Re-Opening Buildings Doing It by the Book
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
tario, Canada L1G 4S8 Re-opening buildings Doing it by the book INSIDE JULY/AUGUST 2020 WWW.PLUMBINGANDHVAC.CA ■ New boiler efficiencies will hamper retrofits ■ CIPH, CHC name new leaders ■ Flat-rate a must for business recovery ■ Atlantic industry leader remembered Publication Mail Agreement #43029513. Return postage guaranteed Marked Business Media Inc. 167 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, On leading the revolution in grinder technology d V-Slice® cut tente ter te g pa chn rin olo atu gy Fe Patent: See www.LibertyPumps.com/patents F e or s nc upe orma rior shredding perf 2 hp 1 hp 800-543-2550 - LibertyPumps.com Copyright © Liberty Pumps, Inc. 2020 All rights reserved. ■ Contents Hydronic Heating Issue Departments Hot Seat .........................................5 A long farewell Industry News ..............................6 Boiler efficiency challenge People & Places ...........................43 Industry veteran passes Shop Management .....................44 Getting back to business Coming Events ............................46 MCAC postpones Napa conference Products & Technologies Hot Water Heating ......................14 HVAC ............................................19 Air Conditioning .........................24 Today’s water jetters Quick clearing of soft blockages Plumbing ......................................29 Tools & Instruments ....................35 Refrigeration ...............................36 Features Small application geothermal 20 Detached home market larger than thought Cover: A Building Knowledge Canada technician checks airflow at the furnace. Please New boiler efficiency regulations 6 Flat rate pricing 24 see our article on page 10. Industry fears higher costs, retrofit difficulty A COVID-19 recovery plan www.plumbingandhvac.ca July/August 2020 – Plumbing & HVAC 3 IMPORTANT SAFETY MEASURE GET INFORMED BEFORE CLEARING A SEWER LINE Cross bore Before you attempt to clear a blocked sewer line beyond a building’s walls, you must immediately contact Info-Excavation. A natural gas line could be interfering with the sewer service line. If that is the case, using mechanical tools or a high-pressure water jet could damage the gas line and inadvertently cause a gas leak or even a fire or explosion. Before clearing a blocked sewer service line, call Info-Excavation The gas network is 1 The work can not close in proximity proceed safely. OR A crew will be dispatched In case the gas line 2 The gas network immediately to locate does interfere, is close by the natural gas and sewer the situation will be service lines. corrected by Énergir. PLEASE NOTE: Whether it takes a few minutes or several hours, Énergir will reimburse your wait time. High risk Natural gas line It’s easy, fast and free Call Info-Excavation at 1 800 663-9228, option 1 For more information: info-ex.com ■ Hot Seat July/August 2020 Volume 30, Number 5 ISSN 1919-0395 Publisher Mark Vreugdenhil (289) 638-2133 ext.1 Cell: (416) 996-1031 [email protected] Editor Simon Blake (289) 638-2133 ext.2 Cell: (416) 574-5867 [email protected] Assistant Editor Leah Den Hartogh Anything but strange! (289) 638-2133 ext. 4 Cell: (289) 830-1217 [email protected] “What a long strange trip it has been.” That for a reference. My first editor, Ron Shuker, line from a Grateful Dead song keeps running and publisher Craig Coulter taught me a lot. Contributing Writers Roy Collver, Ron Coleman, through my mind as I approach retirement at I have worked for two company owners, Mark P. Evans, Bill Hooper, Ray Litvak the end of July. In reality, it has been neither Jim Glionna at Newcom Business Media and Michael McCartney, Glenn Mellors strange nor has it seemed long. Apparently, it my long-time publisher and current owner Bruce Nagy, Greg Scrivener has been 22 years since I walked in the door. Mark Vreugdenhil at Marked Business Media. National Sales Manager In 1998, I was at the Daily Press in Timmins, They have always supported me and allowed Mark Tomlin Ont. when my wife spotted a tiny ad in the me to do what I thought should be done. (289) 638-2133 ext.3 Cell: (289) 927-6393 Globe and Mail for an editor at a publication I received a lot of help from associations [email protected] called Mechanical Buyer and Specifier. and their members. In particular, I would Design and Production This was intended to be a short-term gig like to thank Ralph Suppa at CIPH, Martin Tim Norton/Janet Popadiuk between newspapers. Except I felt right at Luymes and Warren Heeley at HRAI and [email protected] home. I was a fitter/welder in Edmonton Richard McKeagan at MCAC. (The latter two Circulation Manager during the 70s – most of it with the Derrick & have retired.) Dorothy Lai Rig Equipment Company (Dreco) – until then I’ve worked with a wonderful group of All articles and photos by Plumbing & HVAC staff unless noted. prime minister Pierre Trudeau put all of us writers. People like Roy Collver, Ron Coleman, PLUMBING & HVAC Magazine is published eight times annually by out of work in 1981 with the National Energy and the late Art Irwin were with me from the Marked Business Media Inc. and is written for individuals who purchase/ Policy. I was unemployed and I liked to write, beginning and became friends. Bruce Nagy, specify/approve the selection of plumbing, piping, hot water heating, fire protection, warm air heating, air conditioning, ventilation, refrigera- so I went to university to pursue journalism. Brian Guttormson, Bob Bettles, Glenn Mellors, tion, controls and related systems and products throughout Canada. That worked out fairly well and I worked Greg Scrivener, Bill Hooper, Mike McCartney, Marked Business Media Inc. in newspapers for about 12 years before Mark Evans, and Barry Cunningham, among 167 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada L1G 4S8 Tel: (289) 638-2133 Plumbing & HVAC called. Suddenly I was others, have played a key role in making Postmaster: Send all address changes and circulation inquiries to: writing about a lot of really interesting stuff Plumbing & HVAC what it is today. Plumbing & HVAC Magazine, 167 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario, that manufacturers, engineers, wholesalers I am sad to be leaving but take comfort Canada L1G 4S8. Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 43029513. Postage paid at Toronto, ON. and contractors were building. On many in knowing the magazine will be in the very Annual Subscription Canada: $40.00 plus applicable taxes, single copy $5.00 plus applicable taxes. Annual Subscription United States: $60.00 occasions, I phoned people out of the blue, capable hands of editors Leah Den Hartogh U.S. Annual Subscription foreign: $90.00 U.S. seeking information on something or other, and John Tenpenny. Copyright 2020. The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in and they’ve almost always been gracious and Thanks so much for the support over the any manner without the prior written permission of the Publisher. helpful. years! I look forward to seeing you at a trade A member of: • Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating There are many, many people that have show down the road! • Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada • Ontario Plumbing Inspectors Association helped me along the way. It started with my • American Society of Heating Refrigerating & Air Conditioning Engineers friend and neighbour in Timmins, Ray Pilon, • Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada • Refrigeration Service Engineers Society of Canada who owned Ideal Plumbing & Heating. I think I was the only applicant with a plumber Facebook: LinkedIn: Twitter: Instagram: @PlumbingandHVAC Plumbing + HVAC Magazine @Plumbing_HVAC_ plumbing_hvac_ ■ Industry News Boilers to go condensing under new efficiency regulations Industry fears higher costs, more difficulty for retrofits By Simon Blake New energy efficiency regulations are going to make some commercial boiler retrofits significantly more difficult and expensive. Under Amendment 15 to Canada’s Energy Efficiency Regulations, all gas hydronic boilers must be 90 percent efficient – by July 1, 2023 for residential units and Jan. 1, 2025 for commercial boilers. While there is a wide selection of condensing equipment available, in retrofit applications venting may be a challenge and replacing one boiler in a multi-boiler system may prove difficult. The boiler industry lobbied Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) hard for an exception for older systems that could not easily be upgraded – a compromise that was made for commercial water heaters. “They said, ‘we don’t care about that.’ They look at the number of units being sold… Seventy- eight percent of the market has already shifted to high efficiency,” remarked John Goshulak, P.Eng., vice-president, sales and marketing, Weil McLain Canada, Burlington, Ont. The big problem is in industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) retrofit situations with large high temperature systems and multiple boiler installations. “There is 20 percent of the market that is not buying high efficiency,” added Goshulak. “Why? From the surveys we did, it’s because it won’t work – it won’t fit, there’s no benefit, the customer can’t afford it.” “It’s going to be very challenging,” said Robert Waters, technical director for the Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating. “There are going to be existing buildings, like apartment and multi-family buildings – that have non- condensing appliances. They are now going to Engineer Dave Muncaster, owner of Nu-Mun Contracting, Calgary, recently completed have to switch to condensing and you could be a high efficiency Weil-McLain boiler retrofit at The Cube, a 52,000 sq. ft. seven-storey looking at some pretty extreme re-venting costs. office building that has been converted into a multi-unit residential. 6 Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2020 www.plumbingandhvac.ca “What if it’s a multiple boiler system and for new installations, which they did. NRCan one boiler fails? Now you have to replace also accepted a request to reduce minimum it with a condensing boiler. What if it’s a efficiency requirements to 80 percent for common vent system with three or four retrofits, matching U.S.