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City Correspondence Page 4

2007


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: cold, cold Dufferin Grove Park clubhouse
Date: 	Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:38:45 -0400
From: 	John Murray <jmurray@toronto.ca>
To: 	Jutta Mason <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca>, Don (FRE) Eastwood 
<deastwoo@toronto.ca>
CC: 	Al Gaanderse <al.gaanderse@optimira.com>, Dave Dermott 
<ddermott@toronto.ca>, Henry Severeide <hseverei@toronto.ca>, Jim Kamstra 
<JKamstra@toronto.ca>, Mayssan Shujauddin <mshujau@toronto.ca>, Tino 
Decastro <tdecastr@toronto.ca>

Jutta  

Thanks for Filling me In I hope they achieve their targets and at the same time keep
everybody comfortable

jm

>>> Jutta Mason <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca> 4/13/2007 3:24 PM >>>

Hello John and Don,

Background: This branch of a multinational American company was called
"Vestar," then "Cinergy," then "Optimira." Their pitch is that they do
energy retrofits and the City saves so much money that the retrofits
basically cost us nothing. Here in Toronto the City agreed to pay $10.3
million out of the Parks and Rec operating budget, to get all the rinks
done. It's up to Optimira to prove that the weather-stripping and the
computer-programmed heat/fan/compressor, etc., settings have lowered our
heating costs an equivalent amount over a certain number of years. If
they can't prove those savings, the City doesn't have to pay as much.

The tricky bit is that, for the outdoor rinks anyway, there was no
reliable baseline for comparison. As far as I know, the City has agreed
therefore to accept "deemed savings" in those facilities where the
numbers were missing.

When the rubber meets the road and any such giant system is installed
across a city, one can expect a few glitches. But certainly some energy
costs will be reduced. For example: last year, a fan in the Dufferin
Rink compressor room ran full speed for many weeks after the rink season
had finished. Nobody seemed to be in charge of the fan when we checked
around. Local 79 on-site staff, even those with science degrees or
masters degrees in environmental design, aren't allowed in the
compressor room -- even when the compressors are off. I think maybe
Brian Green finally just went in the compressor room and turned off the
switch. But now, with the Optimira system, the fans are turned off
seasonally by a central computer program.

But the Kyoto points saved on the fan may be lost again when a rink
house has multiple uses at different hours, as some including ours do.
Then complicated computer settings have to be devised, instead of just
letting the on-site staff adjust the thermostat as needed. We'll see how
it goes.

A little more background, from 2005:
http://www.dufferinpark.ca/research/wiki/wiki.php/Cinergy.CinergyCorrespondenceDiary

But that's old stuff now. 

Jutta


Henry Severeide wrote: 

Don

Yes I am aware of these changes, there is a major Energy Conservation
programme being implemented in all A.I.Rs in the South, North, East, and
West District, through Energy Waste and Management department, and I am
involved in the programme,[ for South District] in controlling
temperature, etc, and Parks are involved in the refrigeration portion of
the programme.

During the warranty period Optemera Controls are responsible for
changes.

Henry





-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: Arena retrofit update
Date: 	Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:11:59 -0400
From: 	Jim Kamstra <jkamstra@toronto.ca>
To: 	Jutta Mason <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca>
CC: 	Lea Ambros <leambros@gmail.com>, Belinda Cole <belinda@magma.ca>, Elena Gruia <egruia@toronto.ca>


Hi Jutta,

My reply was not related to your FOI requests, but due to other inquires 
about the project that reminded me that I had not replied to you.  The case 
study will be more general in nature focusing on the measures that were 
implemented across all the facilities.  Doing a case study on a specific 
indoor and outdoor rink is a good idea however and maybe we will do that as 
well.

Jim

>>> Jutta Mason <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca> 10/5/2007 12:55 PM >>>

hello Jim,

I assume that your e-mail was prompted by notification of my freedom of 
information requests. As you know, we'll be examining the 705 pages of 
recommended measures sometime around the end of this month. And once we get 
to read the various minutes and correspondence relating to the retrofit 
work as it was being done, I'm hoping we'll be even better oriented. 
Hopefully that will make any additional freedom of information requests 
more focused.

It sounds as though you may have allocated funds by type of measure 
(depending on the subcontractor who did the work) rather than by location?

I'm hoping that your project case study will also deal with an outdoor 
rink. We know more about how they work than about indoor arenas. If your 
case study is of an indoor arena only, please do an outdoor rink as well. 
Dufferin Rink would be good.

I am aware that not all the documentation I asked for even exists. It will 
be helpful to us to find out what pieces of information never existed at 
all, and never will.

Jutta

Jim Kamstra wrote:
> Jutta,
>  
> Sorry for not getting back to you sooner.
>  
> 1.  Funds were not specifically dedicated to individual arenas/rinks.  We 
had more recommended measures than we had funds.
>  
> 2.  We are working on the utility savings reports.  They are incomplete 
and therefore would not give an accurate picture.  The first quarterly 
report will be ready in January 2008.
>  
> 3.  A project case study is being prepared and will be completed in the 
next couple of weeks.  I will send a copy to you when complete.  We are 
preparing this for Parks and other interested parties.
>  
> Jim
>
> >>> Jutta Mason <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca> 8/21/2007 12:29 PM >>>
> Thanks Jim --
> So 14 out of the 100 possible sites were not retrofitted through 
Optimira, including most of the BOM arenas.
>
> I know that utility prices have gone up everywhere, so I'm not surprised 
to hear that arena/rink costs have gone up too. What I would like to see is
>
> 1. which projects the unused rink/arena energy retrofit money went to
> 2. current and recent-year comparative utility-use numbers and costs for 
arenas/rinks
> 3. the summary report for the Cinergy/Vestar/Optimira energy retrofit 
project (I assume that this project is completed).
>
> Since it sounds like no such report has yet gone to Council, could you 
let me know where to find it? I am doing a handbook now for our research 
centre, on the Parks/Forestry/Recreation budget. That information is one 
piece I need.
>
> Thanks
>
> Jutta
>
> Jim Kamstra wrote:
>> Hi Jutta, 
>>
>> The following arenas were not included in the program for various
>> reasons:
>>
>> Stephen Leacock,  ArenaWallace-Emerson C.CCommunity Centre, Joseph J.
>> Piccininni R.CCommunity Centre, Nathan Philip Sq.AIR, Mel Lastman
>> Square, Glen Long C.C./A.I.R., Moss Park Arena, North Toronto Memorial
>> Arena, Forest Hill Memorial Arena, William H. Bolton Arena, McCormick
>> Arena, Weston Lions Arena, Lakeshore Lions Arena, Albert Campbell
>> Outdoor RinkAIR.
>>
>> There has not been any other reports sent to Council or Committee of
>> Council on this project.  Attached is the one report that was sent
>> initially.
>>
>> While we have been reducing energy use in the arenas energy costs have
>> actually gone up due to inflation.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>>
>>   
>>>>> Jutta Mason <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca> 8/12/2007 10:29 AM >>>
>>>>>         
>> Hello Jim, 
>>
>> You may remember me, you and I talked about the arena energy retrofit
>> project in early 2006. Would you be able to send me a link to any
>> subsequent reports on this project, to the relevant committee of
>> council? I can only find this, on the city web site:
>> http://www.toronto.ca/environment/initiatives/arena_retrofits.htm#project,
>> and it's too general. 
>>
>> I need an update but it needs to be more specific. For instance, I
>> gather that not all the arenas ended up signing on to the project. Also,
>> the Parks, Forestry and Recreation budget report says that utility costs
>> have gone UP, but there are no specifics. And in any public version of
>> that budget, I see no utility cost breakdowns.
>>
>> Would you be able to direct me to more detailed reports submitted to
>> councillors?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Jutta Mason
>>
>>   


Content last modified on February 10, 2010, at 01:47 AM EST