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From cabins to castles, and everything in between - Page 15 Geothermal energy delivering big savings pumps, fans and heat exchang- a c h i eve 60-per-cent energy Ground-source ers. savings over the model national Geothermal systems can even energy code for buildings.” heating attracts be found in oil- and gas-rich He acknowledges the irony Alberta. of heating buildings geother- interest despite Bill Temple, a former partner mally in Alberta when gas is with Keen Engineering, which traditional, plentiful and nearby, initial costs is now a part of the engineering but interest is growing. and architectural firm Stantec “Using ground source for By James Bow Inc., has experience with geo- heat re q u i res a supplemental Business Edge thermal heating and cooling, heat source,” says Temple.“This having overseen three commer- requires electricity. In this part or Eric Lange, geother- cial systems in major projects of the world, electricity is more mal heating and cool- across the province. expensive than gas, but that gap ing was like finding “Ground source works best if is closing. The closer your gas buried treasure. your building re q u i res both costs come to electricity, the FIn only two months last year, heating and cooling,” s ay s more appealing ground source his company, Lange Tr a n s - Temple, “so you take heat out is.” p o r tation and Storage Ltd. of the ground during winter Geothermal power is not for found $12,000 in energy sav- and reverse that cycle in the eve r y bu i l d i n g , s ays Te m p l e. ings beneath his company ’s summer. An imbalanced system The initial capital costs are an 70,000-sq.-ft. Mississauga ware- can deplete the heat sink.” obstacle. house after installing such a Established in 1954, Stantec “If you we re to compare system. employs 6,900 workers in more ground source to a traditional Lange Tr a n s p o r tation and than 80 offices across North heat/cool system using pure Storage moves heavy and America, and has designed a construction capital costs, you e x p e n s ive equipment on number of buildings that meet wo u l d n ’t decide on gro u n d - demand. It specializes in deliv- LEED (leadership in energy source system.You have to look ering and setting up tradeshow and env i ronmental design) at the life cycle and the cost of displays across the country, but standards. energy over a number of years.” it also delive r s “ h i g h - va l u e ” Not all of Stantec’s sustain- It also costs less to install a products including CAT scan a ble projects use geotherm a l system as a building is being and lotto machines, s e c u re l y power, but it is part of the com- built. and to critical deadlines. pany’s repertoire when it comes The challenge of retrofitting The company, located just to designing new energy-effi- Lange’s 30-year-old warehouse west of and employing cient buildings or rehabilitating made for an even more expen- 50 full-time staff, needed more old ones. s i ve pro j e c t , but Lange is space, so it purchased the ware- “LEED is the accepted stan- pleased with the results. “We house last July. dard for sustainable and energy- expect a payback after 81/2 years Almost immediately, L a n g e efficient buildings in Nort h based on today’s energy costs,” realized he had a problem. A m e r i c a ,” s ays Te m p l e. “ I t ’s he says. “I opened my first electrical been adopted by the federal One of the challenges in bill, and it was for $3,800,” says government, the government of re t rofitting geothermal tech- Lange. “We hadn’t even moved Alberta, Calgary,Vancouver and nology was finding space, says in. We hadn’t even turned on others.They mandate that their Lange. the air conditioning.All we had buildings at a minimum meet “Twenty-eight holes had to we re the lights on for the the LEED Silver standard as be drilled, each six inches in painters.” relates to energy efficiency. diameter and 10 feet apart. Our Lange contacted Select- “The Alberta Urban Mun- property is three acres, but the p owe r, a hy d ro e l e c t r ic com- icipalities Association head- building uses much of that. pany owned by the City of quarters, in Edmonton, was the Then we realized one of the Guelph, to do an energy audit. first LEED project in Alberta,” driveways needed to be repaved It confirmed his fears. he adds. “Ground source kept anyway. It was over 300 feet “We had a glutton for energy things warm in winter and cool long and 24 feet wide, a perfect use,” says Lange. “The air con- in summer for this 8,000-sq.-ft. space to drill the bore field.” ditioning was old; the windows administrative building.” Because geothermal heating weren’t insulating enough.A lot Photo courtesy of Lange Transportation and Storage Two other projects followed and cooling is still rare, some of things needed to be replaced. Refitting the Lange Transportation and Storage warehouse for in the province, including the construction companies, lend- Fo r t u n a t e l y, we had a few geothermal power required the use of two drilling rigs. Ye l l owhead County A d m i n - ing agencies and governments months before we had to move istration building in Edson, two aren’t prepared for it, although in, so I decided to renovate bridge engineered it and Main s o u rce heating and cooling, hours west of Edmonton, and that wo r ked out in Lange’s the building to make it more Air Systems was the mechanical works most places on the the Boreal Centre for Birds in favour. energy efficient. contractor.” planet. Slave Lake, three hours north of “ We went to Mississauga “In September, I hire d When Guelph Hydro phased A hundred metres below the Edmonton, the latter of which City Hall and asked them about S e l e c t p ower to ove r see the out its Selectpower operations surface, the Earth’s temperature re c e ived a sustainable design p e r m i t s , and they looked at project,” he adds. “In total, we in October, G e o S m a r t took is a constant 13°C, regardless of awa rd from the Consulting us like deer caught in the spent $600,000 on the renova- over the oversight role for the the conditions on the surface. Engineers for Alberta. headlights,” says Lange. “Even tions. project. This is a good source of heat in “It was almost completely off though we wanted to drill 360 “The changes included dou- The geothermal installation winter and an effective heat the gri d ,” s ays Te m p l e. “ N o feet down in the earth 28 times, ble-glazed windows and rubber was active in November. sink in summer. sewer line, water line or gas we didn’t need a permit. Other liners on the loading docks to Geothermal energy conjures Pipes drilled down to this l i n e. With the exception of than checking that there was no reduce heat loss, but the big up images of homes heated by layer are filled with water or electricity, it had no utility con- electrical or gas pipelines below item was the geothermal heat- volcanic hot springs in Iceland another heat-conductive fluid, nections. We find that, in the us, we were free to go.” ing and cooling system. or Japan, but the system Lange which transfers heat between buildings that we’ve designed G e o S m a r t Energy of Cam- installed, referred to as ground- the Earth and the surface using using ground source, we can See PERMITS Page 17 Edge_March9_07_ON 3/7/07 11:44 AM Page 17

March 9, 2007 Page 17 Air carrier rising above turbulent takeoff looks to strengths in business model, management

By David Hatton “(A downtown businessper- Business Edge son) can go from the office to sitting in the actual aircraft fter less than six in about 35 minu t e s ,” s a i d months of flights, Erickson. “This poses a distinct C a n a d a ’s newe s t advantage for the niche they are regional airline has a targeting, which is the business nAumber of things going against traveller.” i t : P ro t e s t e r s showed up to Soon after that firs t picket the first day of opera- a n n o u n c e m e n t , Po r ter had tions; it has limited potential for more surprises up its sleeve. growth at its tiny It had negotiated island airport; and an agreement with the industry is the To ronto Po r t known for a long A u t h o r ity to list of companies severely restrict Air that have failed. Canada’s divi- But a stro n g sion, Porter’s main business model and c o m p e t i t o r, f ro m solid management using the airp o r t B rennan O’Connor, Business Edge team should put terminal. Porter had P o rter Airlines CEO Robert Deluce (with flight attendant Katherine Chassi) targets business flyers. To r o n t o - b a s e d an ove r w h e l m i n g Po r ter Airlines and m a j o r ity of the Investors included Edgestone Erickson said there was little were not fazed. “They recog- its parent company, R e gi o n a l ava i l a ble time “ s l o t s ” at the Capital Partners and Borealis chance of major players such as nized we had an excellent busi- Airlines Holdings Inc. departure gates, blocking Jazz I n f r a s t r u c t u re, the inve s t m e n t Air Canada giving away ameni- ness plan and the expertise to ( R E G C O ) , on a clear flight path from using them for its passen- a r m of the giant Ontari o ties to woo business travellers. pull it off. It was difficult; to success, a c c o rding to expert s . gers. Municipal Employees’ Retire- They are successful right now arranging any kind of financing “We have no shortage of avi- Air Canada launched several ment System (OMERS). with incremental discounts for like that is difficult. They real- ation entre p re n e u r s in this unsuccessful court appeals.The “These guys obv i o u s l y p a s s e n g e r s who give up an ized it was a strong business country who have tried to start most recent one was turned impressed a lot of the right inflight meal or frequent flyer plan put forward by some good their own airline and failed,” down last month by a judge people with their business plan. points. people,” he said, recalling the says industry consultant Rick who rebuked the airline for It’s certainly not easy to get that Robert Deluce, Porter’s pres- boardroom discussions. Erickson, managing director of “wasting the court’s time” with kind of inve s t m e n t ,” s a i d ident and CEO, brushed off the Porter had used its connec- R.P. Erickson and Associates in what she saw as a frivolous Erickson. additional cost during an inter- tions as much as possible during Calgary. “We make excellent appeal with no new informa- Po r ter began flights on view. “There’s going to be an the negotiations. After all, aircraft and have well-trained tion presented. schedule late last October, using extra cost to providing these REGCO was partly owned by pilots and flight crews. But past Some industry analysts ques- 10 of the 70-seat Q400 turbo- t h i n g s , s u re. But I sincere l y L a r ry Ta n n e n b a u m , c h a i r m a n attempts have been historically tioned a raccoon being p rops built just north of believe that business passengers of Maple Leaf Sports and either underfinanced, n o t unveiled as Porter’s new com- Toronto. are tired of being nickel-and- E n t e r t a i n m e n t , who is we l l enough expertise or both. pany mascot. With leather seats arranged in dimed to death,” he said. “We e s t a blished in To ro n t o ’s Bay “I’m bullish on Po r t e r ’s The animal is also known for a 2-2 configuration, the aircraft have to be different.” Street financial district. chances because they have all being crafty and devious in has about two to three inches Deluce said his team decided Deluce had earlier managed that covered.” going through re s i d e n t i a l more legroom than its standard early on that controlling a to convince Donald Carty, a REGCO announced just garbage cans, which seemed c o u n t e r p a r ts and no middle majority of the time slots at the f o r mer exe c u t ive with over a year ago it would begin too close to WestJet’s recent seats. airport departure gates had to American Airlines Inc., to join flying passengers out of the court battle with Air Canada. It was positioning itself as a be a key part of its strategy.“We Porter as chairman.“Don Carty Toronto City Centre Airport, WestJet admitted to hiring more comfortable alternative to needed the island airport and is like the godfather of the air- located southeast of the down- people to go through an execu- other carriers.Wireless Internet the timing was just right.” line industry,” j o ked analyst town financial district. tive’s curbside trash container access was ava i l a ble in the For Deluce, using the island Erickson.“Getting him on your It posed a distinct advantage for competitive information. bright new passenger waiting airport put him back on famil- team with a new airline is a big over Pe a r son Intern a t i o n a l The fledgling carrier also area. iar territory. advantage.” Airport in nearby Mississauga, released brief details of one of During flights, amenities such He got his pilot’s licence D u r ing the early negotia- which was known for difficult the highest levels of equity as soft drinks, coffee, light meals there in the mid-’60s before tions, Deluce talked to Fred accessibility, lengthy delays and financing in the airline indus- and snacks were available to moving on to run Lazar, an associate professor of high prices. try: $125 million. passengers at no charge. from 1988 to 1995. His oldest economics at To ro n t o ’s Yo r k brother,William, is a past presi- University and Schulich School PERMITS from Page 16 dent of Air . of Business, to get some of “This (Po r ter) is an idea Lazar’s opinions. we’ve been working on since “Air Canada and Jazz could Business considerations drove move the late ’90s and early 2000,” easily have undercut us on pri c e said Deluce. at Pe a r s o n . The island airp o r t The installation process did generate com- company thought this was impossible, but then I He had been making the was an important piece,” L a z a r ments, however. explained the system we’d installed.” rounds with investors at about recalled in an interv i ew. “ A i r “We had two huge rigs in the area for two The gas company confirmed the readings, the same time as two passenger Canada had been frustrating the months,” says Lange.“Our neighbours asked us if removed the meter and capped the system.A full jets we re crashed into New Po rt A u t h o r ity for ye a r s because we were drilling for oil.” credit for the November bill appeared in the Yo r k ’s World Trade Centre, t h ey we re winding down their Lange claims he is not an environmentalist, December bill which, had it been based on his- sending a chill through the air- operations at the island airp o r t . even though he drives a hybrid. His decision to t o r y, would have been for an additional line industry. The Po r t A u t h o r ity knew there retrofit his warehouse was motivated purely by $6,416.93. Then, as they were finalizing was potential at that airp o rt , bu t business sense. “When you see savings of over $12,000 in two their deal, Jetsgo stranded thou- Air Canada had decided it did- “I opened my gas bill for November and it months, you realize that a smart businessperson sands of passengers around n ’t want two bases of operations asked for $5,631.96,” says Lange. “I disputed the and an environmentalist can be one in the same,” the world when it declare d in To ro n t o. charge and the gas company told me it was based says Lange. bankruptcy overnight in 2005 “By the time Air Canada on the history of the building and I could get a Web Watch: and CanJet announced it realized what was happening it new bill based on actual usage. www.langeshow.com was no longer going to be a was too late.” “Reading the meter, I discovered that no www.geosmartenergy.com passenger carrier in 2006. gas had been consumed that month. The gas (James Bow can be reached at [email protected]) But Deluce said the investors See PROTEST Page 21