Prism Helps FFSBC Showcase Energy Conservation Legacy
The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC) was established over a decade ago as an independent non-profit organization with a mandate to conserve and enhance the freshwater fish resources of B.C. for the benefit of the public.
Prism has supported FFSBC through BC Hydro’s Industrial Energy Manager Initiative since 2014 in engaging their staff across the province in energy conservation actions. Ray Billings, the organization’s long-time Energy Manager, retired over the summer and is leaving a legacy of savings that we helped document in a recent case study about FFSBC. Ray was appointed as the Energy Manager for FFSBC in 2009 and one of his first tasks was to establish the eFishent Energy Team to help guide energy management initiatives. Over the next five years Ray worked towards engaging staff throughout the organization to identify and implement opportunities for energy conservation.
Saving Water, Saving Energy
“Combining energy conservation projects with employee suggestions has helped save tremendously,” says Energy Manager Ray Billings. FFSBC has saved over 6,100,000 kWh of electricity since December 2014 and the cumulative savings are projected to add up to be over 20 million kWh or about $1,300,000 by 2020.
FFSBC hatcheries are now saving 9 billion litres of water each year compared to 2011 thanks to in-depth reviews of practices at each stage of fish culture. “These combined savings provide increased opportunities for FFSBC, benefits for staff, for fish and for the environment,” Ray emphasizes.
Our sincere congratulations to Ray Billings on his recent retirement and we look forward to continuing to support FFSBC realize these savings into the future!
Prism President selected as Jury Member for BOMA National Awards
Robert Greenwald, President of Prism Engineering, joined other industry experts to choose winners for the prestigious BOMA Canada National Awards.The awards, which recognize excellence in the Canadian real estate industry, were given out during a Sept 17th Gala held in Quebec City.
Robert was one of the recognized leaders in building operations and management chosen from across Canada to select a recipient for the Earth Award. This category recognizes excellence in resource preservation and environmentally sound commercial building management, and is presented to buildings that have made significant efforts to address environmental issues faced by both older and newer buildings.This year, with Robert’s help, the jury selected from the outstanding Canadian finalists four BOMA BEST certified buildings to receive the Earth Award.
“This was an incredibly rewarding opportunity to see how deep Canadian innovation runs in this field. It was inspiring to see the focus on improving existing buildings in this category. Congratulations to the winners and all the finalists on a job well done.”
Winners of the 2015 BOMA Canada National Awards may be eligible to compete in the BOMA International Awards. A list of BOMA Canada National Award winners can be found here.
School Districts Large and Small find Value in PUMA
Two additional BC School Districts are now using PUMA (Prism Utility Monitoring and Analysis) to help them manage their energy and utility costs. PUMA is pleased to welcome School District 43 – Coquitlam and School District 92 – Nisga’a as new clients.
PUMA’s benchmarking capacity is a key draw for organizations like school districts because it helps them answer the question: How does this building compare to other similar buildings?
Benchmarking can provide valuable data for a small School District like Nisga’a, which is comprised of four schools Northwest of Terrace. PUMA’s benchmarking capacity allows SD 92 to compare its sites to sites of other school districts in the province providing a broader frame of reference for how much energy is being used. Similarly, a larger school district like SD 43 can use PUMA data to compare their sites’ performance to other larger school districts which helps in setting realistic targets.
PUMA is built to provide the information energy managers need to do their jobs effectively – including accurate and timely data collection, weather adjustment using baseline models and weather normalization, greenhouse gas reporting, and costs calculations. School districts use PUMA to drive operational improvements that reduce energy costs.
Of equal importance is that PUMA is supported by Prism Engineering’s team of technical staff who are passionate about saving energy and have played a leading role in Energy Management in BC and Western Canada for the past 25 years.