As cities continue to grow and urbanization increases, high rise buildings have become a common sight in many parts of the world specially the greater Toronto area. These towering structures provide a convenient way to house a large number of people in a relatively small area, but they also come with their own set of challenges. One of the biggest challenges facing high rise buildings is their energy consumption. These buildings can be huge energy hogs, and without proper management, they can contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. For buildings with little to no reserved budgets for upgrade of their capital equipment, investing in green energy may seem like an impossible task. But the truth is, there are many ways that buildings can reduce their energy consumption and become more environmentally friendly, even on a tight budget. Here are a 8 ideas to consider: 1 - Make use of natural light and ventilation. One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to reduce a building's energy consumption is to make use of natural light and ventilation. This can be achieved by installing large windows, skylights, and other openings that allow natural light to enter the building. In addition, strategically placed windows and vents can be used to create natural airflows that can keep the building cool without the need for air conditioning. 2 - Install energy-efficient lighting and appliances. Another simple way to reduce a building's energy consumption is to switch to energy-efficient lighting and appliances. LED lights, for example, use up to 75% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs, and they last much longer too. Similarly, energy-efficient appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines can save a significant amount of energy compared to older, less efficient models. 3 - Invest in solar panels. Solar panels are a great way to generate clean, renewable energy, and they can be a cost-effective option for buildings with no budget. Solar panels can be installed on the roof of a building, and they can generate clean energy all year round. 4 - Improving the building's insulation: Ensuring that a building's walls, windows, and roof are properly insulated can help to keep heat in during the winter and out during the summer, reducing the need for heating and cooling. 5 - Using passive solar design techniques: By carefully designing the layout and orientation of a building, it is possible to take advantage of natural heating and cooling effects to reduce the energy consumption of the building. 6 - Regular maintenance and upkeep: Ensuring that equipment is well-maintained and operating at peak efficiency can help to reduce energy consumption. This may involve regular cleaning and servicing of equipment, as well as replacing worn or faulty parts. 7 - Upgrading equipment: In some cases, it may be more cost-effective to upgrade older, inefficient equipment to newer, more energy-efficient models. This can help to reduce energy consumption and save money on energy bills over the long term. Changing operating practices: Making small changes to how equipment is used can have a big impact on energy consumption. For example, turning off equipment when it is not in use, or using energy-saving modes when available, can help to reduce energy consumption. 8 - Using energy-management systems (BAS): Energy-management systems are computer-based tools that can be used to monitor, control, and optimize the energy use of equipment. These systems can help to identify areas where energy is being wasted, and provide recommendations for improving energy efficiency. Knowing what your options are is half the battle. A properly executed energy audit done by a trust source such as your engineers should be the first step of ensuring you're doing all you can to not only save energy but to also save our environment.
Building Owners and Property Managers often consider expanding or renovating their existing buildings for various reasons. Load monitoring may be required to monitor energy usage. In large residential or commercial high-rise buildings, facility management may be concerned whether the utility is reaching its power usage capacity. Clients may also be aware of the presence of overloads, phase load imbalance, load profile, harmonic distortion, poor power factor or other operational issues relating to their electrical system. By performing electrical load monitoring in an existing building, information will be provided to determine if the system has adequate capacity and will confirm the accuracy of the utility metering. In addition, load monitoring will provide information required to solve operational or performance problems. Load monitoring is performed by connecting instrumentation at the main service entrance switchboard or other key distribution panels where load data is obtained downstream. These are then connected to a power recording instrument. The Monitoring equipment will then measure currents, voltages, frequency, power factor and harmonics. The duration of the power monitoring may vary but typically ranges between 1 to 30 days dependent on the Customer’s requirements. Upon completing the load monitoring, a detailed report is provided to the Customer with recommendations. Feel free to contact us to learn more about load monitoring applications in your building and to measure its load characteristics. An Owner or Property Manager will be able to make important decisions that will protect the operation of the electrical equipment and help save energy costs by improving the efficiency of their electrical distribution system.
Often Building Owners and Property Managers consider adding electromagnetic locks on the doors located at the ground and parking levels to provide additional security in their buildings. A maglock is a security device used to lock doors. It is comprised of an electromagnetic device which is attached to the frame of the door, and an armature plate attaches to the door itself. The energization of the electromagnet causes the plate to attract and lock the door. A fire alarm pull station is installed adjacent to the doors with maglocks, typically on both sides of the doors. These pull stations require additional contacts to be connected to the maglocks. Activation of any pull station or initiating fire alarm device will release the maglock. Maglock doors will have signage in accordance with OBC 3.4.6.16.(4)(g), "Emergency exit unlocked by fire alarm". In accordance with the OBC 3.4.6.18, buildings that exceed 6 storeys require occupants of the building to be able to exit from within a stairwell back onto a floor area and freely cross over into another adjacent stairwell at the designated crossover floors. The intent is to allow occupants to get out of a stairwell safely during an emergency, such as during fire, and to provide a means to reach an alternate stairwell. Where stairwells are being secured, maglocks will be required complete with dual contact pull stations, typically on both sides of the stairwell, to allow occupants to be able to gain access back onto a secured floor area. An occupant must be able to get through any potentially secured doors in order to reach the alternate stairwell. Emergency lighting and exit pictograms should also be appropriately installed to meet the bi-directional egress pathway requirements. Feel free to contact us to learn more about Security Electromagnetic Locks and to assist you with determining if you have the appropriate security and life safety systems in place in your building.
Buildings require emergency lighting systems to be provided to enable normal activities to continue in the event of failure of the normal power supply. The main types of emergency lighting systems in buildings consist of the following: Self-contained Units, Small Central Battery, Large Central Battery or Generator Based systems. The main functions that Emergency lighting systems are required to fulfill are as follows: To provide illumination along egress paths to allow safe movement towards and through the exits provided. To prevent panic in buildings during an emergency situation and to allow building occupants to gather at a safe location as determined with the Building Department and/or Fire Marshall. To light up high risk areas – i.e. to ensure the safety of people involved in a potentially dangerous process or situation and to enable proper shut down procedures. To ensure that fire alarm call points and fire fighting equipment provided along escape routes can be readily located. To permit operations concerned with safety measures. The main reason for installing an emergency lighting system is to meet applicable legislations concerned about safe building evacuation during power outage or emergencies that may result in loss of normal building lighting (i.e. fire). Consequently, it is important to establish all the relevant legal requirements for emergency lighting and fire alarm systems before commencing the design. The Owner of a building may have additional objectives, i.e. maintaining operation throughout power outages or minimizing cost of the critical systems operation and maintenance. These should ideally be agreed between the Owner, Engineer, the fire authority, building officials and system installer. The Ontario Building Code section 3.2.7.3. provides the emergency lighting requirements that must be satisfied in order to meet code. Feel free to contact us to learn more about Emergency Lighting Systems and to see how we can help you protect the occupants in your building during an emergency and to ensure that your building complies with the latest codes.
A recent fire in a high-rise residential building in Toronto resulted in one death and left many other residents to suffer the effects of smoke inhalation. Fire departments in the Greater Toronto Area, especially in Toronto, have stepped up their enforcement and inspections as a result of a spate of other fire events. How can condos ensure smoke control systems are functioning correctly? A smoke control system consists of mechanical and electrical components, which manage the movement of smoke within a building during a fire event. These systems are designed to keep smoke out of certain areas of the building to protect occupants and first responders when evacuating. Smoke control systems vary from building to building depending on their age and construction, but are usually composed of pressurization fans and a series of ancillary devices like automatic door openers or a relay to disable the make-up air units. These devices are all connected to the fire panel and operate automatically when the system is in an alarm state. The Ontario and National Fire Codes require regular testing of the smoke control systems in a building in order to ensure that they are operating properly in accordance with operation and test procedures designed by a professional engineer or architect. Buildings are required to maintain records of these tests to prove compliance. If documentation does not meet the code requirements, buildings are served with an inspection order, with a very tight timeline (about one month) to resolve the outstanding issues. In addition to regulatory compliance, formal specifications for testing and maintenance procedures can also be used by property managers when tendering fire alarm and HVAC service contracts to ensure the contractors are submitting competitive prices on an established scope of work. Steps need to be taken to ensure smoke control systems are functioning correctly. The first and most critical step is for corporations to determine whether they have a smoke control system maintenance and testing procedure document in place. Most condominiums do not have one. If one has not been prepared for your condominium, a professional engineer or architect must be retained to review your building system and building drawings to engineer a Smoke Control Maintenance and Testing Procedure. This will allow the engineer to create a specific plan tailored to the systems that exist in the building. Every building is designed differently; therefore, it is crucial that the procedures prepared are tailored. The maintenance and testing outlined within these procedures must be performed on a periodic basis as outlined within the procedures. Any deficiencies identified during the maintenance and testing must be addressed as soon as possible, and rectified. Following the procedures and maintaining logs of all testing performed will ensure that all smoke control equipment within the building is operating as designed and that the building’s smoke control system remains effective if and when required. Sam Soltani is the president of Trace Consulting Group Ltd, a Toronto‐based multi-disciplinary consulting engineering firm.
The City of Toronto is embarking on a massive #GHG (greenhouse gas) emission reduction campaign with a focus on building #retrofits. Toronto aims to be #NetZero by 2040, and its Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy will help the city improve buildings and infrastructure to address climate change. The strategy outlines nine key policy actions that the city will take to accelerate the uptake of retrofits by building owners while maximizing potential benefits and minimizing potential harms to building owners and tenants. As a specialized retrofit consulting engineering firm, we are looking forward to assisting to provide support to reduce the complexity, cost and time associated with building retrofits. Learn more her e https://www.toronto.ca/business-economy/business-operation-growth/green-your-business/better-buildings-partnership/getting-to-net-zero/ .
A recent fire in a high-rise residential building in Toronto resulted in one death and left many other residents to suffer the effects of smoke inhalation. Fire departments in the Greater Toronto Area, especially in Toronto, have stepped up their enforcement and inspections as a result of a spate of other fire events. Here, Sam Soltani, president of Trace Consulting, answers: How can condos ensure smoke control systems are functioning correctly? A smoke control system consists of mechanical and electrical components, which manage the movement of smoke within a building during a fire event. These systems are designed to keep smoke out of certain areas of the building to protect occupants and first responders when evacuating. Smoke control systems vary from building to building depending on their age and construction, but are usually composed of pressurization fans and a series of ancillary devices like automatic door openers or a relay to disable the make-up air units. These devices are all connected to the fire panel and operate automatically when the system is in an alarm state. The Ontario and National Fire Codes require regular testing of the smoke control systems in a building in order to ensure that they are operating properly in accordance with operation and test procedures designed by a professional engineer or architect. Buildings are required to maintain records of these tests to prove compliance. If documentation does not meet the code requirements, buildings are served with an inspection order, with a very tight timeline (about one month) to resolve the outstanding issues. In addition to regulatory compliance, formal specifications for testing and maintenance procedures can also be used by property managers when tendering fire alarm and HVAC service contracts to ensure the contractors are submitting competitive prices on an established scope of work. Steps need to be taken to ensure smoke control systems are functioning correctly. The first and most critical step is for corporations to determine whether they have a smoke control system maintenance and testing procedure document in place. Most condominiums do not have one. If one has not been prepared for your condominium, a professional engineer or architect must be retained to review your building system and building drawings to engineer a Smoke Control Maintenance and Testing Procedure. This will allow the engineer to create a specific plan tailored to the systems that exist in the building. Every building is designed differently; therefore, it is crucial that the procedures prepared are tailored. The maintenance and testing outlined within these procedures must be performed on a periodic basis as outlined within the procedures. Any deficiencies identified during the maintenance and testing must be addressed as soon as possible, and rectified. Following the procedures and maintaining logs of all testing performed will ensure that all smoke control equipment within the building is operating as designed and that the building’s smoke control system remains effective if and when required.
There has been a great deal of interest in a recent article in the National Post, which talks about a case (2), where air flow from the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a restaurant in Guangzhou, China is believed to have helped spread the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus (aka COVID-19) from an infected patron to eight others. What is notable about this case is that the people were not sitting close enough for the known route of transmission, by relatively large and heavy droplets. This may suggest that COVID-19 can be spread by smaller, lighter droplets known as aerosols, which can be carried in the air over distances greater than the 6ft / 2m rule of thumb. While we don’t yet know for sure how infectious COVID-19 is in aerosol form, the Epidemic Task Force of the American Society for Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) issued the following statement : “Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through the air is sufficiently likely that airborne exposure to the virus should be controlled.” The HVAC researcher in the National Post article makes the worrisome statement “Somebody on a different floor sneezes …The particle can stay airborne long enough to go all the way through the system and then pop out in somebody else’s office.” and invokes the example of Legionnaire’s disease, where bacteria can be carried through an HVAC system. What does this mean for Condominiums? The good news is that high-rise condo towers are at lower risk because of the type of HVAC systems they have. Sam Soltani of Trace Consulting explains that the air brought into the corridors is 100% outside air, not mixed with building air. “This air plays an important role in limiting the spread of infectious aerosols in the building. Unlike Legionnaire’s disease, where the source of the infection was the cooling tower on the roof of the building, the make-up air unit on the roof is not going to bring in virus-laden air. While you need to make sure your building’s central ventilation systems are working correctly, they actually help to dilute and contain viruses from sources inside the building.” Aerosol virus spread was studied a great deal during the last SARS-CoV epidemic. In one well-known case, it is believed that small-particle aerosols efficiently spread SARS in a hotel, from a so-called “super spreader” patient (who had stayed one night only) to twenty other guests in at least thirteen rooms on the same floor. (4) In the hotel case, it was found that there was no airflow between the guest rooms, and no traces of the virus inside the other rooms. The guest rooms were found to have been at a higher pressure relative to the corridor; this caused virus-laden air to flow from the patient’s room into the corridor, which appears to be where the other occupants were exposed. Fortunately, the HVAC systems in condominiums operate differently than in hotels. Regardless of whether a building has only central make-up air handling units with exhaust fans in the suites, or energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) in each suite, these systems are designed to ensure a slight positive pressure in the corridor. Whenever the make-up air unit is running, it creates pressure to keep odours (and aerosolized viruses) inside the suites where they came from, and helps to dilute any contaminants that are present in the corridor. This is why it is so important to ensure that the building’s fresh air systems are supplying the correct amount of air, since many factors can reverse the pressure gradient, allowing air from the suites to flow in to the corridors. “Now that warmer spring temperatures are here,” advises Sam Soltani, “buildings that have variable speed drives or timers on their make-up air units can consider temporarily disabling the night setback to ensure their corridors remain pressurized at all times, if they are looking for that extra factor of safety.” Common areas which have recirculating HVAC units like fan coils or heat pumps, which blow room air through a coil to heat or cool it, can help to circulate aerosols within the space that unit serves. Some thought should be given to the air flow in these areas. While most condos have limited the occupancy of common areas and amenities to transient use, lobbies and offices are examples of spaces where staff like concierges or administrators might spend a significant amount of time. If the Board or residents are concerned about airborne exposure to COVID-19 within their building, or the role HVAC plays in the safety of common areas of the building, a specialist mechanical engineering consulting firm like Trace Consulting can be retained perform a building airflow audit, a simple investigation which provides a qualitative assessment of air flows within a building and makes recommendations for further action, such as air balancing, if needed. https://nationalpost.com/health/covid-19-likely-spread-by-building-ventilation-say-canadian-researchers-working-on-an-hvac-fix https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0764_article https://www.ashrae.org/file%20library/technical%20resources/covid-19/eiband-airbornetransmission.pdf https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/6/13-0192_article