History

Enermodal Engineering was found in 1980 by three University of Waterloo graduates including current president Stephen Carpenter. Initially the firm focused on developing software to assess renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

 systems and building energy usage. This work included software to analyze the energy performance of windows; this software became the tool to rate windows to NFRC and CSA

CSA

-Agriculture, Farming, and Food:* Community Supported Agriculture* Community Shared Agriculture-Politics, Administration and Military:* Confederate States of America* Canadian Securities Administrators* Canadian Space Agency* Canadian Standards Association...

 window standards.

Enermodal Engineering is Canada’s largest consulting firm exclusively dedicated to green buildings and communities. With a professional staff of experts in the area of green and energy efficient buildings and specialists based in Kitchener, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Toronto, Enermodal is working on sustainability projects worth over $5 billion. For 30 years, Enermodal has been an industry leader, pioneering some of the most innovative yet practical green building technologies including rainwater cisterns, onsite biofiltration, radiant cooling

Radiant cooling

A radiant cooling system refers to a temperature-controlled surface that cools indoor temperatures by removing sensible heat and where more than half of heat transfer occurs through thermal radiation....

, building renewable energy systems, and variable flow refrigerant systems. Enermodal’s success is rooted in a hands on and technical understanding of building systems and energy use.

Enermodal is the foremost LEED consulting firm, with Enermodal delivering the LEED 2009 Rating System, employees serving as LEED Faculty members, and President Stephen Carpenter appointed chair of the Technical Advisory Committee. This first hand knowledge of LEED is an important contributor to Enermodal’s record-breaking 250 LEED projects across North America. Additionally, Enermodal is responsible for 45% of all LEED Canada certified buildings.

Enermodal has provided LEED services for Canada’s premier green buildings including the Toronto Region Conservation Authority’s Restoration Services Centre (first Platinum certification in Ontario), Fifth Town Cheese (first Platinum industrial certification), Currie Barracks (first Canadian Stage 2 LEED-ND certification), and the RBC Centre (largest LEED project in Canada). And Enermodal designed its new headquarters, A Grander View, to achieve three LEED Platinum certifications and be Canada’s most energy-efficient office

In 1991, the firm designed and managed the construction of the Waterloo Green Home–a winning entry in The Canadian federal government Advanced Houses competition. The house was widely viewed as one of the best examples of residential green buildings and was the subject a book, Green Home, by Wayne Grady.

Enermodal continued with its work in green buildings by designing and occupying of the first green office building in Canada in 1996. Green on the Grand in Kitchener, Ontario

Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

 was a winning design under the Canadian government’s C2000 program that promoted green office buildings. With an annual energy use of just over 100 kWh/m², Green on the Grand is still one of the most efficient office buildings in Canada. Another Enermodal building is the University of Ottawa Biology Building, which achieved 70% energy savings and was given several energy efficiency awards.

With their success in green building design, the firm began designing and certifying buildings to the LEED Green Building Rating System

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....

 in 2004 (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The firm successfully certified the first building (Stratus Winery) under the Canadian version of LEED. To deal with growing demand for their services, Enermodal opened offices in Calgary (2006), Toronto (2008), Edmonton (2009), and Winnipeg (2010).

In 2009, Enermodal designed and built its own headquarters, A Grander View, which uses 70 kWh/m2 - making it Canada's most energy-efficient office building.

Today

Currently, Enermodal has a professional staff of over 100 at its five offices, making it the one of North America’s largest consulting firms focusing exclusively on the design of sustainable buildings.

Enermodal’s main areas of expertise are

• sustainable design
  Sustainable design
  Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability.-Intentions:The intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental...
  
   (particularly Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification)
• “green” mechanical/electrical design and commissioning
  Building Commissioning
  Building commissioning is the process of verifying, in new construction, that all the subsystems for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire/life safety, building envelopes, interior systems , cogeneration, utility plants, sustainable systems, lighting, wastewater, controls, and building security achieve...
  
  
• research into the performance of environmentally appropriate technologies
• building inspection and energy audits
• energy performance rating windows, doors, and walls

The company is well known for its green incentive program which helps employees reduce their environmental footprint. Company sponsored incentives include free bus passes, rain barrels, low flow showerheads and financial support for the purchase of hybrid cars.

In November 2010, the company was purchased by and became a division of the MMM Group(Marshall Macklin Monaghan).

Selected Projects

Enermodal has over 70 LEED certified buildings and are working on over 190 other buildings aiming for certification. Some of the major green projects include

• the redevelopment of Regent Park
  Regent Park
  Regent Park is a neighbourhood located in Old Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Regent Park is Canada's oldest and largest social housing project; built in the late 1940s. Formerly the centre of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood, it is bounded by Gerrard Street East to the north, River Street to the east,...
  
   (700 residential units and commercial space), Toronto
• the 50-storey Bay Adelaide Centre, Toronto
• the 500000 sq ft (46,451.5 m²) Corus Entertainment Head Office, Toronto
• the 1400000 sq ft (130,064.3 m²) Maple Leaf Towers Condominium, Toronto
• Old Faithful National Park Visitors Education Centre, Wyoming
• the University of Calgary Veterinary School
• Upper River Valley Hospital, New Brunswick

Awards

Enermodal has been recognized numerous times for pushing the limits of sustainable design.

Recent accolades include:

• 2008 SAB Magazine Sustainable Architecture & Building Award for Toronto Region Conservation Authority Restoration Services Centre
• 2008 SAB Magazine Sustainable Architecture & Building Award for Ball’s Falls Centre for Conservation
• 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award to President Stephen Carpenter, Sustainable Buildings Canada
• 2007 Outstanding Practise Award, International Building Performance Simulation Association
• 2006 Best Solar Thermal Project for Okotoks Solar Community - Canadian Solar Industries Association
• 2006 Climate Change Award for Okotoks Solar Community - 15th Annual Alberta Emerald Awards
• 2006 Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, Pollution Prevention Award - Medium Business for OMRON ECU
• 2004 NRCan Energy Efficiency Award for New Buildings (University of Ottawa)
• Various ASHRAE
  American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
  The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers is an international technical society for all individuals and organizations interested in heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration...
  
  Technology Awards for innovative commercial (Green on the Grand) and residential (Waterloo Green Home) building design