Journal of Indoor Environmental Quality

HOME a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU&feature=player_embedded

RBC: Regardless of ones position of man's occupation of earth, this video presents material for discussion and has wonderful images.

Number One Morning Show Warms Up To Hydronics

Number One Morning Show Warms Up To Hydronics

HPAC, together with its columnists, team up to bring hydronics to the small screen

 

Toronto, ON – Things are heating up at Citytv’s Breakfast Television (BT) with the premier appearance of HPAC Magazine columnists Robert Bean and John Siegenthaler slated for the fall. “Siggy and Bean” will showcase the benefits of water-based heating using working models of a variety of hydronic heating products. The Toronto segment is expected to be the first in a series that will include Citytv’s markets in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg.

 

Robert Bean is a registered engineering technologist in the building construction engineering discipline. He is known for telling it like it is with the consistent message of remaining true to achieving optimum comfort for building occupants. Bean hosts www.healthyheating.com, a not-for-profit educational resource for consumers and professionals alike. A popular speaker and trainer throughout North America, he is a regular contributor to HPAC Magazine on the subject of indoor environmental quality.

 

A passionate advocate of good design and simplicity in hydronic systems, John Siegenthaler is well-positioned to offer consumers practical advice on system performance and expectations. A principal of Appropriate Designs, Siegenthaler is also an expert in integrating renewable technologies and hydronic heating. He is a solar and hydronics columnist with HPAC Magazine.

Stay tuned for updates on the premier of Siggy and Bean on the Canadian television scene.

 

About BT:

Breakfast Television broadcasts weekdays starting at 6:00 a.m. on Citytv. Owned by Rogers, Citytv has stations in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Each of the television stations reflects the flavour of the community: the serious commentary, the opinion, the celebrations and the unpredictability.

 

About HPAC Magazine:

More than 18,000 qualified industry professionals subscribe to Heating Plumbing Air Conditioning (HPAC) Magazine. Editorial features focus on: heating, plumbing, refrigeration, hydronics, air conditioning, business and marketing. HPAC also produces: the National Buyer’s Guide & Wholesalers Directory (both in print and online), a French-language sister magazine, Plomberie, Chauffage & Climatisation (PCC), and monthly e-newsletters. For details, please visit www.hpacmag.com .

RBc: John (Siggy) and I (The Bean) are looking forward to working with HPAC and Rogers on this consumer education piece...it's no coincidence smart consumers make informed decisions.

New Interpretive Center for the Chattahoochee River Teaches Water Conservation, Practices It, Too

New Interpretive Center for the Chattahoochee River Teaches Water Conservation, Practices It, Too
photo credit © 2009 Jonathan Hillyer / Atlanta 

Sustainably Designed, “Frugal Smart” Building Targets LEED Gold ROSWELL, Ga.,

June 17, 2009 – Providing a drinking water source for more than 3.5 million people, including 60 percent of metro Atlantans, the Chattahoochee River is critical to the continued success and prosperity of the region. With the June 20 opening of the Discovery Center at the Chattahoochee Nature Center, the community – adults and children alike – gains access to a sustainably designed interpretive center that brings to life the important, necessary and timely story of understanding and protecting the Chattahoochee River watershed. Designed by architecture firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent, the 10,000-square-foot Discovery Center and nearby 4,000-square-foot Ben Brady Lakeside Pavilion were termed “frugal smart” after early meetings between Lord, Aeck & Sargent and the Chattahoochee Nature Center (CNC) determined that economical, standard building components would be used in inventive and efficient ways to show good stewardship at the non-profit organization.

The Discovery Center, with two levels and an occupiable green roof terrace, is targeting LEED gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Blending into the natural surroundings “As an urban nature center, we wanted the Discovery Center and Ben Brady Lakeside Pavilion to reflect urban design as opposed to a ‘lodge look,’” said Ann Bergstrom, CNC executive director. “The structures are contemporary in design but also seem to blend beautifully into the natural surroundings so that we haven’t compromised the sense that they are part of the land.”

One of the ways the designers achieved union of landscape and building was to select a Discovery Center site that would provide an amalgamated building/landscape experience and minimize impact to the surrounding vegetation and river. “We nestled the Discovery Center into a hillside to reduce thermal gain and maximize the efficiency of the building envelope, and we also chose the site because it allowed us to design a building that interacts with the site,” said Joshua Gassman, a Lord, Aeck & Sargent associate who served as project manager for the Discovery Center and the pavilion.

Gassman explained that the Discovery Center will become the new gateway to the CNC. Visitors will enter on an upper level, where they are greeted by an expansive view of the CNC site through a glass wall or from the rooftop terrace. This dramatic view inspires a sense of connection with the site and the river. From the upper entry level, visitors can easily venture outdoors to enjoy the nature trails with plant and animal habitats or move to the lower level, which features thematic live animal exhibits. The lower level takes them outside and onto the 127-acre site.

Doing the right thing “It’s a Lord, Aeck & Sargent philosophy to do the right thing for our projects and their respective sites rather than to chase LEED credits,” said John Starr, principal in charge of the project. “So even though we originally targeted LEED Silver certification for the Discovery Center, we came out of the design phase with what we feel confident will be a LEED Gold building. “And since the Discovery Center is about the Chattahoochee River, we wanted to make it as water efficient as possible,” Starr continued. He noted that the building’s water strategies include:

• Capturing rainwater via a butterfly-shaped roof. The water is stored in four underground cisterns and used for toilet flushing
• Capturing condensate from the HVAC system. The condensate is pumped into the cisterns, where it and the harvested rainwater will provide enough non-potable water for toilet flushing needs
• Low-flow faucets, low-flow dual-flush toilets and waterless urinals

Other sustainable design features include:

• Building orientation that maximizes daylight harvesting for the non-exhibit upper level. (The lower level, which houses animal, fish and bird exhibits, requires highly controlled electric lighting.)
• A green roof featuring 2,000 square feet of drought tolerant native plants, most of which are found in the rock outcroppings of the Georgia Piedmont. Some of these include native Confederate daisies, moss verbena, broom sedge and other species provided by the CNC’s own nursery
• An energy-efficient HVAC system
• Use of structurally insulated panels for roof insulation
• Use of recycled content materials such as Kirei board, a strong, durable, lightweight and environmentally friendly wood substitute
• High fly ash concrete flooring
• Low VOC finishes “We combined all of these sustainable design strategies and products with our ‘frugal smart’ strategies to create a building that looks good, didn’t cost a lot and won’t cost a lot to maintain,” Gassman said. “For example, the building is clad in cement board siding held down with Southern yellow pine wood battens. This is a highly economical and durable set of materials that creates a façade with an appropriate level of depth, shadow and textures.”

The building program

The Discovery Center houses four distinct areas that explain the intricate web of life comprising the Chattahoochee River’s unique watershed. The lower level features the Explore Your Watershed Gallery and the Nature Exchange. The former has live native animal exhibits and interactive exhibits that teach how plants and animals work together to make the watershed thrive. The latter is a nature trading post and learning environment for young collectors, meant to encourage an interest in and understanding of the natural world. The lower level also includes a 65-seat theater that will be used extensively for video and lecture programs tied to the CNC’s educational mission. The upper level includes the Chattahoochee River Resource Gallery, which serves as a portal of information to the Chattahoochee River watershed and highlights ways to conserve, rethink and enjoy the watershed. The Rooftop Garden Terrace offers visitors beautiful views of the Chattahoochee River and CNC site. With its native plant palate, the rooftop terrace will be a valuable asset for the CNC education staff to teach about the benefits of green roofs, as well as offering an exceptional outdoor gathering space for visitors and the surrounding community. The nearby Ben Brady Lakeside Pavilion overlooks Kingfisher Pond. The pavilion and its restrooms, catering kitchen and large outdoor deck will be used for education and as a rental space for special events.

Funding The $9.7 million project, which includes the Discovery Center and Ben Brady Lakeside Pavilion, exhibits, landscaping and site work, was privately funded. Major gifts included grants from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation; the Chattahoochee Greenway Fund; The Kendeda Foundation; and a challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation.

“In the end, Lord, Aeck & Sargent delivered a special building that conformed to the tight budget of a non-profit organization,” the CNC’s Bergstrom said. “And after 33 years of operation, we are very excited to finally have a Discovery Center that is a tangible manifestation of our mission.

In the future, visitors will have a much-enhanced learning experience when they visit the Discovery Center and learn about our local watershed and the role each of them can play in individual stewardship.” The project team The Discovery Center and Ben Brady Lakeside Pavilion project team included:

• Chattahoochee Nature Center (Roswell, Ga.) – owner
• Lord, Aeck & Sargent, Inc. (Atlanta) – architect
• EDAW (Atlanta) – landscape architect
• Newcomb & Boyd (Atlanta) – MEP/FP engineer; commissioning agent
• AEC (Atlanta) – civil engineer
• Palmer Engineering Co. (Atlanta) – structural engineer
• AldrichPears Associates (Vancouver, British Columbia) – exhibit designer
• WaveGuide Consulting (Atlanta) – acoustical & audio-visual consultant
• Genoa Construction (Atlanta) – general contractor
• Silverman Construction Program Management (Atlanta) – program manager

About Lord, Aeck & Sargent

Lord, Aeck & Sargent is an award-winning architectural firm serving clients in scientific, academic, historic preservation, arts and cultural, and multi-family housing and mixed-use markets. The firm’s core values are responsive design, technological expertise and exceptional service.

In 2003, The Construction Specifications Institute awarded Lord, Aeck & Sargent its Environmental Sensitivity Award for showing exceptional devotion to the use of sustainable and environmentally friendly materials, and for striving to create functional, sensitive and healthy buildings for clients. In 2007, Lord, Aeck & Sargent was one of the first architecture firms to adopt The 2030 Challenge, an initiative whose ultimate goal is the design of carbon-neutral buildings, or buildings that use no fossil-fuel greenhouse gas-emitting energy to operate, by the year 2030.

Lord, Aeck & Sargent has offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For more information, visit the firm at www.lordaecksargent.com.

For further information on this and other Lord, Aeck & Sargen projects contact:
Annie Kohut | Kohut Communications Consulting (tel) 770-913-9747 (fax) 770-913-3197 annielk(at)bellsouth.net www.kohutcommunications.com http://twitter.com/kohutcomm
___________________________________

RBc: Thanks again to Annie from Kohut Communications Consulting.

The Healthy Homes Strategic Plan

"Key residential health hazards include asthma and allergy triggers, such as mold, dampness and pests (e.g., cockroaches, mice), injury hazards, and poor indoor air quality. The health and economic burden of housing‐related hazards is substantial. For 2007, the National Heart,Blood, and Lung Institute estimated the total cost to the U.S. economy from asthma at $19.7 billion (includes $14.7 billion in direct medical costs and $5 billion in indirect costs such as lost work and school days). In addition, research shows that about 21% of asthma cases in the U.S. are linked to dampness and mold, at an annual cost of approximately $3.5 billion. Pests can also play a significant role in triggering the symptoms of allergies and asthma; a recent study of asthma among inner‐city children found that 69% were allergic to cockroaches and 33% to rodents. Meanwhile, unintentional injury is the leading cause of death and disability among children younger than 15 years of age, with over 2,800 child and adolescent deaths occurring each year due to injuries in the home. The elderly are also at an elevated risk for residential injuries; each year, 35‐40% of adults 65 and older fall at least once. It is estimated that falls account for 33% of injury‐related medical expenditures and cost Americans more than $38 billion annually."

Source: The Healthy Homes Strategic Plan, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, The Strategic Plan is accessible at www.hud.gov/healthyhomes

RBc: We love this message from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development...Healthy Homes / Healthy Famlies / Healthy Children.

For further study in health and building science factors with radiant based HVAC systems as they related to LEED's™ indoor environmental quality element.

See also:

Effects of improved home heating on asthma in community dwelling children: randomised controlled trial.

The Health, Safety and Comfort Advantages of Low Temperature Heating Systems - A Literature Review

JIEQ - blog maintenance this weekend.

This week we're continuing our modifications to the JIEQ blog, hope you like them!

Acting Surgeon General Issues ‘Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes’

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, June 9, 2009 Contact: U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development: 202-708-0685 Office of Public Health and Science: 202-205-0143

Acting Surgeon General Issues ‘Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes’

Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H., today issued The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes at a press conference from the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. The Call to Action looks at the ways housing can affect health; its release will initiate a national dialogue about the importance of healthy homes. “The home is the centerpiece of American life,” Galson, a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service, said during today’s press conference. “We can prevent many diseases and injuries that result from health hazards in the home by following the simple steps outlined in this Call to Action.” Some examples outlined in the Call to Action include preventing falls by taking measures such as installing grab bars in showers and preparing a fire escape plan. Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among older adults.

Other steps outlined in the Call to Action include:

* Check gas appliances, fireplaces, chimneys, and furnaces yearly and change furnace and air conditioning filters regularly.
* Keep children safe from drowning, lead poisoning, suffocation and strangulation, and other hazards. * Improve air quality in their homes by installing radon and carbon monoxide detectors, eliminating smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke, and controlling allergens that contribute to asthma and mold growth.
* Improve water quality by learning to protect and maintain private water wells.

Galson urged everyone from parents and homebuilders to community leaders and policy makers to embrace the holistic approach to creating healthy homes outlined in the Call to Action.

During the event, Ron Sims, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also announced the release of HUD’s Healthy Homes Strategic Plan. HUD’s plan demonstrates why healthy homes is a national priority, describes what steps should be taken to achieve healthier housing, and highlights the key public and private partners for implementation. “We are pleased that we are able to release our strategic plan to the nation today,” Sims said. “We must continue to work together across communities and the nation to ensure our homes are sited, designed, built, renovated, and maintained in ways that support the health of residents.”

The Call to Action outlines the next steps of a society-wide approach to healthy homes that will result in the greatest possible public health impact and reduction of disparities in the availability of healthy, safe, affordable, accessible, and environmentally friendly homes.

* Individuals can make their homes healthy and more environmentally friendly by improving air quality, safely using household products, properly using safety devices, adequately supervising children, and abating the use of toxic chemicals.
* Organizations can educate at-risk populations about the connection between health and housing, and identifying and addressing home deficiencies.
* Health care providers can incorporate healthy housing solutions into their protocols.
* Government can help create homes that are affordable and improve people’s health. Adequate supplies of affordable housing must be made available in order for healthy homes to be achieved.

“Good health begins at home. Home is the place that most families connect, talk, and make decisions about their health,” said Dr. Howard Frumkin, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health within the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “Ensuring that the nation’s homes are safe, healthy, affordable, accessible and environmentally friendly will have a direct, immediate and measurable effect on the health of the nation.”

The Call to Action also highlights the need for research that links housing conditions with specific health outcomes and that highlights the impact of disparate access to safe, healthy, affordable, and accessible homes. The outcomes of this research should result in tangible improvements to people’s lives by translating practice into policy. The release of this document is part of a larger Healthy Homes Initiative led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and HUD with support from such organizations as the National Center for Healthy Housing, the Alliance for Healthy Homes, and the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning.

Please visit www.surgeongeneral.gov for more healthy home information, to download The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes, or to listen to a podcast from the Acting Surgeon General.

To order a printed copy of The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes, call 1-800-CDC-INFO or email cdcinfo@cdc.gov and reference the publication title. Please also visit: www.cdc.gov/healthyhomes and www.hud.gov/healthyhomes .

RBc: Have we not been saying this - like....forever! Ok...cynisism aside - its a step in the right direction...

Here are some pages for you to visit:

Thermal Comfort / IEQ Presentation / Learn more about IEQ /Indoor Environmental Eronomics / Three Rules for Design

State-of-the-art NRC Indoor Air Research Laboratory

 A new Indoor Air Research Laboratory at the National Research Council Institute for Research in Construction (NRC-IRC) will help contribute to better respiratory health for Canadians by providing a state-of-the-art testing facility for ventilation systems.

Researchers at the Indoor Air Research Laboratory will measure and evaluate the impact of various ventilation systems by configuring the laboratory’s flexible modules to duplicate specific room sizes and home designs, as well as simulate models of heating and air-conditioning systems and heat-recovery ventilators.

The Indoor Air Research Laboratory is part of the NRC Indoor Air Initiative which represents an $8 million investment over four years by the Government of Canada of which $2 million is dedicated to the facility. The Indoor Air Initiative is a part of the Government’s Clean Air Agenda, which commits money and resources for government, industry and communities to work together to improve air quality.

Full press release ventilation research facility.

RBc: There is lot of work going on both Canada and the United States through the NRC and ASHRAE - both looking at the effectiveness of ventilation system types. Our preference is the dedicated outdoor air systems (Mumma/PSU) which are part of what we call a total comfort system (McDonell). The dedicated outdoor air system is also referred to as a direct or fully ducted system. These and other systems are being modeled by the ASHRAE 62.2 committee and will also be field tested at the NRC facility. Stand by for further developments.

Suggested reading:

1.The Total Comfort System - The "Un-minimum" System
2.Dedicated Outside Air Systems (DOAS)
3.Setting the Record Straight: Indoor Air Quality and Indoor Comfort Quality.

 

Health and Human Services building receives Gold 'green' status

Health and Human Services building receives Gold 'green' status Release #0809-351; May 26, 2009--Contact: Deanne Molinari; (269) 387-8400 KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Western Michigan University's College of Health and Human Services is the first building in Southwest Michigan and one of only three in the state to meet national energy and environmental standards for an existing building.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings, or LEED-EB, rating system puts it among one of the highest performing buildings in Michigan. The WMU building achieved gold-level certification from the U.S. Green Building Council making it the first LEED-EB Version 2.0 certified higher education building in the country to achieve a rating higher than silver. It is also the highest certified level for any LEED-certified building in Kalamazoo.

"We are delighted to have this national recognition for a facility we regard as a special building in its own right and a symbol of the commitment this campus has to sustainability," says WMU President John M. Dunn. "Our facilities management area is on the cutting edge when it comes to wise energy use and sound environmental management. This is a well-deserved recognition for those who planned and built this amazing facility, for those who manage its daily use, and for those who guided it through the certification process."

Work on evaluation of current energy efficient systems in the four-year-old building and implementation of new sustainable building practices were partially funded with a $15,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy awarded in the fall 2007. Achieving gold status involved documenting sustainable practices with storm water management, site erosion and light pollution control, water usage efficiency in restrooms and landscaping, ozone-free cooling systems, recycling and waste management storage and collection, sustainable cleaning products and policies, increased ventilation standards, daylight harvesting and lighting control, thermal comfort monitoring and increased air filtration.

LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted bench mark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. There are several environmental rating systems, and LEED-EB is one of the newest, according to Peter Strazdas, WMU associate vice president of Facilities Management. "

It is arguably the most difficult to achieve because it not only includes design and construction issues, it places a significant focus on building operations...the aspect of building sustainability that goes on for years past a building completion date," he says. "This process took us two years of documentation, involving thousands of documents, and changed the culture of how we maintain and operate WMU buildings campuswide."

Anand Sankey, WMU engineering director, and several facility management staff worked on the project with Jim Nicolow, principal with architecture firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The high-tech, 200,000-square-foot building was completed in the summer 2005 and was designed by the architectural firm SmithGroup of Detroit.

The facility was built with an emphasis on sustainable and renewable materials. Features of the structure include cork flooring and motion-activated lights, heating and cooling. Rice paper between sheets of glass provides translucent windows along hallways.

The building's completion brought all of the College of Health and Human Services' internationally known programs together in one location. Some of the most sophisticated labs and classroom facilities in the nation are part of the facility. The labs are devoted to such areas as biofeedback, blindness and low-vision studies, orthotics and motion research. The four-story building is perched atop a hill along Oakland Drive on land formerly used by the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital. The building offers a panoramic view of the University's West Campus and establishes a modern presence designed to be in keeping with the traditional architecture of the psychiatric hospital and WMU's East Campus. During construction, every effort was made to preserve the area's park-like setting.

For more information about the LEED-EB certification effort, contact Peter Strazdas at peter.strazdas@wmich.edu or (269) 387-8584.

For further information on this and other Lord, Aeck & Sargen projects contact: Annie Kohut | Kohut Communications Consulting (tel) 770-913-9747 (fax) 770-913-3197 annielk(at)bellsouth.net www.kohutcommunications.com http://twitter.com/kohutcomm

RBc: We really love the focus this project has on its indoor environment!

Learn more about indoor environmental ergonomics.

Fundamentals of Thermal Comfort and Indoor Air Quality

 

We’ve just uploaded our signature presentation which we do as part of our volunteer activities for the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). This material focuses on the fundamentals of thermal comfort and indoor air quality.

Be sure to sign up for our feed link to stay abreast of new content.

American Lung Association - State of the Air: 2009 Full Report

 

Breathing polluted air can seriously harm your health and even shorten your life. For 10 years, the American Lung Association has used data from state air quality monitors to produce its annual State of the Air report. The more you learn about the air you breathe, the more you can protect your health and take steps to make our cleaner and healthier.

RBc: This 182 page eye opening report should bring awareness to the importance of air quality. For those looking for IAQ training, be sure to sign up for HRAI of Canada's Residential Indoor Air Quality Awareness Course

Keeping it Simple Sam(antha) - Solving Complexity Issues in Radiant Based HVAC Systems

The complexity and confusion in radiant based heating and cooling systems can be solved with these industrial design and ergonomic principles.

Earth Day Brings Groundbreaking for $130 Million, Sustainably Designed Interdisciplinary Research Facility at University of Utah

  
Renderings courtesy of Lord, Aeck & Sargen

The University of Utah has chosen Earth Day 2009 to hold the groundbreaking ceremony for a $130 million, sustainably designed interdisciplinary research facility that’s targeting LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The energy-efficient building is expected to reduce both energy use and energy cost from current laboratory code requirements by a minimum of 40 percent. The 200,000-square-foot facility, to be called the James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building, is being funded through a $100 million commitment from the State of Utah along with private gifts.

The state’s commitment comes from the USTAR (Utah Science and Research Technology) economic development initiative to build world-class research facilities and attract world-class research teams. You can find more details about the building and its sustainable design features at this link.

For further information on this project contact: Annie Kohut | Kohut Communications Consulting
(tel) 770-913-9747
(fax) 770-913-3197
annielk(at)bellsouth.net
www.kohutcommunications.com
http://twitter.com/kohutcomm

RBc: Thanks again to Annie from Kohut Communications Consulting for keeping us informed with the outstanding work from Lord, Aeck & Sargen

The 3rd Biennial International GeoExchange Conference and Trade Show

      

Register Today for this upcoming event!

The 3rd Biennial International GeoExchange Conference and Trade Show May 13 – 15, 2009 is being held by GeoExchange BC in partnership with the Thermal Environmental Comfort Association (TECA). Through the collaboration of these two key organizations the conference aim is to bring you the latest news, knowledge and innovation in GeoExchange from the earth energy source to the point of use supply.

The 2009 conference will be held at the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus in Kelowna. This newly developed campus, featuring a state of the art GeoExchange heating and cooling system, will host the trade show, technical sessions and delegate accommodation.

Fabulous scenery, excellent recreational opportunities and an exciting conference social program will ensure the 3rd Biennial International GeoExchange Conference and Trade Show remains an unforgettable experience.

We look forward to seeing you in sunny Kelowna!

Rachel Bolongaro
Chair, GeoExchange 2009
www. geoexchange2009.com

RBc: We're really looking forward to attending this event...check it out.

2009 Foothills Conference & Trade Show.

 

Welcome to the 2009 Foothills Conference and Trade Show. This is the seventh time that The Alberta Hydronics Advisory Council has hosted the hydronics community and this event promises to be even bigger and better than in previous years. Three full days of Hydronics information combined with two days of industry tradeshow.  This is the only hydronics conference and trade show in Canada in 2009! This year the Wet Head Gang challenges you to raise the standard of quality, educationand professionalism.

We are delighted to have great Wet Head Gang speakers including John Barba, John Siegenthaler, Robert Bean and Bob “Hot Rod” Rohr. Our industry Trade Show features 80 booths which will give delegates, industry representatives, and sponsors an opportunity to meet and network in a Trade Show environment. You will see the very latest products and talk directly to the people responsible for boilers, controls, radiant tubing, pumps, and anything else to do with hot water heating systems.

Again this year - manufacturers’ technical showcases

Manufacturers’ Technical Showcases will give you an opportunity to “get up close and personal” with products and services provided by our Exhibitors in a seminar setting.

More opportunities for education

The three-day format will provide you with exceptional learning and networking opportunities and is an excellent value. You will leave with the latest and greatest tips and information on the hydronics industry and we hope that you will also be inspired to continue to raise the level of professionalism within our industry. And knowing the people involved in hydronics, we also know you will be entertained throughout your time at Foothills.

On behalf of the FHC Steering Committee and the Alberta Hydronics Advisory Council, thank you for joining us. Have a great Conference and Show!

Dave Hughes and Sean Leonard

Co-Chairs, 2009 Foothills Conference and Trade Show
____________________________________

RBc: This show is dear to my heart as I was the chair for the very first one. Be sure to come on out for a really good time and a superb educational program.

Living Shelter Design Architects - A Road Less Travelled Shows Clients The Green Aspects of Design

 Every once and awhile we feature a designer who catches our interest for their skills and leadership.

This month we’d like to introduce our readers to Terry Phelan, the Founder and Lead of Living Shelter Design Architects.

Terry is a self taught architect, working in the home design and building industry since 1976. In her own words, she has, “never been one to take the most traveled path, having apprenticed for many years with several architectural firms, rather than going the college route, before taking the Washington State exams to become a licensed architect.”

This should tell you a lot about Terry – not many folks take this route and it is a real testament to her capabilities as the leader of an architectural firm.

Living Shelter Design Architects is a west coast operation promoting zero net energy, the use of local natural materials, resource-efficient construction methods, and non-toxic finishes to produce an integrated, sustainable and energy efficient design that is personally in tune with its environment, and nurturing to the people who use it.

Terry hosts a radio program on the Green Talk network. The Living Shelter Café, where she and her guests will inspire you to live within a deeper shade of green! She is also an outgoing co-chair of The Northwest EcoBuilding Guild, an alliance of builders, designers, suppliers, homeowners, and partners concerned with ecological building in the Pacific Northwest.

Be sure to visit Terry’s website and tune in to hear her weekly broadcast.

To see some of our past features click here.