Pani Pasbanpoo Joins Prism Engineering

We are pleased to welcome Pani Pasbanpoo as a new member of our Mechanical Team. Pani lived and worked in Tehran before moving to Vancouver. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Guilan and a Master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Science and Technology of Iran. Pani brings significant experience in plumbing and HVAC systems design to Prism.

During her first month in Vancouver, at an industry conference, Pani met members of the Prism team and became familiar with the company. She was drawn to Prism’s client service values and the diversity of work that Prism does. Shortly after the conference, she applied to join our Mechanical Team. She now calls Vancouver home.

1. What are you aiming to achieve through your work with Prism?

I would like to contribute to my new community in Canada by using my skillset to make a positive impact and help our clients save energy. I’d also like to continue learning and expanding the knowledge and skills that I have.

2. What part of your work experience so far has been the most fun?

Working with my new colleagues has been lots of fun. I like coming to work in a friendly atmosphere where staff work together to achieve a common goal.

3. If you could have any job in the world (besides the one you have now), what would it be?

As a lover of animals and nature, I would probably pick something where I could be outside with animals. Maybe I would choose to be a shepherd!

On post-secondary campuses, computers can be a big contributor to energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By adjusting power settings on computers and monitors to be as close to actual usage as possible, VCC’s IT Team is helping to significantly reduce energy consumption at the Broadway and Downtown campuses.

Over the course of six years, since IT began managing computer and monitor power settings, VCC has avoided unnecessary energy consumption and costs totalling:

• 2,111,165 kWh of electricity (or the annual usage of 133 homes)
• 1,502,281 kg of CO₂ (or what 5 km2 of forests sequester in a year)
• $126,660 (or the cost of 230 brand new PCs)

Prism recently showcased the IT Team’s accomplishments in a Case Study. The IT team continues to work with facilities and VCC’s energy manager, Prism Engineering’s Majid Pishavei, to take savings even further.

Prism Engineering was well represented at last month’s GLOBE conference, North America’s largest and most influential sustainable business leadership summit. Our President, Robert Greenwald attended a variety of sessions including the keynote address given by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a speech delivered by Premier Christy Clark.

“It was illuminating to hear our federal and provincial leaders address climate change and economic growth in the same sentence,” he said of his time at the conference. “One of the most important and exciting takeaways for me was that we’re no longer looking at the environment and the economy as competing issues, but rather a pieces of a larger, more complex problem – a problem that new technology, innovative thinking, and customer engagement are offering solutions to.”

Stefanie Jones, Sustainability Engagement Specialist at Prism Engineering also took part in Globe events. Stefanie facilitated a discussion during the Renewable Energy Challenge workshop hosted by the Vancouver Economic Commission, C40 Climate Leadership Group and Renewable Cities. Of the workshop, Stefanie says, “I was happy to help create a dialogue among people of such diverse backgrounds and expertise about a future based on renewable energy.”

From Prism’s Energy Team, Iram Green attended the Green and Digital Demonstration Program’s Inside the Boardroom session which showcased the joint City of Vancouver and Vancouver Economic Commission program and demonstrated how winning proponents are selected.

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!

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 17^th 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.

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.