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A team of researchers at the Building Envelope and Technology Access Centre (BETAC) partnered with SMT Research to monitor the structural health of the Skilled Trades and Technology Centre (STTC) being built at Red River College.
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of bridges and heritage buildings are essential to ensure modern rehabilitation techniques and materials continue to perform as expected. SHM systems also play a key role to ensure new buildings perform as expected with respect to energy efficiency and durability.
A paper on our work was presented at the 8th International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure in Brisbane, Australia, in December, 2017.
The paper focused on the application of advanced sensor networks and data visualization techniques on a building instrumented as a ‘living lab’ located in Winnipeg, Canada.
CANCELLED: This workshop has been cancelled due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict with the instructor, and due to low enrolment.
Join expert Manfred Kehrer for a two-day workshop this February, 2018, hosted by Red River College’s Building Envelope & Technology Access Centre (BETAC).
WUFI® is an acronym for Wärme Und Feuchte Instationär, which, translated, means heat and moisture transiency. Read More →
This three-day course educated participants on:
The workshop also focused on the setup and use of blower door equipment, and finished with a full live test of the CARSI building at Red River College, which incorporates diagnostic tools and analysis/reporting of the test data.
Increasing air tightness in a building is now widely recognized as one of the most influential factors affecting the building’s performance in terms of energy use, comfort, indoor air quality, durability and even noise transmission.
Even though airtightness testing of residential houses is quite common, airtightness testing of commercial buildings is only now starting to grow.
Testing equipment is now evolving to measure a larger range of commercial building types; however, since this type of testing is still relatively new to the United States and Canada, there remains very few qualified personnel able to perform these tests to specific standards.
This project focuses on developing cost-effective systems for the implementation of thermally broken concrete slabs for residential mid/high-rise construction.
Traditionally, concrete balconies in mid/high-rise residential buildings are designed as an extension to the floor slab, constructed as a one or two-way reinforced concrete slab cantilevered out past the building’s exterior wall.
Without a thermal break, the balcony easily conducts heat, causing a significant amount of heat loss in the winter, leaving the floor slab and window-wall assembly considerably cooler than the interior temperature, and resulting in condensation.
If not properly controlled, materials eventually start to degrade, reducing the integrity and safety of the structure, and even compromising the indoor air quality from mold growth.
The first phase of this project started in June, 2016, and is due to complete in August, 2017. The completion of phase two is to be determined.
The objective of this project is to investigate and assess the energy efficiency, effectiveness, and performance of vertical, sloped and horizontal DWHR systems for MURB applications. BETAC will be working with Gary Proskiw, Manitoba Hydro, and Manitoba Housing on this project.
Drain-water heat recovery (DWHR) systems recover heat from a building’s wastewater and use it to preheat the fresh incoming water, thereby reducing the overall domestic hot water (DHW) load.
All new Part 9 (residential) construction in Manitoba, as part of the province’s review of Section 9.36 of the National Building Code (other than for houses with slab-on-grade or crawl space foundations), now require a DWHR system. Their introduction into mid/high-rise multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) has been extremely limited.
The majority of information and testing available for DWHR performance was developed for vertical installations. However, the accessible portions of the drain lines in MURBs are predominately horizontal or sloped at 45°.
For this project, BETAC is working with Manitoba Housing on three case studies for three sets of “twin MURBs” (pairs of multi-unit residential buildings that have identical size, floor area and floor plans) located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
One building from each pairing has undergone an extensive building retrofit and the other building pairing remains in its original condition.
These case studies will document the pre- and post- retrofit energy performance of the buildings, as well as review each set of buildings to identify the extent of the renovations to each building, and their associated timelines.
This project involves BETAC working alongside Manitoba Hydro and Manitoba Housing to monitor the energy usage of Donwood Manor – a 119-unit personal care home located in North Kildonan that recently completed major upgrades to its building envelope and mechanical systems (heating, cooling and ventilation).
Findings from this project will be of benefit to others in the building industry; therefore, a presentation of these results will be developed to share at industry association meetings, seminars, and speaking engagements (e.g. Manitoba Building Envelope Council, Building Energy Management Manitoba, Manitoba Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council, ASHRAE Manitoba Chapter), and events such as the annual Better Buildings Conference in Winnipeg.
• Differences between residential and commercial tests
• Building science and driving forces of air leakage
• Testing standards and code requirements
• Test considerations and planning
• Required materials and equipment
• First-hand experience with setup and use of blower door equipment
• Trouble-shooting common problems encountered during testing
This workshop concludes with a full live test at the Centre for Applied Research in Sustainable Infrastructure (CARSI) at Red River College, which will incorporate diagnostic tools and data analysis.
Cory Carson
Cory is a Mechanical Engineering Technologist with over five years of experience in applied research related to energy efficiency, who has tested over 40 large buildings for airtightness.
Kevin Knight
Kevin is a building envelope authority with over 30 years of experience in field observation and testing, commissioning, research, education and training.
Gary Proskiw
Gary is a mechanical engineer with 40 years of experience; he has conducted hundreds of airtightness tests on houses and commercial buildings and has been active in code and standard development.
Location: Red River College, 2055 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg, MB CA
Dates: September 27-29, 2017
Times: 8:30am-4:30pm (will end at 2pm on Sept. 29 to allow travel time)
Cost: $1,495 + GST (Cost includes parking, lunch and morning coffee)
Registration Form: TechSolutionsRegistration
Call or Email:
Cory Carson (204-631-3325 | ccarson31@rrc.ca)
Louise Wood (204-632-3017 | lowood@rrc.ca)
ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION:
Rob Spewak, TAC Manager
204-632-2357 | rspewak@rrc.ca | rrc.ca/betac
York Factory First Nation is collaborating with BETAC to perform an air leakage test on a nursing station built in 2000 that has since encountered some roof damage due to ice damming.
Based on site visits performed by Tower Engineering Group, GW Architecture Inc., and QCA Building Envelope Ltd. in November, 2016, it was discovered that significant amounts of insulation had been missing, moved, or become detached in the attic space, causing substantial amounts of heat to travel into the attic and melt the snow on the roof – resulting in ice damming.
In order to rectify this issue, the nursing station will be undergoing an envelope upgrade that is projected to begin in July, 2017.
The objective of this applied research project is to capitalize on BETAC’s abundance of knowledge and recent experiences in conducting air leakage tests on larger buildings, and conduct testing of the existing building prior to any renovations.