes unnoticed is poor operating practices with equipment and the issues that this can

NEW AND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES WILL CONTINUE TO BE DEVELOPED, MAKING HVAC SYSTEMS RUN BETTER, MORE EFFICIENTLY, AND – MOST IMPORTANTLY – CLEANER FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT. bring. Typically, this is caused by someone trying to get a piece of equipment to do something that it was not designed to do or not understanding a particular action and their consequence. Sometimes, these poor operating practices become the norm (almost a standard operating procedure) and then eventually, a problem occurs For example, let’s say that more cooling water is needed in a facility and the action is taken to increase the rate of chilled water flow through the chiller.

The thought is that more cooling water will be available with a higher flow rate, but what really happens though is the chiller’s operating efficiency is reduced

with this increase in flow rate beyond the manufacturer’s recommendation. At the same time, the erosion rate in the chiller’s tubes can be affected resulting in early tube failure and a shortened chiller life.

Chiller efficiency can also be affected by cooling towers as chiller efficiency decreases by an average of 2% for each degree Farenheit increase in condenserwater supply coming from the tower. In this case, equipment not being properly utilized, can affect the performance and life cycle of other equipment. Ensuring that personnel are properly trained in both operating procedures and maintenance in this area is key. ■

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SUSTAINABILITY

GOING WITH

THE FLOW

What Ontario’s new energy and water benchmarking policy could mean for building owners

BY MARK BESSOUDO AND ERIC CHISHOLM

T

he mandatory public disclosure of building performance is a relatively new practice implemented by cities and regions around the world requiring commercial and multifamily residential building owners to annually report on their building’s environmental performance.

Also known as mandatory reporting or benchmarking, disclosure programs have been implemented in jurisdictions across Europe, Australia; and in the U.S. within cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., as well as entire states like California and Washington.

BENCHMARKING RULES COMING TO ONTARIO The Ontario Ministry of Energy (MOE) has revealed preliminary details on their own proposed Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) regulatory requirement for large buildings in the

commercial, multifamily residential and industrial sectors.

The requirement, to be phased in over a three-year period that is expected to start July 2017, will see eligible buildings greater than 50,000 square feet annually report their annual energy, water, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data, along with other data, to the MOE (see Table 1). Performance will be measured using metrics such as energy use intensity (EUI), typically expressed in whole building annual energy use per unit of floor area (e.g. ekWh/ft2/year) as well as Energy Star score (a 1 to 100 score comparing a building to market peers); similar metrics will be used for water and GHG emissions.

The policy will require building owners and managers to submit building performance data using the Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) Energy Star Portfolio Manager, a free and secure webbased building performance tracking tool

that incorporates Canadian source energy, GHG emissions factors, and weather data. In the U.S., Portfolio Manager is the most widely-used tool for benchmarking building performance and is already being used by over 40 per cent of its commercial building space.

To comply with reporting requirements, electricity, natural gas, and water utilities must provide whole building, aggregated consumption information to building owners upon request, providing building owners who use distinct utility meters are installed for individually occupied spaces with a new valuable source of information that was previously unavailable.

Building performance data will be disclosed on Ontario’s Open Data website one year after the initial reporting year for each of the three phases, although not all data will be disclosed publicly (e.g. total site/source energy use and GHG emissions building gross floor area).

TABLE 1 – Proposed phase-in schedule for Ontario's Energy and Water Benchmarking Requirements Phase

First reporting date

Reporting data coverage

Building Types

Year 1

July 1, 2017

January – December 2016

Industrial, Commercial, Institutional ≥ 250,000 ft2

Year 2

July 1, 2018

January – December 2017

Industrial, Commercial, Institutional, Multifamily Residential ≥ 100,000 ft2

Year 3

July 1, 2019

January – December 2018

Industrial, Commercial, Institutional, Multifamily Residential ≥ 50,000 ft2

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SUSTAINABILITY Created by Prof. Constantine E. Kontokosta and Christopher Tull, NYU CUSP.

Similar to other regions with benchmarking laws, MOE has proposed to produce annual public reports that summarize key findings from collected energy, water, and GHG performance data. Cities like New York and Philadelphia disclose building performance data through interactive online data visualization tools; Ontario may do the same.

THE BENEFITS Benchmarking has proven an effective strategy for improving the environmental performance of buildings, as well as providing many other environmental and financial benefits – both direct and indirect – including: • Providing building owners and managers with an easy-to-understand measure of their building’s performance, enabling them to see how they rank compared to similar buildings; • delivering a process for better managing energy and water use and costs over time; and • offering a relevant a benchmark for setting performance targets.

For building managers and operators who wish to remain competitive and better understand what is possible in the market, this insight can be priceless.

In addition, utilities and service providers can use collected data to create and tailor more effective energy conservation www.REMInetwork.com

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SUSTAINABILITY Created by Prof. Constantine E. Kontokosta and Christopher Tull, NYU CUSP.

programs, policies, and incentives. As more energy data becomes available, it will become easier to pinpoint where buildings (and which types) are underperforming. Energy conservation programs can then specifically target these buildings, making the task of improving their performance more manageable.

Public disclosure of benchmarking data can also create friendly competition between buildings to achieve better performance.

This mechanism was used to reduce energy use in Toronto where commercial buildings participating in the voluntary Race to Reduce program cut energy use by 9 per cent over just two years.

GLOBAL BENCHMARKING SUCCESSES Jurisdictions that have implemented mandatory benchmarking policies have reported appreciable energy savings and subsequent financial benefits. Mandatory benchmarking not only provides building owners and managers with useful information to help them make building performance improvements, it raises public awareness and serves as a catalyst for authentic action on climate change. Most importantly, the disclosure of building performance data allows the market to introduce and value environmental efficiency in purchasing, leasing and lending decisions.

Research conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency has shown that simply requiring building owners to benchmark their building’s energy performance can lead to energy savings of 7 per cent over four years.

New York City’s Local Law 84 (LL84) requires that buildings greater than 50,000 square feet disclose energy and water

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SUSTAINABILITY

performance. To complement this program, eligible buildings are also required to complete energy audits and undergo retrocommissioning every five to ten years. In the law’s first three years of existence likefor-like median office source EUI reduced by approximately 10 per cent to 60 ekWh/sf (approximately 24 ekWh/sf site EUI).

Reports from around the world indicate the link between green building ratings or certification, such as LEED, and asset value.

A recent report by TD Bank found that LEED certification increased the resale price of Toronto condos by between 5 per cent and 14 per cent. Similarly, mandatory disclosure can provide financial benefits. In real estate transactions, energy performance has typically been undervalued because the market has been ill-equipped to understand its impact. With public disclosure, however, appraisers are able to consider energy performance data to more readily assess comparable properties. In the Netherlands, where properties are labeled with operational energy performance ratings, research has shown buildings with lower ratings achieve 6.5 per cent lower rents than their better-performing counterparts.

CANADA'S BENCHMARKING FUTURE While no other Canadian jurisdiction has yet implemented mandatory benchmarking or disclosure laws, that soon may change. Vancouver is currently exploring the implementation of its own energy benchmarking program to help achieve its goal of reducing GHG emissions by 33 per cent from 2007 levels by 2020.

The city is currently working with voluntary participants in the commercial building sector and collaborating with the public sector, energy utility and industry partners to develop an education and awareness and training campaign in order to support various energy benchmarking activities.

Earlier this year, the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) published “Energy Benchmarking, Reporting & Disclosure in Canada: A Guide to a Common Framework”. The guide aims to support local and provincial governments that are developing energy benchmarking strategies and regulations. It provides recommendations for a common

TOP FIVE WAYS TO PREPARE Mandatory energy and water benchmarking will change the way we occupy, own and manage buildings. Here are five key things you can do now to prepare.

Set up a process to survey your building(s) Regulation will require annual reporting of total floor area, number of occupants, occupied hours, and other factors for each unique use type within a building. Preparing a survey process now will avoid a scramble as compliance deadlines approach. Additional energy or water meter installation may also be required to separate energy use between buildings within a campus.

Know How You Score Public disclosure is expected to include building energy use intensity and Energy Star Portfolio Manager scores. Calculating your score today will tell you how your portfolio will be perceived, leaving you time to prepare.

Assemble the Team Energy performance is in demand. Identify the stakeholders, leaders, and experts who will need to take action and those who will help you benefit.

Every team will be different, but may include shareholders, leadership, leasing agents, asset and investment teams, operations managers, and efficiency experts.

Invest in Improvement If you need to boost your public performance score in advance of initial public disclosure, you must reduce building energy use. Investigate opportunities by performing an energy audit or retro-commissioning study, and act on those you discover. Depending on your building and its systems, some opportunities may be available at a low cost while others can be costly.

Draw on Available Funding Financial incentives are available at every step of your conservation program. Get in the queue early to secure funding for installing meters, setting targets, discovering opportunities, retrofitting systems and saving energy. Contact your electricity, natural gas, and water utility provider or your energy management advisor to maximize your funding potential.

approach to energy benchmarking on a national scale in five areas: Program Administration, Program Delivery, Data Quality Control, Data Transparency, and Building Industry Capacity.

The CaGBC also recently ruled that new buildings pursuing LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) or LEED for Core & Shell (LEED-CS) may now earn a LEED

point for committing to provide whole building metered monthly energy and water performance data for a period of five years beginning at building occupancy.

For new LEED buildings in Ontario that will have to comply with the energy and water benchmarking requirements anyway, pursuing the added LEED credit is an obvious choice. ■

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MARK BESSOUDO (MARK.BESSOUDO@WSPGROUP.COM), M.A.SC., P.ENG., LEED AP BD+C, IS MANAGER OF MARKET RESEARCH AND ERIC CHISHOLM (ERIC.CHISHOLM@WSPGROUP.COM), P.ENG., CEM, LEED AP, IS TECHNICAL LEAD AND ENERGY SPECIALIST WITH WSP CANADA’S SUSTAINABILITY & ENERGY GROUP. WSP OFFERS SOLUTIONS FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR CLIENTS TO INTEGRATE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) SUSTAINABILITY AT VARIOUS SCALES, INCLUDING NEW AND EXISTING BUILDINGS, REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIOS, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND COMMUNITY MASTER PLANS. www.REMInetwork.com

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FEATURE

CANADA AD HFC PHASENew regulations will prompt low-GWP cooling and insulation options in buildings

BY BARBARA CARSS

I

mpending environmental regulations will push the Canadian and American real estate industries toward cooling and insulation options with lower global warming potential (GWP). This effort to mitigate a climate threat will also require heightened vigilance as flammable and/or more toxic replacements are introduced into buildings.

Proposed Canadian regulations now nearing the end of a two-year consultation process will impose a phased schedule for an 85% reduction in the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons

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(HFCs) over the next 20 years. Proponents of enshrining a similar commitment in the Montreal Protocol calculate that up to 0.5° Celsius in rising global temperature could be offset if the 197 parties to the international treaty agree to restrict the availability of a range of HFC formulations commonly used in refrigerants, aerosols and foam products.

"Canada played a key role in helping the international community achieve the Montreal Protocol in 1987. An ambitious HFC amendment would greatly help fulfill the goals of the recent Paris Agreement and

would put humanity one great step forward in the fight on climate change," asserts Catherine McKenna, Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Regulatory initiatives – recently reiterated in the North American Climate, Clean Energy and Environment Partnership – are not surprising given that Canada, the United States and Mexico first tabled a joint proposal for an HFC phasedown under the Montreal Protocol in 2009, and the European Union has already committed to reduction targets. Industry associations such as the U.S. based Air-

FEATURE

VANCES DOWN Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) have also been proactively focused on finding low-GWP alternatives.

"Our industry has made substantial progress toward transitioning," concurs Justin Koscher, Director of the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry, an offshoot of the American Chemistry Council.

Perhaps ironically, HFCs have gained market share due to the Montreal Protocol and the resulting ongoing global phase-out of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Environment and Climate Change

Canada reports that total sales of bulk HFCs doubled in the years between 2008 and 2012, while annual consumption in the foams sector alone jumped more than fivefold, from 800 tonnes to 4,400 tonnes, during the same period.

In the hierarchy of environmental malfeasance, HFCs do not damage the ozone layer and are generally classified as short-lived climate pollutants, meaning their destructive force dissipates relatively quickly. Yet, while they are potent, they are significantly more detrimental than carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the

baseline measurement for GWP at 1.

For example, HFC-134a, a refrigerant commonly used in chillers and for foam blowing, has a GWP of 1,430 or 1,430 times greater than CO2; HFC-227ea used for cold storage and food refrigeration has a GWP of 3,220.

COMPLIANCE PARAMETERS New Canadian regulations will set limits for allowable levels of GWP and deadlines for compliance. A somewhat different regulatory approach in the United States, to prohibit the manufacture, import and

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FEATURE

BASED ON THE FINAL DRAFT, PRODUCERS OF SPRAY AND RIGID FOAM INSULATION WILL HAVE UNTIL JANUARY 1, 2021 TO DELIVER PRODUCTS WITH A GWP NO GREATER THAN 150.

first-time sale of specific products, will almost all vehicles coming off automotive largely follow the same schedule for a production lines contain mobile aircomparable outcome. conditioning units.

Manufacturers and suppliers/distributors A new category of chemical formulations of targeted products will bear the known as hydrofluoro-olefins (HFOs) and responsibility for complying, but there some longstanding options that have more will be flow-through implications for some recently fallen out of favour – propane, notable economic sectors that employ butane, isobutane and ammonia – are HFC-based technologies. Along with real now emerging as plausible alternatives. estate, which uses refrigerants and foam- Canadian industry advocates commend based insulation and sealants, food- the government's flexibility in establishing related production and services are allowable limits rather than outright highly dependent on refrigeration and prescribing a course of action, but call for McGregorAllsop_GTA_June_2016_FINAL.pdf 1 2016-06-23 10:16 AM

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other regulatory amendments to make a low-GWP switchover truly feasible.

"They've left it open for market forces to meet the new requirements," observes Warren Heeley, President of the Heating, Refrigeration and Airconditioning Institute (HRAI) of Canada.

"However, many of these refrigerants are slightly flammable so the building codes and the standards are going to have to come around to recognizing that slightly flammable is acceptable. Before these alternatives can be used, particularly in commercial and industrial applications, the codes will have to be changed, or they can't be used at all."

After two rounds of consultation, the regulation is expected to be posted in the Canada Gazette later this year or early in 2017. Based on the final draft, released for comment in the spring of 2016, producers of spray and rigid foam insulation will have until January 1, 2021 to deliver products with a GWP no greater than 150. The HVAC and refrigeration industry has a later deadline of January 1, 2025 for ensuring chillers (excluding absorption chillers) operate using refrigerants with a maximum GWP of 700.

Differing timelines and thresholds account for industry-specific factors such as viability of low-GWP alternatives, requirements for other complementary regulatory changes, the cost and lifespan of equipment that will need to be retrofitted or replaced and the degree of environmental risk. Accordingly, the seemingly more relaxed limit for chillers applies to a system that is designed to contain refrigerants, whereas HFCs are the expansion agent within foam insulation's highly permeable cell structure.

"Foam products do give off more HFCs and they off-gas constantly," says Manasi Koushik, Manager, Environmental Health & Safety Compliance, with the environmental consulting firm, Pinchin Environmental.

That said, building owners/managers typically choose spray foam insulation with honourable intentions based on its proven energy performance. "Closed-cell foam can give the best R-value per inch of any insulation technology," Koscher notes.

RISK MANAGEMENT Industry R&D is now mostly centred on HFOs, including some formulations with an ASHRAE 2L classification to denote low flammability with a maximum burning

FEATURE

velocity of 10 centimetres per second.

Hydrocarbon options with high flammability are not viable for foam insulation due to the risks of transporting it to and storing it in drums on a worksite and possible exposure to ignition triggers during installation.

"Flammable blowing agents are not appropriate for on-site installation, which is one of the reasons the industry has continued to use HFCs to the extent that it has," Koscher says.

Similarly, hydrocarbon refrigerants such as butane or isobutane are currently allowed only in small systems like reach-in food/beverage coolers that have a charge no greater than 350 grams. For the broader sweep of products with low flammability, safety experts maintain elevated risks can be managed with standards, training and ongoing vigilance.

"It's a trade-off between the global warming concern and the risk associated with flammables. One is long-term and one is immediate. Any time you make a switch, you are going to have this balancing of risks," reflects Susan Bershad, a Senior Chemical Engineer with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

"There are standards in place to handle flammable materials and flammables can be handled safely because, of course, we use flammables all the time."

The U.S. Department of Energy, AHRI and ASHRAE have recently launched a $5.2-million project to consider how flammable refrigerants can be addressed in updated versions of ANSI/ASHRAE standards, with a pledge from the U.S. International Code Council that revised standards will be fast-tracked into the building code. (Canada has its own, different model national code, but ASHRAE standards are referenced globally.)

Meanwhile, on the toxicity grid of the safety risk chart, more building owners/managers may be prompted to consider ammonia, especially if they have on-site space to accommodate a secondary loop system.

"It's not a bad refrigerant at all. You just have to have other controls in place if you have ammonia systems," Koushik says.

Heeley also emphasizes the importance of clear communication about the existence of hazards and heightened monitoring and/ or supervision where necessary.

"Prior to this, flammability and toxicity, for the main part, weren't a concern with HFCs," he says. "We have to ensure that technicians know what they're dealing with and have the ability to do so safely."

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FEATURE

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LIFECYCLE CONSIDERATIONS As with earlier launched phase-outs of CFCs and HCFCs, the first HFC compliance dates would apply only to the manufacture and import of new products. Consumers could still purchase chillers in a vendor's existing unsold inventory that rely on highGWP refrigerants and refrigerant will still be available to supply existing equipment, albeit that supply will diminish to 15 per cent of today's quantity by 2036.

"Chillers are large investments with long life expectations – anywhere from 20 to 40 years – so older models aren't going to be tossed aside lightly," Heeley advises.

Nevertheless, based on the evidence of the CFC and HCFC phase-outs, it could be costly to be among the final holdouts. "The price of the refrigerants that are going to be prohibited is tripling and quadrupling. The business case for switching refrigerant types is definitely becoming a lot stronger," Koushik says.

With insulation, the typical arguments for building to a higher environmental standard are now apparent in new construction.

Among the advantages, the products align better with building owners/managers' environmental certification goals.

"You need to look at the full lifecycle benefit of switching to the product," Koscher maintains. "I think this is really going to be an advantage for the spray foam industry as more and more lowGWP products come into the marketplace." ■ ______________________________________________________________

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