Congratulations to Helen O'Reilly and Alex Crandall on their recent promotions within The HIDI Group. We are very excited to watch their growth and successes in their new roles.
HNRF NORTH BAY HQ SPOTLIGHTED IN SAB MAGAZINE
HRCx was proud to provide commissioning to the MNRF Fire Management Headquarters in North Bay. Such a great project proud to see it be spotlighted here on SAB MAGAZINE Spring 2020.
HRCx will be commissioning Joseph Brant Hospital's Pandemic Response Unit
HRCx is proud to be working with BLT Construction Services and Joseph Brant Hospital to commission their new temporary Pandemic Response Unit.
The development of this modular treatment unit will enable the hospital the capacity to support the surge of COVID19 patients who require constant monitoring or oxygen and at the same time freeing up vital acute care space in there facilities for patients with more severe needs. The temporary Pandemic Response Unit will be completed by April 10 2020 and is a collaborating with community-based health care providers, the City of Burlington and Halton Region.
HRCx welcomes Alex Crandrall
HRCx is proud to announce the addition of a new team member to their roster of commissioning specialists and professionals. Alex joins our team as HRCx’s new commissioning manager with over 10 years of experience dedicated to the quality focused building commissioning process. Alex has had exposure to multiple building sectors, including mission critical, leisure and recreation, emergency services, residential high-rise, public transportation, retail, commercial, and schools. Alex’s projects experience and leadership are an asset to the HRCx team.
HRCx welcomes Fernando Salinas
HRCx is proud to announce the addition of a new team member to their roster of commissioning specialists and professionals. Fernando joins our team as a commissioning coordinator with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mechatronics from Ryerson University. In the past, Fernando worked as an Engineering Intern at Ontario Power Generation (OPG), where he was able to support the coordination of multiple projects at Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. Fernando’s projects experience and innovative approach to problem solving are an asset to the HRCx team.
ASHRAE REGION II TECHNOLOGY AWARD 2018
We are excited to announce that we have received the ASHRAE REGION II TECHNOLOGY AWARD in the category of Commercial Building EBCx for our work on ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS Downtown Campus.
HRCx welcomes Vishrut Shah
HRCx is proud to announce the addition of a new team member to their roster of commissioning specialists and professionals.
Vishrut joins our team as commissioning coordinator holding a bachelor degree in electrical engineering acquired at the Gujarat Technological University in Gujarat, India. Since graduating he has received an Advance Diploma in Energy System Engineering and Technology from Conestoga College in Cambridge, Ontario.
His knowledge and interests in conventional and renewable energy is an asset to the HRCx team. Vishrut’s approach to commissioning is to analyze the system from every aspect and to make sure that system is ready before being delivered to the end user.
HRCx welcomes Helen O'Reilly
HRCx is proud to announce the addition of a new team member to their roster of commissioning specialists and professionals.
Helen joins our team as commissioning specialist with 5 years of experience under her belt. A McGill University graduate with a Bachelors of Engineering, Helen received her P.Eng designation in 2017. Prior to joining the HRCx team, she focused on commercial tenant design and commissioning of building systems.
She views engineering as a way to combine both her creativity and analytical sides. Helen’s approach to design and commission is to always provide the best value while putting herself in the owner’s shoes. Her experience includes commissioning chilled water systems, Enwave connections and energy performance improvements in existing buildings.
Building Analytics: Multi-Faceted Tools Designed for Positive Change
As operations costs continue to rise and climate change becomes increasingly important to building tenants and the world at large, facility managers find themselves seeking out new and interesting ways to save money and reduce their carbon footprints. Building analytics, a relatively recent phenomenon adopted by the building industry, can help facility managers improve the efficiency, occupant comfort and financial sustainability of their buildings.
For commissioning specialists, building analytics provide valuable data that assists in the identification of a facility’s system faults, inefficiencies, weaknesses, and issues impacting equipment longevity. By collecting and analyzing the data, a commissioning expert can recommend solutions for improvement and guide the implementation process. Building analytics can also act as an ongoing commissioning tool to maintain building efficiency and prevent “drift” for the long term.
“HRCx was recently brought on board to assist a major Toronto client in establishing the source of their building’s operational inefficiencies,” says John Bell, Commissioning Manager at HRCx. “We worked with CopperTree Analytics to optimize our client’s operations, extend equipment lifecycle and lower energy expenditures, ultimately resulting in a 8% reduction in electricity consumption and 10% reduction in natural gas.”
While the advent of building analytics is undoubtedly useful to building and facility managers, understanding and analyzing the resulting data can be a daunting process. HRCx is the link between tangible insights, understanding the results, and implementing the facility improvement measures. The commissioning team works directly with the building owner, operations and maintenance team, and facility manager to help them discern and interpret the data of their respective facilities. Present from “concept to completion™,” HRCx provides guidance, clarity and practical training to help operators get the most out of their facilities and building automation systems.
Working with HRCx and building analysis software, the commissioning team can help facility managers:
- Identify inefficiencies in building performance and pinpoint the root cause;
- Determine and correct discrepancies;
- Improve occupant comfort levels;
- Increase equipment longevity;
- Reduce energy emissions and environmental impact of building operations;
- Increase the capability of operations staff; and
- Save money!
HRCx is committed to ensuring the successful delivery of every project and the results speak for themselves. Contact us today to find out how we can help you implement and understand a building analytics program for your facility.
The Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR): The driving force behind every successful project
You wouldn’t embark on a cross-country road trip without a map. In the building commissioning world, the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) document is just like a map — one that allows the commissioning team to seamlessly navigate each phase of the commissioning process. However, this crucial piece of documentation is often overlooked, reverse-engineered from a previous design or even non-existent.
The OPR, along with the Basis of Design (BoD), are critical documents prepared at project outset to ensure that a building operates just as the owner intended. The OPR details both the functional and operational requirements of a building as well as the expectations of how a completed project will be used by all occupants, operations management staff included. In some cases, an owner or architect may recognize the need for commissioning in their building, but developing a set of requirements feels impractical, whether for lack of technical knowledge or other reasons. At HRCx, our commissioning team works directly with the owner, from project inception, to help them better understand the intricacies of their building systems and its associated needs. This is done through the use of a detailed questionnaire, interview and a cross-functional review with various project stakeholders. In developing the OPR, the entire project team establishes a framework outlining design process pros and cons, thereby avoiding costly errors during the design and construction phases.
Once completed, the OPR includes project goals, a description of how the building or space will be utilized, measurable performance criteria, cost considerations, benchmarks, success criteria and supporting information. As the basis for all commissioning work for the project, the OPR is best developed in the pre-design phase, as dictated by ASHRAE and LEED standards. All accompanying documentation, including drawings, specifications, submittals and test plans, is carefully evaluated against the OPR to ensure a successful project.
For commissioning experts, the OPR is king. Without preparing a clear and unambiguous OPR at the beginning of each project, navigation becomes onerous and problematic and the potential for error is significantly increased. As such, the OPR is the single most important piece of documentation in the commissioning process for both the commissioning authority and the owner.
There from “concept to completion™,” HRCx is committed to ensuring the successful delivery of every project, armed with the all-important OPR as our map.