December 2008 - Plumbing & HVAC

A VanEE 3000 HE Gold Series HRV
provides mechanical ventilation.
Control is by an Uponor Climate
Control multi-function programmable
controller (reviewed in the May/June
issue of P&HVAC). “It’s like having 20
controllers,” reported Peter Kinsey of
Canadian Infloor Heating, which did
the hydronic installation, and formerly
of The Morgan Group, Markham, Ont.,
which worked with a number of manufacturers
to donate equipment.
However, the control system may
change, noted Brydon. “There is some
discussion as to whether this is going to
be controlled by a home automation
and energy management system.”
Coming soon
House B is slightly larger at 2,300 sq. ft.,
but it has a garage with a “granny flat”
above. The primary source of heating
and cooling is a three-ton WaterFurnace
geothermal heat pump, which does
heating, cooling and DHW. It was
donated by Eden Energy Equipment
Ltd., Guelph, Ont. and installed by
Erwood Air Inc., Pefferlaw, Ont., with
Geothermal Solutions, Mansfield, Ont.,
providing the ground loop. The home
has zoned hydronic radiant floor heating
on three floors.
A multi-zone Ecologix air handler
provides floor-by-floor cooling.
“It all runs off a buffer tank, so we can
actually experiment with in-slab cooling
because we have an ERV, but that will
probably get all wonky with operable
windows allowing humidity in,” re mark -
ed Brydon. “In-slab cooling requires
strict control of humidity to prevent
condensation on flooring finishes.”
A Viessmann evacuated tube solar
collector supplements the DHW.
A Nu-Air vertical combined HRV
and fancoil provides heating and cooling
for the granny flat with integral heat
recovery ventilation.
There are three Uponor ProPanels in
House B – one for the fancoil, one for
the radiant floors and one for garage
heating and, again, with an Uponor
programmable control.
The second heating system is considerably
more radical. Donated by NRCan
for evaluation, a WhisperGen microcogeneration
plant by Whisper Tech is
powered by a natural gas-fueled Stirling
engine. It generates about 35,000 Btu/h
of heat and one Kw/h of electricity.
Photo-voltaic panels on the roof add
another four Kw/h, with a wind turbine
adding another three Kw/h.
(A Stirling engine is similar in design
to an internal combustion engine, but
no combustion actually takes place
inside the engine. Rather, it operates on
temperature differences caused, typically,
by an external fuel source such as
natural gas. Because there is no combustion,
it is virtually silent.)
The cogeneration unit can provide
supplementary heating to take advantage
of time-of-use electricity rates.
In addition to their high-tech systems,
both homes have wood stoves. (This is
country living, after all!) House A has a
Napoleon EPA certified high efficiency
unit, while House B features a Tempcast
thermal core sealed masonry fireplace.
“The idea is that we could use any of
these systems or all of them in combination,
depending on what fuel source
makes most sense from a renewable,
environmental or fuel cost perspective,”
said Brydon.
The plumbing
The plumbing is also a considerable
advance both in water conservation and
energy efficiency over what is currently
being installed in the residential market.
A recirculation system provides ondemand
hot water.
Each home has three or four bathrooms
along with laundry rooms and
kitchens. Both have a structured
plumbing system with on-demand
DHW recirculation. This results in hot
water on demand along with some
gains in energy efficiency, explained
John Priolo, president of Judo Water
Treatment, Concord, Ont. who, along
with instructors from George Brown
College in Toronto, did the plumbing.
All faucets and showerheads are lowflow
and toilets are dual three/six-litre
flush. All drains lead into a central stack
for each home. This maximizes the
effect of a drain water heat recovery system
that pre-heats the hot water.
A rainwater harvesting system consists
of a french drain system that collects
rainwater from the roofs and
weeping tiles and directs it into a sump
pit from which it is pumped into a
10,000-litre cistern. From there it is
pumped back into the house for tasks
like toilet flushing that don’t require
potable water. Rain barrels and a Brac
greywater recycling system, donated by
the Install Team, provide water for
gardening.
Both homes rely on a well system for
potable water. As a result, filtration and
water softening equipment is a must.
Waste goes into a small septic tank
and then into an anaerobic digester and
then to engineered wetlands.
The budget for the project was $1.4-
million, but because so much equipment
and labour was donated the final
figure is expected to come in significantly
lower.
And the project is aiming and on
track for every certification available for
green construction – LEED Gold or
Platinum, Energy Star, Greenhouse
Certified Construction and R-2000.
Research and training
So what does the future hold for the
Archetype Sustainable House? One of
the key objectives was to create a place
where training could be conducted in a
live operating house.
Industry training will take place on a
number of levels, said Dupuis. “We’re
going to find every opportunity we can.
It could be as simple as a wine and
cheese just to get people out there to see
the technology, ask questions and get
their wheels turning – or it could be
hands on.”
Tom Ziolkowski of A1 Budget Heating
& AC works on the sheet metal.
He expects sessions will be tailored to
the needs of each individual group –
owners, site superintendents, trades, etc.
One of the key roles of the Archetype
Sustainable House will be to document
and compare the performance of different
green technologies, he added. “It won’t be
perfect data because there’s not a mother
and father with two kids, a dog and a
teenager taking 15-minute showers …”
However, Dupuis expects the
research will provide considerably better
information than currently exists
and that it will be published for the
industry’s use.
The project is one more step in getting
builders, trades and the public to
adopt green building practices and
equipment. Ultimately, remarked
Priolo, “they have no choice. You have
to think of the community and you
have to think of sustainability.”
Both homes feature drainwater heat
recovery.
Circle Number 113 for More Information
www.plumbingandhvac.ca November/December 2008 – Plumbing & HVAC Product News 13