President’s Message – September 2016

IMG_9878

The 2016-2017 ASHRAE year is about to begin and I am very excited to be serving as President of Manitoba local chapter!

My goal this year is to increase meeting attendance by providing quality and relevant programs. The theme for this year’s programs is “Alternate Energy & Sustainability”.

Several countries including Canada, have recently signed the United Nation’s “Paris Agreement” which deals with the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. The main objective is to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal is no easy task and it will require cooperation and leadership from many different stakeholders including the various levels of government, the private sector and grassroots organizations such as ASHRAE. Collectively, we will have to develop more environmentally sustainable initiatives that will also stimulate a new “Green” economy.

This year again we will have a good mixture of building tours, lunch meetings, and dinner meetings to appeal to local member’s schedules and interests. Some of the highlights are as follows:

• Tour of Winnipeg RBC Convention Centre Addition: On September 22nd we are planning a technical tour of the building by SMS Engineering, which is the engineer of record on this project. The addition represents 100,000 ft2 of expanded space with an investment of over 180 million dollars to existing facilities and our beautiful City of Winnipeg!

• On November 10th there will be a very interesting presentation from Manitoba Hydro on “Biomass Heating”. You will be given the opportunity to learn more about this alternative energy source and associated new technologies that Hydro will be promoting.

• On January 12th there will be a presentation on “Commissioning High Performance Buildings – Lessons Learned” by representatives from Integrated Designs. After commissioning several recent high performance buildings, IDI will share with us their knowledge and many lessons learned.

• February 16th will be refrigeration night and Craig Perrett from Manitoba Hydro will make a presentation on “ Energy Efficiency Improvements for Industrial Refrigeration Systems”. Mr. Perrett has been working with the refrigeration industry for several years and has many tips to share on how to improve energy efficiency.

• “Green Design & Sustainability Un-Deniable Success in a Defined World”. – Distinguished Lecturer, Mr Mitchell Swann: The topic for our last dinner presentation of the year, on April 13th 2017, will be presented by ASHRAE’s distinguished lecturer Mr. Mitchell Swann. He has over 30 years of experience in the areas of consulting, design engineering, construction, project management, forensic engineering and claims analysis. His career includes the design of mechanical and control systems across a wide range projects and he has also served as Chair on several ASHRAE Technical Committees and co-authored design guidelines.

We are additionally looking at increasing participation from post secondary students and Young Engineers in ASHRAE (YEA) this year. In cooperation with the University of Manitoba’s Engineering Department we are planning a student design competition on March 16, 2017. We will also be setting up our first YEA event of the year shortly. ASHRAE members are encouraged to come out to these events and help mentor the new generation of HVAC specialists.

To kick-off the start of the new 2016-17 ASHRAE Manitoba year, I would like to invite all members, students, and YEA members to attend our annual “Fish Fry in the Park”, which will be held on September 13 at 5:00 pm at the St Vital Park. This a fun and casual event where you can network with local members and encourage new ASHRAE membership. Feel free to bring a prospective member along!

We have many interesting and exciting programs planned for this year and I hope to see you all at the events!

George Marchildon
ASHRAE Manitoba President
george.marchildon@gov.mb.ca