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Case studies
Nation’s First LEED® Platinum Pool Features
State-of-the-Art DECTRON Systems
A funny thing happened on the way to designing a green project; the design team racks up 53 LEED credits and goes for LEED® Platinum.
Philadelphia, Pa. — Philadelphia’s Kappen Aquatic Center at the Overbrook School for the Blind (OSB) is the nation’s first LEED® platinum natatorium. Ironically however, the $11 million project for OSB’s 200 visually impaired and handicapped children wasn’t conceived as a LEED® project.
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Radio-Canada Fights Archival Film Degradation with New HVAC Gas-Phase Air Filtration Strategy
Engineers and archivists use carbon-based gas-phase air purification to preserve motion picture film and retard decomposition.
MONTREAL-- Older types of motion picture film have always faced slow degradation from acidic off-gassing that inevitably decomposes film into dust inside archival vaults, however a recent HVAC/R retrofit at the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, Montreal, might offer a solution.
Since 2000, Radio-Canada--Canada's national broadcaster for French Services--has maintained proper temperature and relative humidity levels to retard ongoing film deterioration in archival vaults, but now the addition of gas-phase air purification appears to retard the degradation process.
Motion picture film archivists have traditionally used temperature and humidity control to retard natural degradation of nitrocellulose and cellulose acetate films, which have been used since the beginning of motion pictures until the 1980's when decomposition-proof, polyester-based film was introduced as an alternate for copying originals onto, according to Leo Enticknap, Ph.D., a lecturer and the Institute of Communications Studies' cinema director, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.
Both the Society of Motion Picture and Sound Engineers (SMPTE), White Plains, NY, and the Image Permanence Institute (IPI), Rochester, NY, recommend temperature and humidity control. The IPI even studied the "Vinegar Syndrome," whereas vinegar acids used integrally in older film style manufacturing methods actually attack the film from its inception and reside with it until the film eventually falls apart into dust. The study also found that temperature and humidity only controlled or retarded the decay.
With Radio-Canada's older collections totalling more than 100,000 films and valued as priceless, archivists at CBC/Radio Canada began thinking outside the box to protect their archives.
Radio-Canada authorities andJean-Pierre Lachapelle, the company's preservation manager who retired in 2009 and is now a consultant with Archives V.I.P., Inc., Montreal, discovered the potential of gas-phase air filtration halting the degradation process all together by removing acid gases contingent with the film.
Lachapelle recalls reading about other archivists using gas-phase air purification, which has been used for decades to remove chlorides, oxides, sulphurs and a host of other chemical gasses that potentially harm the industrial processes they're a part , the process equipment and employees
Additionally, the gas-phase air purification manufacturer chosen for the project, Circul-Aire®, a Montreal-based subsidiary of indoor air quality manufacturer, Dectron Internationale, had also provided equipment to Hollywood Vaults, Hollywood, Calif., which Lachapelle visited. Hollywood Vaults is a premier storage facility that houses archives from media companies, museums, educational institutions and private collections from around the world. Hollywood Vaults maintains a 45°F temperature and 25-percent relative humidity, but most importantly, is progressive in removing particulates with a series of conventional and high efficiency (HEPA) filters as well as gas contaminants with gas-phase air purification.
Unlike particulate fibre filters that come standard with all HVAC systems to meet indoor air quality (IAQ) standards, gas-phase air filtration is optional for customized HVAC equipment. Instead of particulates, gas-phase filtration removes gases by adsorbing and neutralizing them into alumina-based media. One or more bed layers of the carbon media, depending on the expected amount and type of contaminants to absorb, are located in a facility's HVAC system or reside in a self-contained air handler within the room. In either case, room air is re-circulated through the carbon media to remove the intended contaminant. In the case of CBC's archival vault, each side of the archival vault has a self-contained Circul-Aire Model APS-3000, two-stage air purification unit that draws acidic gases from the film container storage rack area, passes the gases through the carbon media for adsorption, and returns the purified air back into the room. Each individual film is encased in a vented canister and stored in 15-feet-high metal cabinets that are topless/bottomless to allow acidic gas build-ups to escape away from the film.
Each APS unit was custom-manufactured to deliver five stages of filtration: 1) a MERV-8 (minimum efficiency reporting value) pre-filter; 2) a bed of Media Mix-1100 active alumina impregnated with an eight-percent solution of potassium permanganate, the latter which prolongs media life and improves acid gas adsorption efficiency; 3) a duplicate bank of MM-1100 to provide a longer residence time and to assure adsorption during any potential spikes in acidic potency or when the second stage media begins losing absorbency; 4) a MERV-8 post-filter to capture residual gas phase media dust during media replacement periods; and a 5) a MERV-15 HEPA filter.
The ventilation design, performed by Circul-Aire, is critical to the process in order to eliminate ventilation dead spots where acidic gases remain too long in contact with film surfaces. Air is completely re-circulated in the 3,000-square-foot room a minimum of 15 air changes/hr, versus three to four air changes/hr in more conventional spaces. Circul-Aire used a push-pull design where overhead ducts and down-flow diffusers by Titus, Richardson, Texas, push supply air down through the racks while a floor-level free return on each APS pulls the heavier-than-air acid gases along the floor. Each system's upflow discharge supplies purified air through a ceiling-mounted duct truck line with branches networking over each film rack. The branches throw air down into each rack, thus the push-pull concept. The ductwork was custom fabricated by local contractors.
Circul-Aire also operates a state-of-the-art laboratory and its Tech-Chek™ program where clients such as the CBC periodically samples to determine the efficiency and remaining lifecycle of the media for replacement purposes.
The motion pictures of decades ago are important records of human history, culture and socio-economic factors. Preserving them through the use of today's cutting-edge HVAC technology will undoubtedly be a benefit for future generations.
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Removal of Formaldehyde from a Dissection Lab without Added Energy Consumption
The dissection room at Gendron Hall however, had a problem controlling the amount of formaldehyde vapour that was emitting into the lab space. This vapour along with some other organics were exfiltrating into other parts of the building, causing discomfort for the occupants of the adjacent offices.
The Gendron Hall Building, located on the university's campus, housed a dissection room that measured to exceed the TWA as set by the ACGIH for formaldehyde. The main activities in the biology lab were dissection of specimens for learning purposes in undergraduate studies.
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Retrofit to Intensive Care Unit Filtration System
Air Purification - USAH System
Gas-Phase Filtration - Indoor Air Quality
for a healthy and comfortable working environment
Reno, Nevada —Originally built in 1862 in Reno, Nevada, the Washoe Medical Center is a 885,000 sq. ft. facility that is continuously expanding and upgrading. This hospital is the major trauma center for Northern Callifornia and Nevada, therefore it has the busiest heliport in North America.
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Indoor Air Filtration within Classrooms
Designed to Meet ASHRAE Standard 62
Air Purification & Energy Conservation
Miami, Florida — Demographic changes in the Miami, Florida area forced the Dade County School Board to constuct new primary learning centers in order to accommodate the influx of new students.
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Gas-Phase Filtration for Libraries and Museums
Surveyor Plus™ Electronic Air Quality Monitoring System
College Station, Texas—Environmental forces play an important role in establishing the preservation characteristics of artifacts in a conservatory. Museums, and library curators, have known for many years that a deficient environmental control strategy within a museum will result in severe damage or degradation of the materials on display or in long/short term storage.
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Retrofit to Main Coroner's Office
When a building houses as diverse a range of activities from decomposed body storage rooms to secretarial offices, you can expect to have a wide range of contaminants that must be eliminated at the source for the health and comfort of the occupants.
Located in downtown Toronto, the building houses the main coroner's office for the Ministry of Solicitor General of Ontario. This twenty year old building houses forensic pathology labs consisting of autopsy rooms, body storage rooms, various labs, parivate offices as well as general offices.
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New Headquarters for Bombardier Aerospace Group-North America and Canadair
When 1800 employess are working in one large building, you can expect to have a wide range of contaminants produced from various areas such as the printing department, the art studio, the kitchen, the cafeteria and other departments.
Located at Montreal International Airport (Dorval), the building consolidates Canadair aerospace activities previously scattered in six older facilities, reuniting all corporate, program and administrative personnel.
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Circul-Aire's Filtration Technology Keeps Harrah's Casino Lounge Smoke Free
Major cities across the U.S. have banned cigarette smoking from bars and restaurants. To this effect, the owners of the restaurants concerned, have been forced to try to accommodate the smoking portion of their clientele.
Harrah's Casino Lounge has successfully achieved superior air quality without comprising its clientele or the law. The Summit View Lounge is located on the 16th floor of the hotel overlooking Lake Tahoe which offers fine wine and cigar bar.
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Electronic Process Control Room Air Purification for a Single Line Bleached Kraft Pulp Mill
The mechanical design consisted of both pressurization and recirculation systems. The pressurization system design not only took into consideration the effect of the contaminant gas hydrogen sulfide (H2S) but also considered gas vapor pressure diffusion and the effect of wind pressure against the protected space.
Built in 1994/1995 in Kerinci, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper is one of the most technically advanced bleached pulp mill facilities worldwide. The facility stands on approximately three square kilometers producing a bleached pulp product for worldwide distribution.
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New Entry Pavilion, Community Center & Giant IMAX Theatre of the Kansas City Zoo
When a 400-seat IMAX theatre, community center, offices and a foyer with tropical plants incorporating large glass windows are located at the entrance of a city zoo, in an area with some of the most extreme summer and winter design conditions, the engineer is faced with some very difficult tasks.
The Deramus Educational Pavilion of the overhauled Kansas City Zoo opened in December of 1995. This 75,000 sq.ft. pavilion is actually two inter-connected buildings.
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Resort Becomes First Canadian Indoor Pool to Apply
Gas-Phase Air Purification for IAQ
Guests breathe a new 'freshness' in natatorium after HVAC dehumidifier retrofit that also brings a green energy-saving strategy.
Alliston, ON―En route to replacing an aging dehumidifier for its natatorium, the Nottawasaga Inn Resort discovered that recent dehumidification technology advancements offered solutions to challenging eye and lung irritation nuisance of every indoor pool ― chloramines.
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Dectron’s AIRE-TECH-CHEK™ Service
Revolutionizes HVAC Pool Industry
World’s First Natatorium CFD Analysis Helps Tame Wild
HVAC Design Variables of Huge High School Indoor Pool.
Holland, Michigan — Natatoriums can be considered one of the HVAC industry’s most challenging design applications, due mainly to their huge evaporative rates. Consequently, the world’s first natatorium Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis service was an extremely valuable and welcome tool available when designing the huge 16,500- square-foot natatorium of East Kentwood High School, in Grand Rapids, Mich.
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FSU’s Strozier Library Archival Room Features
State-of-the-Art Air Purification
Engineer’s design includes tough Florida dehumidification,
gas-phase air purification, heating, cooling, and winter humidification
from a single packaged unit
Tallahassee, Fla. – Florida State University’s renown Seminole Indian artifact and rare book collections are now accessible to students in one environmentally controlled room thanks to a $827,000 renovation and a consulting engineer’s state-of-the-art HVAC design.
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Rahway YMCA HVAC Retrofit
Cuts Energy Costs While Adding A/C and Free Pool Water Heating
Engineer specifies new A/C and Dehumidification, as well as
Space Heating and Pool Water Heating – All from a packaged HVAC unit.
Rahway, N.J. — The most common complaint of swimmers entering a pool is “cold” water, but summertime swimmers at the Rahway Branch YMCA, Rahway, N.J., regularly voiced criticism that the 200,000-gallon indoor pool was too hot.
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YMCA Saves Costs with Custom HVAC Equipment and
Value Engineering
Heat recovery for pool water heating, fabric ductwork for airflow alternatives, and HVAC equipment modifications add up to savings.
Plainfield, Ill. — Client requests for state-of-the-art energy efficiency and value engineering of the HVAC systems at the C.W. Avery Family YMCA produced ingenious “outside the box” innovations. The 52,000-square-foot facility had the watchful eyes of a generous donor, plus the high profile status as the first YMCA internationally to be a collaborative effort between a school board, a hospital, a city, and a park district.
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Dehumidification Needed in the Desert?
You Better Believe It!
Energy-saving heat recovery design prompts desert town to abandon controlling indoor pool humidity with 10-percent RH outside air.
Taos, N.M. – The idea of using year-round dry outside air of the New Mexico desert to reverse the high humidity loads of a huge 13,000-square-foot indoor swimming pool building sounds logical, in theory. However, the chilling evaporative effects that dry 10-percent relative humidity (RH) air has on a swimmer's body at a local facility employing this strategy confirms that other methods are required. When city officials of Taos, a resort community in the northern high plains desert of New Mexico, floated the idea of saving on indoor pool mechanical dehumidification costs on the new $3.1-million Youth and Family Center, they were persuaded otherwise.
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Custom Design Offers Huge HVAC Operational Savings
at the Mizzou Rec Center
Custom configuration specifications on natatorium dehumidifiers
will save the University of Missouri millions of dollars
in operating costs over the life of the building.
Columbia, Mo. — Visitors to the new $49-million Rothwell-Brewer Student Recreation Center Complex are usually in awe of one of the nation’s top five recreation projects and Missouri’s largest aquatic complex. Equally awesome is the behind-the-scenes energy savings that has been built into the state-of-the-art project, which will save the University of Missouri millions of dollars in operating costs over the life of the center’s dual natatoriums.
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Sewage Odor Control System for Pumping Station
A two-fold requirement providing neighbors with an odorless environment, and providing pumping station operators with ventilation to keep the inside hydrogen sulphide steady state concentrations below toxic levels when the wells are serviced for maintenance.
In Hong Kong, land comes at a premium. Placing sewage pumping stations in the city or at the outer regions becomes a major engineering task, as very expensive housing complexes or commercial buildings share the same property line as sewage pumping stations.
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One of the World's Largest Dehumidifiers Hoisted into
Hilton Hotel Fun Center.
Rigging the 30-foot-long DRY-O-TRON® challenges contractor, but, specifying a one-piece unit cuts costs on the $40 million expansion.
Milwaukee — Hoisting a 30-foot-long, 20,000-pound DRY-O-TRON® dehumidifier sideways into the semi-completed $40-million Hilton Milwaukee City Center expansion was a rigging challenge for mechanical contractor, Downey Inc., and general contractor, Mortensen Construction.
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Resort's Four-Season Pool and Spa Paradise in Canadian Mountains Features State-of-the-Art HVAC System
IAQ, energy efficiency and moisture removal are combined for
indoor mountain fantasy.
Mont Tremblant, Quebec—Half of the swimming experience in the new 30,500-square-foot aqua club at the four-season resort in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, is a breathtaking view of the Laurentian mountain range.
However, without a state-of-the-art HVAC system for Tremblant’s newly-built, $4 million AquaClub La Source—owned by IntraWest Corp.,Vancouver, B.C.—the vast 150 linear feet of windows revealing this picturesque scene would be covered with a blurry surface of condensation.
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Rehabilitation of a Waste Water Treatment Aeration System
Air Filtration - Custom Air Handling Unit
Bridgeport, CT.—Exhaustive demands presently imposed on municipal waste water systems in most cities in North America, primarily due to increased population density, has forced a substantial amount of municipalities to review their existing infrastructures.
The city of Bridgeport, Connecticut is one such municipality that required a substantial refurbishment of the West Side Waste Water Treatment Plant. The Water Pollution Control Authority of Bridgeport mandated the Kasper Group, Inc. and Hazen and Sawyer (P.C.) to design and implement the modifications to their West Side Plant.
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Consulting Engineer & Contractor Design & Build
Cost-Saving Natatorium HVAC System
Small town Michigan high school builds big-time 44,000-square-foot aquatic addition that uses huge 64,000 cfm dehumidifier
Grand Haven, Mich. - The new $6.5 million, 44,000-square-foot addition to Grand Haven High School, Grand Haven, Mich., might appear like a typical natatorium, but the successful state-of-the-art HVAC design and installation by the consulting engineer and mechanical contractor are very unconventional.
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New Manhattan Natatorium Becomes
Aquatic Showpiece of New York City YMCA System
DRY-O-TRON® DS-282 Heat Recovery Dehumidifier
NEW YORK—A new YMCA hasn’t been built in Manhattan for 70 years, however the new $35 million McBurney Y has made the wait well worth it. The 67,000- square-foot McBurney Y features a health and wellness center, paddleball courts, and a perimeter running track, but the focal point of the facility is the 7,000-square-foot natatorium.
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Design Helps Aquatic Circus Avoid “Sticky” Situation
What’s an aquatic theater?
No, it’s not some troupe that only stages productions of “Moby Dick”
and “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea".
Las Vegas, Nev.—In Las Vegas, it’s a $70 million investment as part of the new 35-story Bellagio Hotel, where the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil combines death-defying high-divers and acrobats with skilled swimmers. To mechanical systems engineers, however, it’s a 68,500-sq-ft humidity headache.
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DRY-O-TRON® Dehumidifier ― Unsung Hero in YMCA Fire
Within 15 minutes, the DRY-O-TRON® dehumidifier completely evacuated smoke from the 10,000-sq-ft. pool room as well as the ill-fated locker room
Camp Hill, Pa. – After settling down at home to watch the 11 p.m. news, mechanical engineer David Andiorio was horrified to live coverage of a fire at the Camp Hill YMCA recreation center where he recently oversaw a HVAC retrofit.
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Decontamination and Degassing Process
to Remove Mercury Vapour
Air Purification designed to meet space limitations and maximize
efficiency of the source capture ventilation system
Vancouver Island, B.C. —Most of the electrical requirements for Vancouver Island, B.C. are supplied from the mainland via submarine cables installed and operated by British Columbia Hydro.
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Engineers & Contractors Overcome Fire & Rainstorms at
Las Vegas Water Showroom
Removing 950 lb./hr. of moisture, with water flying everywhere, Wynn
Las Vegas’ Le Rêve aquatic theater is no ordinary indoor pool.
Las Vegas, Nev. — The designers of the HVAC systems for the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel were faced with the challenge of fierce rainstorms, cannon balls of water, and a ring of fire…all without even leaving their offices.
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DRY-O-TRON® Fits with Recreation Centre’s Value-Engineering Plan
The architectural combination of metal, glass, and wood produces rave reviews for the new Esquimalt Recreation Centre indoor pool.
Esquimalt Township, Victoria, British Columbia — Although the project began with the condensation-generating materials presenting a dehumidification and airflow challenge, since its completion, the new Esquimalt Recreation Centre has been widely praised as a success story.
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HVAC Equipment Selection for New Developments by Erickson Carries a Unique Criterion: If it is the Industry's Latest High Efficiency Equipment, Erickson Wants It.
At Ann’s Choice, the efficiency and indoor air comfort were increased by water source heat pump methodology by adding
DRY-O-TRON® make-up air units.
Warminster, Penn. — Erickson, a Baltimore, Maryland-based national developer/manager of
campuses for middle-income individuals and families over the age of 62, consistently chooses technically superior, high-efficiency, and space saving equipment over price for its communities. In the long term, this strategy delivers the optimum indoor air comfort, generates continual energy savings for residents, and helps preserve the environment. In addition, the space saving aspects help offset the difference between this custom-manufactured equipment and off-theshelf equipment.
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HVAC Spec Complements Kenora Recreation and Wellness Centre’s Indoor Pool "Forest" Design
Ductwork does not grow on trees, so engineer supplies dehumidification through crawl space and airflow innovations.
Kenora, Ontario – Aside from the challenges associated with a 125ºF annual ambient temperature differential and a humidity load of 360-lb./hr., the HVAC design for the Kenora Recreation and Wellness Centre’s new indoor pool also had to complement the architect’s interior “forest and ponds” concept.
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The Reno/Tahoe International Airport, NV
Air Purification System - TMP Series
Circul-Aire's Energy Recovery and Air Purification,
a designer indoor air® Solution
Reno and Tahoe, Nevada are prime vacation locations because of their scenic mountains and gambling attractions. The increase in tourism, however, has placed a greater load on the regional Reno/Tahoe Airport that serves the surrounding area. But despite the quaintness of
this mountain resort area, the airport’s location in a valley-like surrounding has attributed to many problems with air quality because fumes from planes and ground-support equipment are slow to dissipate.
Like all public buildings, the Reno/Tahoe Airport Authority is required to supply proper outside air ventilation as outlined in the ASHRAE 62-1999 ventilation standard. Unfortunately, airport applications present a unique and immediate concern because airport structures routinely contend with many internal and external contaminants associated with both jet and ground access vehicle emissions.
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Overbrook School for the Blind - LEED Platinum Pool - Kappen Aquatic Center 
