Project Architects
Langara College is soon to have the first operating Thermenex system.
The Task
Designed as a LEED® Gold building by Stephen Teeple of Teeple Architects, Langara wanted greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions to go beyond LEED requirements. Having recently completed the LEED Gold library on campus as the design assist mechanical construction manager, IMEC was hired for this project to provide full mechanical design build services. Working closely with Bird Construction, this project is scheduled for occupancy in August of 2009 with commissioning taking place from May to August.
Having previously embraced the idea of campus ground source heating and cooling to meet their goals, Langara was open to innovative ideas but understandably cautious. An independent peer review of the system design was conducted to instill confidence in their choice of this innovative system.
The Solution
Benefits realized with the Thermenex system:
- Due to thermal energy reuse, the ground source field capacity was reduced from 160 tons to just 90 tons. The cost of a field is typically $7500/ton of capacity;
- The first 900,000 BTU’s of heating will come from exhaust energy exchange with COP’s ranging from 5.5-6.8, this is double the efficiency of the ground source system;
- The college has expanded the system to computer rooms in an adjacent building to make use of the heat generated by those rooms; and
- While the existing campus heating plant is connected for back-up heating, the projected entire heating load will be met with no GHG emissions.
IMEC Mechanical represents Thermenex in Canada.