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Green Energy

Life in the Trenches: How Solar Projects Really Work (or Don’t)

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Life in the Trenches: How Solar Projects Really Work (or Don’t)

By Derek Satnik, P.Eng., LEED® AP

When I was a kid I used to love lego. My brother and I could build anything when we set our minds to it. We had adventures with castles, nights and monsters, drove trains on the moon, made our own transformers… and never needed a building permit, or a utility connection agreement, or an ESA approval.

The Solar industry is not new in Canada, but it has certainly grown over the past decade. The advent of Ontario’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP) in 2006 was heralded globally, and Ontario was thrust into the forefront of global solar media. When 2009 turned RESOP into the Feed-in Tariff (FIT), Ontario became North America’s renewable energy policy leader, and a global model for other jurisdictions to follow. Ontario’s solar industry blossomed, and regulators scrambled to put processes in place to keep us all safe and to help projects move forward.

Help. That’s an interesting word.

The truth is that many well intentioned players from all sides of the industry had no idea what to expect. It was as if we knocked down the first domino in a long chain, and I think to some extent that we’re still watching other dominos fall, and we’re learning how to clean up the mess.

Solar projects are exciting. They’re great for the environment, they’re good for social ethos, and thanks to the FIT programs, they’re affordable to farmers, faith groups, municipalities, and average middle-class laypeople.

But like everything that’s exciting, there’s a bit of a mythology that’s built up around solar energy projects, and some of those myths need to be cleared up.

FIT: Contract, not Subsidy

For example, FIT contracts are not subsidies, and they won’t help anyone get rich quick. Subsidies by definition are intended to help “subsidize” something: they do things like reduce or offset construction or other development costs, like the way we pay for the construction of new gas or nuclear energy plants. FIT contracts are quite the opposite: they only pay for delivered energy. Project proponents absorb 100% of the project risk up to the day when energy is sold to the grid, and the only payment they ever get comes later, for electrical kilowatt hours (kWh’s). Nuclear energy plants will typically have special contract provisions that ensure they get paid even when they have down-time. FIT contracts offer no such luxury: payment is only made for kWh’s delivered to the grid. This is a great thing for the ratepayer and taxpayer, but it poses an interesting challenge to the project team: the project needs to be designed right and implemented precisely as planned, or all the losses fall to the project owner.

Common Project Pitfalls

At Mindscape we consult on a variety of solar energy projects. Our clients are spread across Ontario, and range from home owners to farmers to commercial developers or industrial factory operators. They have many different needs, but they tend to struggle with the same things when considering solar energy projects. Like any project, solar energy projects succeed or fail based on planning. As the proverb goes, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail, or at least to learn some hard lessons along the way.

The single greatest project killer we’ve encountered repeatedly is when project teams neglect to contact all their approving authorities before they start the project. You may need approvals from the any or all of the local municipal building department, the Ontario Power Authority, the Electrical Safety Authority, and sometimes even a local Conservation Authority. Any one of these can stop a project in its tracks, regardless of how much money you’ve spent before you call them. The most tragic case we’ve seen was nearly 200kW of solar panels fully installed, but unable to connect to the grid, because the owner neglected to get approvals first. There are more than a few homeowners across Ontario currently attempting to connect microFIT systems, less than 10kW in size, who similarly neglected to talk to their local electrical utilities first, and who now may not be able to get connected at all. Some have even withdrawn their retirement savings to finance their projects. That’s a tragic and costly mistake to make.

We’ve watched other projects get hung up in the fine print. In this market it happens all too often that contractors get hired in good faith based on a talented sales call and a thin purchase agreement, and the fine print doesn’t include some of the important details that the property owner doesn’t understand, like securing the FIT or microFIT contract to sell the electricity to the grid. Sometimes in larger projects this falls between contracts. For example, when a general contractor delivers a “turn-key” system design and installation, hires engineering consultants to do the design and electricians and roofers to do the install, but forgets to clearly spell out who will apply for the FIT contract. Without a FIT or microFIT contract, solar panels can be very expensive decorations. Especially in progressive and exciting new markets, one cannot overstate the importance of having clear contract documents, and of making sure that the whole project team has a complete and clear understanding of each other’s responsibilities, and that nothing falls through the cracks.

And even when you do everything right, sometimes projects still get jinxed over the most unexpected things. Most contractors don’t think to check for CSA certifications on the products they install, but I’ve seen equipment arrive on site that was not CSA certified, and that ultimately needed to be torn out and replaced with something that was. Unless products are certified to CSA or equivalent standards, the Electrical Safety Authority will not let them be connected to our grid, and with good reason. None of wants to be the project that caused a fire or worse, a fatality.

Public Misinformation

One of the most unexpected challenges that our projects sometimes face is social friction. One of our clients was chastised by a neighbour because “my taxes are paying for your [expletive] panels you thief!” It is remarkable how little Ontarians know about how our energy markets work, and how hypocritical some uneducated or miseducated people can be. False information is free and widely available. Good information takes effort to compile, and often costs money. And although any bigot can level heavy accusations with little effort, the “good guys” have to work hard and invest heavily to give solid answers to those accusations

Where to Find Help

If there’s any one key lesson we’ve learned about solar energy projects, it’s that they’re not as simple as they seem. Thankfully there is good help available, and a properly implemented project can be a dream when done… if you plan it right!

The Renewable Energy Facilitation Office (REFO, www.energy.gov.on.ca/en/renewable-energy-facilitation-office) within the Ontario Ministry of Energy is tasked with the role of facilitating renewable energy projects as they navigate their way through the various government approvals required. They handle inquiries about everything from biomass to hydro to wind and solar, and compared to the rest of what they do, solar is blessedly simple. Don’t hesitate to call them for advice.

The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA, www.ontario-sea.org) is the non-profit agency whose efforts brought together all the stakeholders and leaders that first gave us RESOP, and then the Green Energy and Green Economy Act with its FIT programs. OSEA is at the heart of the Community Power sector in Ontario, and loves nothing more than to help local community groups (farmers, coops, churches, or even private land holders) to plan and implement their own energy projects.

The Community Energy Partnership Program (www.communityenergyprogram.ca) has several grants available to help local community groups navigate the government approvals process.

And any good accountant will be able to help you plan the tax write-offs in your project: proper use of class 43.2 depreciation allowances can double the returns on your investment, and are sometimes the key element that makes a project possible.

Plan early, get help, do some research, and solar energy projects will consistently come out right. Failure to plan is planning to fail, and as simple as these projects seem, they can break just as easily as my brother and my lego fortresses if you don’t plan them properly.

Derek Satnik is a Professional Electrical Engineer, and Managing Director at Mindscape Innovations Group Inc: a wind and solar energy consulting company with offices and projects across Ontario. www.mi-group.ca GB

Architecture

Kongats Architects

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Kongats Architects

Distinctive and Energy-Friendly

The inertia of the creative and social forces that make us human have resulted in a dominance of the planet in ways that are inevitable, sometimes destructive, and eventually, we hope, ways that are moving toward the ecological middle ground.

Designs by Alar Kongats delineate this evolutionary struggle. They navigate the delicate balance between distinctive and dynamic visual statements, and integration with natural and historic environs.

Winner of two Governor General’s architecture awards, four Ontario Association of Architects (AAO) awards, and other honours; Alar Kongats is accomplished and inspirational.

His Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Centre at the Mississauga campus of the University of Toronto appears on the horizon as a stunning landmark in glass and stainless steel, while accommodating academics inside with natural light, gardens and warmth; and minimizing its intrusion on our ecosystem.

MANAGING SOLAR GAIN

The most visually striking exterior feature is a series of vertical stainless steel panels arranged artistically as an outer skin and also as a set of intricately planned window baffles. The latter are set at 30 o, 60 o and 90o to reflect and deflect light and manage solar gain for a positive interior effect and a remarkable exterior aesthetic achievement.

The challenge was to meet the needs of the new Mississauga Academy of Medicine, the Department of Biomedical Communications and the Department of Anthropology and Forensics. These would include video conference-ready lecture theatres, classrooms, seminar rooms, offices, and laboratories.

The building is designed like stack of slim gift boxes in different sizes, creating a multi-level complex of terrace gardens and green roofs. Behind the Semple Gooder stainless steel and Pilkington glass of the exterior is an airtight interior envelope planned by Brook Van Dalen & Associates, which partners with a modern mechanical design by Crossey Engineering to conserve energy and optimize comfort.

DISTRICT HEATING & COOLING

The campus district heating and cooling system combined with the window reflectors, heat recovery ventilators, radiant delivery, operable windows, individualized temperature controls, green roofs on the terraces and a white roof on top control energy demand and make interior spaces bright and invigorating.

The design also incorporates occupancy sensors for lighting and a storm water collection system that supplies toilet flushing throughout the building.

The Governor General jury commented that, “Interiors are luminous and civilized with ample natural light, and…stacked volumes create terraces for encounter and engagement. The quality of detailing is exceptional and the sophisticated use of materials lifts the building into a class of its own.”

Congratulations to Alar Kongats for inspirational work that distinguishes itself artistically while delighting the people for whom it is designed and respecting our natural environment.

Technology

Say ‘No’ to Man Against Nature

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Say ‘No’ to Man Against Nature

The harmony of the Termobuild radiant system

English students learn that stories are usually about man against man, man against himself or man against nature. In designing systems to heat and cool buildings, it seems like for hundreds of years it has been about man against nature. We expend a lot of energy creating heat quickly to defeat extreme cold, or creating cool air quickly to defeat hot temperatures outside. But what if humankind could work more in harmony with nature? Is there a way to reduce the level of conflict and thus the amount of energy required?

That’s what Jack Laken wondered back in 1979 when he began designing HVAC technology and working towards what is now called the Termobuild System. How can we slow down the process of preparing for cold or warm conditions and get ready in a more natural way? Forced air just didn’t seem to be heading in the right direction, and although Termobuild moves air through its system, it is a cross between forced air technology and a radiant system, taking advantage of the somewhat slower moving principle of thermal mass.

With Termobuild, air moves through hollow cores in concrete building panels, but in a far less ‘forced’ fashion. That’s because 70% of its heating or cooling is achieved through the radiant effect of the concrete. This means that warm air can be created by heating it during the nighttime, when energy is less expensive, and storing it in the hollows and slab of the concrete for calculated, gradual, daytime release.

During periods with high-temperature daytimes, the same process permits the storage and calculated release of cool night air. The result is significant energy savings for many buildings now benefitting from Termobuild. Projects have tended to be school and university structures, which adapt well to this type of construction, and can save between 35% and 50% on energy for cooling and heating.

The system consists of vents, fans, fittings, sensors and controls, plus hollowed out concrete slabs that were already being used for such buildings. Rather than having to increase ductwork, Laken recognized that these existing concrete panels could be slightly modified to serve the purposes of his more harmonic HVAC system. His company doesn’t even sell the panels themselves, strictly speaking; although they work with suppliers to modify them for Termobuild projects.

When used correctly, thermal mass located in a building can significantly reduce the requirement for active heating and cooling systems and the consumption of energy. “The idea is to do more with less,” says Laken, it’s like making the building into a big storage battery.” In addition to the active heating and cooling of the panels, surplus heat, generated from human bodies, lighting, computers, the sun’s radiation, etc., can increase slab temperature by 2‐3°C during the day, without affecting the comfort of the occupants.

This extremely efficient system is continuously monitored by computer sensors located in the hollow core slabs. They direct the flow of heated or cooled air to each room, and increase fresh air in occupied rooms by reading CO2 level fluctuations.

Termobuild combines well with renewable technologies. It was used with a solar wall at a fire training institute near Pearson Airport and also with a scaled down geothermal system in Mundy’s Bay Public School in Midland; Ontario’s most energy efficient public school. “That school is achieving HVAC at 53 cents per square foot,” says Laken, “…compared with about $1.00 for newer schools and $2.00 for old schools. And at Mundy’s Bay some further optimization of the system could still be done.”

Depending on outside temperatures, many buildings using extreme forced air heating actually exceed allowable CO2 limits between the hours of 10AM and 2PM. Because the whole Termobuild cycle is slower, 24 hours vs. a few hours, the system can use more fresh air, improve indoor air quality and still save energy. And because the building, often a school, is constructed largely from concrete, fire safety is enhanced, noise and vibrations are controlled.

In addition, concrete panels can help achieve LEED certification in a variety of ways. They can be recycled and locally manufactured; they provide thermal mass and an insulating core. They reduce the expended energy needed to manufacture, transport and erect materials, which are LEED requirements.

Combining the re-emerging benefits of concrete with contemporary control systems, renewables and an integrated approach to design has made the Termobuild system an attractive, environment-friendly and cost-effective option for many institutions. In all Termobuild is now in place at about 30 locations in Ontario and is beginning to expand into California, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

“We are trying to be in harmony with nature,” says Laken “We are using conventional wisdom in an previously unconventional way. We are using existing materials in a different application. It’s like being a conductor of an orchestra. We are taking people with instruments and existing talent and helping them to harmonize; helping them to make beautiful music together.”

Uncategorized

Cogeneration Efficiencies Conserve Energy

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CHP Efficiencies Conserve Energy

With a decrease in natural gas prices, and the possibility that lower prices will continue in the foreseeable future, there has been an increased interest in the implementation of cogeneration in buildings where there is a simultaneous demand for power and heat (or cooling). Cogeneration is also referred to as Combined Heat and Power (CHP).

By increasing efficiencies CHP can provide an attractive return on investment and a contribution to reduction of greenhouse gases.

Buildings that use a significant amount of heat and power represent an opportunity for an on-site CHP system. In today’s market, where the price of power paid by the consumer is often higher than 10 ct/kWh and the price of natural gas is lower than $6/GJ, smaller CHP systems (<250 kW) can achieve a simple payback that is better than 7 years, where larger systems (>500 kW) often see a simple payback that is better than 5 years.

CHP systems usually generate power behind the meter, used by the building itself, while less power is being purchased from the utility. The heat that is recovered from the CHP system is typically in the form of hot water and used for space heating as well as domestic hot water heating. In summer months CHP heat can be used for absorption cooling.

Guelph Community Centre

A recent example is the West End Community Centre (WECC) in Guelph, Ontario. WECC recently completed the installation of a 400 kW CHP system supplied by European Power Systems Ltd. (EPS). EPS specializes in CHP systems with natural gas reciprocating engines as well as micro-turbine technology.

Reciprocating engine-based CHP systems are supplied by 2G and GE Jenbacher. Micro-turbine-based CHP systems are supplied by Capstone. Systems range in size from 30 kW to 10 MW. In just its second year of existence EPS has secured more than $8M in projects across the country.

Technology Options

Site requirements drive the decision regarding which would be the better fit for a specific project opportunity between reciprocating engines and micro-turbine technology. Micro-turbines have a smaller footprint, have significantly lower exhaust emissions, do not require radiators and no vibration is transmitted to a building. This makes them attractive for installation in upper floors of apartment buildings and office towers.

Reciprocating engines tend to be larger, may require additional emission controls and are more difficult to integrate in a typical apartment or office building. If the system will provide emergency power in the event of a utility outage, the Canadian code that governs emergency power does not permit micro-turbine technology for this purpose, so the reciprocating engine would be the technology of choice.

Efficiency

Natural gas -based CHP systems reduce fuel consumption by more than 30%, when compared to the separate production of power and heat. In addition, CHP systems can be driven by biomass and other forms of renewable energy through sophisticated new control technology.

For more information about EPS, please visit www.epsenergy.ca GB

Ideas

International Green Construction Code

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International Green Construction Code 

IgCC offers a new code baseline for greener building construction

The 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC) was released in late March in Washington.

It will provide specific direction for governments during oversight of green design and construction, according to the International Code Council, the code’s author and one of several U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) partners in the effort. This is a very positive release that provides another signal to the international construction industry and a practical tool that can be adapted for use by governments anywhere.

The USGBC, which created the LEED green building rating system and were co-authors of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES/USGBC Standard 189.1, says the new model code serves as a key policy option for local governments looking to codify green building practice. Communities have been calling for a regulatory tool that complements voluntary rating systems by offering jurisdictions minimum safeguards to protect against building-related risks to human and environmental health.  Several jurisdictions have already implemented early versions of the IgCC that were released during the development process.

“The IgCC  was developed during the last three years with input from code and construction industry professionals, environmental organizations, policy makers and the public,” said Richard P. Weiland, CEO of the ICC that developed the new code. It was authored in partnership with the American Institute of Architects, ASTM international, ASHRAE, the Illuminating Engineering Society, and USGBC. “(It is) adoptable, usable and enforceable, but also flexible and adaptable. We expect this new model code…to be adopted across the country and (adapted for use) globally.”

“As the IgCC begins to inform building codes and (minimum) building practice across the country, LEED is (also) evolving,” said Roger Platt, senior vice president of Global Policy & Law, USGBC. “We need public policy that rewards this beyond-code leadership.” LEED Version 2012 will be released in November this year. Although controversial in some regions, LEED is the world’s foremost rating program for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of green buildings. More than 45,000 projects are currently participating, comprising 8.4 billion square feet of construction space in 50 states and 120 countries.

The IgCC offers a new code baseline that can be tailored by local governments to mandate the benefits of green buildings, regardless of whether they are engaged in LEED, a similar program, or none at all. Federal, provincial and local Canadian governments are already making progress with greener building codes. Now they have an additional tool and impetus for accelerating our transition to the new energy age.

Giulio Marinescu

Publisher

 

 

 

 

Architecture

Making it look Easy in Toronto and New Orleans

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Making it look Easy in Toronto and New Orleans

The three-step Dowsett design system

One: Start with conservation to reduce the energy demand of a building. Two: rely on passive sources of energy, supplied freely by nature. Three: consider active technologies to provide the balance of the renewable energy required. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

At least that’s how Paul Dowsett, Principal Architect at SUSTAINABLE.TO, explains it. He is one of those larger-than-life Torontonians who works hard at making things look easy. Last month he was honoured under the CMHC Healthy Housing Recognition Program; in September he was nominated for a Heritage Toronto Award and last May he won the coveted first prize in the international competition to design a Passive House for New Orleans. Dowsett has been in the green building business for about 25 years; and we all know it’s not actually easy.

Sustainable technologies can have 40 or 50 years of performance under their belts and still be obsessively scrutinized for payback and described by the unenlightened as ‘unproven’ or ‘new.’ Renewable energy generation, the world’s fastest growing business and currently the most popular investment opportunity, is routinely described by myopic politicians as damaging to the economy even as they subsidize economic fossils like fossil fuels. In Canada it would be generous to describe progress on green building regulations as a bit like a roller coaster.

ENTHUSIASM

Meanwhile Paul Dowsett and many others persevere and even flourish, because they believe strongly in what they are doing. Standing in front of his project in Willowdale, Ontario with CMHC officials and the obligatory framed certificate, Dowsett seems restless to complete the photo-op. Moments before he was full of life, enthusiastically leading the assembled journalists and industry representatives through the building, pointing out each thoughtfully planned feature that conserves energy and optimizes efficiency.

In 2010 he completed the restoration, renovation and additions to David and Kate Daniels’ 1935 “eco-deco” (Art deco) mansion in Toronto’s South Hill neighbourhood.

Mechanical systems were replaced with a geothermal radiant heating and cooling system that employs highly efficient zoned heat pumps, reducing reliance on fossil fuels in winter and the municipal power grid in the summer. Says Dowsett: “There is enough thermal mass under a single house to heat a city block and geothermal offers an energy co-efficient of 3.9:1, compared to 1:1 for electric heat.” In other words it is about 4 times more energy efficient.

A solar thermal panel system was added for radiant heating and domestic hot water pre-heating. The building is also solar-photovoltaic-ready, which means PV panels can be easily added in the future to reduce reliance on the municipal power grid.

High albedo white roof reflects sunlight, minimizing solar gain and reducing cooling load.

Solar shades on the south facing windows reduce summer solar gain. Interior reflective light shelves increase natural daylight penetration in winter.

Existing windows were replaced with high efficiency, Low-E, argon filled, double pane, non-glare windows. Windows for the addition were bigger and even more efficient, triple pane and made from vision and translucent glass to increase natural daylight penetration.

Existing brick, wood studs, joists and flooring were re-used, reducing landfill waste and project manufacture and transport energy. The existing plumbing and light fixtures were salvaged by Habitat for Humanity. Some of the original steel frame windows were salvaged for re-use in the interior of the building

A rainwater system will collect rainwater from the roof and terraces into underground cisterns for landscape irrigation, reducing stormwater runoff and demand on the municipal water supply. A green roof is designed, again to reduce runoff as well as cooling loads. On the roof and surrounding the house, native vegetation was planted which relies mostly on rainwater and does not require the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.

Energy efficient interior and exterior lighting includes LED, metal-halide, xenon and compact fluorescent. Kitchen and laundry appliances are Energy Star rated.

Plywood sub-floor material is urea-formaldehyde-free and Forest Stewardship Council certified. Stone terrace slabs from a local Ontario source reduce transportation energy. Other materials sourced within 800 kilometres of the project include fly ash and slag in cement and concrete, industrial waste wood chips in block foundations, mineral wool insulation made from industrial waste slag, waste sugarcane-based spray foam insulation, 33% recycled drywall and new floors made of upcycled crushed walnut shells, a commercial waste by-product, cast in water-based epoxy resin.

BRAD PITT DIDN’T WIN

Similar features and philosophies have been incorporated into many other Dowsett buildings along with wind power, straw bale walls, rainwater re-use, and community features.

His competition-winning Passive House design for New Orleans  was also airtight, thermal-bridge free and super-insulated, with passive shading in the summer and solar heat gains in winter. He included a concrete floor topping for thermal mass to radiate the heat into the space, the corrugated galvalume wall and roof cladding; and a balanced energy recovery ventilation system and split-zoned high-efficiency heating and cooling units with an ultra high-efficiency on-demand water heater and supplemental radiant floor heating. As per the post-Katrina building codes the house is raised 7 feet above grade, securing its safety during flooding and providing shaded parking, storage, and outdoor living spaces.

Brad Pitt and his team are also designing and building houses in New Orleans, but Dowsett thinks they might not be quite as affordable, nor as sustainable in the long-term. “They might be focusing on sexy new high-tech energy systems, rather than on what can be done with conservation and passive principles.”

In other words if you want it to be as easy as 1-2-3; start with 1 and 2.  GB

 

Uncategorized

The Power of Content Marketing

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The Power of Content Marketing

By  Marylene Vestergom

With so many marketing options available to target B2B customers, how do you effectively employ your advertising dollars to reach your audience?  How can you ensure you’re having a dialogue with your target, the decision maker?

Consider the power of content marketing.

“Content marketing aims to build a relationship of trust and loyalty with the sponsor’s customers, so they regard the sponsor as the vendor of choice when they make purchases. This is accomplished by providing information and, often, advice that meets the needs and suits the preferences of the sponsor’s target market. It serves the interests of the audience, rather than overtly plugging products and services the way ads do. “(Wilkipedia)

Content marketing is networking in writing. Instead of the one-size-fits-all solutions like radio, television and other types of advertising, engaging in a targeted approach using custom content is a way that you can convey your unique story in a non-interruptive forum. Imagine being able to have a conversation within the context of peer-generated content.

The key, of course, is delivering content that is relevant and current to your target market. In return, your vehicle becomes a trusted resource that will be recognized as a voice of authority. By using narrative content to communicate a new product, an innovative idea or a case study, the content marketing vehicle quickly becomes a reference tool. You begin as a source of information and continue as a source of roducts and services.

Content marketing is actually the best thing to happen to the marketing profession in decades. Instead of creating ads, consider communicating impactful ideas to your audience using content marketing with articles that are underwritten with an editorial presence, positioning your business as an authority on the subject covered. Remember, most people read magazines not for the ads but for the content.  So why not create what they really want — content that can be trusted and targeted to your customer.

“Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that provides industry intelligence.”

Joe Pulizzi, Founder of the Content Marketing Institute

In the past, consumers didn’t have much of a choice – if they wanted more information, they were at the whim of the advertisers. Today’s consumers are in complete control, with their 24-hour-a-day electronic devices. They are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages daily. B2B marketers can now drive profitable customer action by tailoring their message within a vehicle like a custom content magazine and speak strategically to the end user.

Consider the following figures from Roper Public Affairs:

80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles instead of in an advertisement

70% say content marketing makes them feel closer to the sponsoring company

60% say that company content helps them make better product decisions.

 

Content marketing is the fastest-growing and effective form of marketing after the Internet, because of its ability to deliver relevant, compelling and engaging content to a defined audience in a manner that delivers results.

How would your business be different if your customer looked forward to receiving your marketing?  If they spent between 15 and 45 minutes with your material?  If it became a resource tool that they saved and reread?

“Smart marketers understand that traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective by the minute, and that there has to be a better way,” says Pulizzi. “Thought leaders and marketing experts from around the world have concluded that content marketing isn’t just the future, it’s the present.”

Content marketing is an opportunity to deliver your personal message and build brand awareness to your customer — a targeted vehicle that you can tailor to meet your needs. GB

Uncategorized

To Heat or Not to Heat – SolarWall taps sun from Stratford to Spain

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Next time you travel to Stratford in southwestern Ontario to get your fix of Shakespeare, look carefully at the walls of the Avon Theatre. Not only does the black cladding stand out visually, but it’s tapping the sun to heat the building.

Conventional fuel-based heating systems pipe in cold outside air and then warm it up. On the other hand, solar air heating systems like the one lining the Avon Theatre convert solar radiation into hot air before it enters the building and reaches indoor heating and ventilation equipment.

It’s designed to reduce fuel consumption and energy costs, it’s used in buildings around the world, and it’s Canadian.

“Solar air heating offsets the heating load on a building and is used primary in commercial, industrial, institutional and agricultural applications,” says Victoria Hollick, vice-president of operations with Conserval Engineering in Toronto.

Conserval is credited with inventing the technology back in the 1990s and holds various patents under the trade name SolarWall.

While the name implies a wall-mount, SolarWall systems can also be placed atop a roof. In either case, it needs a metal exterior panel to allow the heated air to travel inside.

Systems can even be combined with photovoltaic panels to create a hybrid system generating both heat and electricity.

SolarWall systems have seen duty in more than 33 countries, with end users as diverse as Toyota, Wal-Mart and the U.S. military. However, it makes perfect sense that SolarWall was invented in Canada – indoor space heating represents the largest chunk of energy used in buildings in our northern climate, at between 40 and 60 percent, according to Hollick.

She adds that SolarWall systems typically save between 20 to 50 percent of a building’s heating costs.

“Any building that has a heating demand has potential application,” Hollick says. “The capital costs are significantly lower than any other renewable energy technology out there, and we’re able to convert up to 80 percent of the solar resource into energy.”

Conserval was formed in 1977 with a view to conducting energy audits for large industrial buildings such as those owned by auto manufacturers. Solar technology had begun to flourish in the early 1980s, thanks to government incentives, but the programs ended and Conserval responded by looking at issues associated with indoor ventilation. This led to a precursor to the SolarWall technology, and the rest is history.

Over the years, Conserval has built its Canadian user base, looking to unconventional markets such as agriculture. “Animal barns have high ventilation, high air turnover, so we’re helping to heat that air and, in turn, reduce their propane costs,” Hollick explains.

Multi-residential buildings such as apartments and public housing are also prime candidates, especially if they need to be reclad. “Instead of putting up regular metal siding which has no energy benefits, they can put up a SolarWall system,” Hollick says.

At the Avon theatre in Stratford, Solar walls cover the south, west and east-facing walls. The 2010 installation, part of an overall building upgrade, is projected to reduce more than 28,000 cubic metres of natural gas consumption annually, reduce heating costs by $7,000, and save 59 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Conserval.

Other recent projects include the Canadian Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology building at McMaster University in Hamilton, which is seeking LEED Platinum certification through the Canada Green Building Council, and Goodyear Tire in Medicine Hat Alberta, where manufacturing operations boost high ventilation requirements and, consequently, heating needs.

While Canadian-based, Conserval Engineering has taken a decidedly international approach. In 1990, it opened Conserval Systems, a subsidiary based in Buffalo, N.Y., and in 2009 formed SolarWall Europe, which operates from Paris and manages the company’s direct sales and dealer network across the pond.

This past year, Conserval completed two projects for Toyota in Europe – a roof-mounted system to help heat a car dealership showroom in Spain, and a project for Toyota Manufacturing in France.

“They’re bringing in air and then exhausting it,” Hollick explains. “They’re large users of energy, and they have a corporate mandate to undertake these types of initiatives.”

The ongoing drive to reduce costs and carbon emissions stands to help technologies such as SolarWall.

“People think of automobiles as being the Co2 polluters, but in the developed world the bulk of Co2 emissions come from heating, cooling and powering buildings,” Hollick says. “The most efficient way to help buildings tackle Co2 is to help them reduce their carbon footprint, and heating is a huge part of that.”

For more information about Conserval Engineering and SolarWall please visit www.solarwall.com.

 By Saul Chernos

 

Ideas

BREEAM Comes to Canada

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News that a four-storey, 40,000-square-foot multi-tenant medical office building, planned for construction in Stouffville, Ontario, will seek certification through the BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) marks a milestone for the international standard.

Established 21 years ago by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) as a tool to measure the sustainability of new buildings, BREEAM measures the sustainability of the built environment using local knowledge and standards and has been a mainstay in the United Kingdom. However, green building proponents have adapted and adopted it in various forms around the world.

BREEAM is widely credited with inspiring Green Star in Australia, Haute Qualité Environnementale (High Environmental Quality, or HQE) in France, and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in North America, among many others.

There are key similarities and differences between BREEAM and LEED. BREEAM certifications range from Pass to Outstanding, while LEED’s range from Basic to Platinum. BREEAM trains assessors to evaluate completed projects, which are then checked by BRE. BRE then then issues certifications when warranted. LEED, meanwhile, operates through national green building councils, and their assessors evaluate projects.

BREEAM director Martin Townsend says his organization currently lists more than a million buildings as assessed or registered.

“Our key objective is to build buildings that people want to live and work in, as well great communities to live, whilst improving the performance, functionality, flexibility and durability of the building itself,” he says.

Operated by an independent board representing industry stakeholders under the wider governance of BRE Trust, a not for profit organisation, BRE Global is looking to further involve international experts and the global BREEAM community.

“I see BREEAM as a movement for sustainable development, with local schemes, processes, science and governance cooperating internationally under an overarching framework defined by core standards, core science and metrics” Townsend says.

He adds that BRE Global is currently seeking nominations for experts from countries such as Canada to join its Standing Panel for Peer Review and to participate in regular BREEAM Conferences on research and practice.

 

“We hope, as we develop our network in Canada, that experts will come forward so that they can also play an active role in ensuring that the tools and standard are the correct ones to drive the improved performance of new communities, buildings as well. If we are to quicken the debate about building better buildings we need to do so by sharing our knowledge and experience.”

Townsend adds that BRE Global hopes the Canadian market will integrate its own data on the actual performance of existing buildings into the work it is undertaking with the International Sustainability Alliance (ISA). ISA was launched at Expo Real in Munich in 2009, and its membership represents an estimated $196 billion in real estate ownership and management, according to Townsend.

“BREEAM is ultimately a tool through which sustainability goals can be measured and improved on an international level,” he says.

“Up until this point, although many of us have wished to improve the buildings we live and work in, we have felt inhibited by the financial implications,” Townsend says. “The environment and the economy have long been pitted against one another, and many feel that they must choose between their pocket or the planet. BREEAM offers a realistic, cost-effective solution to this and supports the notion that these old sparring partners need not do battle after all.”

For more information about BREEAM please visit www.breeam.org.

By Saul Chernos

Style

Modular Construction: Prefab Reduces Residential Footprint

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Hush: Seeing green through the customer’s eyes

By Saul Chernos

Hush and its president Naheel Suleman have enjoyed early success building luxury houses in the Toronto area.

The Ontario Home Builders’ Association decreed one of the company’s projects, at 6920 Second Line in Mississauga, best model home of the year in 2009. Then, just 12 months later, the OHBA named The Avalon and The Gardens in Oakville project of the year and The Brownstone on Birch best new townhome.

Born in Tanzania, he was one year old when his family moved to Canada in the early 1970s. His father is a chartered accountant, and Suleman followed in his footsteps. Over time, as he worked with developers, Suleman developed an appreciation for architecture, and gradually shifted into home-building. Married with two young children, he’s decidedly private. It’s his business and the methodological, customer-conscious approach he takes to it that he wants to talk about. He founded Hush in 2005 as a builder of high-end, custom houses, and he keeps busy, with 10 to 20 low-rise residential projects on the go at any given time.

“I wanted to change the way business was done in our industry,” explains Suleman, Hush’s sole owner and founder. “The idea was to create a new type of home-building company that was focused not on houses or the buyer but, instead, on the buyer’s experience.”

To that end, Hush has come out with what Suleman and his own marketing materials call the Hush Methodology. This literal branding of the company’s approach seems like common sense, and no doubt it is.

However, it’s also a philosophical positioning. Suleman insists he doesn’t want to put down other builders. Yet, he acknowledges that the time he spent in building circles before launching Hush taught him that houses are more than just a product and that people don’t buy homes just to live in them but, rather, that homes are central to peoples’ lives.

“A house to a home-owner is very different than a house to a builder. For the owner it’s their everything. It’s where they live, it’s family, it’s personal. The home is the by-product – it’s how we make our customers happy.”

The Hush methodology plays out, then, in the nature of the relationship the company and its personnel set out to form with each customer. The first step with any potential customer is to meet with them, and learn about their lifestyle, and then to work with them to determine what they want in their new dwelling.

As far as environmental features are concerned, Hush is reluctant, as Suleman puts it, to “shove green down their throat.”

Hush doesn’t seek independent, third-party environmental certification through bodies such as the Canada Green Build Council. However, the company devises and presents potential attributes, including environmentally-minded components, from an experiential point of view.

The company’s literature includes a green glossary, with basic information about options such as air-source heat pumps and paints and stains that are low in volatile organic compounds. But this information is presented in terms of benefits such as health, safety and long-term savings – in other words, a home that heats and cools efficiently and respects the health and wellbeing of occupants.

“To us, green isn’t about saving the world, it’s about having a better built home that contributes to a buyer’s health, comfort and economics,” Suleman says. “That’s how we jump to green.”

In order to give customers what they want, and yet maintain organizational sense and consistency, Hush breaks its green home offerings into categories, each with an array of features. But, one of the categories is à la carte. Suleman says Hush is flexible. If solar panels or geothermal systems are desired, Hush will provide.

The methodology continues as work proceeds. From initial planning and design through to construction and completion, there’s frequent walk-throughs and meetings with Hush’s in-house personnel, including the architect, engineer, interior designer and Suleman himself, with thought and consideration to what life will eventually be like for the occupant.

“If we follow that process properly it will ensure that the buyer receives the best-in-class experience,” Suleman says. “We want our home buyers to tell us that this is a house they want to live in as opposed to us telling buyers that this is the home they should live in. The look and feel has to be about who lives in the house.”

Hush employs a client concierge, who liaises directly with customers and is available as a key point of contact should any questions or issues arise, and to ensure consistency and continuity in the flow of information.

Separately, Hush also offers a virtual concierge, whereby all customers have password access to a private, dedicated web portal that contains up-to-date and ongoing information about the home, including legal documents, owner manuals, floor plans and a schedule of meetings with Hush personnel. Photos capture and document the entire construction process, and Hush uses the portal to offer post-occupancy services.

Providing this degree of customization might, at first glance, seem uneconomical. However, Suleman says Hush restricts itself to approximately 50 projects a year. All are in the million-dollar-plus market, and in an area largely bounded by Toronto, Mississauga and southwest Oakville, so the economics work for Hush.

“We are an elite home-builder that limits the number of homes that we build, and we allocate staff to properly handle that load,” Suleman says, adding that the sub-trades Hush works with come from the custom world and are used to this level of work. As well, he adds, Hush also wants its partners also enjoy a positive experience and feel respected.

At the end of the day, all the pieces fit together for Suleman. “We want to be forefront,” he says. “We know it’s important to be ahead of the curve.” GB