Prism welcomes new staff this fall

Prism’s Mechanical Team has had a busy summer. Not only has the team been managing its typically full plate of renovations and mechanical system upgrades in buildings across BC and Alberta, but they’ve also taken on low carbon electrification upgrades and capital renewal planning projects.

To keep up with this demanding workload, Mechanical Team Lead Stephen Kooiman says the secret is having great people with the right experience and attitude on your team. “We’ve been fortunate to have real depth of experience on our team,” says Stephen. “And we’re equally fortunate to have added some talented new members this summer.”

Pursuing passions in and out of the office

We caught up with two of Prism’s newest mechanical engineers to find out what they’re most excited about in working with Prism and what they enjoy doing when they’re not poring over mechanical drawings at the office.

In addition to being a CAD specialist and a plumbing and HVAC designer at Prism, Jan Luechachandej is currently learning Spanish and is fluent in Thai. She can also be found settling into a new book, and being a foodie around the city.

Reflecting on what drew her to Prism, Jan says she feels most connected to the value of making buildings greener and more efficient. “I feel that as a designer you can contribute directly to this item,” says Jan, “and improving the efficiency of a building means you also help the occupants increase their performance as well.”

Recently hailing from Montreal and his hometown of Calgary, Dave Roberts has jumped right in to coordinating new renovation projects at Prism. While he brings a background in commissioning, he is also an amateur astrophotographer (taking photos of space using telescopes), which he admits is, “an annoyingly expensive hobby that requires very clear nights to do… which Vancouver is not exactly known for!”

Dave is eager to expand his design capabilities and was drawn to Prism’s emphasis on working together as a team towards environmental sustainability. He adds, “It’s been a great opportunity meeting and working with everyone on the Prism team, and I’m already thrilled about everything I’ve learned so far. Looking forward to the future!”

We’re delighted to have these two on board and will introduce more new staff in the coming months. We’re always on the lookout for talented people who share our core values. Find our latest postings here.

Top photo: Prism’s Mechanical Team Lead Stephen Kooiman meeting with Alvaro Sandrin on the Energy Team.

Last month industry leaders from across Canada gathered to celebrate the inaugural BOMA Canada Net Zero Challenge Awards at BOMEX 2018 in Calgary. Sponsored by Natural Resources Canada and Bullfrog Power, the Net Zero Challenge Awards help acknowledge buildings in Canada that are working towards being net zero energy and/or emissions. Buildings are awarded in three categories: Best in Class, Most Improved, and Innovation. Learn more at BOMA Canada.

Prism Engineering is pleased to work as Technical Advisor to the National award program in partnership with BOMA Canada. It has been a pleasure to work with BOMA Canada to develop the award over the past year and we will continue to support in various areas, including technical scores assessment.

Photos: top left/right – Opening the Awards Ceremony; bottom left – ‘Best in Class’ Award Recipients; bottom right – the BOMA Canada Award team: Hazel Sutton, Victoria Papp, Debbie Prince and Prism’s Ainaz Bozorgzadeh.

Shifting towards Net Zero buildings

This year’s winning buildings all had impressive Portfolio Manager scores over 85. Ainaz Bozorgzadeh, one of the engineers on Prism’s Energy Team who led the analysis and attended the awards ceremony, added, “Learning from buildings that compete for the Net Zero Challenge will help carve a pathway to net zero for existing buildings in Canada. This complements the national targets set by the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, for all new construction to be net zero ready by 2030.”

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2018 BOMA Canada Net Zero Challenge Awards:

Interested in the 2019 Challenge?

Look for application details and learn more about the challenge at bomacanada.ca/awards/netzerochallenge.