ADAPTATION TOWARDS LOW CARBON RESILIENCY IN BUILDINGS

Climate Adaptation in BuildingsAs buildings last 30-50 years on average, climate change presents a strong imperative to adapt our buildings to be able to withstand climate impacts on systems and occupants.

How buildings will be affected:

Comfort and SafetyKey impacts on temperature and air quality can have immediate effects on occupant comfort and safety. Summer forest fire smoke and heat waves, as well as winter power outages and gas ruptures are challenges we are facing now.

Business ContinuitySevere climate events impose risks on the building’s infrastructure services. If the building systems themselves aren’t at risk, the facility may still be impacted by the services it relies on–energy supply, road access and clean water supply. This can have cascading effects on businesses that operate within the building.

Climate Change in BCHuman activity such as burning of fossil fuels and deforestation has been significantly increasing the level of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, trapping heat radiation, therefore warming the lower atmosphere and the earth’s surface. This is causing global warming and localized changes to the climate.

Mitigation + Adaptation = Low Carbon Resiliency

⊲ Reduced energy demand – Lighting retrofit; boiler right sizing; more efficient chillers, fans and pumps

⊲ Controls – More consistent and reliable response to outdoor conditions (air temperature, air quality, etc)

⊲ Passive options – Integrate passive cooling (e.g. operable windows, shading) before introducing a new chiller to meet increased cooling load; heat recovery

⊲ Renewable options – Work towards net zero through solar photovoltaic, geothermal, or other renewable sources

⊲ Monitoring – Install outdoor air quality monitoring (forest fires, extreme heat) and filtration

⊲ Install water sensor to bring elevator above flood level

⊲ Consider on-site water filtration

⊲ Move critical equipment and documentation above flood level (e.g. mechanical room location)

Adaptation Frameworks

Going Beyond BC Building CodeBC Building Code reads, “buildings need to be designed, maintained and operated to adequately withstand ever changing climate loads.” Current climate projections exceed the projections that the current BC Building Code is designed to withstand. We need to go above and beyond if we are to manage vulnerability.

In a building vulnerability risk assessment, ideally all components of the infrastructure are reviewed and tested against future extreme climate conditions, so that the owner and occupants will not only be protected against the negative effects of climate change, but also benefit from the positive effects.

MitigationMitigation involves modification of building systems to reduce energy and water use, and thereby, reduce environmental impact. Mitigation can be done through retrofits to the envelope, lighting, or heating and ventilation systems.

AdaptationWhile mitigation efforts are important to reducing impacts from resource use, mitigation alone does not necessarily create resiliency–the ability of a building to withstand changes in climate conditions. Adaptation involves modification of building systems to address vulnerability to climate change by improving infrastructure resilience.

Increasing Resiliency

As you reduce your building’s external dependencies, making it more self-sufficient, you are inherently building in resiliency for your facility.

From design to implementation, we provide energy management, electrical and mechanical engineering, utility monitoring and sustainability consulting to help our clients create a greener, more energy efficient world.

Head OfficeTel: 604.298.4858Int. Tel: 1.888.724.1715info@prismengineering.com

www.prismengineering.com

WETTER, HOTTER, DRYER

By 2050, Vancouver is expected to have: ⊲ Hotter, dryer summers with more frequent heat waves

⊲ Wetter autumns (21% more rain on wettest days and higher flood risk)

⊲ Warmer winters (58% decrease in snowpack)

⊲ Warmer springs (leading to earlier snow melt)

Adaptation Retrofitting

• Upgrade planning

• Detailed design

• Tender

• Construction coordination

• Commissioning Operator training

Implementation of capital upgrades

• Define project boundary and components

• Gather data (climate, code, logs, insurance)

• Develop future climate models for specific location

• Conduct detailed site review

• Assess risk of facilities against future climate projections

Vulnerability risk assessment

• Review capacity and load issues for “at risk” system(s)

• Calculate new loads based on future climate projections

• Concept design of new system(s) for resiliency to future climate

Detailed engineering analysis

• Facilitate process

• Best practices research

• Stakeholder engagement

• Identify emergency function facilities

• Survey existing problems

• Review for alignment with capital or energy upgrades

• Develop draft plan or policy

Policy development and planning

• Assess training needs

• Develop and deliver training

• Design + facilitate stakeholder engagement activities

• Gather feedback + follow-up

Stakeholder engagement and

education

Where to Begin

VulnerabilityTraditionally, we design building systems to withstand the maximum load expected on the infrastructure when the building is in operation. This is applicable to heating and cooling capacity, structural and lighting design, as well as the other components that make up the building’s operation.

When the conditions that the building was designed for change, the relationship between load and capacity may change and this is when a vulnerability risk assessment is needed.

20200213-05

Several frameworks exist to guide you through the climate adaptation process from a building level to an organizational level including:

Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)Climate Adaptation Maturity Scale

Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee (PIEVC) Protocol

Our Prism team can work with you to develop a process tailored to your organization.

Source: Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC)

Penticton Airport Climate Change Risk Assessment

The Penticton Airport is already experiencing signs of regional changes in climate, which can affect airport operations and services. In order to ensure reliable future service, Transport Canada has conducted a climate change vulnerability risk assessment for Penticton Airport following the PIEVC Protocol.

Prism Engineering was brought on to review and analyze the design and construction of the existing mechanical, electrical and transportation infrastructure against anticipated changes in climate parameters specific to the Penticton Airport and surrounding regions. Based on this analysis, the Prism team assessed the engineering vulnerability of the identified infrastructure and provided recommendations that will support Transport Canada in their future planning and project implementation for the Penticton Airport.

Heat Recovery at City of Vancouver Community Centre Kitsilano Community Centre is a bustling recreational facility in Vancouver with an ice rink, gym, community spaces, whirlpool and fitness centre. Prism Engineering led a recommissioning investigation and detailed energy study revealing measures to enhance HVAC efficiency, optimize operation, and recover waste heat.

In 2017, the City of Vancouver enlisted Prism to conduct a detailed design and speci fication to integrate heat recovery chillers (ammonia plant heat recovery) to transfer heat from the ice plant to the building’s HVAC and domestic hot water systems. The new system was designed to be the primary heating system, with existing boilers reconfigured to feed supplementary heating into the source side only, in the event heating load exceeds ice plant heat rejection. Commissioned in 2018, these measures have cut greenhouse gas emissions by over 80% and eliminated the need for natural gas to heat the facility.

Nanaimo Regional General Hospital Vulnerability Risk AssessmentA climate vulnerability assessment of Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) was conducted utilizing the PIEVC Protocol which provided valuable insight for Island Health into their healthcare facilities. Prism was engaged in the multidisciplinary team to provide mechanical and electrical engineering reviews for the entire facility as well as manage the facilitation workshop. NRGH was the first healthcare facility in Canada to use the PIEVC protocol and the first PIEVC climate change vulnerability risk assessment applied to buildings in BC.

The intent of the study was to identify facility specific infrastructure vulnerabilities, determine risk within the context of healthcare facilities and apply forecasted climate factors to calculate the likelihood and severity of these interactions. The key findings outlined the vulnerabilities with the cooling systems, critical air systems and general central air systems.