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Integrated BIM workflows Planning Canada’s nuclear future Health-care facility retrofits

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LOAD INTERRUPTER SWITCH REPLACEMENT CASE STUDY CHALLENGE A prominent Southern California university had an extensive underground distribution system that was originally built in the 1960s. Loadbreak switching and overcurrent protection were performed using air insulated, metal enclosed, Load Interrupter, or “LI” switches. Over a short period of time, the equipment’s performance would degrade due to exposure to moisture and contaminants from irrigation, condensation, and their proximity to the Pacific Ocean. The university wanted to find a replacement that was immune to the effects of the environment, with a maintenance free design that offered the operations personnel improved safety. The fusing that provided the overcurrent protection did not give them the flexibility they wanted, and over time the costs of the replacement fuses added up. Because their equipment rooms and pads were all in place, they wanted a solution that would fit in these spaces without modification. They also wanted a design that in the future could be a part of an automated Smart Grid style distribution system.

SOLUTION After a thorough investigation of their options, the university selected G&W 4

Electric's PNI style deadfront, maintenance free, gas insulated switches, with resettable vacuum interrupters for overcurrent protection. While the problems associated with the metal enclosed fused LI switches had always been tolerated, the G&W Electric PNI switches eliminated all these shortcomings. The mechanism used for loadbreak switching in the PNI has been tested to 1,200 loadbreaks of 600 amps with absolutely no maintenance, so it will provide the university with safe and reliable switching for many years to come. Consequently, it is an ideal choice for automatic transfer and distribution automation schemes. When in the open position, the switch provides a visible disconnect to safely isolate a section of cable from line voltage. The fault interrupting mechanism of the PNI provides substantial advantages over the fusing of the LI switch design. The PNI makes use of vacuum interrupter mechanisms that combine vacuum bottles and electronic controls to clear faults with a wide variety of time-current characteristic curves to protect the downstream distribution system. The resettable vacuum interrupter eliminates replacing fuses and provide a three phase trip, thereby preventing single phase conditions common to fusing. The vacuum interrupter is rated to clear faults up to 40kA

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asym. and can handle up to 600 amps of continuous current. Due to the proximity of the university to the Pacific Ocean, the G&W Electric PNI switches are an ideal solution. They are deadfront, with all live parts completely isolated from the outside environment, providing maximum protection from effects of coastal air. Their maintenance free design is a perfect match for the application, as the university’s continuous operations offer no opportunities for any scheduled maintenance outages. The G&W Electric PNI switches are always ready when called upon to switch loads and interrupt faults and are configured specifically to fit in the spaces formerly designed for the LI switches. In most cases the existing cables and conduits can be reused, minimizing replacement costs. The university chose the G&W Electric solution for numerous reasons. G&W Electric switches are time proven products, known throughout the industry for their unmatched reliability. The university knew they could rely on us to provide reliable power throughout their campus. The switch designs allowed for easy and economical replacement of the aging LI switches. The university’s operations personnel no longer have to deal with replacing fuses within unsafe equipment. All of this contributed to the university personnel’s satisfaction with the completed installation. October 2021

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BUILDINGS

Retrofitting Health-care Facilities There are a number of ways to improve performance. By Peter Saunders

ew buildings have been as directly affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic as hospitals. In early 2020, health-care professionals scrambled to prepare their facilities to accept waves of patients suffering to wildly varying degrees from a little-understood new disease. They donned personal protective equipment (PPE) and reprioritized triage procedures, while struggling to prevent their workplaces from becoming hubs of outbreaks themselves. Many of the changes were not new ideas per se, so much as they were hurriedly transformed from the ideas of pandemic planning into the realities of pandemic response. Moreover, existing trends in the evolution of hospitals accelerated their pace of adoption. Digital hospitals By way of example, business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan suggested COVID-19 sparked a boom in ‘smart’ technologies to enhance patient care and improve staff efficiency and productivity in today’s ‘digital hospitals.’ Care professionals turned to such tools as robotics, remote health monitoring and artificial intelligence (AI) to help address the difficulties of containing the virus and accommodating a massive influx of patients. And given the gains that were seen as a result, the firm predicts the adoption of such technologies will rise further in the next two to three years. “Digital hospitals address limitations of traditional providers, such as centralized care delivery, closed 6

Energy efficient upgrades can pay for themselves.

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systems and a reactive approach through decentralized care, interoperable systems and outcome-driven and proactive approaches,” says Neeraj Nitin Jadhav, technical insights senior research analyst for Frost & Sullivan. “To improve patients’ satisfaction levels at every step of care delivery during their stay in the facility, digital hospitals are using technologies like hospital navigation, intelligent imaging platforms, medical robots, remote patient monitoring tools, medication management applications, communication tools, electronic health record (EHR) applications and clinical decision support solutions.” Along with such digital tools come physical changes to the buildings themselves. “Digital hospital operators need to focus on internal architecture, especially staff workstations and patient rooms that follow evidence-based design (EBD), as these are the areas where clinical decisions are made and care is provided, respectively,” says Jadhav. “Additionally, decentralized health-care staff workstations outside patient rooms can allow staff to be closer to the point of care, rather than a centralized area that inOctober 2021

M A I N I M AG E COU RT E SY F ROST & S U L L I VA N.

speeding up fans and increasing the frequency of variable-frequency drives (VFDs). In some cases, ASHRAE recommended MERV-13 and MERV-14 filters could be retrofitted to existing systems to better filter particles. And for systems that already have MERV-14 to MERV-16 levels of filtration, recirculation could reduce the contaminant levels similarly to the approach of increasing the percentage of outside air being brought in. Relative humidity (RH) of 40% to 60% is recommended to reduce infection spread. As such levels are difficult to achieve in a Canadian winter without causing other health problems through increased condensation from outward vapour pressure. There was a window of opportunity before winter, however, to add more humidifiers. For the new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon (see Canadian Consulting Engineer, October/ November 2020, page 28), Daniels Wingerak Engineering designed mechanical systems to enable a 100% fresh air ‘pandemic mode,’ using the building automation system (BAS). This feature was of course implemented in early 2020 in response to COVID-19, allowing its design to be tested in a real-world crisis situation. Such approaches could become more common for new and retrofitted hospitals in the future, given the early lessons of 2020. At the same time, however, there will be concerns about the potential to increase energy consumption. creases travel distance.” Among the technologies Frost & Sullivan says present the strongest prospects for hospitals are the following: • Patient tracking to manage traffic flow, treatment progress, discharge and other hospital processes. • EHR system implementation, with corresponding staff training, which can not only improve care, but also address health disparities in the local population. • AI for supply chain management, using algorithms to process data from various departments to identify trends and provide insights.

Adequate ventilation is key in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

HVAC Another key factor in preventing the spread of COVID-19 is adequate ventilation, given how many superspreader events have involved people sharing the same airspace. And indeed, ASHRAE responded to the pandemic with a host of recommendations in this area, including many for the health-care sector. One was to increase filtration levels where possible, ccemag.com

Energy efficiency British Columbia’s Interior Health is currently providing an example of how to improve energy efficiency for hospitals. The health authority recently partnered with Johnson Controls to install new infrastructure at East Kootenay Regional Hospital. The upgrades, which also support the provincial CleanBC plan to expand the ‘clean energy’ industry, include LED lighting, occupancy controls, solar walls, pre-heating remediation, retro-commissioning, building envelope updates, variable air volume (VAV) systems and demand controlled ventilation (DCV). Through an energy performance contract (EPC), the costs of these upgrades are compensated through guaranteed utility and operational savings over a 15-year-plus payback agreement. “Our experience with EPCs allows us to align our services to Interior Health’s energy-saving mission,” Andrew Nartey, an account executive with Johnson Controls, which will continue to work with the authority and the hospital’s administrators throughout the contract’s term to ensure the reduction targets are met. MARKET TRENDS

SOFTWARE

Leveraging BIM to Improve Project Integration

recent survey of the construction industry by the Building Innovation Research Centre (BIRC), an organization within the University of Toronto’s (U of T’s) civil and mineral engineering department, found most respondents believed building information modelling (BIM)—i.e. digitally representing a built environment’s physical and functional characteristics—will continue to become more prominent across various sectors. Indeed, some 75% of respondents agreed governments, owners and clients will either insist on BIM adoption or simply go ahead and implement it themselves. Yet, while it appears the industry is actively working to implement BIM methodologies, many respondents also reported they have not established a process to create teams to evaluate and assess the viability of new approaches. The sheer volume of available software can be daunting to such teams when determining if BIM can live up to the hype 8

of sales pitches and actually drive efficiency after it is integrated into their workflows. As the Canadian construction industry continues to move forward with BIM, it is important to recognize it is not a one-size-fits-all solution for engineers. Rather, it is a process, a method for implementing best practices, that can achieve strong results when tailored to a specific business. Capitalizing on integrated technology When the construction industry discusses BIM, it tends to focus on streamlining processes to take a project toward successful completion, but the technology has the potential to deliver much more, if all the pieces that make up the program work together seamlessly. So, it is important to consider software integration and compatibility. A report from JBKnowledge noted 80% of companies use up to five different software platforms, most of which do not integrate with one another. Project managers need co-ordinated tools from conception through installation to improve their workflows. “Software integrations eliminate redundancies and improve efficiencies for companies across projects, offices and divisions,” wrote JBKnow-

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ledge’s analysts. Typically, such gains in efficiency are only achieved when various programs both function well and communicate with each other. Preconstruction The successful implementation of BIM tools begins at the earliest preconstruction stages of a project. In recent years, the first choice for BIM software has shifted from Autodesk’s AutoCAD Verticals to Revit. One key reason is Revit’s ability to connect and work with other software packages and add-ons, building upon initial software investments. This interoperability is best showcased through the addition of three-dimensional (3-D) point scanners, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) modelling collaboration programs. During preconstruction, 3-D scans of a job site can be imported into a series of compatible programs, allowing final images to be viewed in both AR and VR platforms. This allows companies to visualize designs of MEP systems not only as 3-D models unto themselves, but also within the spaces where they will eventually be installed. This can help identify issues that traditionally would only have been revealed on-

The right software mix is key to integrated project delivery (IPD).

The sheer volume of available software can be daunting.

October 2021

I M AG E COU RT E SY V IC TAU L IC

There is no one-sizefits all solution. By Ralph Schoch

site, once installation was already taking place. Software interoperability can also enhance collaboration between teams and eliminate bottlenecks during modelling and co-ordination processes. Prior to using BIM, when a company modified a computer-aided design (CAD) model, the changes had to be emailed to the end user, triggering a project review. This time-consuming process would involve at least several back-andforth emails, until the change was eventually approved. Today, software can allow team members to exchange comments in real time, streamlining the process. Seamless integration helps project managers move through the modelling process quickly, the trades co-ordinate their efforts more easily and crews to start work on the job site earlier. Fabrication With a BIM workflow, the streamlining of co-ordination can be applied at every stage of a project, including fabrication. Fabrication spools can be created and ccemag.com

published in Revit. Then, using other programs like GTP’s Stratus, each spool’s status can be updated both in the fabrication shop and within the Revit model. This integration provides a higher level of control for project managers over the co-ordination process, and real-time updates on the status of each spool piece within the shop. Data is integrated into the Revit model for easy viewing by multiple stakeholders. And as a spool moves through the shop, its status code can be updated in both Stratus and Revit without the need for republishing. Prefabrication in Revit is simplified because team members can visualize the project site, identify any clashes before they occur and then co-ordinate their efforts to find solutions. Designers can create virtual mockups with specific components, enabling more precise estimating, as well as the ability to verify all aspects of a project are compliant with relevant codes. Thus, through greater awareness, adoption and integration of BIM tools, the construction industry can continue to improve efficiency and deliver greater value than was

possible through traditional approaches. Laying a foundation for success Recent data suggests 40% of the construction sector’s current workforce will retire within five years. The industry cannot afford to lose this knowledge. To make up the difference, companies will have to trade in the traditional spreadsheet for an advanced alternative, sooner rather than later. Being able to ‘do more with less’ will continue to be a reality for many firms. In this context, the value and benefits will become all the more clear for investing in integrated software platforms that provide a foundation for streamlined processes, seamless communications, real-time collaboration and decision-making and greater productivity. Ralph Schoch is software, technology and internal support manager for the virtual design and construction (VDC) department at Victaulic, which manufactures mechanical pipe-joining and fire protection systems. He focuses on 3-D piping system layout, design and fabrication.

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ENERGY

Canada’s SMR Action Plan The next steps are outlined for nuclear progress. By Peter Saunders

city system is already 82% derived from emissions-free sources, making it one of the world’s cleanest, with a combination of hydroelectric, nuclear, wind, biofuel, solar, geothermal and tidal generation. And while some SMRs have existed since the introduction of reactor technology 50 years ago, including several research reactors at Canadian universities, the SMR Action Plan underlines significant potential to develop smaller and less expensive reactors to further replace Canada’s reliance on GHG-emitting fuels and resources and capture a share of an emerging global market, expected to exceed $150 billion by 2040. The plan responds to the 53 recommendations of Canada’s SMR Roadmap, which was launched in late 2018 and outlined the following three major application areas: • Larger SMRs could provide on-grid power generation for utilities in provinces that are phasing out coal plants in the near future. • Small to medium SMRs are likely to fill medium-term needs for on- and off-grid combined heat and power

•

(CHP) cogeneration for heavy industry, including oilsands producers and remote mines. Very small SMRs may address the need for off-grid power, district heating and desalination in remote communities that currently rely nearly exclusively on diesel fuel.

The plan’s pan-Canadian approach involves partnerships with provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous peoples, organized labour, utilities, industry, innovators, academia and civil society to ensure robust policy, regulatory and legislative frameworks. Such progress has implications for consulting engineering firms. By way of example, Hatch recently signed a collaboration agreement for engineering and project management with X-energy, the U.S. company behind the Xe-100 SMR, under which Hatch will provide site-specific infrastructure planning in Canada and around the world. Meanwhile, Candu Energy parent firm SNC-Lavalin has developed a 300-MWe CANDU SMR.

"SMRs are the great enabler of other clean energy sources."

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October 2021

PHOTO COU RT E SY C NA

national action plan for the safe and responsible development of small modular reactors (SMRs), which Natural Resources Canada released in December 2020, outlines the next steps for using non-emitting electricity generation to support the country’s net-zero goals for 2050. SMRs use nuclear fission to generate energy for a range of applications—including district heating, water desalination, hybrid systems and steam for heavy industry—without greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but at a factory-constructed and portable scale that can help ensure self-sufficiency in remote communities. By way of comparison, a Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactor averages 700 MWe, SMRs generate between 10 and 300 MWe. “SMRs are the great enabler of other clean energy sources,” says John Gorman, president and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA), which welcomed the federal government’s release of the plan. “They are uniquely equipped to work alongside renewables to help decarbonize key regions and industries—e.g. steel, cement, oil, gas, mining and agriculture—that are challenged to meet emission reduction goals.” As CNA points out, Canada’s electri-