| Quebec projects dominate ASHRAE awards |
 Photo courtesy ASHRAE Jacques De Grace won an ASHRAE Technology Award for his work on the Normand-Maurice Building in Montreal. Three out of the four top winners of this year's ASHRAE Technology Awards were projects from La Belle Province. The honours, given out in late January by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers, reward mechanical system designs that are energy-efficient, economic, and respectful of indoor air quality (IAQ) and environmental concerns. Existing commercial buildingsKenneth Sonmor (Ecovision Consulting) took first place in this category for his retrofit of the 13-floor Montreal office tower at 4200 St. Laurent. As part of a detailed energy audit, he made several proposals related to energy measurement systems/direct digital controls, mechanical systems, and electrical measures, including a heat recovery apparatus that preheats entering fresh air. New public assembly buildings For the public assembly buildings category, Laurier Nichols, PE (Dessau), received first place for Centre Communautaire de Mistissini, which houses an ice arena. To reduce energy costs, Nichols selected an HVAC system comprising heat pumps connected to a geothermal loop. Most arenas use chillers with standard condensers to produce and maintain the ice, with extracted heat rejected through air condensers. In this project, rejected heat is reused as much as possible to meet the arena's heating load. New institutional buildings Montreal's Normand-Maurice Building received top accolades in the new institutional buildings category, with the award going to Jacques De Grace (Pageau Morel and Associates). In 2002, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) ordered construction of a federal multi-occupant building offering offices, classrooms, warehouses, and an indoor firing range for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canadian Navy, and two federal departments. To achieve energy goals, building features specified for the project include: • underfloor displacement ventilation; • cascade ventilation principles supplying outside air to occupied spaces before transferring to secondary spaces; • radiant slabs for improved thermal comfort and energy efficiency; and • geothermal heat exchanger to reduce energy consumption.  Photo ©www.ecovisionconsulting.com Kenneth Sonmor's retrofit of this Montreal office tower at 4200 St. Laurent received top honours in the category of existing commercial buildings.
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