Join industry, business, and applied research leaders for this Lunch and Learn to explore how federal support can bring your work to the next level.

Get a practical snapshot of the spectrum of federal programming available from exploratory applied research, to pre-commercialization, and support for late-stage procurement and testing.

Date: Thursday, May 10, 2018
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Location: Prairie Lights, Notre Dame Campus, Red River College

This event is being organized by the Research Partnerships & Innovation office at Red River College in collaboration with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada.

Register for the event today

This course from April 17 to April 20 will teach advanced theory and applications of infrared thermography in the preventive maintenance, quality assurance, condition monitoring and non-destructive testing of materials, with an emphasis on building envelope components such as wall assemblies and roofs. Read More →

The Building Envelope Technology Access Centre (BETAC) team has partnered with the University of Manitoba and consulting firm Crosier Kilgour and Partners to develop a new thermal break, or barrier, to help reduce significant heat loss that occurs in high rise buildings with large concrete balconies.
“Commercial alternatives of thermal breaks are available but prohibitively expensive,” said researcher Dagmar Svecova in ResearchLIFE, a University of Manitoba magazine. Read More →

A team of researchers at the Building Envelope and Technology Access Centre (BETAC) partnered with SMT Research to monitor the structural health of the Skilled Trades and Technology Centre (STTC) being built at Red River College.

A paper on their work was presented at the 8th International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure in Brisbane, Australia, in December, 2017.

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of bridges and heritage buildings are essential to ensure modern rehabilitation techniques and materials continue to perform as expected. SHM systems also play a key role to ensure new buildings perform as expected with respect to energy efficiency and durability.

Their paper focused on the application of advanced sensor networks and data visualization techniques on a building instrumented as a ‘living lab’ located in Winnipeg, Canada.

The BETAC and SMT Research team installed a substantial network of sensors embedded throughout the new STTC.
A total of seven different building envelope types have been instrumented throughout the exterior building envelope as well as the roof and green roof assemblies.

The measurements from these sensors can be compared to controlled tests performed on mock-up test walls in the Dual Environment Test Chamber located in the Centre for Applied Research in Sustainable Infrastructure (CARSI) at Red River College.

Field analysis will be performed in real-time during normal building occupancy throughout the temperature extremes inherent to Winnipeg.

View the full research paper HERE.

Read More →

A team of researchers at the Building Envelope and Technology Access Centre (BETAC) partnered with SMT Research to monitor the structural health of the Skilled Trades and Technology Centre (STTC) being built at Red River College.

Background

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of bridges and heritage buildings are essential to ensure modern rehabilitation techniques and materials continue to perform as expected. SHM systems also play a key role to ensure new buildings perform as expected with respect to energy efficiency and durability.

Our Research

• The BETAC and SMT Research team installed a substantial network of sensors embedded throughout the new STTC.
• A total of seven different building envelope types have been instrumented throughout the exterior building envelope as well as the roof and green roof assemblies.
• The measurements from these sensors can be compared to controlled tests performed on mock-up test walls in the Dual Environment Test Chamber located in the Centre for Applied Research in Sustainable Infrastructure (CARSI) at Red River College.
• Field analysis will be performed in real-time during normal building occupancy throughout the temperature extremes inherent to Winnipeg.

Results

A paper on our work was presented at the 8th International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure in Brisbane, Australia, in December, 2017.

The paper focused on the application of advanced sensor networks and data visualization techniques on a building instrumented as a ‘living lab’ located in Winnipeg, Canada.

CANCELLED: This workshop has been cancelled due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict with the instructor, and due to low enrolment.

Join expert Manfred Kehrer for a two-day workshop this February, 2018, hosted by Red River College’s Building Envelope & Technology Access Centre (BETAC).

WUFI® is an acronym for Wärme Und Feuchte Instationär, which, translated, means heat and moisture transiency. Read More →

This three-day course educated participants on:

• Air tightness testing standards and code requirements
• the differences between residential and commercial air tightness tests
• building science and driving forces of air leakage
• test considerations and planning
• required materials and equipment

The workshop also focused on the setup and use of blower door equipment, and finished with a full live test of the CARSI building at Red River College, which incorporates diagnostic tools and analysis/reporting of the test data.

Background

Increasing air tightness in a building is now widely recognized as one of the most influential factors affecting the building’s performance in terms of energy use, comfort, indoor air quality, durability and even noise transmission.

Even though airtightness testing of residential houses is quite common, airtightness testing of commercial buildings is only now starting to grow.

Testing equipment is now evolving to measure a larger range of commercial building types; however, since this type of testing is still relatively new to the United States and Canada, there remains very few qualified personnel able to perform these tests to specific standards.

This project focuses on developing cost-effective systems for the implementation of thermally broken concrete slabs for residential mid/high-rise construction.

Background

Traditionally, concrete balconies in mid/high-rise residential buildings are designed as an extension to the floor slab, constructed as a one or two-way reinforced concrete slab cantilevered out past the building’s exterior wall.

Without a thermal break, the balcony easily conducts heat, causing a significant amount of heat loss in the winter, leaving the floor slab and window-wall assembly considerably cooler than the interior temperature, and resulting in condensation.

If not properly controlled, materials eventually start to degrade, reducing the integrity and safety of the structure, and even compromising the indoor air quality from mold growth.

Our Research

• This project includes experimentally investigating different forms of thermal insulation materials and different types of rebar and then performing thermal testing and analysis, and structural testing on these materials. BETAC is providing the laboratory space for casting samples and the environmental chambers needed for the thermal testing.
• The main project team includes the College, the University of Manitoba, Crosier Kilgour & Partners and SMT Research.

Status

The first phase of this project started in June, 2016, and is due to complete in August, 2017. The completion of phase two is to be determined.

The objective of this project is to investigate and assess the energy efficiency, effectiveness, and performance of vertical, sloped and horizontal DWHR systems for MURB applications. BETAC will be working with Gary Proskiw, Manitoba Hydro, and Manitoba Housing on this project.

Background

Drain-water heat recovery (DWHR) systems recover heat from a building’s wastewater and use it to preheat the fresh incoming water, thereby reducing the overall domestic hot water (DHW) load.

All new Part 9 (residential) construction in Manitoba, as part of the province’s review of Section 9.36 of the National Building Code (other than for houses with slab-on-grade or crawl space foundations), now require a DWHR system. Their introduction into mid/high-rise multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) has been extremely limited.

Our Research

The majority of information and testing available for DWHR performance was developed for vertical installations. However, the accessible portions of the drain lines in MURBs are predominately horizontal or sloped at 45°.

• Therefore, BETAC will conduct a series of laboratory trials to evaluate the heat recovery performance of typical DWHR units installed in vertical, horizontal and sloped (45°) configurations with the use of Red River College’s plumbing workshop.
• Surface temperatures and in-line temperatures will be monitored to permit better correction between the two variables for use in future field screening applications.