Features
André Rochette – a story of resourcefulness and optimism
André Rochette, president and CEO of Ecosystem, started a
company in his parents’ basement in Quebec City 20 years ago.School Project – Upgrading Calgary Schools’ building automation systems
Over 100 schools in the Calgary Board of Education are having their building automation systems revamped and put under central control, but the buildings are diverse and each requires its own BAS logic.
Drones and Engineering
Unmanned aerial vehicles open up new vistas for surveying and photographing construction sites. They also can save companies time and manpower.
New Products
From the June-July 2016 print issue, page 25 STRUCTURAL Legacy Building Solutions’ Solar Ship Brantford off-grid hangar, a joint venture with Canadian Energy and Solar Ship, was awarded the “Game Changer Project of the Year” by CanSIA. Located in Brantford,…
The Green Drinks Phenomenon
Jim Lord runs Green Drinks Toronto, a casual monthly event where up to 400 people who are interested in sustainability issues might drop by.
Reinvigorating Chaudiere Falls
Just over a kilometre from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a new run-of-river hydroelectric generating station is being built underground.
Pangnirtung Wastewater Treatment Plant, Nunavut
The addition of an MBR system to the sewage treatment plant of a hamlet in Canada’s High Arctic helps to preserve the pristine environment.
Flood Protection in Manitoba
After doing an
extensive study of
flood prone areas of the
Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba basins
KGS Group went on to analyze and conceptually design scores of solutions.Humbled by the huge responsibility of engineers
From the June-July print issue, page 4. Editorial Comment. Looking at aerial photographs of the 2014 Mount Polley Mine tailings spill, I was shocked by the size of the tailings pond. This one in the Cariboo Region of B.C. was…
Plants to the Rescue: Sechelt Water Resources Centre
At the Sechelt Water Resources Centre in B.C. innovative technologies save wastewater effluent from being discharged into the ocean.
Danger is my middle name
Five considerations when signing a contract to consult on a remote international project.
Sioux Lookout Water Treatment Plant
A 1990s-era membrane filtration plant in a northern Ontario town was creating too much backwash until upgrades enabled the process wastewater to be recycled.
Mount Polley – the Aftermath
The failure of a 40-metre high tailings dam at a copper mine in the B.C. interior caused widespread environmental damage. It has also shaken up the mining industry — and its engineers.
Products
HVAC Johnson Controls now has a full line of York chilled beams. The beams deliver comfort while reducing energy use and require 60% less vertical space than conventional all-air systems. www.york.com The Dri-Steem Wetted Media System (left) for evaporative cooling…
The Female Advantage
Marg Latham, P.Eng. believes that the engineering companies who support women have a competitive advantage.
Minority Shareholders – Moving On
When you are a minority shareholder at a private firm and decide to leave and sell your shares, the situation can become complicated and lead to disputes.
Biomass Energy Evolves
Across Canada everyone from universities,
to utilities, to farmers are finding diverse ways to turn waste organic materials
into bioenergy, and so reducing
our carbon footprint.Flywheel Energy Storage
The Minto flywheel project in Ontario is a “mechanical battery” that stores electricity in the form of kinetic energy — one ingenious solution to the search for the “holy grail” of the electricity system.
Infrared Thermography
Infrared thermography is a powerful tool for discovering where energy is leaking from building roofs and wall assemblies.
Seawater Exchange at 351 Water Street
An office building in St. John’s, Newfoundland draws energy for its geo-exchange system from seawater that permeates the ground below the site.
Earth Benefits: Environmental Science and Chemistry Building, U of T Scarborough
At the Environmental Science and Chemistry Building at University of Toronto Scarborough, massive earth tubes that temper incoming air help to reduce the energy use.
We’re seeing a groundswell of green action
From the May 2016 print edition, page 3. Today the impulse to do what’s right for the planet is becoming entrenched in what we design and build. Big shifts are taking place in the political stratosphere, worldwide and in Canada.…
Staying Small
Dick Walters and Don Chambers started their own structural engineering company in Edmonton during the depths of the 1980s oil crisis. The company thrived, but they consciously decided to keep it to a modest size.
Damages for Contaminant Migration – Engineers & the Law
Environmental contamination on adjacent lands in Ontario has resulted in a Court of Appeal decision that could have important repercussions.
Internationally Educated Engineers
Engineers who come to Canada from overseas have a great deal to offer consulting engineering companies, but firms have to be prepared to provide soft skills training and support.
Controlling Odours from Wastewater Treatment Plants
Communities are often worried about odours emanating from wastewater treatment plants in their backyards, but standards for establishing reasonable odour levels are only just being developed in western Canada.
Montreal’s Sewage Drama
Last fall Montreal had little choice but to release a large quantity of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River — unleashing a storm of public protest that was largely unfounded.
Landslide Protection in B.C.
After a landslide fell on a CN rail line in the steep mountains of B.C., Klohn Crippen Berger was asked to analyze the risks of potential further rock falls and design new protective structures for the track.
Highway in a Park – Rt. Hon Herb Gray Parkway
A new parkway built in the Windsor-Detroit trade corridor
of southwest Ontario has long stretches sunk below grade.When the public has had enough
From the March-April print edition, page 4 Worldwide 5.5 million people die every year from air pollution. So said researchers at an international science conference held in Vancouver in February. Over half of these deaths occur in the two countries…