Technology
We are not selling a machine
We sell heat, cooling and hot water, delivered and maintained for the term. The equipment is the means, not the product. We choose what fits your building, your risers, your electrical service and your energy prices. If different equipment would serve the building better in ten years, replacing it is our cost and our decision, not your levy.
You will not find a manufacturer’s name on this site. You will find them in your proposal, with the reasons.
Heating, cooling and hot water from one plant
A boiler makes heat and nothing else. A heat pump moves heat. In winter it takes heat from outside air and puts it into the building. In summer it takes heat out of the building and puts it outside. One plant, two duties.
The same plant makes domestic hot water, the hot water at the taps and showers. In most buildings that is a large share of the year-round energy bill, because people shower in July as well as January.
Gas heat pumps and electric heat pumps
A gas heat pump uses gas to move heat rather than simply to make it, so it delivers more heat from the same fuel than a conventional gas boiler does. An electric heat pump does the same work with electricity and no combustion in the building.
Both are heat pumps. Both can heat, cool and make hot water. They differ in what they cost to run, what they ask of your electrical service, and what they ask of your gas service.
Why we choose per building
We look at four things. What your risers and suite equipment can carry. What your electrical service can support without a costly upgrade. What your fuel bills say the building actually uses. And what gas and electricity are likely to cost over the term.
Sometimes the answer is electric. Sometimes it is gas. Sometimes it is a hybrid plant that can run either way. We show your council the reasoning, not only the conclusion.
Metering and monitoring
We install a meter that measures the energy delivered to your building, so the energy line on your statement is measured and not estimated. Your council can ask to see the readings at any time.
We also monitor the plant remotely. Pressures, temperatures and run times come back to us continuously. That is how we find a fault, and how we report each year on what the plant actually did.
Fuel flexibility
Where the design is a hybrid plant, we run whichever energy source is cheaper that season. Because energy is billed at our cost with no markup, the difference lands on your energy line and not in our margin. We have no reason to run the more expensive fuel and no way to profit if we did.
Piping
The assessment reviews your risers and your domestic hot water piping, because old pipe limits what a new plant can do. Where renewing some of that piping makes sense, it can be scoped into the agreement rather than becoming a separate project with a separate levy. Where it does not, we say so and design around it.
Programs we work within
Where your building qualifies, we use CleanBC study funding for the building assessment, and we work within BC Hydro and FortisBC programs on the equipment. Programs change, so we confirm what is available for your building at the time of the assessment rather than promising anything in advance. We prepare the technical material each application needs, and where a program allows us to file on the building’s behalf, we do.
Request a no-cost building assessment.
Tell us about your building. We will reply and arrange a visit.
Email service@commonworks.ca