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.

We are pleased to welcome Brenda Scott as a new member of our Energy Team. Brenda has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and started her professional career providing government funded energy audits for industrial companies while finishing her MBA in Guadalupe, Mexico.

Soon after graduation, Brenda realized that she wanted to work in the energy sector’s Demand Side Management (DSM), where she could use her talents to help change behaviors around consumer demand for energy. That realization led her to apply to UBC, where she completed a Master’s of Engineering in Clean Energy, choosing to focus on areas of sustainable energy generation and efficient energy use.

1. What is your favorite thing about the work that you do at Prism and why?

The fact that I get to be a part of our clients’ efforts in energy efficiency and conservation is very exciting. I also enjoy having the opportunity to support local utility providers’ Demand Side Management (DSM) programs, which help adjust demands on energy resources and encourage sustainable consumer behaviors.

2. What motivates you in your work?

I am motivated by the Prism team of diverse, but like-minded individuals who believe in the importance of building a more sustainable world.

3. Who has most influenced your career?

Several people have influenced my career, but the biggest influence was probably my manager while at my first job out of UBC. She was the person that gave me an opportunity to break into the Canadian job market and who introduced me to the DSM world in BC.

4. Where have you travelled that is interesting or unique and what did you do there?

Right after graduating high school I spent a year in Paris. It wasn’t the destination that was unique but the experience of moving to a completely foreign country, meeting new people who became lifelong friends, and adapting to adverse circumstances made that trip one that I’ll truly never forget.

Andrew Munro, Senior Electrical Designer at Prism Engineering, is the proud recipient of two awards from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) this month: Illumination Awards of Merit for Lighting Control Innovation and Energy & Environmental Lighting Design.

The awards are presented for Andrew’s work at NAV Canada’s Surrey Area Control Centre, where he has designed a new lighting system for NAV Canada’s 10,000sqft air traffic control room. NAV Canada had previously been unable to install a new control system with glossy screens, due to the glare from computer screens and below-standard lighting levels. Prism’s lighting design needed to achieve three important features:

• flatness of the light (i.e. little to no glare on work surfaces and screens),
• reaching or exceeding government standard lighting levels, and
• improving energy efficiency.

Adding complexity to this task, the new system needed to satisfy the lighting preferences of a rotating group of diverse individuals, who occupy the space 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In order to design the system, Andrew spent a day interviewing various occupant groups, and months completing lighting simulations. The project took a year to complete, from the initial study to implementation. We succeeded in achieving the three main targets, and also managed to satisfy all employees’ lighting preferences by selecting a system in which each individual lamp, in each individual fixture, is controllable from 0 to 100% lighting level. The innovative design has also dropped energy consumption by a whopping 38%!

This year marks 25 years of business in BC for Prism Engineering. We are grateful to everyone that has played a role in building our business to where it is today. To our clients, staff, suppliers and contractors – thank you! We could not have come this far without you.

On May 7th, over 100 of our clients, staff and collaborators came together in Downtown Vancouver to celebrate this special milestone with an evening filled with food, drinks and reflections on building a company from the ground up.

It has been an exciting journey for Prism this past 25 years. On top of being one of the first to have an Energy Manager contract, Prism developed BC Hydro’s Strategic Energy Management plan, created PUMA – a utility management tool that supports energy management programs, and were the ones to identify the value of coaching for re-commissioning projects.

The results speak for themselves – over $30 million of identified annual energy savings, better indoor environments, improved comfort, more reliable building system operations. Our commitment to building knowledge in the industry is demonstrated through providing energy management courses to nearly 8500 people. Over the last 5 years, we have built an impressive engagement team promoting the impact that people can have on saving energy to truly round out our offering.

Thinking about our future is invigorating. Energy conservation and efficiency is now a fundamental part of our culture in BC. We have seen our industry grow and demonstrate the benefits of energy savings.

At Prism, we have the expertise, energy and knowledge to meet the challenges of the next 25 years.

Prism’s President Robert Greenwald and Founder Brian O’Donnell present the cake

Prism Engineering, under contract from NRCan, began delivering a two-day customized Dollar to $ense workshop across Alberta this month. The workshop was designed with specific industry needs in mind, and includes examples of energy reports, FDD (fault detection) opportunities and case studies relevant for different audiences. Workshop topics included Energy Rates, Spot the Energy Opportunities, Energy Monitoring, and Recommissioning (RCx).

Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the City of Calgary were the first two organizations to take advantage of this training opportunity. Close to 50 hospital and health care facilities staff, including millwrights, electricians, HVAC technicians, power engineers, managers and directors attended the AHS workshops in Edmonton and Red Deer. For the City of Calgary sessions, audience were made up of building operators, supervisors, and managers of corporate properties. Feedback from the two workshops was resoundingly positive.

More customized workshops are scheduled to take place in Calgary, Lethbridge, and Grande Prairie, AB, in May 2015.

Mining operations are big energy users and mine operators can have significant impacts on how energy efficiently materials are processed. That’s why Prism Engineering has been working with Andrew Cooper, Energy Specialist at New Gold’s New Afton Mine to develop a comprehensive Energy + Engagement Action Plan for the Kamloops mine. Supported by BC Hydro’s Industrial Energy Management coaching program, the goal of the Action Plan is to create a culture of energy conservation at the mine and to have New Gold employees become actively involved in energy management in their work.

The plan is modeled on a four pillar engagement strategy, including communication activities, competency training, engagement initiatives and formalized reporting. These strategies were also established to support New Afton’s work to become the first Canadian mine with ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems certification.

For more information about the ISO 50001 certification. read the full case study: Global Energy Management System Implementation Case Study

News article by BC Hydro (March 20, 2015): New Afton mine goes for gold with ISO 50001

ISO 50001 and your organization

At Prism Engineering we have a dedicated team of Energy Planners and Engineers that can guide your organization through the steps required for ISO 50001 certification. We also have a Certified Professional in Energy Management Systems (CPEnMS – Industrial) on board our team who carries the specific knowledge and accredited training to implement the ISO 50001 Energy Management System.

We are pleased to welcome Baki Cvijetinovic as a new member to our Mechanical Team. Baki brings a strong background in mechanical design and implementation of plumbing, fire protection and HVAC systems as well as boiler and chiller plants retrofits. He has worked on a full range of residential, commercial, and institutional projects for both the private and public sectors. His design expertise is complemented with experience in project management, site supervision and construction administration. Baki’s focus on team cohesion and technical clarity helps him deliver successful results and create strong relationships within the industry.

For several years, the BC Electrical Association has been offering a Basic Electricity course, led by industry professionals, to give entry level electrical knowledge and a broad overview of electricity and systems to new and junior employees working within the electrical industry.

Course participants started asking for more in-depth information and training in electrical equipment, systems and operations. The BCEA Education Committee took these requests to heart and brought Prism on board to help develop a new module on Electrical Distribution.

The new module took six months to produce and was delivered over three 3-hour evening sessions earlier this month, led by our Senior Electrical Designer Andrew Munro. Stay tuned for a Fall session!

Course Overview: Understanding equipment, distribution systems, power quality and code

The course expands on electrical equipment components, construction of these components and issues of electricity ‘delivery’ to include electricity generation, transformers, panel boards, overcurrent devices, safety switches and other load break equipment, power quality and power factor, wiring, reading engineering drawings and electrical safety. Code related topics are referenced in the course to give participants exposure to critical issues related to selection and use of electrical equipment.

Participants will develop robust knowledge in equipment of electrical distribution, how the equipment ‘relates’ to other components in an electrical distribution system, power quality issues and causes, with some general knowledge of code related issues.

Prism has been providing engineering services for BCIT for many years and as a part of BC Hydro’s Workplace Conservation Awareness program, our team has been supporting their goal of further embedding energy conservation into the culture of BCIT.

In celebration of BCIT’s 50^th Anniversary, BCIT’s Green Team Executive collaborated with Prism to launch an innovative multi-year campaign to encourage energy conservation behaviours in office spaces.

At the heart of the campaign are a team of volunteer staff and faculty in each department trained as Office Doctors who help their coworkers or ‘patients’ to analyze their office space and learn about efficient lighting, managing plug loads and room temperature.

After a successful pilot in the Summer, the campaign in now in full swing with 28 trained Office Doctors. Over the coming months staff and faculty across departments will have the opportunity to learn one-on-one about strategies tailored to their workspace to improve their comfort and save energy.

Prism and the PUMA team are excited to announce a new partnership with ENERGY STAR, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program that helps businesses and individuals across North America to leverage energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is the benchmarking tool backed by NRCan (Natural Resources Canada) created to help organizations evaluate the energy and water consumption of their buildings. Our PUMA (Prism Utility Monitoring and Analysis) software allows our clients to leverage their data by producing flexible, customizable reports, including reports based on total energy use and cost, use per unit area, cost comparisons and environmental impact.

As an ENERGY STAR Partner, we have integrated the two tools, so that building utility data in PUMA can be automatically uploaded to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Once in Portfolio Manager, your buildings can be shared with you within Portfolio Manager for refinement of building use details and improvement of your energy star score. With the link established, as your PUMA data is updated, your Energy Star score is regularly updated. PUMA will retrieve and track your Energy Star score as it changes over time and enable reporting on those changes, and comparison with other metrics.

Keeping your Energy Star score up to date is important for LEED-EBOM certification, and continued leadership in energy efficient buildings.

Contact us for more information and a proposal to have us setup your buildings in Portfolio Manager. (duncan@prismengineering.com or phone: 604.205.5516)