A refrigeration system is a combination of equipment connected in a closed circuit. A refrigerant is cycled through this circuit absorbing heat in one space and rejecting it to another. Many different compounds are used as refrigerants, but unfortunately many compounds that make excellent refrigerants can be harmful if leaked into an occupied space. As

One of the vital standards all buildings must be designed for is ASHRAE Standard 62.1 – Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. Engineers and Designers use these standards to ensure all areas of any building receive the minimum mandated ventilation rate, also known as fresh or outside air. Modern Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning systems

It is a very common occurrence in the experience of Efficiency Engineering for there to be 1-3 years between a recommendation/design being made and it’s actual implementation. Many of our retrofits cost well into the 6 figures and even 7 from time to time, as such there is an understandable reticence to launch a project.

A client recently approached Efficiency Engineering (EE) to review the HVAC system serving a pool and adjacent community center spaces for an apartment complex. The building has experienced a prolonged period of uncontrollable indoor air conditions and poor air quality in and around the basement pool and adjacent corridors and recreation spaces. The recreation centre

It is now possible to achieve the savings of a condensing boiler without the capital costs! During the past couple of design projects I have performed, a boiler retrofit project in Sarnia and a Social housing building in Toronto, I observed an interesting development.  I was using RBI boilers as a design basis in both

Efficiency Engineering has operated out of Cambridge for over  25 years to help building owners save energy.  Its foundation is based on heating plant retrofit projects in Ontario where capital upgrades are value-engineered to be right-sized for the building and operate more efficiently. Lately we have undergone a change in philosophy where micro cogeneration (combined

In this brief discussion we take a quick look at the differences between designing and operating a dedicated domestic hot water (DHW) boiler plant and a combined heat and hot water (CHHW) plant producing the domestic hot water indirectly via a heat exchanger.  In drawing this comparison we need to assume the storage, circulation, and

“Engineers finding methods to make aging buildings more environmentally responsible” Efficiency Engineering was featured in a Toronto Star article on February 28, 2015. Read what our Vice President, Michael Zongor had to say about our recent work with the Oshawa site of Lakeridge Health.

In November 2013, the Ontario Hospital Association named Lakeridge Health the Green Hospital of the Year. The award recognizes the hospital’s multi-faceted energy efficiency and waste reduction measures. “We’re for healthy communities, and that’s what this project is all about,” said Lakeridge Health President and CEO Kevin Empey. “We’re reducing our environmental footprint together with