by Tim Barrett
HVAC
ELEVATORS
FIRE PROTECTION
PARKING AND ACCESS
Built in 1966, Calgary House is owned and operated by Manulife Real Estate and is located on the corner of 6th Avenue and 5th Street S.W., across from the old court house. The building is home to a wide variety of offices as well as retail outlets and a restaurant which are located on the main floor. Manulife has spent considerable dollars and effort bringing Calgary House into the 90’s through extensive upgrades and although it is not an overly large building, standing at 14 stories with an area of 143,000 square feet it is somewhat the "Ferrari" of buildings as it is fairly small yet has a complex mechanical system.
The HVAC systems are computer controlled by a Landis and Gyr System 600 with the additional interfacing, trending and graphics capability of an on-site Landis and Gyr "Insight" computer which monitors six other Manulife buildings along with Calgary House via modem. This trending is ideal for the preventative maintenance programs.
The tower is serviced by four main air handling units located in the penthouse, two supply (interior and perimeter) and a return fan for each. Heating and air-conditioning is provided by means of a two pipe perimeter, constant volume induction system with an interior zone equipped with recently added variable air volume boxes. This type of system alternately heats and cools both the air and water according to seasonal demands. In summer mode, the system is sending down warmed air and chilled water to the perimeter induction units and in winter mode, the process is reversed.
The interior zone is heated or cooled by the VAV (Variable Air Volume) boxes which are controlled by the tenant with a single acting Johnston pneumatic thermostat. The tenant controls the perimeter with the use of a double acting pneumatic thermostat which operates an induction valve controlling the flow of either heated or cooled water through the induction coil.
Heating and cooling (absorption chiller) is provided by two CB 125 Cleaver Brooks low pressure steam boilers each capable of producing 850 lbs of steam per hour. The boilers work harder providing steam to the 310 ton Carrier absorption chiller on a hot day than they do on the coldest heating day of the year. All the main floor is cooled separately from the tower by a 45 ton Carrier reciprocating chiller located in the basement. The main floor is heated with reheat coils located downstream of three separate air handlers located in the basement.
Over the winter of 1996, Calgary House has seen it’s four high speed Otis elevators modernized from their original 1966 technology to a "state of the art" Thompson microprocessor dispatch system. The new equipment’s performance and efficiency can best be summed up by saying that it has had the effect of adding another elevator to the building without actually adding one. The upgrade has made a vast improvement in electrical efficiencies and over all reliability.
Calgary House is well protected with a Simplex 4100 fire panel and is completely sprinkled, with the exception of the penthouse mechanical room. Water pressure to the system is assured by a Fiat four cylinder diesel coupled to a Duro fire pump. This system was installed in 1992.
Calgary House has a 64 stall indoor parkade uniquely located on the second and third levels of the building. The parkade is accessed from the lane behind the building. In 1992, the building was connected to the plus fifteen walkway with access to the walkway through the parkade on the second level.
After hours access is managed by a on-site "proprietary" computer controlled card access system with 24 hour monitoring via closed circuit television (cctv) backed up to a VCR.
At the time of this writing, Calgary House is 100% leased.
Above photo article was provided by Tim Barrett. Tim welcomes any questions you have regarding his building and he can be reached at 403-264-4980.
First published November 1996
