Lonsdale Energy Corporation

Heat Recovery Feasibility Study

HH Angus conducted a study to evaluate the feasibility of exhaust air heat recovery from the Global Relay (GR) data centre facility at 22 Gostick Place in North Vancouver, BC.

Some of the key aspects of the study included:

The location and footprint of the heat recovery system components were studied within the context of considerable site constraints. The study evaluated the design, construction, and cost considerations for the implementation of the proposed heat recovery system.
We investigated available heat pump technologies that would be appropriate for recovering waste heat and would satisfy the LEC DES requirements.
The energy recovered would be used by a water source heat pump to provide hot water to the local LEC District Energy System (DES).
A water source heat pump system was proposed as the best solution to provide the ability to recover heat from the building ventilation system. The new system would recover heat from the GR facility and would transfer this recovered heat via a hot water loop to the local LEC DES.
Heat recovery is feasible for the facility and can provide up to 1,100 kW of heating capacity to the LEC DES.
Constraints to the design of the heat recovery system were also identified, and included:

(i) the quantity of air exhausted from the facility is not fixed and ranges at each exhaust plenum on a seasonal basis and depending on outdoor air temperature – this impacts how much heat can be recovered at a given time;

(ii) the minimum and maximum exhaust air temperatures range from 30°C to 43°C (86°F to 110°F) - the temperature of the exhaust air will influence how much heat can be recovered from the exhaust air; and,

(iii) the cross-sectional area available for the heat recovery coil - the more cross-sectional area that is available for a given amount of heat transfer, the less deep the coil must be (and less airside pressure drop penalty is incurred).

The study concluded that a purpose-built containerized heat pump system would be the most suitable solution to meet the needs of the project. This new containerized structure would be conveniently located adjacent to the GR facility and would exhibit the same architectural character as the existing facility. The proposed heat pump system would include one heat pump unit (based on Emerson Heat Pumps) and four heat recovery water pumps. Control valves, piping accessories, ventilation, lighting, and system controls would all be included in the proposed pre-fabricated containerized enclosure.

Outdoor hydronic piping would connect the heat pump enclosure to the GR facility and the proposed hydronic heat recovery coil system. The heat recovery coil system would consist of four new heat recovery coils placed within the existing facility exhaust air plenums. The existing exhaust fan motors would have to be upgraded in order to address the additional pressure drop introduced by the new heat recovery coils. This fan motor upgrade would also trigger upgrades to the existing electrical infrastructure.

SERVICES
Prime Consultant | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering

PROJECT FEATURES
Size: 5,600,000 ft2 | Status: Ongoing

LOCATION
Vancouver, British Columbia

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Feasibility study | Heat recovery

Confidential Client

BIM Laser Scanning

HH Angus was engaged to create a 3D Revit model (LOD 300), accurate to reality, of the existing structure and visible HVAC, plumbing and electrical infrastructure. This model was delivered to the client for their use in 3D coordination of their high voltage switchgear replacement project.

The 17,000 ft2 area was scanned using a Faro S70 Laser scanner, with the scans subsequently registered using Faro Scene software to create point clouds. Point clouds were then processed in Edgewise modeling software and used to automatically extract and model walls, structure, piping, conduit and ducts, before being imported into Revit. This efficient process resulted in a very significant 60% reduction in modeling time. The remaining MEP infrastructure was modeled in Revit, with special attention paid to the location of the entry and leave points within rooms for all MEP infrastructure, in response to the client’s requirement.

One of the challenges of the project was the lack of easily accessible data required to create the Revit model. Recap pro or Faro Scene software is needed to review the point clouds and images; this software required licensing and installation on individual machines, which prevented it from being easily accessible to everyone on the project team. The software also requires additional computing power to run smoothly, and this presented an issue for machines that did not meet the software requirements.

SERVICES
Prime Consultant | Scan to BIM provider

PROJECT FEATURES
Revit modeling of existing structure and visible HVAC, plumbing and electrical infrastructure

LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
3D laser scanning

Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology

Garriock Hall Mechanical Retrofit

Located on the King City campus, Garriock Hall renovations are part of Seneca’s on-going expansion. The retrofitted heating system provides improved comfort for the campus’ 5,200 students.

HH Angus was engaged as prime consultant for a retrofit at one of the campus’ main academic buildings. Our scope included replacement and upgrade to:

Twelve fan coil units, complete with additional coil elements
Approximately 30 hot water cabinet unit heaters located throughout the building, along with additional Building Automation System (BAS) integration
Dual-duct terminal boxes for approximately 2/3’s of the building. The terminal boxes themselves were upgraded from pneumatically controlled to digital controlled complete with BAS integration.
Domestic hot water system
Pool heating system

The project used low temperature heating water from a ground-source heat pump system. This increased the physical size of the replacement heaters, which required accompanying structural and architectural modifications.

Domestic hot water preheat was implemented to take advantage of the low temperature heating water from the heat pump system, and was implemented as part of the domestic hot water system replacement and upgrade. The upgrades included a new high efficiency condensing water heater paired with a heating water to domestic water heat exchanger.

The pool heating system was not operational prior to the project. It was made functional and upgraded to take advantage of the low temperature heating water available from the heat pump system, by replacing the heat exchanger and adding additional controls.

Dual duct terminal boxes upgrades included replacing the terminal boxes to implement Variable Air Volume (VAV) control. In a few areas, existing single duct VAV terminal boxes were replaced with those equipped with reheat coils to facilitate occupant comfort.

The project timeline was aggressive, with engineering design starting late May 2019 and tendering in late August 2019. The project took advantage of the 2019 Christmas break to complete the majority of construction in order to minimize impacts to the occupants.

Image courtesy of Google Maps

SERVICES
Prime Consultant | Mechanical Engineering

PROJECT FEATURES
Twelve fan coil units | ~ 30 hot water cabinet unit heaters | Additional BAS integration | Dual-duct terminal boxes, upgraded from pneumatically controlled to digital control, complete with BAS integration | Domestic hot water system | Pool heating system

LOCATION
King City, Ontario

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Heating plant uses ground source heat pump to deliver low temperature heating water | Compressed project schedule to meet heating season deadline | Unique dual-duct HVAC system being modernized and upgraded for re-use

CREIT

Bloor-Dundas District Energy Feasibility Study

HH Angus was engaged to conduct a feasibility study for a Low Carbon District Energy Plant serving a new, three million square foot mixed use residential and commercial development along Bloor Street in Toronto.

The full development is being implemented in several stages over ten years. HH Angus provided Prime Consultant and Mechanical and Electrical Engineering services, and developed a conceptual framework for the study.

The study considered a combination of traditional and renewable energy sources to provide heating and cooling, reviewing a range of options that included the following:

Condensing hot water boilers, efficiency up to 90-95%
Centrifugal water-cooled magnetic bearing chillers
Water source heat pumps (heat recovery chillers) to provide simultaneous cooling and heating
Air source heat pumps to provide simultaneous cooling and heating
Ground source heat pump system
Ambient loop system
Sewer heat recovery system
Combined Heat & Power (CHP) system to generate power using a gas-fired generator and to provide heat using waste engine heat, with overall generator efficiency up to 80%. CHP can be used as backup power source and to reduce energy cost during periods of peak cooling and electrical demand.

HH Angus conducted calculations of estimated heating, cooling and electrical loads, plus energy consumption for future development, establishing options for the arrangement of the District Energy plant, including provision for expansion to provide heating and cooling to future developments in the neighbourhood.

Our study scope also included tentative District Energy plant layout and area requirements, capital budget, operating costs and NPV estimates for each option, as well as analysis of results and corresponding recommendations.

SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering

PROJECT FEATURES
Size: Low carbon district energy study | Due diligence engineering report | Status: Completed 2018

LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Assessment of district energy plant designs to serve 3 million ft2 of mixed use development | Calculation of estimated heating, cooling and electrical loads and energy consumption for future development | Analysis of results and corresponding recommendations for optimal design | Consideration of traditional and renewable energy sources

Trillium Health Partners

Infrastructure Renewal

The infrastructure renewal work for Trillium Health Partners is focused on the Queensway Health Centre site, an acute care facility. Some of the funding comes from Ontario’s Healthcare Infrastructure Renewal Fund (HIRF), which supplements a hospital’s existing infrastructure renewal program and helps address renewal needs on a priority basis.

As prime consultant, HH Angus is implementing a series of mechanical and electrical infrastructure upgrades that include air handling units, Phase four of the electrical infrastructure renewal, as well as miscellaneous other projects. The scope of work includes the redesign of major mechanical and electrical infrastructure. Along the way, we are integrating newly designed systems into existing facilities, which presents some interesting challenges, given the age of the existing infrastructure.

A key consideration of the work is avoiding disruption to hospital services, and this is the paramount factor in scheduling. In order to ensure continued hospital operation, carefully planned sequential shutdowns minimize disruption to both staff and patients.

SERVICES
Prime Consultant | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

PROJECT FEATURES
Status: Ongoing

LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Series of mechanical and electrical infrastructure upgrades | Challenging renovation within old infrastructure | Hospital required 24/7 operations around planned shutdowns | Infrastructure Renewal Bundle 3 includes AHUs boiler modifications | Phase 4 electrical infrastructure renewal, roofing replacement, etc.

— Photos courtesy of Trillium Health Partners