November 12, 2012

Best engineering projects honoured

ED WHITE / CEI ARCHITECTURE PLANNING INTERIORS

AME Consulting Group Ltd. earned the Tree for Life Award for outstanding environmental stewardship for the Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation at the Penticton,B.C. campus of Okanagan College.

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

DCN staff writer

Development of a photocatalytic gas treatment process for Uniboard Pfleiderer, a producer of engineered wood products, has netted the consulting firm exp the 2012 Schreyer Award.

The award, which recognizes technical innovation, was one of more than a dozen presented at the recent Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards gala in Ottawa.

Held annually for 44 years, the awards are the highest recognition for the Canadian consulting engineering industry.

The program is a joint initiative of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Canada (ACEC) and Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine.

In a joint release, the awards sponsors said Uniboard Pfleiderer required a process that would destroy contaminants in gases from wood panel manufacturing and meet strict emissions standards.

With limited viable options available, exp developed a groundbreaking photocatalytic gas treatment (PGT) process that exceeded all expectations.

“PGT is effective, economical, compact and energy-efficient and does not produce greenhouse gases,” stated the release

Pure and applied sciences experts from exp guided the development of this innovative solution from concept to implementation, supported by exp’s own laboratories.

The second special award, the Tree for Life Award for outstanding environmental stewardship, went to the Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation at the Penticton, B.C. campus of Okanagan College.

The AME Consulting Group Ltd. provided full mechanical consulting services and virtual environment modeling on the project, which was designed and built as a sustainable post-secondary facility.

The innovative features of the building will be used as a teaching tool for tradespeople studying green construction practices.

Sustainability objectives included a target of LEED Platinum.

In addition, awards of excellence were presented for 12 projects.

In the buildings category, awards went to:

The Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence: The AME Consulting Group Ltd.

Biodiversity Centre, Université de Montréal, Montreal: Bouthillette Parizeau & Associés inc.

VanDusen Botanical Gardens Visitor Centre, Vancouver: Fast + Epp.

BC Place revitalization, Vancouver: Genivar and Geiger Engineers.

Vale Living With Lakes Centre, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ont.: J. L. Richards & Associates Ltd.

La Maison symphonique de Montréal, Montreal: SNC-Lavalin Inc.

In the water resources category, awards were presented for two projects:

Eastern Wastewater Treatment Facility, Saint John, N.B.: CBCL Limited, Consulting Engineers.

Sherbourne Common, Toronto: The Municipal Infrastructure Group Ltd.

In the environmental remediation category, the award went to the Burnaby Lake rejuvenation project in Burnaby, B.C.

Associated Engineering earn the honour for the project.

In the category of natural resources, mining, industry & power, awards were presented for two projects:

Vancouver city central transmission project, Vancouver: Golder Associates Ltd.

Innovative tailings management – Greens Creek Mine, Admiralty Island, Alaska: Klohn Crippen Berger.

In the category of community outreach and in-house initiatives, the award went to the Haiti prototype schools project in Haiti.

The engineers were Blackwell Bowick/Halsall Associates/Quinn Dressel Associates/Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.

BRADLEY FEHR

The BC Place revitalization project (above) earned an award of excellence for Genivar and Geiger Engineers.

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