Project Abstract

                     ABSTRACT

With energy prices on the rise, many people are looking at ways to become more energy wise. The town of Baie-d’Urfé has expressed interest in investing in a more efficient heating and cooling system to try to reduce their energy footprint. There are currently plans for renovations and retrofits to the town building. Alternative design scenarios are presented, which the town can choose to implement alongside of their renovation plans. The alternatives include different combinations of replacing the large windows with more energy efficient ones, replacing the large windows with an insulated wall and small operable windows, and installation of a ground source heat pump. 

Geothermal energy uses the heat from deep within the earth’s core to directly heat a fluid which is being pumped to the building. Ground source heat pumps work by extracting heat from a shallow ground source with a cooler temperature and transferring it to a sink with a higher temperature. It can be used effectively for both heating and cooling buildings. Along side of the GSHP, a permeable pavement system had to be designed to keep the moisture content of the soil above 12.5%. The windows that are currently in place are all single paned with no insulation factor. Replacement of the windows with more modern, efficient windows could improve the insulation to the building envelope by a huge factor because most heat is lost through windows and doorways. Improving the air tightness of the building includes adding insulation by transforming the north façade into a sealed wall and fixing the holes in the building. It was determined that the building is currently losing 29.37 kW due to infiltration, the windows, and the holes. 

The best recommendation to alleviate this significant loss is to replace the large single pane windows with an insulated wall and small operable windows. This results in an energy savings of 15%. This savings is supplemented by the use of a ground source heat pump to supply the heating and cooling needs to the building. An economic analysis was performed and it was determined that these changes have a payback period of 4.5 years.

Project Overview

1.0 INTRODUCTION 

1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT  

In Canada, heating and cooling of buildings constitutes over 17% of the nation’s energy use (OEE, 2011). By increasing the efficiency of buildings through retrofits and improved design, this significant use of energy can be decreased, which can lead to economic savings and environmental benefits. Retrofits applied to aging infrastructure allows for the integration of new energy efficient technologies and design principles, which can significantly reduce energy consumption. The Baie-d’Urfé Public Works Building, built in 1967, was originally conceived to serve as a car dealership and garage. As such, large windows are featured along its front façade, mainly facing north, with numerous garage doors. Additionally, the ventilation and heat distribution system layout is ineffective and leads to significant heat losses and poor climate control. With large temperature gradients throughout the building and holes in the building envelope, proposed renovations and energy efficient retrofits are necessary to lower high heating and cooling loads and increase thermal comfort. 

1.2 OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE

The primary project objective will be to reduce the energy consumption for heating and cooling purposes of the public works building in the Town of Baie-d’Urfé. Project costs and subsequent economic savings are extremely important parameters in the selection of a final design. Subsequent benefits of improving thermal energy efficiency of the building include improving climate control, increasing comfort of workers and clients, and demonstrating environmental leadership. In order to meet the main objective, an energy audit has been conducted to assess the source of large heating and cooling loads. From previous rankings and assessments, geothermal ground source heat pumps, and improvements to the building envelope have been selected to be designed and optimized for thermal energy savings (Busgang, et al. 2011).The scope of this project will include the parameters for the geothermal system (e.g. refrigerant type, pipe length, configuration, etc.), along with various building envelope design options.