Although the concept was almost unknown in the design and construction industry 25 years ago, is now widely recognized as one of the most critical parameters affecting a building’s performance in terms of energy use, comfort, indoor air quality and durability.

Recognition of the importance of reducing air leakage first occurred in the low-rise housing sector and has since spread to the commercial building sector. The need for airtightness was initially seen only as an energy issue since uncontrolled air leakage can create a significant energy penalty. However, it was soon realized that there are additional benefits including building durability improved comfort, improved indoor air quality and reduced noise transmission.

The large building airtightness testing workshop will educate the students on the

differences between residential and commercial tests; building science and driving forces of air leakage; testing standards and code requirements; test considerations and planning; and required materials and equipment. The final part of the workshop will focus on the setup and use of blower door equipment. It will conclude with a full live test of the CARSI building at Red River College, which will incorporate diagnostic tools and analysis/reporting of the test data.

Course Date and Cost

Dates: February 22-24, 2017
Times: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm (2 pm on Feb.24^th to allow for travel)
Cost: $1,495 + GST
Course Code: TRAD-9017
Course cost includes: parking, lunch and morning coffee.

For more information, contact Rob Spewak at 204-632-2357 or rspewak@rrc.ca.

To register, contact Katrina Florendo at 204-632-2195 or kflorendo78@rrc.ca.

Cancellation Policy

Students who withdraw from a course seven or less days before the start of a course will be charged a $100 cancellation fee.

About the Instructors – Cory Carson, Kevin Knight, Gary Proskiw

Cory Carson, a Mechanical Engineering Technologist, has over 5 years’ experience in applied research related energy efficiency and has tested over 40 large buildings for airtightness. Kevin Knight, a building envelope authority, has over 30 years’ experience in field observation and testing, commissioning, research, education and training. Gary Proskiw is a mechanical engineer with 40 years’ experience; he has conducted hundreds of airtightness tests on houses and commercial buildings and has been active in code and standard development.

Download this form for registration: TechSolutionsRegistration

*Filling out the form: Please make sure that the course name and course code are indicated on the form.

WUFI^® is an acronym for Wärme Und Feuchte Instationär—which, translated, means heat and moisture transiency.

Today’s residential and commercial building envelopes in North America are required to be energy efficient, which mainly means the envelope needs to meet R value and air tightness requirements. Practical experience in the last decades all over the world and physical principles show that a higher risk of moisture failures go along with these energy efficiency requirements.

The WUFI® Workshop will educate the students in the principles of building science, based on the latest research as well as train them how to do hygrothermal performance assessments using the WUFI® tool to eventually design a durable building envelope. Effects like material properties, climate regions, indoor moisture generation are shown and their impact on the durability discussed. ASHRAE Standard 160 will be introduced as a basic guideline on how to apply “Criteria for Moisture-Control Design Analysis in Buildings”.

Course Dates and Cost

Dates: February 14 and 15, 2017
Times: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Location: Red River College, Notre Dame Campus – 2055 Notre Dame Ave.
Cost: $850 + GST
Course Code: WRKS – 9121
Course cost includes: parking, lunch and morning coffee.

For more information, contact Tammy Harper at 204-632-2942 or tvharper@rrc.ca.

To register, contact Louise Wood at 204-632-3017 or lowood@rrc.ca.

About the Instructor – Manfred Kehrer

Manfred has been active in the field and heat and moisture analysis in Building Science for more than 25 years. After many years of scientific work at Fraunhofer IBP, Germany, where he was leading the WUFI^® software development as well as conducted laboratory measurements, he worked for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, USA, for five years as a Sr. Researcher in Building Science. Since early 2016, he is president of the start-up company justSmart Solutions LLC in the field of building science consulting and acts as the Official WUFI^® Collaboration Partner for USA and Canada. Mr. Kehrer is a voting member of several ASHRAE and ASTM committees and on the editorial board of the “Journal of Building Physics”.

Download this form to register: TechSolutionsRegistration

*Filling out the form: Please make sure that the course name and course code are indicated on the form.

Top row: Rob Spewak, RRC BETAC Manager; Lloyd Kuczek, VP with Manitoba Hydro; Jose Delos Reyes, RRC Research Manager. Bottom row: Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science; Ray Hoemsen, RRC Research Director; David Johnston, Governor General of Canada; Neil Cooke, Dean, Teaching Excellence, Innovation and Research, RRC; Mario Pinto, President of NSERC. Credit: MCpl Vincent Carbonneau, Rideau Hall, OSGG

Red River College is #1 on the Prairies in research, according to the latest Top 50 ranking of Canadian research colleges.
It’s not the first time RRC has been recognized as a leading college research institution, having ranked previously in Research Infosources’s top ten for three years running, and having earlier this year received the prestigious Synergy Award for Innovation from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Governor General of Canada.
“We definitely appreciate the acknowledgement of our efforts, but the true value of this recognition is realized when we further spread the word that Red River College serves as a critical partner in innovation for so many organizations,” says Paul Vogt, RRC’s president and CEO.
“As we continue to make substantial investments in applied research and learning resources, we see increasing interest from industry partners for us to help them solve problems, innovate, and produce graduates with the advanced technology training needed for today’s globally-competitive environment.”
The College’s swath of research resources continued to expand this year when RRC received $5.9-million in federal funding – the largest influx of research dollars in the College’s history – from NSERC and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). This new investment allowed the College to boost innovation capacity in Manitoba’s vehicle technology and food development sectors.
“It’s exciting to see how far we’ve come in such a short period of time, and to witness the positive impact our work has had on so many projects throughout our province,” says Ray Hoemsen, executive director of Research Partnerships & Innovation at RRC.
The College has been involved in a number of notable projects, such as the all-electric transit bus (developed in conjunction with New Flyer, Manitoba Hydro, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the province, and others), and Manitoba Hydro’s downtown office building, where RRC tested and evaluated advanced designs and building products that helped make the structure one of the most energy efficient in North America.
“We’ve had a number of high-profile projects which really help raise awareness of our capabilities,” says Hoemsen. “But there is so much more going on beneath the surface, especially in areas like early child development, international business intelligence, clean water technology, and in the area of startup/entrepreneur support.”
Some of the latest research being pioneered at the College relates to the development of MotiveLab, which will feature a 3,000-square foot environmental chamber (large enough to fit a bus) that allows local industry to test products in all manner of environmental conditions.
The College has also recently emerged as a key player in culinary research, having helped Manitoba food producers and distributors create new products and develop innovative uses for locally grown food in healthy menu items.
“From the food we eat, to the transit buses on our road, to the office buildings that we work in, our research has expanded to a point where we are seeing more and more tangible results that will give Manitoba industry a competitive advantage on a global scale,” says Vogt.“It’s something all of us can be proud of.”

In collaboration with BlackBerry, the Executive Leadership Roundtable is taking place at the Information and Communication Technologies Association of Manitoba (ICTAM) on November 10, 2016. This half-day event will focus on the topic of Enabling and Building Business Resilience to Drive Performance.
During this session, executives from IT, Operations, Finance, HR and Innovation will come together to discover how other leading-edge organizations are enabling and building business resilience to deliver superior performance. Participants will also identify emerging challenges brought on by innovation, technology development, and disruption, and explore ways that leaders can respond to these issues while leveraging technology for opportunity. As part of the session, attendees will have the opportunity to learn about some of the innovative technology solutions being used to enable business resilience at the enterprise level. Attendees will also take part in a facilitated discussion with peers, identifying actionable steps they can take in their own organizations. A balanced approach of presentations, facilitation, and open discussion will be used throughout the event.
To view the detailed agenda and program for this special half-day Executive Leadership Roundtable, Click here.
This is a complimentary event and includes a luncheon. To register, please complete the registration form.

In 2014/15 the École Heritage Immersion School in St Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba, underwent a major building envelope upgrade including complete removal and replacement of the west and north exterior walls plus the courtyard area.

Services Provided

• As part of this work, BETAC conducted a pre-retrofit test on the building in 2013 to quantify its air leakage characteristics and to identify significant air leakage sources on the building envelope.
• Following the retrofit, a second test was performed in 2016, allowing the impact of the test to be assessed.

Results

• The retrofit was able to reduce the measured air leakage of the building by over one-third, depending on the metric.
• The Equivalent Leakage Area (ELA₁₀) was reduced by 34%, or 0.39 m²(4.2 ft²).

The Public Schools Finance Board has expressed interest in collaborating with BETAC to further these research activities as they apply to schools around the province.

The Townview Manor in Minnedosa, Manitoba is a mid-rise, multi-unit residential building (MURB) that is undergoing a major building envelope upgrade, focused primarily on the exterior wall system and installation of a new wall system, new windows and a new high performance ventilation system.

Services Provided

• BETAC conducted a pre-retrofit airtightness test on June 30, 2016 and construction on the retrofit began in late 2016.
• The post-retrofit airtightness testing will be carried out once the retrofit is completed.  This is anticipated to occur in 2017 or 2018.

Results

• BETAC will be using the results of this testing to further expand their growing data base on airtightness characteristics of large commercial-style buildings which began in 2013 with the testing of 26 buildings in Manitoba.
• Manitoba Housing has expressed interest in collaborating with BETAC to further these research activities as they apply to their portfolio of buildings, located around the province.

The objective of this applied research project is to conduct air tightness testing on the Bluebird Lodge, a mid-rise, multi-unit residential building (MURB) located in northwest Winnipeg.

Background

• The Bluebird Lodge is currently undergoing a major building envelope upgrade, which got underway in late 2016. The upgrade is focused primarily on the exterior wall system.

Services Provided

• Air tightness testing measuring the pre-and-post retrofit airtightness of the building.

Results

• Test results will be used to further expand BETAC’s growing database on airtightness characteristics of large commercial-style buildings which began in 2013 with the testing of 26 buildings in Manitoba.
• Post-retrofit airtightness testing will be carried out once the retrofit is completed. This is anticipated to occur in 2017 or 2018.
• Manitoba Housing has expressed interest in collaborating with RRC to further these research activities as they apply to their portfolio of buildings, located around the province.

Competitors lined up to pitch their ideas to judges at the Innovation Alley Block Party, including Patrick Lorr from 500 Startups Canada.

A huge crowd came out to the Innovation Alley Block Party yesterday to celebrate the success that the collective group of startups is having by leveraging the resources available in the Alley, especially those from North Forge and Bell MTS.
The crowd – which consisted of many Red River College students, instructors and innovation leaders – also came to hear the next big announcement for Winnipeg’s thriving startup ecosystem.

RRC president, Paul Vogt and other RRC innovation leaders with Jeff Ryzner, president of North Forge and Patrick Lorr of 500 Startups Canada.

Scott MacAulay and RRC president Paul Vogt talking Innovation Alley.

The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) is pleased to present the 3^rd annual Western Innovation Forum (WIF) taking place on November 8-9, 2016 at the Pinnacle Harbourfront Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia.
WIF 2016 is an industry-oriented conference aimed at connecting Western Canada’s aerospace, marine, defence and security industries to innovation-driven investment, partnership and business opportunities.
Day one will comprise of a full day conference program, networking opportunities, an innovation marketplace sponsored by OSI Maritime systems and an optional speakers lunch ($).
Day two will include an interactive innovation stage demonstrations, dedicated business to business/business to government (B2B/G) meeting sessions and an optional networking buffet lunch ($) for you to make key connections for your company necessary to allow your organization to grow and meet your business development objectives.

You are invited to an Open House at Red River College’s Building Envelope Technology Access Centre (BETAC), to be held on:

• Date: Wed., Sept. 28, 2016
• Time: 2:30-4-30pm
• Location: Centre for Applied Research in Sustainable Infrastructure (CARSI), 2055 Notre Dame Ave.

BETAC was developed to help the province’s building industry address the challenges in designing and constructing a durable, energy-efficient building envelope in Manitoba’s unique climate. Its purpose is to support the needs of those involved in the design, construction, renovation, commissioning and maintenance of a building envelope.

We’ll be providing demonstrations of our testing capabilities within both the CARSI facility and our mobile equipment for on-site field tests, including:

• Recently commissioned air/water/structural test chamber
• Dual environmental chambers
• Large building blower door equipment
• Other building envelope diagnostic tools

BETAC staff will be available to answer any question and to discuss how they may be able to help you and your organization.

Refreshments will be served; please RSVP to Katrina Florendo at kflorendo78@rrc.ca or 204-632-2195.

* Please note if you are a BEMM (Building Energy Management Manitoba) member, BEMM will be holding a separate luncheon event in conjunction with BETAC one day earlier on Sept. 27, 2016. For more information, please visit bemm.ca/luncheons.