Prism Wins Six ASHRAE Awards for Projects in Energy Savings and Decarbonization

The work conducted by Prism Engineering to support organizations in achieving higher energy efficiency while implementing measures to accelerate the decarbonization of their operations has been recognized with six ASHRAE BC Technology Awards for the years 2021-2022 and 2019-2020.

The awards recognize innovative projects that have been implemented for more than one year and with substantial results in the areas of occupant comfort, indoor air quality and energy conservation.

“These projects are great examples of our core values,” says Robert Greenwald, P.Eng., President of Prism Engineering. “We want our work to have an impact, we want to nurture strong relationships with our clients, we want to deliver quality projects that perform,” he adds.

From left to right: Tim Aske, P.Eng., Energy Team; Iram Green, P. Eng., Energy Team Leader; Stephen Kooiman, P. Eng., M.A.Sc, Mechanical Team Leader; Hamid Samani, P. Eng., Principal and Senior Mechanical Engineer; and David Roberts, P. Eng., Mechanical Engineer.

The award-winning projects are:

2021-2022 

• BC Chapter Award for Hillcrest Community Centre Optimization and Second Place in Region XI in the Existing Commercial Building Category.
• First Place in Region XI and a BC Chapter Award for New Afton Mine Chiller Replacement in the Industrial Category.

2019-2020

• First Place Region XI, BC Chapter and Society Award for Kitsilano Community Centre Deep Carbon Retrofit. Existing Institutional Category.
• Second Place Region XI and BC Chapter Award for Surrey Taxation Data Center Boiler Replacement. Existing Commercial Building Category.
• Second Place Region XI and BC Chapter Award for Langara College Building A, AHU Upgrade. Existing Education Facilities Category.
• Second Place Region XI and BC Chapter Award for Richmond Hospital Cooling Upgrade. Existing Health Care Facilities Category.

Multi-step approach to achieve carbon reductions

There are some common traits among our award-winning projects. First, they all involved a multi-disciplinary team of Energy, Mechanical, and Electrical professionals from Prism. The large scale of the projects required a team approach with different areas of expertise to meet the objectives of each project.

Additionally, not only were the projects built upon a comprehensive study to assess best opportunities for energy savings, but most importantly to find new ways to advance decarbonization.

“This enabled us to present multiple options to the organizations, so that they could analyze each one of them carefully and make an informed decision”, explains Stephen Kooiman, P.Eng., M.A.Sc, Mechanical Team Leader. “They are all large projects with good energy savings and decarbonization opportunities. We achieved the biggest impact by focusing on where the most energy was being consumed,” Stephen says.

With the recommendations in hand at the end of the study phase, our team put in place an implementation plan that addressed both the client’s budget and an optimized pathway for energy and emission reductions.

“The retrofits go beyond energy savings to achieve significant carbon reductions using technologies that work”, explains Robert. “Our clients are making strides to meet their long-term carbon reduction targets and we are helping them on their journey. I am really proud of how our staff collaborate and challenge each other, on a continuous basis, to get the results and long-term performance demonstrated through these awards,” he adds.

Here is a brief overview of each award-winning project:

Hillcrest Community Centre

Project: System optimization, pool heating, and control system redesign.
Innovation: Redesign of pool heating, domestic hot water (DHW), and control systems to enable heat recovery in the facility.
Results: $92,000/year in energy cost savings and 700 tonnes of CO₂e/year in GHG reduction.

New Afton Mine

Sarah Anderson, P. Eng., at New Afton Mine, receives the ASHRAE Award from Robert Greenwald, P. Eng., President of Prism Engineering.

Project: Chiller replacement
Innovation: Installation of low-pressure centrifugal water-cooled chiller to integrate existing fresh water supply into chillers’ condenser loop.
Results: 1,160 MWh/year reduction in electricity consumption.
Learn more

Kitsilano Community Centre

Project: Heat recovery
Innovation: HVAC systems retrofit (rink and community centre facilities), with integrated ice plant recovery system connected to central heating plant of both buildings,
Results: $70,000/year in energy cost savings and 82% decrease in GHG emissions.
Learn more

Surrey Taxation Data Centre

Project: Boiler replacement
Innovation: Implementation of dual return condensing boilers, with cascading loads and demand feedback, to allow building to operate in condensing mode during heating season.
Results: $28,000/year in energy and maintenance cost savings; 65.5 tonnes of CO₂e/year in GHG reduction.
Learn more

Langara College (Building A)

Project: HVAC upgrade
Innovation: Use of fan array and reconfiguration of AHU; upgrade with minimum disruption to campus life.
Results: $70,000/year in energy cost savings and more balanced efficiency among college buildings.
Learn more

Richmond Hospital

Project: Cooling upgrades for medical imaging and kitchen/cafeteria.
Innovation: Kitchen/cafeteria were shutdown for only three days during upgrades; improvements in ducting air intakes; new rooftop makeup air unit; renewed heat pumps and advanced control strategies.
Results: $4,200/year in energy cost savings and 22 tonnes of CO₂e/year in GHG reduction.
Lean more

All images © Google Earth except New Afton Mine

The fast and unexpected switch to remote work was one of the many immediate effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now that the dust has settled, Prism Engineering has adopted a hybrid work model, where employees make up their schedule of days working between home and at the office.

To adapt to this new reality, our company has created “hotel stations”, where employees are free to use certain desk spaces on a first come, first serve basis whenever in the office. But when we began the process of resizing our resources library to open space for new acoustic cells for individual meetings, a big question emerged:

What should be the fate of a huge volume of binders, books and project folders that would have to be removed to give room for the office redesign?

“Some were outdated, and others were duplicates, so there wasn’t much to do”, recalls Anusha Hooda, People, Culture and Operations Coordinator at Prism. “We then began discussing a proper way to discard them, especially the binders, which contained cardboard, plastic and metal parts”, she adds.

To find a solution, she got help from Taniell Hamilton, Sustainability and Engagement Specialist at Prism. Together, they put out a waste reduction plan that included the recycling and donation of the material, as well as the digitization of old documents.

To spread the word, they announced the initiative on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. A total of 350 binders were diverted for reusing, repurposing, or recycling. In addition, half a ton of paper was recycled. For example, some of the binders were donated to families with children, who were invited to come to the Burnaby office to pick up the material. Others were donated to Renfrew Elementary School, located nearby the office. Even the bookshelves found their way: they were given to employees to take home and reuse.

“I am really glad we chose the right way to dispose all those items, reducing our impact on the environment”, says Anusha. “It wasn’t easy, as some of the steps weren’t obvious from the outset, like having to separate the metal spines of books for recycling. But, in the end, it was also a great learning experience”, she adds.

We are excited to share that we have five new Associates joining the Prism leadership team this fall. Prism Associates are individuals with the experience, expertise, and passion to support our clients in creating a greener, more energy-efficient world.

Each Associate takes on company-level responsibilities, leading different aspects of our business, from quality assurance to business development to employee engagement. Our Associates support the growth and development of our junior team members and are key to fostering our company culture of care and collaboration.

Our new Associates:

Tim Aske is a valued member of the Energy Team and maintains a high standard in client deliverables by carrying out technical reviews for Energy Team projects. He currently leads the Fault Detection Diagnostics, Recommissioning and Direct Digital Control services within Prism.

Sarah Colman is an integral part of the Sustainability Team, leading the Sustainability Strategy and Reporting Service areas. She will be working with the Marketing team to set the direction for Prism’s long-term marketing plan and leading the company’s B Corp assessment.

Adam Franklin currently leads Electrification and Electric Vehicle, Lighting & Lighting Controls and Power Quality Service areas at Prism. Clients know Adam as consistently delivering high quality work and acting as technical reviewer for electrical projects.

Lyn Papio has stepped into the role of the People, Culture and Operations Team Leader and has been instrumental in helping the company respond to the many challenges we faced in the last couple of years all while continuing to dedicate her energy to supporting the employee experience at Prism and PUMA

Ari Spiegel leads the Energy Audits and Training Service teams. As an avid teacher and enthusiast for energy management, Ari will also be providing leadership to Prism’s sister organization, PUMA, and supporting them in their business development efforts.

“We are very fortunate to have these individuals who are passionate and dedicated to their work join the leadership team at Prism. Each of them has demonstrated their willingness and ability to mentor others and share their knowledge to create value for our clients. Together, along with every Prism employee, we look forward to helping our clients make an impact.” – Robert Greenwald, Principal and President.

Learn more about our current opportunities and reasons to join the Prism team.

Financial support for energy conservation and climate action projects through rebates and incentives is a critical component of helping many projects proceed. However, without knowing which funding options work best for your project, it’s possible you may be missing out.
Rebate programs can help to offset 50-100% of the cost of an energy study and as much as $1M towards the cost of retrofits.  Sometimes more than one incentive program can be applied to a single project, while some programs may offer less for a study but more for implementation.  Understanding these programs and which one will offer the most value to your project can be confusing and time consuming.

Although many of us are aware of various rebates and incentive programs that support energy and carbon reduction projects, learning about new programs and keeping up to date with changes is important if we want to maximize the funding available and get projects moving.

Some tips from Prism’s team when you’re looking at rebate and incentive options include:

1. See if the program will offer an incentive for implementation of measures once the study is complete if you’re conducting a study first.
2. Consider whether the program favours energy savings or carbon reduction and how this aligns with your priorities.
3. Check that the program timeline works for your project and aligns with your internal funding schedule.
4. Understand any measurement and verification (M&V) requirements and the impact of equipment performance on the incentive.
5. Read the fine print – see if there any claw backs associated with not implementing the project.

While the Prism team can help educate and navigate you on various programs, there are also several useful online resources available to help.  Below is a summary of our ‘go to’ resources you might find beneficial:

Here’s what some of our clients have shared about the value of finding the right incentive program:Now is a great time to consider possible funding contributions to your projects through rebates and incentives.  Momentum continues to build around deep carbon reduction in the built environment, and so too does the funding programs and incentives out there to help support it.

“Prism has been instrumental in maximizing the City of Port Moody’s investment to reduce emissions from civic facilities. They identified several funding options for the City to consider and worked with staff to customize an approach that maximizes the City’s investment and meets all project goals. Prism has led the City’s team through the funding application by researching and laying out application requirements, tracking application components, and preparing key documents.”
-Laura Sampliner, Sustainability and Energy Coordinator, City of Port Moody
“The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS) has found the custom study from Prism and the FortisBC incentives invaluable to progressing energy saving actions in corporate buildings. Incentives offered for the study and the incentives in the study have received high-5s and smiles from the engineering and finance departments. Without these incentives, it is doubtful an engineering report of this calibre would have been affordable.”
-Jeremy Dresner, Senior Energy Specialist, Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen

Depending on whether you are considering funding for a study only, or study followed by implementation, the best incentive program to maximize your overall contributions might not be the most obvious path.

Contact Sam Thomas if you’re unsure about which funding path to pursue, and we’d be happy to help guide you in the right direction!

“As a technician, being able to implement energy saving activities and knowing how to make adjustments for sustainability in our buildings has been very rewarding,” says Bob DePaiva, Colliers Building Operator.

In 2019, Prism worked with the Colliers Energy & Sustainability Manager and General Vancouver Operations Manager to design and deliver the “Colliers Building Operator Challenge”. The year-long challenge provided quarterly training sessions, ‘take-home’ exercises, and participation prizes. It gave operators the opportunity to come together to learn, discuss, and share ideas about saving energy in their buildings. The combination of training, discussion and easy-to-implement actions meant operators not only learned how to identify and implement energy saving strategies, they were inspired and motivated to apply these learnings.

Before Prism designed the challenge and accompanying training sessions, a survey was conducted to understand operator needs and desires as well as what would motivate them to participate in the upcoming challenge.

“We believe that a thorough understanding of our audience is key to developing initiatives that will engage and educate. Our survey results allowed us to narrow in on topics that were most relevant to the group and to structure the challenge in a way that positioned operators to ‘do the best job they can’. This was the number one motivator operators identified for participating in the challenge,” shares Christine Obee, Sustainability Engagement Specialist at Prism Engineering.

Once the challenge wrapped up, PUMA, a web-based utility monitoring software, was used by Nicky Arthur, Energy & Sustainability Manager at Colliers to analyze energy savings. Evidenced by energy usage data and the absence of other capital projects that could have reduced emissions, Nicky concluded that the bulk of these savings were attributable to low and no-cost actions, such as those covered in the training sessions.

“We wanted to measure the actual savings that could be attributed to actions by our operators.  Based on feedback from our team, we realized that many of the measures they implemented had a significant effect on gas consumption – things like altering Direct Digital Controls (DDC) schedules and setpoints,” shared Nicky.

When comparing 2019 (with the Operator Training Program in place) to 2018:

• Electricity consumption savings increased from 10.5% to 12.8%
• Natural gas consumption savings increased from 0% to 4.8%
• Overall energy consumption savings increased from 7.5% to 10.3%
• Overall energy cost savings increased from 10.2% to 12.5%

The estimated energy saving attributed to the building operators after their training is 2,584,372 ekWh (9300 GJ), or 2.8%. This is equal to saving over $140,000 annually. Emissions saved equals 264 tCO₂e.