Those who love nature belong in Riverview New Brunswick Canada; at least according to the locals. The name lends itself to the views one can expect while in Riverview, as the Petitcodiac river runs above and around the city. Whereas the Acadian Forest surrounds the southern end of the area with luscious coniferous and deciduous trees to bring high air quality to individuals who are so lucky to experience it.
Within Riverview, NB, is a newly developed apartment complex. The 5-story complex is home to 74 residents with unobstructed views of the Petitcodiac River. Situated just minutes from the Route 112 & Route 114 highways, residents have easy access to downtown Moncton, New Brunswick. Moncton, which is otherwise known as “Hub City” because of its central inland location in the region and its history as a railway and land transportation hub for the Maritimes, is just 8 minutes by automobile from future residents at The Tides.
Before receiving a passing grade from the Riverview fire chief, Newco Construction’s Rick Omond, General Contractor for The Tides, had to ensure all subcontractors abided by the 2010 Canadian National Building Code (NBC).
Since 2011, New Brunswick, a province of Canada, has adopted the 2010 NBC as law when designing new buildings. The 2010 code requires new buildings to be designed with a certain level of outdoor air introduction.
Each of the 74 apartment units needed their own ventilation system to satisfy the ventilation code. Specifically, section 6.2.2.1.2 of the NBC, which reads,
“… the rates at which outdoor air is supplied in buildings by ventilation systems shall not be less than the rates required by ANSI/ASHRAE 62, “Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality...”
Therefore, according to Table 4.1a of the ANSI/ASHRAE 62 standard, all dwelling units with less than <1500 sq. ft. of indoor space require an outdoor airflow rate of at least 30 CFM for 1 bedroom apartments and 45 CFM for 2-3 bedroom apartments. At The Tides, each apartment ranges in size from 654-1,309 sq ft with 74 1- and 2-bedroom apartments in total.
As a result, each unit with a single bedroom would require at least 30 CFM of outdoor airflow brought into dwelling spaces. While each 2-bedroom apartment would require at least 45 CFM of outdoor airflow spread into applicable dwelling spaces.
In order to breathe more of that Acadian Forest air indoors, Thrive Properties recruited the help of AEC Engineering’s, Eric Woodworth. To comply with ASHRAE 62, 74 of Fantech’s HERO150H-ECs were installed into each apartment. Each appliance exhausts warm, stale air from the main bathroom and kitchen area, while simultaneously providing tempered fresh air to the main bedroom and living room areas.
Woodworth—the mechanical engineer on the project—had worked with fantech before and knew what he was getting with the product.
“I’m familiar with the HERO product. It’s what I usually go with for these types of installs.”
On why he chose the HERO series:
“I chose the HERO fresh air appliance because of the high Sensible Recovery Efficiency and the option to integrate a MERV8 filter. This filter will ensure the air from the outdoors is filtered for residents with low-allergy tolerances. Plus, residents will have the opportunity to upgrade to a higher grade filter [MERV13] if they so choose.”
Project Credits:
Owner – Thrive Properties
Architect – Fathom Studio
Mechanical Engineer – AEC Engineering, Eric Woodworth
General Contractor – Newco Construction, Rick Omond
HVAC Contractor – Jonic Ventilation, Jeannot Thibodeau
