New Construction

A mechanical contractor with experience in energy efficient buildings? X-L-Air has extensive experience in the technical aspects of designing and installing the mechanical systems that result in highly energy-efficient buildings. Some of X-L-Air's projects have achieved a higher than normal energy efficiency.

Real Life Example - University of Ottawa Biology Building

The Biology Building at University of Ottawa hired Enermodal to work with the school's integrated design team – which included Shore Tribe Irwin architects, R.J. McKee Engineering, and Cole and Associates – to create an exceptionally energy-efficient building.

The Result

The building achieved a 73% reduction in energy consumption compared with the standard design practice. These energy savings were independently verified by Natural Resources Canada. The building, whose mechanical systems were designed by R.J. McKee Engineering in Ottawa, was declared to be “the most energy efficient building in Canada”.

The Environment

X-L-Air was responsible for constructing the building’s Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Cooling, Plumbing, Greenhouses special mechanical systems, Fume hoods lab pressure and ventilation systems and Building Automation.

Task description from the Natural Resources Canada website:

"Unlike conventional systems, which send cool air throughout buildings and then reheat specific rooms, the structure's system dehumidifies air only at the central unit. It then sends this dry, room-temperature air throughout the facility, where it can be cooled further in individual rooms as required.

The structure's 37 growth chambers – where experiments are conducted under precisely controlled temperatures – presented a unique challenge. When cooled, these chambers would act like large air-cooled refrigerators, producing vast amounts of waste heat, which would raise room temperatures to uncomfortably high levels. So instead of traditional cooling systems, which utilize air-cooled heat exchangers, each growth chamber is equipped with a water-cooled refrigeration unit that captures waste heat and expels it from the building as exhaust. In winter, this excess heat preheats outside air that is used to warm the building.

The facility's 49 fume hoods, featuring an innovative dual-sash design like that of a sliding window, remove noxious air from laboratory work areas. Depending on the sash position, the design reduces air flow within the hoods to levels 50 to 80 percent lower than in conventional fume hoods. The reduction in power that results from decreased air flow translates into significant energy savings, without any diminution of safety, performance or functionality."