CCE Market Trends Digital Handbook

Rapid installation of electrical conduit

Converting offices to housing

Busways in power distribution

MARKET TRENDS DIGITAL HANDBOOK

PALAIS ROYALE, TORONTO

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FEATURES

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EDITOR

Peter Saunders (416) 510-5119 psaunders@ccemag.com

SENIOR PUBLISHER

Maureen Levy (416) 510-5111 mlevy@ccemag.com

ACCOUNT CO-ORDINATOR

Cheryl Fisher (416) 510-5194 cfisher@annexbusinessmedia.com

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Danielle Labrie (226) 931-0375 dlabrie@annexbusinessmedia.com

CEO Scott Jamieson sjamieson@annexbusinessmedia.com

ISSN: 0712-4996 (print), ISSN: 1923-3337 (digital)

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SPONSORED FEATURE Three Miles of Electrical Conduit Installed in One Day for Data Centre

A large software company was anxious to start construction and expand its data centre presence despite labour and material shortages.

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Busways in Power Distribution

Selecting the right system for a given project is important in helping ensure safe, efficient and costeffective power distribution.

September 2025 Market Trends Handbook

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Conversation: Converting Offices to Shelters and Housing

As cities offer incentives for converting vacant offices into living spaces, RJC’s Paul Fritze, P.Eng., addresses the nuanced challenges of these projects.

THREE MILES OF ELECTRICAL CONDUIT INSTALLED IN ONE DAY FOR DATA CENTRE

Alarge software company was growing its data centre presence. With data centre demand increasing, this company was anxious to start construction on the project despite labour and material shortages.

CHALLENGE

The biggest challenge for this customer was time. They had set a project schedule and needed to strictly adhere to it. The product and labour shortages added another wrinkle. The customer could not succumb to delays.

SOLUTION

The project owners studied fibreglass conduit and noted its low coefficient of friction for smooth cable pulling, fault resistance for easy cable replacement and, of course, no burn-through elbows that would eliminate repairs otherwise needed following repetitive grooving or piercing. The speedy installation also appealed to the customer, because Champion Fiberglass® conduit entailed lower National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) man-hour rates compared to polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Fibreglass elbows are the standard for data centre projects, but fibreglass straight sections are not used as often as other conduit types. Typically, PVC conduit straight lengths are used in combination with fibreglass elbows for data centre projects; but supply issues with PVC have prompted electrical engineers and contractors to entertain alternatives to keep their projects on track. That is exactly what happened on this data centre project.

RESULTS

After careful consideration, the customer settled on fibreglass elbows and straight lengths for the entire job. One of the biggest wins for this project was installation. The contractor was able to install three miles of conduit in underground duct banks in one day. Thanks to the unique gasketed connection of Champion Fiberglass conduit, which requires no adhesive to connect the straight lengths and elbows, the installation took half as much time as the same installation with PVC conduit would.

Meeting project deadlines was another win. This project required carefully orchestrated collaboration between the Champion Fiberglass team for production and delivery and the electrical contractor for receiving and installation. There were multiple deliveries every week throughout the duration of the project and the deadlines were met.

In addition to the project benefiting from fibreglass conduit’s low coefficient of friction, no burn-through and fault resistance, this customer benefited from product availability, lower installation cost, fast installation and the ability to stay on-schedule to hit milestones. The customer also benefited from 35-plus years of project expertise to guide the solution.

NO BURN-THROUGH CHAMPION DUCT® ELBOWS SOLVE PROJECT CHALLENGES

No burn-through eliminates elbow repairs

Light weight facilitates a smooth, safe installation

Fault resistance makes repairing cables easy

Durable and corrosion-resistant for lower total cost of ownership

LEARN MORE ABOUT CSA LISTED FIBERGLASS CONDUIT

Busways in Power Distribution

Alternatives to traditional cabling offer new advantages.

By Shirley Xiao

In today’s electrical power distribution market, busway—sometimes known as ‘busduct’—has emerged as a robust and efficient alternative to traditional cabling, especially in high-rise commercial buildings, industrial plants and data centres. It is important for engineers to understand busway systems’ technical characteristics and variations, how they compare to cables and how to determine the right solution for a given project.

Varieties

Busway is a prefabricated, modular electrical distribution system where busbars—typically copper or aluminum—are enclosed in a grounded metal housing. Busway systems are designed to efficiently transport electrical power across long distances within any buildings or industrial facilities, but they are especially effective in scenarios requiring high amperage and frequent electrical transformer load changes (i.e. ‘tap-offs’).

Unlike traditional conduit-and-cable systems, busways offer advantages of easy installation, compact size and scalability. They support plug-in or tap-off units at various intervals, allowing new circuits to be added without requiring the system to be shut down.

There are a variety of system and application types.

Feeder busway

Feeder busways transport large amounts of electrical power from the main switch-

gear or transformer to distribution panels. They are designed for high current ratings and are typically not accessed frequently for tap-offs.

Feeder busways are common in facilities with high electrical loads, such as automotive plants, steel mills and data centres. They can run both horizontally or vertically; the latter configuration is also referred to as ‘riser busway.’

Plug-in busway

These busways feature access points at regular intervals, where plug-in units can draw power. They provide a high degree of flexibility, allowing for the aforementioned addition or removal of loads without having to shut down the system. This makes them ideal for manufacturing floors and laboratories, among other dynamic workspaces.

Lighting or track busway

Specifically designed for low-power loads like lighting fixtures, these busways are particularly compact and easy to install. They often use a track-style mounting system, enabling fixtures to be repositioned without the use of tools. Such flexibility is ideal for retail environments, galleries, commercial office spaces and, increasingly commonly, data centres for the power distribution of server racks.

Selection criteria

Cabling and busways can both connect, protect and distribute power effectively. The type of application and certain use

cases are key factors in system selection.

Electrical engineers may specify busway (a) when a project requires frequent load changes/tap-offs, (b) in space-constrained environments or existing distribution footprints, (c) when a project prioritizes installation speed and/ or compact design or (d) if scalability is needed or future reconfigurations are expected.

Cabling, on the other hand, may be preferred when (a) the power distribution routing is complex or irregular, (b) there is constant vibration or movement in the environment or (c) the project needs readily available inventory. (Busways, by contrast, are typically made to order.)

Beyond voltage and amperage ratings, choosing a busway system involves evaluating its safety, durability, cost and digital reading.

Safety and endurance

To balance compact installation and high performance, modern busways for power distribution are usually a ‘sandwich’ type, whereby the phase-phase and phaseground are segregated by an insulation material. The insulation, commonly an epoxy, is critical to ensure long-term safety for the system.

Different manufacturers use different processes for ‘coating’ the epoxy layer between bars. It is important to review the manufacturer’s data sheet for safety and performance indicators like thermal class, dielectric strength, flame resistance and moisture resistance. A high-quality

coated epoxy insulation also offers strong mechanical properties in terms of adherence, durability and the prevention of cracks when bending.

Another important consideration is the area where two busway sections join together. After years of operation, these joint connections can become loose, short-circuit and break. A fully enclosed and enforced ‘joint guard’ design will help provide protection and reduce the risk of

failure over long periods of operation-related stress.

Some manufacturers offer colour-coded bolts to indicate the proper toque, making it easier to perform routine checks and maintenance and help extend the life of the busway.

TCO

While the pricing of materials is important to consider upfront, a system’s long-

term performance can yield significant savings in terms of total cost of ownership (TCO).

Superior epoxy coatings reduce energy losses and current leakage. Low-impedance joints help minimize voltage drops and operating costs. And again, high-quality insulation increases system lifespan and reduces maintenance and downtime.

Digital readings

Like other building systems, busways have become ‘smart.’ Some integrate smart sensing and metering, support remote diagnostics and enable communication via tap-off units.

Breaking down benefits

Selecting the right busway system for a given project is important in helping ensure safe, efficient and cost-effective power distribution. The decision involves assessing current and future needs and then evaluating the various options’ technical features, TCO and manufacturer support. Ultimately, the right solution will deliver the most advantageous combination of performance and long-term value. Shirley Xiao is a

Converting Offices to Shelters and Housing

Paul Fritze, P.Eng., is a principal with RJC Engineers’ building science and restoration department in Toronto, focusing on renovations and retrofits. As cities like Calgary, Toronto and Halifax offer incentives for converting vacant offices into living spaces to combat Canada’s housing crisis, Fritze addresses these projects’ challenges, which he describes as interesting and nuanced.

How did you become involved in conversions?

My focus started out in maintenance and the structural restoration of building envelopes, but has migrated to renovations and retrofits. In 2018 and 2019, RJC got some significant project portfolios with Toronto, which involved both upgrading emergency shelter infrastructure with increased bed counts and renovating buildings to add affordable rental units.

The city would purchase existing sites as long as they met residential zoning criteria, including a mix of office buildings, hotels and senior and student residences. Some of these, obviously, were more conducive to conversion than others.

We have a lot of vacant office space and a lot of people who require housing, but only a select few buildings can really meet the need from a financial viability standpoint, in comparison to a new purpose-built structure.

What factors need to be in place?

These conversions are attractive for

saving time compared to new construction, but not necessarily saving money. There can be savings, however, through thoughtful design within a building’s constraints, where you retain and reuse existing systems.

Class-A office space isn’t highly conducive to residential conversion, primarily due to fenestration. You have large, unencumbered, open floor plates with flexibility for cubicles or desks, which lends to more of a square footprint. A Class-B or -C office space, on the other hand, may have less efficient fenestration for its purpose, but because it’s more rectangular, it better allows the floor plate to be compartmentalized into apartments with windows, along with corridors that don’t require windows.

Another challenge relates to mechanical and electrical systems. Often you have rooftop equipment for an office building that would be oversized for residential (e.g. given the lower electrical demand), so there’s an opportunity to retain some of the existing infrastructure; but the distribution of HVAC and

plumbing needs to be increased to reach a greater number of suites, branching off from a central core.

What role do incentives play?

Calgary is a leader, offering up to $75 per square foot for an office-to-residential conversion. This spurs downtown redevelopment, creating an influx of residential taxpayers and getting businesses to flock to the core that had been migrating elsewhere. That’s been highly successful and you see a lot of other municipalities following suit.

Cities can pay a fair market value for the building, but also have internal funds put aside through grants they receive to support affordable housing or emergency shelter, which private developers don’t have access to.

Can you provide an example of a building that was particularly well-suited for conversion?

One great example is the Centennial Building in Halifax. Three sides of the building are available for windows and it can be compartmentalized quite easily with a highly effective floorplate.

We’re now in the middle of turning a 100-year-old, four-storey, 25,000-sf building in Toronto— originally industrial, then converted to medical offices—into an emergency homeless shelter. It has the right floor plate at the right rectangular shape and size, with enough space to make architectural interventions cost-effectively, e.g. adding the windows needed for living quarters. We’re excited to see what it will look like!