Canadian engineers among award winners at ASHRAE Winter Conference

Photo courtesy ASHRAE Toronto Chapter.

As the ASHRAE Winter Conference kicked off on the weekend, the association recognized its members’ outstanding achievements and contributions to the built environment, including those of three Canadian engineers.

First, the society elevated 33 members to the grade of Fellow. This program recognizes members who have attained distinction and made substantial contributions to the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry, e.g. education, research, engineering design and consultation, publications, presentations and mentoring.

The only Canadian member to earn the grade at this year’s conference is Nicolas Lemire, P.Eng., president and CEO of Montreal-based Pageau Morel and Associates, a consulting engineering firm that specializes in mechanical, electrical, energy-efficiency and ‘eco-design’ projects.

The ASHRAE Technology Awards, meanwhile, recognize members for the successful application of innovative building designs that incorporate the society’s standards for effective energy management and indoor air quality (IAQ). The winners are chosen based on projects that have earned regional awards.

Among the first-place recipients of these awards are Kurt Monteiro, P.Eng., and Kevin K. Sharples, P.Eng., both principals with nationwide consulting engineering firm Smith + Andersen, who won in the new health-care facilities category for their work on the Peel Memorial Centre (pictured) in Brampton, Ont., part of the William Osler Health System.

According to ASHRAE’s Toronto chapter, the project uses a geothermal field, heat recovery chillers, condensing hydronic boilers and very low-pressure drop air-handling systems (with oversized air handlers and ductwork). A dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) serves its administrative spaces with dual-duct variable air volume (VAV) boxes, high-occupancy spaces use CO₂ monitoring to regulate the volume of ventilation air supplied and enthalpy recovery wheels are used to pre-treat ventilation air with the energy recovered from breathable exhaust.

“We congratulate each of ASHRAE’s award recipients for their leadership in advancing the future of our industry and our Society,” says current ASHRAE president Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng. (who is Canadian, too).