PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
“It’s possible to build everywhere
as long as you understand the local
difficulties and you’re capable to
work with them.”
– Philippe Gesret, Bouygues Building Canada Inc.
arrayed outside the building, or in the case of thermo-piles,
into the rings at the top of the pile. This transfers the heat
out of the ground into the colder winter air, which cools and
recondenses the vapour into a liquid that travels back down
and continues in a loop – boiling, travelling up, condensing,
going back down.
Passive cooling technology creates robust
winter freezeback
“As soon as we activate the system, it maintains a frozen
state for the life of the system,” said Justin Panagapko, one
of Arctic Foundations’ owners. “It works automatically,
operating faster and more efficiently as the temperature
drops. So if it’s -35°C outside, the radiators allow for more
condensing than when it’s only marginally colder.”
Heat transfer will only occur when the lower end of the
unit is warmer than the higher end, the system isn’t designed
to cycle all year round, Panagapko explains, but to create
much more robust freezeback in winter to combat the
increasing thaw in summer caused by rising temperatures.
“With this system, there is no need for any maintenance or
electrical input from the building – a passive thermosyphon
installation requires zero cost per year to operate for the life
of the building.”
The system, which has been engineered to work for 50
years under current conditions, includes a specially formulated
one-metre deep aggregate-based pad embedded with
¾-inch carbon-steel piping and a series of sensors that
monitor the temperature below the building to ensure that
the permafrost remains frozen. Thermosyphon systems can
also be equipped with connections to a mechanized energydriven
compression system that can cause the phase change
mechanically rather than using ambient cold air, allowing
for year-round freezeback if needed.
“We had very short windows of time,” said Gesret. “The
system was decided upon in August 2013 and we placed the
first order for materials, a kilometre of pipes, in September,
which arrived on the last boat going north in 2013,” just
before the sea froze. Everything in the far north starts to
shut down between October and November, Gesret says.
“By doing that we were able to break ground by July and
August 2014 – we had to go fast to complete 15,000 square
metres of footprint in two months’ time,” including laying
Parts · Service · Sales · Rentals
PILING CANADA 51