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FNX-ENERPRO awarded at the last ASHRAE Gala
On January 13, the Montreal chapter of ASHRAE, an association of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning professionals, presented the technological merit awards. Our team received an award for the renovation of the Université de Sherbrooke‘s School of Music, an impressive project both technologically and functionally.
To celebrate its 25 years of existence, the School of Music of the Université de Sherbrooke has been offered a gift to match its ambitions. Major renovations have transformed the original building to achieve high levels of technical sophistication. The expertise of FNX-Enerpro and our partners at EXP provided the project with significant value in terms of energy efficiency and earned ASHRAE honours.
It took the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the Université de Sherbrooke nearly five years to carry out this major transformation of their School of Music. This update had become essential to allow students to learn in an environment that meets the current needs of the music professions. The $9.5 million investment made it possible to renovate the building extensively, both inside and out. Soundproofing and acoustics issues were at the heart of the work to create professional-level recording rooms, as the School’s goal is to become a leader in the production of music for films, video games and advertising.
The renovation involved the building envelope, windows and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems. The Université de Sherbrooke also took advantage of this opportunity to improve the building’s energy efficiency and air quality. In addition, one of the objectives was to reduce CO2 emissions by eliminating steam and introducing geothermal energy to heat the building, covering an area of 23,000 ft2 spread over 2 floors. Our expertise allowed us to develop an innovative design that met this need for efficiency and technical sophistication to ensure the building’s particular functionality.
Massinissa Ourtirane, Assistant Director – Mechanical, Electrical and Energy Efficiency, won an ASHRAE Technology Award for outstanding achievements in the application of heating, refrigeration and air conditioning technologies.
Innovation at the core
An innovative aspect of this project was the exclusive use of the recovered heat to provide humidification and heating loads. In fact, in the province of Quebec, winters are extreme, resulting in high heating requirements. The ability to heat the entire building through the sole use of heat recovered from interior spaces and ground heat was an important element of the project. Another innovative aspect was the transfer of heat recovered from the geothermal wells in the music pavilion to the rest of the campus via the energy loop when the needs of the music faculty are less than the capacity of the installed heat pump. This design allows the full potential of the geothermal wells to be used as long as there is a need in any building on campus. In addition, the building retrofit project generated 100% natural gas savings and 34% electricity savings. The building’s energy cost went from $4.27/ft2 to $1.09/ft2, a dramatic result.
The design of this project has produced impressive results: a very energy-efficient building, high air quality, simplified maintenance, elimination of steam, substantial reduction in GHG emissions, optimal use of geothermal energy and the possibility of transferring cleaner energy to the rest of the campus through the energy loop. The project has demonstrated that energy-efficient and sustainable design is possible with a very attractive return on investment.
Another great example of our ability to provide solutions tailored to the complex needs of our clients!