News
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Engineering firms among Canada’s top employers for young people
Engineering firms Dialog, GHD, Hatch, Hemmera, Mott Macdonald and R.F. Binnie & Associates are among the winners in the 2020 edition of the Canada’s Top Employers for Young People competition. Now in its 18th year, the project recognizes employers for…
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ASHRAE breaks ground on global HQ renovation project
On Jan. 10, ASHRAE held a groundbreaking event to mark the start of renovations for its new global headquarters (HQ) in Peachtree Corners, Ga. The project is expected to be completed this summer, with ASHRAE’s 125 employees scheduled to move…
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Guelph’s new snow storage pad reduces environmental impact of salt
Consulting engineers at GHD have worked with Melfer Construction and the municipal government of Guelph, Ont., to build a new 18,600-m2 snow storage pad that will help reduce the local environmental impact of road salt. Nearly 12 times the size…
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Edmonton’s Manulife Place to be modernized
Manulife Investment Management announced today plans for a $30-million redevelopment of Manulife Place, the 36-storey downtown Edmonton tower it jointly owns with Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo). The building currently comprises 745,000 sf of offices and 103,000 sf of retail…
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TMP’s president retires
At the end of 2019, John Lowden retired as president of The Mitchell Partnership (TMP), a Toronto-headquartered mechanical engineering firm. Lowden spent 40 years with TMP, starting in its Calgary office as a designer before working in London, England, and…
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MUHC achieves second LEED Gold certification
Montreal-based McGill University Health Centre’s (MUHC’s) Glen site has become the first hospital in Quebec to be twice certified to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold. The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has awarded the certification to the…
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Smith + Andersen announces four new appointments
Canadian consulting engineering firm Smith + Andersen has appointed two new associates and two new senior associates. Jonas Liang, P.Eng. (pictured above), has been promoted to associate at the firm’s Vancouver office. He has more than 13 years’ experience in…
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JLR appoints new chief mechanical engineer
Ottawa-headquartered multidisciplinary firm J.L. Richards & Associates (JLR) has appointed Joël Primeau, P.Eng, its new chief mechanical engineer. Primeau has more than 30 years’ industry experience and first joined JLR in June 2019 as senior mechanical design engineer. In his…
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Glass, glazing and fenestration industries form alliance
As of Jan. 1, the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA)—which represents more than 300 producers of glass, glazing and curtain wall products for commercial and residential construction—and the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance (IGMA) have officially combined into one organization, the…
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AE names new VP for transportation projects
Associated Engineering (AE) has appointed Kent Eklund, P.Eng., MBA (pictured), its new vice-president for transportation. He succeeds Bryan Petzold, P.Eng., MBA, who has retired after more than 14 years with the company. Eklund has nearly 30 years’ experience, including client…
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Canstruction Toronto calls for 2020 entries
Teams of engineers, architects, designers, contractors and design students are encouraged to register for and participate in the 21st annual edition of Canstruction Toronto. The international Canstruction design-and-build competition raises awareness of hunger issues by collecting food bank donations while…
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Hamilton’s mayor addresses LRT cancellation
Yesterday, the mayor of Hamilton, Fred Eisenberger, issued an open letter to Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, expressing disappointment over the provincial government’s cancellation of his city’s light rail transit (LRT) project and requesting information about the project’s estimated costs. “Millions…
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B.C. awards contract for Hwy 91/17 upgrade
British Columbia’s ministry of transportation and infrastructure announces the provincial government has awarded a fixed-price contract to design and build its Highway 91/17 upgrade project. Specifically, the contract has been awarded to Pacific Gateway Constructors General Partnership, a team that…
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ACEC-SK presents 2019 Awards of Distinction
On Nov. 26, the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Saskatchewan (ACEC-SK) handed out its annual Awards of Distinction at a reception in Saskatoon, acknowledging local industry accomplishments. The province’s lieutenant governor, Russ Mirasty, presented a Meritorious Achievement Award to…
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Arup unveils two innovation labs in Toronto
Arup, a global consulting engineering firm, recently welcomed clients and partners to its 65,000-sf, four-floor Toronto offices to unveil two new ‘incubators,’ the Maker’s and Pegasus Labs. Maker’s Lab (pictured above) facilitates modelling, production, assembly and prototyping. The open collaboration…
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ASHRAE and SCC collaborate for sustainable built environments
ASHRAE and the Smart Cities Council (SCC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) formalizing their relationship and outlining their shared commitment toward the advancement of a more sustainable built environment. Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng., president of ASHRAE (pictured, left),…
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QED offers webinars on groundwater and soil sampling
Pumping system manufacturer QED Environmental Systems, a subsidiary of Graco, has launched a series of educational webinars for consulting environmental engineers, facility managers, regulators and related professionals. The lineup of upcoming presentations starts on Dec. 19, 2019, with ‘Trends in…
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ACEC-Canada hires Jacky Ehombe as executive assistant
Jacky Ehombe has joined the Ottawa-based Association of Consulting Engineering Companies (ACEC) Canada as executive assistant. She has more than 12 years’ administrative experience in the public sector. In her new role, managing ACEC-Canada’s national office reception desk, Ehombe is…
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Engineers ‘push the envelope’ at The Buildings Show
“Engineers are capturing more of the construction industry through the building envelope,” Nova Scotia’s Gary Ruitenberg, P.Eng., commented in an interview with Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine, a few days after attending Informa’s The Buildings Show at the Metro Toronto Convention…
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Hatch establishes scholarships in memory of Montreal Massacre victims
Consulting engineering firm Hatch has established three new $10,000 scholarships to support female engineering students attending Montreal’s École Polytechnique, as a way to honour the memory of the victims of the school’s mass shooting on Dec. 6, 1989. In the…
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ASHRAE adds new courses to 2020 winter conference
The ASHRAE Learning Institute (ALI) will offer 21 educational courses—including 17 half-day and four full-day seminars—during the 2020 ASHRAE Winter Conference and the AHR Expo in Orlando, Fla. The lineup will include new ALI courses on such topics as building…
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Edmonton cement plant seeks engineering support for carbon capture and storage
In what is reportedly a North American first, Lehigh Cement has launched a feasibility study of a full-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, working with the International CCS Knowledge Centre, to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of its…
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‘Solving Water’ podcast dives into clean and efficient plumbing, HVAC
Xylem has launched ‘Solving Water,’ a new podcast series intended to help plumbing and HVAC professionals learn more about clean water access and efficient use in commercial buildings, utilities, residential communities and elsewhere. Known for products and services relating to…
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Updates coming to BC Energy Step Code
British Columbia’s Office of Housing and Construction Standards is revising the province’s building code. Among the changes are three updates to the BC Energy Step Code that will take effect on Dec. 12. First, there will be two options for demonstrating…
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Is road pricing needed to fund infrastructure?
A new report recommends Ontario’s government look into road pricing, among other new revenue tools, to make up for shortfalls in gas and diesel taxes. In the report—”Ontario’s Downward Trend for Fuel Tax Revenue: Will Road Pricing Fill the Gap?”—Harry…
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HVACR community forecasts positive economic outlook for 2020
According to the latest AHR Expo and ASHRAE Economic Outlook Survey, most members of the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) community feel positive about their business heading into 2020. The results of the survey—which was distributed to past and…
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RFP closes for Halton’s consolidated courthouse project
The request for proposals (RFP) stage has closed for teams to submit their bids to design, build, finance and maintain the new Halton Region consolidated courthouse in Oakville, Ont. Following a request for qualifications (RFQ) process, three teams—EllisDon Infrastructure Justice,…
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CISC’s Quebec Region celebrates excellence in steel construction
On Nov. 11, the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction’s (CISC’s) Quebec Region handed out its 21st annual Steel Awards for Excellence in Steel Construction at Montreal’s Windsor Hotel. Organized by Quebec Region manager Hellen Christodoulou, the event highlighted projects that…
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University of Lethbridge’s Science Commons uses passive energy design
Stantec and KPMB Architects recently completed the Science Commons, a new academic building for Alberta’s University of Lethbridge, which uses light harvesting systems and passive energy design to achieve a projected energy use reduction of 53%. The $280-million, 413,000-sf Science…
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LEED v4 tops 1,000 projects in Canada
The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is celebrating a new milestone as the total number of Canadian project registrations for the fourth version of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification surpasses 1,000. LEED is already the world’s most…
