Issue 34

September 2010  

It is with great sadness that I share with you that Les Zwaryck passed away early this month. Many of you will remember Les from our last dealer conference where he presented his impressive 7-storey LaConcha Pearl project in Mexico.

Les had been struggling with cancer for some time and succumbed at his home, surrounded by family and people he loved. He was able to say goodbye and even make jokes in the very last minutes.

Les joined the Quad-Lock family in the '90s and we will greatly miss his spirit, his passion in everything he did, and his loyal representation.

Our hearts go out to Les' wife and family, and his friends and colleagues.

Best regards,
Georg Kustermann

Harmony House is the winning entry in the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CHMC) EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative. This project is designed to be built to the next generation green building standard and will ultimately be a Net Zero Energy home.

Harmony House will include features such as:

• The ability to produce as much energy from on-site renewable energy systems as is consumed annually
  
• A healthy and comfortable indoor environment
• High levels of energy efficiency
• Significantly reduced water use

Quad-Lock is proud to be part of this ground breaking, Net Zero Energy project, one of the first in the Vancouver area.

The first course of the basement has been set using Quad-Lock R-45 and the Fab-Form MonoPour System and they will be pouring concrete this week. The entire construction process will be recorded on time-lapse video. We will keep you up to date on this exciting project.

See Also:

- CMHC Harmony House Project Overview

- Project Profile: A Journey to Net Zero

- Project Profile: Off the Grid

Quad-Lock recently received preliminary scientific research results from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) that exceeded all expectations.

In 2008, Quad-Lock commissioned BCIT's "Centre for Architectural Ecology" to monitor a test structure (called REM-10) for a 2 year period. REM-10 was built with Quad-Lock walls, a Quad-Deck roof, and topped with a green roof layer (see photos below).

This was compared side-by-side to a conventionally framed, but otherwise identical, wood building - the "control structure". Sophisticated instrumentation was placed throughout both structures monitoring things like inside temperature, heat flow through the building envelope, and rates of storm-water runoff.

Heat flow through the Quad-Lock building components remained at extremely low levels compared to the wood structure. The following graphs show an example of comparative heat flows:

Heat flow above the zero line indicates heat entering the building. Heat flow below the zero line indicates heat leaving the building. The Quad-Lock structure in this example has almost zero heat flow throughout this 24-hour period, while the wood framed control structure both gained and lost a lot of heat, mirroring the outside weather conditions. The Quad-Lock structure is clearly proven to have far superior heat flow properties.

Other data in this preliminary report show the REM-10 indoor temperatures remaining far more constant than the conventional wood structure. The green roof layer also retained nearly 30 percent of the rain it received in a 24 hr period. These are essential characteristics that owners and designers of today's buildings are seeking in their quest for sustainable solutions and LEED certification.

All modern buildings should have a clear Energy Management Strategy. These research findings from an independent technical institution prove the remarkable abilities of the Quad-Lock system to address a majority of requirements in energy management and occupants' comfort.

Whether in a home, office, hotel, church, or school, both heat gain and heat loss through a traditional framed building shell places a greater load on the HVAC system, which in turn uses far more energy to maintain the constant temperatures inside the building that we humans demand.

This is why around 56% of a typical home's total energy consumption in North America is spent on heating & cooling the air inside. With 40-80% reductions in energy use for heating & cooling, Quad-Lock's Insulated Concrete Forms can provide one of the highest reductions in total carbon footprint.

A final report on this research project is due at the end of 2010 and Quad-Lock will share more of the key findings then.
 
Douglas Bennion
Manager, Training and Technical Services Department

For more information on BCIT's REM Study please visit BCIT Green Roof Research.

See also:

Project Profile: Green Roof Lofts in Orange, NJ

Science of ICF Energy Savings

Photos of the BCIT structures

Hope you enjoyed reading your Quad-Lock E-Connection. Remember that you need to tell us, if you'd like to receive future issues. It's as easy as entering your email below.

Do you have information on new projects or items of interest in your area? Share it with us and we'll follow-up and make sure it gets previewed in upcoming issues.

Join our Mailing List

Best regards,
Quad-Lock Building Systems