“For every one percent increase in GDP, resource usage has risen, on average, 0.4 percent,” according to analysis by information technology services and consulting company Accenture in a paper titled Circular Advantage.

“This is not sustainable,” writes Adriana Begeer in the firm’s blog. She is a senior manager and supply chain operations lead for the resources industry at Accenture. “The current rate of resource use exceeds the ability of the earth to replenish these sources. We’ll consume three planets’ worth of resources by 2050 based on the current pace.”

Taking a look at the high-growth energy sector, diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategies have increasingly been adopted to increase both financial performance and innovation, as innovation is a crucial component in dealing with depleting resources and ensuring the resilience of the sector.

D&I are two concepts that are interconnected but not necessarily interchangeable. Diversity can be defined as the spectrum of innate human experiences resulting from race, gender, age, social class or religious and ethnic values, for example. The concept of valuing diversity began in North America in the mid-1960s and became adopted worldwide soon after.

Inclusion pertains to empowering, involving, and recognizing the dignity of all people. It is about promoting and sustaining that sense of belonging by respecting one’s values, beliefs, talents, and cultures. A focus on diversity cannot negate the importance of inclusion. Once a diverse staff has been hired, inclusion makes them feel welcome and retains talent.

Historically, women and ethnic minorities have not been proportionally represented in the energy industries such as oil, gas, and renewable energy. For this reason governments, industry associations, and energy companies are actively adopting D&I strategies to ensure that those who want to work in the energy industry can take advantage of equal opportunities to pursue their ambitions.

According to a survey conducted by technology company Diversio for Equal by30, there is still work to be done. “Women account for 32 percent of the energy sector while racial and ethnic minorities account for 22 percent, with Black and Latinx individuals underrepresented compared to population,” said the report.

D&I must become a priority for the energy sector to be able to meet the demands placed on energy resources and optimize human capital.

Another study by the Energy Workforce & Technology Council in collaboration with research partner Accenture states, that there have been some improvements. “The share of women in U.S. oil and gas workforce rose to 19 percent in 2021 from 16 percent in 2018. Women are more equally distributed between business support and technical roles,” the study said, continuing, “Ethnic minority representation within the sector lags the overall U.S. workforce and faces similar challenges in representation when it comes to management and top leader roles.”

The council notes that D&I’s first goal is to both find and retain diverse and innovative talents while providing advancements in opportunities that would, in turn, enable resiliency in the energy sector workforce.

“As women and minorities left at larger rates than the overall U.S. workforce, this brings greater pressure on oil and gas companies pursuing inclusion and diversity goals, and that is a challenge,” said the council’s Chief Executive Officer Leslie Beyer to industry news platform OGV Energy. “Diversity will remain key to creating the new ideas that companies need to deliver a safe, affordable and sustainable low-carbon future.”

Heidi Lynne Kurter, senior contributor for Forbes, in her July 2020 article: 4 Ways To Create A More Diverse Workplace That Inspires Innovation, cited a Harvard Business Review report that indicated that companies focused on hiring, retaining, and developing diverse talent are more likely to surpass the competition. “This is because diversity brings together different cultures, races, genders, generations and backgrounds to provide new perspectives, ideas and solutions,” she noted.

To achieve more diversity, industry associations such as The Association of Women in Energy (AWE) have sprung up. AWE is devoted to, “helping women in the energy industry. AWE provides opportunities for women to meet other energy industry professionals and to enhance their knowledge of issues facing the industry. Our mission is to encourage and unite women in energy.”

Government programs are also doing their part. The Office of Minority Programs in the Energy Workforce Division located in Washington D.C., states that it, “supports entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation for diverse communities in the high-growth energy sector.” It adds that this support extends into the Department of Energy (DOE) and research opportunities. “These efforts directly support the Administration’s goals of job creation and increasing business opportunities for underrepresented communities… We work with our partners to develop tools, resources, and technical assistance opportunities to increase participation in the energy economy.”

The Energy Workforce Division’s initiative, Women in Energy, “aims to reduce knowledge gaps that prevent women from entering and/or advancing in the energy sector.” This initiative contains, “workforce development programs aimed at increasing access for women to enter into the energy field.”

The United States recognizes that remaining a leader in the global clean energy economy and garnering the knowledge to combat the challenges of climate change, requires attaining and securing a diverse talent pool.

For this reason, the Minorities in Energy Initiative was created by the U.S. energy department. This program, “will strive to ensure that our energy workforce more fully reflects the diversity and strengths of the country,” according to a September 2013 announcement on the Department of Energy’s website, which went on to say “Historically, minorities and women have been vastly underrepresented in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields that drive the energy sector… The Minorities in Energy Initiative collaborates to, “inspire underrepresented Americans to pursue careers in energy and supporting their advancement into leadership positions.” With regard to the program, Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz was noted as saying, “We can only be successful in achieving our energy goals if we are inclusive of America’s diverse communities.”

1977 saw the birth of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE). The concept for the AABE arose from the mind of Clarke A. Watson from Denver, Colorado, who owned an energy-consulting firm, Watson Associates, a division of Westland Companies. The mission of the AABE, in part, is to, “serve as a resource for policy discussion of the economic, social and political impact of environmental and energy policies on African Americans and other minorities,” notes the AABE website.

Also noted is the encouragement for both the public and private sectors, “to be responsive to the problems, goals and aspirations of African Americans in energy-related fields and to, “encourage African American students to pursue careers in energy-related fields and to provide scholarships and other financial aid for such students.” The AABE annually awards more than $350,000 in scholarships “Each of our scholars has indicated an interest in pursuing an energy-related career,” the AABE site indicates.

In Canada’s energy sector, Indigenous peoples can play a role in the success of energy transition. Canada’s Indigenous Peoples are already stewards of the land, environment, and natural resources. “Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians see the value of greater Indigenous participation in Canada’s energy future and want to ensure that Indigenous communities benefit more directly from energy development,” states the Government of Canada’s Generation Energy Council Report.

The report goes on to note, “As part of this new relationship, Indigenous people must be included as partners in shaping Canada’s energy future,” further stating that this is an opportunity, “for Indigenous Peoples and communities to take their place at the table and help drive the evolution of Canada’s energy sector.”

A number of Indigenous-owned energy projects have become a reality, and 50-50 partnerships between renewable energy companies and First Nations across Canada have been established. “There are already an estimated 31 such projects underway or completed across Canada,” the Council reports.

The energy industry faces the challenge of both recruiting and retaining a diversified and inclusive workforce, so D&I will play a crucial role in recruiting the best talent to replace an ageing workforce. “The energy challenges of tomorrow require a diversity of perspectives to tackle global and local issues,” as the Columbia/SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy explains in a 2019 report titled The Nature of the Energy Industry Future Workforce Challenge, which stated further that, “Diverse workforces also promote the kind of creative solutions needed to solve 21st-century energy challenges.”

A more diverse and inclusive workforce has been proved to be more innovative, ensures retention and results in happier and more productive employees. Beth Bowen, managing director for the Americas at Brunel, stressed the importance of diversity in the company blog. “Embracing diversity will be vital for companies looking to manage the ongoing energy transition in the coming years… We must challenge ourselves and each other to pursue workplace diversity with renewed purpose in order to balance the representation of all cultures and voices and enable the industry to reach its full potential.”

For the past century, the North American energy sector has proven to be a substantial catalyst for industrial and economic growth as well as social development. Providing power through renewable resources rather than maintaining conventional technologies will be crucial to local economies in the future.

If for this reason alone, industries must value the role of minority workforce development in the transition toward sustainable energy. Diverse talents will be the ultimate solution in realizing this new age of energy use and resources.

The post An Energy Sector in Transition<p class="company">How Diversity and Inclusion Will Meet the Challenges</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

The global economy continues to face tough times. In Canada, the exact amount spent on COVID-19 relief efforts – including vaccines, health care for the ill, ventilators, emergency subsidies for businesses, sickness benefits for individuals, and personal protective equipment (PPE) – is unknown. By some estimates, though, the federal government is bleeding $1.5 billion every day, and this shows no signs of trending downwards as the Omicron variant spreads and case counts keep climbing.

But although the pandemic has revealed many of our society’s structural shortcomings, including the frailty of supply chains worldwide, it has also brought opportunities for growth closer to home, especially in Canada’s resource sector.

Supporting Indigenous-led forestry
With about 43 percent of Canada’s land area covered by forests, it’s not surprising that there existed a forest industry to support the building of the nation centuries before Confederation in 1867, providing the earliest settlers with an invaluable material for construction, fuel, furniture, and more.

Evolving over the years, forestry today supports over 300,000 jobs coast to coast, provides for hundreds of communities, and adds over $26 billion every year to Canada’s economy. But like other sectors, forestry faces its share of obstacles and has done so particularly during the pandemic.

To make up for retiring workers and a general shortage of staff, other resource industries have been taking up the challenge and diversifying to future-proof their workforces. One of the most notable, mining, is looking at ways of improving its male-centric reputation and being more inclusive by hiring women at all levels, from mine sites to boardrooms. And industries such as construction are making efforts to bring on more women to fill positions in carpentering, drywalling, plumbing, and many other under-employed trades.

Last May, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan Jr., announced calls for the next round of proposals for the IFI. Recognizing the important role Indigenous communities play in the nation’s forestry sector, the proposals are aimed at supporting Indigenous participation in “forestry-related opportunities, businesses, careers and governance,” according to Natural Resources Canada.

The proposals add, “The forest sector brings value, both economically and spiritually, to Indigenous communities. This initiative builds a stronger Indigenous forest sector that thrives and sustains its economic resilience during and post-COVID 19.”

Representing a forward-thinking investment for Indigenous communities and the entire nation in a post-pandemic world, Natural Resources Canada has allocated $13 million to support Indigenous forestry projects across Canada. To date, the IFI has committed approximately $6.8 million to projects, with some $6.2 million available for the period 2021 to 2023.

In its 2019 Budget, the Government of Canada pledged funds for Indigenous forest programs to help address issues of representation in the sector, including increased gender diversity.

While the IFI brings many benefits, including greater Indigenous participation in forestry such as careers and governance, greater collaboration and investment with Indigenous persons and others involved in natural resources such as industry, stakeholders, and non-governmental organizations, only specific project types are funded.

However, these include training and forestry skills development, environmental stewardship, developing forestry-related technologies, tools and services, and others with a focus on forest resource management and clean technology.

Eligibility criteria
Although applications to the Indigenous Forestry Initiative can be made throughout the year, they are reviewed depending on availability of funds, and applicants must meet specific criteria to apply. The latest round of decisions has been delayed, but will be made available by February 22, 2022.

To be eligible, project types, recipients, and expenditures must meet certain benchmarks:

• Qualifying recipients include Indigenous communities or governments, such as Métis community organizations, self-governing First Nations, Indian Act bands, tribal councils or other similar entities such as general council, academic institutions and research associations operating with Indigenous partners, and for-profit and not-for-profit entities with 50 percent or higher Indigenous ownership.

• To receive project support, applicants must justify expenditure to support their projects (including costs) in 10 eligible categories.

• Eligible categories include training and skills development, professional and technical services, salaries and benefits, travel, costs of planning and design, and capital costs such as project-related infrastructure, machinery, equipment, and supplies, including fuel.

• Some costs – such as those related to developing the IFI Application and lobbying – are not eligible.

Like other government projects, the IFI is competition-based, and only completed applications meeting eligibility criteria including project type, eligible recipients such as national and regional Indigenous organizations, and eligible expenses to support the project will be given the green light for further assessment.

Subject matter experts such as those with an in-depth knowledge of forestry, bio-products manufacturing, finance, and business development, will sit on panels under the oversight of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to evaluate the merit of projects.

“To the extent possible, such panels will be gender-balanced, majority Indigenous, and will include Indigenous youth developing skills in one or more of the expert subject areas,” according to the latest version of the Indigenous Forestry Initiative.

Driving inclusion
Along with the IFI, the recent renewal of other Strategic Partnership Initiatives (SPIs) – namely the Full Forest Value Initiatives and the True North Treasure Initiative – will see another $10 million aimed at creating other economic opportunities in Canada, especially in the mining sector.

“Renewing the True North Treasure and Forest Full Value initiatives will support continued Indigenous economic growth in Quebec, specifically in the mining and forestry sectors,” Indigenous Services minister Patty Hajdu said in a media release.

The $4.5 million True North Treasure Initiative – commencing its fourth phase with investments from 2022 to 2025 – will further support relationships between Indigenous communities and private/public sector partners.

The $4.5 million Forest Full Value Initiative, with investments also extending from 2022 to 2025, will assist Indigenous communities in Quebec to “leverage forest resources in a sustainable manner,” foster important partnerships, create jobs, “and improve their economic activities related to the food and energy sectors while honouring their cultures and traditions.”

For years, Canada’s forest sector has played a key role in the success of the nation’s economy, providing employment, social, and environmental benefits. Through the Indigenous Forestry Initiative, the country will continue advancing its position right here at home.

For more information on Canada’s Indigenous Forestry Initiative, visit: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/science-and-data/funding-partnerships/funding-opportunities/forest-sector-funding-programs/indigenous-forestry-initiative/13125

The post Tapping into Talent<p class="company">Canada's Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI)</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Armand established his company’s roots in the small town of Cobalt, Ontario, in the early 1970s, and his son, Mike Carriere, joined the company after graduating from college, taking over management fully in 1974. The company moved locations to Sudbury, Ontario in 1990 due to the closure of its primary customers in and around Cobalt and has maintained its head office in Sudbury ever since. Since 2007 the company has also held a sales and distribution office in Timmins to support the local mining camp and recently expanded fabrication in the Quebec region.

According to General Manager Mickey Obradovich, Mike Carriere and the rest of the CIS team have experienced every up and down a business like this can bring, along with tremendous, continued success over the past five decades and counting.

Since its inception, the focus of CIS as a business has remained on the mining industry, which makes up over 90 percent of its overall customer base. Some additional diversity lies in the company’s work with aggregate, construction, and forestry outfits, both at the processing and production levels; however, most of its efforts have been focused on mining within the past dozen years.

CIS’s manufacturing efforts for the surface and underground mining industry focus on three key areas: wear protection for rock-moving components (buckets, truck bodies, chutes, etc.); design, build, and repair of rock-moving components (buckets, truck bodies, chutes, etc.); raise lining systems to create routes for escape, vent, and ore transfer. Carving out a unique set of products and engineering solutions has helped the business establish itself in the mining industry it knows so well.

When it comes to standing out in a crowded market, Obradovich feels that the people behind CIS are a major distinguishing factor of the company, as “they are just as dedicated as the company in providing the best quality service to customers.” Indeed, customer satisfaction is a company value that goes together with its high standard for product quality; as Obradovich defines it, “The success of our customers totally depends on our people delivering exceptional value… if we aren’t delivering value, there’s no satisfaction.”

To this end, CIS has recently returned to a boots-on-the-ground style of customer service, a traditional approach for the company as it had previously taken a more travel-heavy approach to operations and relations before both the advent of COVID and rise of online services. Now, CIS employees are trying to be face-to-face with customers as much as possible, as this approach leads to greater client satisfaction. This is key given that the mining sector is one that has not completely adopted online functionality and whose owners and investors operate on an old-school, personal basis.

“Our main focus is to provide the best quality products, on time and at a competitive market price,” says Obradovich, a goal toward which the company continues to evolve its manufacturing methods with augmented automation which enhances the skilled labourer’s capabilities and precision. These projects are overseen by a continuous improvement group, itself a part of a larger new technology group, which works on implementing new ideas and plans to improve cost and quality.

Aside from evolving its internal processes, CIS has recently invested heavily into an additional production facility located in the Quebec area with the purchase of land and buildings just outside of the town of Malartic. This investment originally took shape around four years ago, related to a sales channel to support the customers in the region. The company now sports sales offices and fabrication facilities in the area as well as substantial storage space to further support mining both in the town and the province at large.

“This is a significant investment for us,” Obradovich emphasizes. Although a long battle, at nearly five years, the evolution of CIS in the Malartic area represents even greater company and industry growth potential than could be achieved otherwise.

Like many businesses in the mining sector, CIS continues to contend with challenges related to the supply and demand of steel, which can be difficult to obtain currently. As well, many greenfield mining projects (projects with minimal to no previous exploration) continue to move forward in the company’s regular regions, en route to becoming full-production mines. Although the company’s budgets didn’t necessarily account for the coronavirus pandemic nor for the volatility of global steel availability, customers are moving forward with projects and CIS has not seen any reduction in fabrication or steel-making processes in over two years.

This is not to say that CIS has been unaffected by the pandemic, but its effects have thankfully been limited thus far. A fourth wave of the virus (along with an anticipated fifth wave to come) is hitting regions of Ontario and Quebec hard, but the 130-plus employees of CIS have managed to stay free of infection. This has allowed production to continue and project targets and budgets alike to be maintained.

“We’ve conquered the beast,” Obradovich shares, “but there’s still potential of [the virus] happening here.”

Aside from this more topical concern, CIS is constantly on the lookout for skilled labour in today’s job market. The company continues to develop recruitment campaigns to attract new workers. The business has seen initial success from the efforts of an international hiring program with new talent emerging from Mexico, and further efforts to improve and implement automated systems will look to aid this recruitment process and make the company’s inner workings a bit more user-friendly.

Looking ahead to a new year, CIS intends to stay the course with its current rate of growth, with plans to add new equipment to its existing facilities. The addition of the new Quebec facility will likely start contributing 20 percent of the company’s overall revenue by the end of 2022, which represents a significant jump. “The Quebec region is one of the hottest in the world [for mining] and has lots of diversity in [its] active mines,” Obradovich explains.

The company’s home regions of Ontario and Quebec are still quite active, with double-digit growth predicted to surpass that of fiscal year 2021. Indeed, the current potential for growth with CIS is practically immeasurable. This represents an exciting time for the company, as it looks to turn potential challenges into both internal profit and a high-quality product for its loyal customers.

The post Bringing a Family History and People-First Focus to the Mining Sector<p class="company">Carriere Industrial Supply Limited</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Enter Royal Truck & Equipment, a company dedicated to improving work zone safety, protecting both workers and drivers from injury. Founded in 1982 by Rob Roy, the company has developed a reputation for best practices in the workplace, predominantly in relation to work zone safety by incorporating superior fleet designs, particularly for TMA trucks.

A TMA (truck mounted attenuator) truck is a safety vehicle strategically positioned in a highway work zone to act as a protective barrier, shielding employees from oncoming motorists. Using an impact attenuator, also known as a crash cushion, the truck absorbs the collision’s kinetic energy to protect the impacting driver—and its need is on the rise.

“To say that work zone crashes are almost inevitable is practically an understatement at this point,” says Director of Marketing Theresa Delgado, who adds that the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) conducted a highway work zone study in 2019 and found that 67 percent of highway contractors reported having a crash in one of their work zones that year. “The study also concluded that 73 percent of contractors reported the risk of highway work zone crashes was higher than 10 years ago.”

Looking at the crash data reported by the FHWA, 842 people died in highway work zone crashes that year compared to 757 the year prior, says Delgado, an 11 percent increase and the largest percentage increase of highway work zone fatalities since 2006. These sobering statistics mean Royal’s expertise is more needed than ever.

“When we look at why this is happening, it really comes down to a few key changes in driver behavior,” says Delgado. “We’ve got distracted driving, which is typically texting these days, and driving while being tired or under the influence. What’s interesting is that speeding has become more prevalent in work zone intrusions. This is a result of more people working from home or being out of work, so there are fewer vehicles on the road and unfortunately drivers take advantage of having more open, less congested roadways.”

The company continues to address real-life liability challenges that highway contractors face, along with potential risk-mitigating solutions in light of escalating dangerous driving across the country.

“When we look at what’s happening with the changes in how people are driving and the increases in incidents and level of severity, it’s impossible to deny that things are getting worse,” Delgado says. “What’s interesting, though, is how contractors are not only battling to keep their workers safe, but also battling in the courtroom in dealing with liability issues.”

Delgado cites an example of what could and has happened in the past: An intoxicated driver speeds into a work zone and crashes. The driver loses their life, and their surviving spouse then sues the contractor, stating there was either no warning or inadequate warning that the lane was closed. The plaintiff might also say there wasn’t enough warning of a work zone ahead.

“If that were true—that there wasn’t enough warning given and that the work zone wasn’t set up properly—the contractor would be liable,” she says. “In consulting with Greg Stefan, Vice President of Risk Control at Arch Insurance Group, we’re learning that not only has this become a more common scenario, but there’s also been a rise in nuclear verdicts: Verdicts where the jury awards an exceptional amount often surpassing $10 million.”

Historically, when it comes to liability and prevention in relation to work zone incidents, Royal’s role in safety management has focused on protection, rather than prevention.

“We’ve always focused on the integrity and design of the vehicle to ensure workers are protected as well as the impacting driver,” says Delgado. “We’re proud of how we’ve been able to accomplish this in how we build our trucks.”

This also helps with liability, she adds: If the driver of the impacting vehicle is walking away with minimal or no injuries and if the workers are protected and uninjured, there is less chance of or reason for a lawsuit. Additionally, Royal is a final stage manufacturer, meaning if an incident were to occur, the company would be liable in the event of a lawsuit. But not every TMA manufacturer has this designation.

Over the past few years, however, Royal has found that just having the TMA truck there for protection isn’t enough for contractors to minimize risk and reduce liability.

“We realized that preventing the incident is just as important as protecting the workers when an accident occurs, and we wanted to be a part of helping resolve or at least alleviate some of that pressure on our customers,” says Delgado.

With Royal’s expanding product offering, there are four key areas where the company can help minimize risk and liability: Virtual Reality Training, Connected Technology, DVR Systems, and as a part of that offering, AI Recording Systems.

When considering what it takes to prevent an accident, one clear and obvious factor is ensuring workers are properly trained, says Delgado, which is where Royal plays a significant role in safety management, facilitating multi-faceted training for contractors setting up a work zone and performing highway repairs or maintenance.

“We don’t aim to cover all aspects of training,” she adds. “Workers need to know how to properly set up the job site according to the traffic control plan, how to read the plan, how to operate the equipment, and so on. The courses and training provided by ATSSA (the American Traffic Safety Services Association) and other safety services and organizations are extremely beneficial, so our goal is not to replace traditional training, but to provide enhanced supplemental training using more technologically advanced methods.”

Royal’s Virtual Reality training provides that and beyond. These programs require a laptop and VR headset that are easily transported and distributed, and also provide on-demand training. Programs also cover a range of core skills training, from reading and setting up a traffic control plan, to tri-axle dump truck pre-trip inspection, cone retrieving, and flagging operations.

“The programs all include a testing element, so you’re able to see how well you did and what you need to work on before you even step into a live work zone,” says Delgado. “Not only does this method of training reduce the risk associated with training workers in a live, dangerous environment, but also allows you to test and evaluate job candidates or even existing employees to ensure they’re comfortable doing the job. We always say if they’re afraid to lean into traffic to retrieve cones on a moving virtual truck, they’re probably not ready to be out in real traffic yet.”

Royal has also recognized the critical issue of contractors’ liability with regards to advanced warning, and so provides connected technology solutions, specifically a line of products called ConnectedTech by iCone. These products connect to clients’ existing equipment and when activated, transmit a signal that alerts drivers of activity in their upcoming route via GPS app.

“We found this to be so important that we started adding the arrow board kit to all of our trucks last year,” says Delgado. “Now, when our customer turns on the arrow board on one of our trucks, the connected device immediately begins transmitting that vehicle’s location and traffic pattern changes like lane closures to approaching motorists.”

Earlier this year, Royal Truck also began offering a ConnectedTech kit for hazard lights which several tow and fire companies have started using, an iPin device that drops into a traffic cone, and a baton kit that attaches to any standard flagging baton. The company has also expanded its recording options after many years of offering a DVR recording system that captures footage moments before, during, and after an incident occurs.

“In recent years, we were able to integrate that system with our advanced radar board so when an incident does occur, the DVR captures not only what happened but also the speed at time of impact which can be seen overlaid on the captured footage,” explains Delgado. “As we’ve expanded our product offering and our focus to go beyond post-incident support to incident prevention, we’ve added an AI system offering that’s designed to detect events and harsh driving and provide real-time in-cab feedback to the driver while also recording to the DVR system.”

Essentially, this system includes an AI camera in the vehicle’s cab that responds to texting, smoking, using a cell phone, fatigue, tailgating, lane departure, and many other unsafe scenarios via an audible alert. The system then provides feedback to help the driver correct whatever unsafe event is occurring and decrease the likelihood of an accident, also reducing the contractor’s liability if an incident occurs.

“Our biggest challenge in helping our customers reduce liability and prevent incidents isn’t just keeping up with the ever-changing environment, but getting ahead of it,” Delgado says. “We wouldn’t have anticipated increased speeding incidents due to less traffic congestion as a result of a pandemic. I don’t think many people could’ve predicted—or even imagined—we’d be dealing with what we are dealing with at this point. But it’s real, and it’s happening, and we’re working hard day in and day out to stay on top of what these contractors are facing and working to come up with viable solutions to help.”

Delgado posits that, a few years ago, Royal would say its biggest accomplishment has been saving lives, with the quality and engineering of builds being the backbone of its success. Now, however, she says the company’s biggest accomplishment is the ability to evolve from a company that focuses on building the safest trucks possible for the greatest protection for workers, to a company that has been able to bring technology-based products to the industry to help prevent incidents and reduce liability.

Looking ahead, Royal has some “pretty lofty aspirations,” according to Delgado.

“We’ve looked at how can we make it safer for those in our industry, how can we help with accident and incident prevention, how can we help with reducing liability, and we’ve spent a lot of time focused in our own industry and highway work zones and construction,” she says. “Over the coming years we’re really starting to branch out and set some goals of working in other industries.”

For instance, Royal has sold numerous trucks and equipment in the utility industry, has been working with first responders and fire companies, and is continuously looking at products such as vehicles, virtual reality training or connected technology in order to figure where those products could be utilized, not only with preventing accidents but also protecting workers.

“Our trajectory is taking us down the path of seeing how we can bring all of these life-saving, liability-reducing products into other industries to help those folks as well,” says Delgado, adding that Royal’s vision, passion and drive means maintaining safety and continuing to develop products in the future.

“We’re very visionary here, very forward-thinking and we go beyond just a safe build,” she says. “We look at what other products we can bring to market across all different Industries where any worker is out on the highway and needs protection.”

The post Where Safety is the Driving Factor<p class="company">Royal Truck & Equipment</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Sewer Equipment designs and manufactures high-pressure truck and trailer-mounted sewer jetters, water recycling sewer cleaners, industrial vacuum trucks, catch basin cleaners, hydro excavator trucks, and air excavators. The company offers equipment rentals and sales.

Its longevity is not based on flashy marketing or a complicated business strategy. “It may seem a bit cliché, but the ‘secret sauce’ is taking care of the customers. Everybody says that but doing it is miles apart from talking about it. I think, by staying in business eighty years, the proof is there,” states President John Wichmann.

The company demonstrates this customer-first ethos by providing unceasing technical support and user-friendly equipment designs. While it offers several brand lines, everything is created with three themes in mind: safe, simple, and reliable.

“The main focus with all of our products is keeping the operator equipment interface simple and easy to understand, which keeps the user safe. Our competitors tend more towards computer interfaces with a lot of intricacies between the chassis and equipment,” Wichmann notes.

By contrast, Sewer Equipment makes straightforward operator interfaces and extends the simple-is-best design philosophy “into the mechanical side of things. Trouble-shooting and maintaining the equipment is also simple,” he continues.

Consistency is another key design element for the company’s equipment. An operator should be able to “jump from one piece of our equipment to another,” and experience “the same basic feel and touch,” with the interface and controls, adding to the safety factor, he says.

The platforms for the operator and mechanical reliable interfaces were developed in-house.

While Sewer Equipment continues to design safe, simple, and reliable equipment, there have been new developments at the company since it was profiled in August 2018 in Business in Focus. The biggest change was the decision to split the rental side of the company. Rock Rental—a Sewer Equipment brand based in Clinton, Iowa—is now a standalone operation with its own management team and strategic focus.

“Strategically, we want to focus on the rental market more vigorously. It’s a growth opportunity and needs its own team,” he says.

Sewer Equipment wants to increase rental revenue and new equipment sales, and separating these business units seemed the best way to achieve this. Rent-to-own options are also available for some equipment.

Its other clients are in the industrial, plumbing, municipal and other government sectors. The municipal market brings in the most revenue, followed by the industrial sector then plumbing.

The company self-performs design and manufacturing and emphasizes safe, simple, and reliable product development and innovation. It has recently launched several new products including Genesis, a unique water recycling sewer cleaner. Sewer cleaners made by North American manufacturers typically use an active filtration process to clean reclaimed water. This process involves the use of filters and membranes which sometimes clog with debris.

Genesis, by contrast, utilizes European water recycling technology. Built around a work vehicle, the Genesis system “uses passive filtration, which is simple and more consistent with the way sewage treatment plants work,” says Wichmann. The Genesis works rapidly, efficiently, and economically, recovering the used water for reuse on a continuous cycle. This improves productivity and protects the environment.

Genesis separates water from sludge via a gravity-based sedimentation process. The system does not rely on filters or membranes, making it more efficient and less prone to clogging. Genesis has a sixty-five-foot boom hose with a forty-foot working length, a 1,500-gallon water tank and a stainless steel debris tank with a thirteen-yard capacity.

Another new product called the RAMVAC Tempest Industrial Air Machine is aimed at clients in the industrial sector. Using leading vacuum technology, this system removes liquids and dry or dusty materials from industrial environments simply and safely. This vehicle features an articulating ‘knuckle boom’ with a sixteen-foot working length and 270-degree range of motion, and a carbon steel, eighteen-cubic-yard debris box with a rear door for easy access.

Yet another new product involves “the Model 400 compact sewer cleaner, which has a smaller footprint, for more urban applications.” This small but mighty ‘jet vac’ truck features a stainless steel, 600-gallon capacity water tank, four-yard capacity debris tank, and excellent maneuverability, making it able to safely enter parking structures with an eight-foot clearance.

The firm sets very high standards for itself. “In terms of internal quality, we have a system of checks and balances that are built into the production process that have served us well. We are known for our quality as well as our engineering,” states Wichmann.

Sewer Equipment also belongs to several trade and industry associations, including the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), the Waterjet Technology Association and Industrial & Municipal Cleaning Association (WJTA-IMCA), and the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM). Membership in such groups keeps the company up-to-date on trends, technology, and new developments in the field.

Work is so plentiful that the company is expanding its production capabilities. “We’ve got a couple different building initiatives that are going on in terms of increasing our manufacturing footprint here,” he says.

The first phase of this growth plan is scheduled to begin in 2022, with phase two kicking off the following year.

It is an impressive achievement for a company founded in 1941 as a one-man business based out of a garage. Founder H.T. O’Brien (followed by his son Jim O’Brien) developed a line of equipment for cleaning sewers. These products proved popular, and the firm expanded, adding new equipment and markets. The company is currently run by Dan O’Brien, grandson of the founder and a third-generation owner.

Over the decades, social responsibility has also been central to Sewer Equipment’s mission. “I think it’s the right thing to do. Running a business and being profitable is [important] but so is giving back and being a good corporate citizen. That’s part of the deal.”

The company has also embraced environmental solutions, when possible. This involves the use of low VOC (volatile organic compound) paint, as well as recycling or reusing wooden skids instead of throwing them out.

“We just spent north of a million dollars on a solar array to augment our electrical consumption. We have electric forklifts inside the plant as well as electric vehicles external to the plant,” says Wichmann.

The company has roughly two hundred employees and moved quickly to protect this workforce when the pandemic struck last year. Social distancing, masking, and temperature reading policies were introduced, and as an essential industry, the company was able to get its workers vaccinated early. “In spite of COVID, we have kept the people we have here employed,” Wichmann states proudly.

He is pleased that Sewer Equipment successfully adapted to the health crisis, not only in terms of keeping its personnel safe but in developing new marketing and communication strategies. “Zoom is no longer a four-letter word. It’s very much a tool in our arsenal for how we interact with customers and dealers. From meetings to online training videos, we adapted to the circumstances. [COVID] forced us to adapt and learn a few new things,” he says.

Now that the threat of COVID is hopefully receding and life is beginning to return to normal, the firm faces other issues. “At this point, our biggest challenge is ramping back up. The economy is opening up,” states Wichmann.

Along with a reinvigorated economy, companies have had to deal with significant supply chain problems including shortages of materials, parts, and products. Sewer Equipment views the current economic situation as an opportunity and has growth and new product launches in mind.

“There are a number of products, as well as service activities that we’re working on in the coming short-term,” he says. “Our five-year plan is aggressive. That was really the driver behind the initiative we talked about—separating our rental business from our manufacturing business.”

The post Family Firm Marks 80th Anniversary with New Products, Big Goals<p class="company">Sewer Equipment</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

There are currently 30,000 earth energy installations in Canada. This is equal to replacing 50,000 conventional cars with electric, planting 19 million trees, or eliminating the need for a 130-megawatt power plant or one million barrels of imported crude annually. Just imagine the potential impact if this was the status quo.

Geoexchange systems only require a small amount of electricity to operate the refrigerant compressor, ground loop pump and fan, which reduces demand for electricity by nearly one kilowatt per ton capacity and can result in 25 to 50 percent lower energy costs compared to conventional HVAC systems. By eliminating the need for fossil fuels, significantly fewer emissions are generated.

If that’s not enough to sell you on geothermal, these systems also boast the lowest life-cycle cost of any heating and cooling system. The mechanical equipment lifecycle exceeds 25 years and overall maintenance, repair, and operational costs are generally less than conventional HVAC systems, despite offering occupants a greater degree of comfort year-round at lower, more predictable monthly rates. More impressively is the below-ground infrastructure itself, which could last beyond life of the building.

While the advantages are clear, up front capital costs associated with installation can be disadvantageous, however the initial investment can be paid back in as few as five years. Especially with a partner like Geosource Energy on your side, this doesn’t have to be a major source of concern.

Since 2004, Geosource Energy has been a champion of geothermal in Canada, offering utility grade construction services and best-in-class drilling. They provide various project delivery models for geothermal systems from construction through to Design-Build-Own-Operate-Maintain (DBOOM).

Through the DBOOM model, a long-term service agreement is put in place which provides unmatched customer service and system management throughout a project’s lifecycle.

Geosource acts as a technology and performance guarantor which is made possible through the creation of an energy partnership. Clients experience a peace of mind and operational stability, as Geosource bears the capital costs across the life of the contract – usually a term of 30 years.

“With a third-party utility bearing the capital cost of that system,” Adam Alaica, Director of Engineering and Development says, “it allows for the capital burden to be taken off of the developer, and through the service agreement it is converted to an operating cost for the end-user.”

Geosource enables this capacity via a partnership with Oakville Enterprise Corporation (OEC), a municipally owned energy and infrastructure company that has an established presence in the geothermal market. Together they bring 30 years of experience and over 300 projects delivered, as well as extensive technological capacity and resources that can better serve client partnerships.

Jennifer Burstein, Vice President of Construction at Collecdev, a developer that has completed nine towers with Geosource Energy to date, provides some insight into the partnership. “Geothermal was an easy decision for us. As one of Collecdev’s corporate pillars is sustainability and environmental stewardship, geothermal was, ‘Simply the right thing to do.’”

Burstein adds, “It just felt natural when they approached us and offered us an opportunity to enter into the space of geothermal. It made sense that they would take on the entire project of geothermal. So not only the vertical drilling, but also the connections, the mechanical systems, and the engineering and project management that goes along with it as well.”

Geosource Energy drills and installs one hundred percent of its own geo fields. It handles all of the technical and geological considerations to support the energy side of a project, freeing up the developer to oversee the real estate aspect, which makes for an ideal partnership in the development space, especially when partners are engaged early in the process.

“Early engagement is critical to success on any project,” Alaica believes. “From a new construction perspective, it is the ideal scenario to design geo into a building from its conception. This is even more critical when the geothermal infrastructure is sited below the building footprint, which is common practice in most facilities.”

Early engagement doesn’t necessarily mean geothermal needs to happen first. Collecdev employed Geosource Energy on the Westwood Gardens project in 2018, which had multiple trades on site at the same time. The space allowed Geosource to drill the bore field in tandem with other onsite activities, the coordination of which was seamless.

Building retrofits are possible, but they are not without their challenges. There may be challenges integrating the new system with legacy facilities and mechanical distribution systems. In these cases, detailed due diligence is required to assess the project viability and may result in the need for deep retrofits, which may come at a far greater cost up front.

Alaica explains that where there is a lack of space in higher density communities, “Geosource has innovated our construction and implementation methods, leveraging things like angle drilling. This is actually something we’ve done with Collecdev in the past, and it can be done for retrofits and new buildings where there is limited space available.”

The project with Collecdev which he was referring to is described by Burstein as a “retrofit-esque infill project, a two-tower new build which was integrated into an existing residence that was about fifteen years old. They deployed this angular vertical-drilling mechanism which allowed us to take a very small portion of land and drill a large amount of loop space at an angle.”

Another advantage of geothermal is flexibility from an architectural standpoint, which is particularly useful for historic renovation projects. Geothermal mechanical rooms are smaller and can be tucked away in lower value areas such as underground parking levels, with no need for unsightly equipment on the property grounds or the roof. Geosource’s strategic alliance with industry leading fluid flow experts, Armstrong Fluid Technologies, ensures that all hydronic equipment and controls used in their geothermal mechanical stations compliments the best-in-class installation on the ground side. This ensures the preservation of a project’s historical integrity while ensuring the most future-forward innovations in space heating and cooling are utilized.

Geothermal can have the greatest impact on multi-residential, commercial, and institutional projects, especially from a cost and performance perspective. For instance, if all the schools in Canada that require replacement of their heating and cooling systems over the next ten years invested in geoexchange systems, energy savings could exceed $1 billion, and the environmental impact would be immense.

Despite its proven viability and the potential of its impact, geothermal only represents five percent of real estate market share in Ontario. This is due in large part to an unfavourable spark spread. Low gas prices make the shift to electrified systems a harder sell, especially where there is a lack of political will, a sense of market inertia, and the need for capacity building on an industry level.

“One of the key challenges for the industry at large is trying to create this renewed groundswell and create political will to really shine a light on geothermal as the leading, and most credible way to help achieve low-carbon, net-zero community aspirations,” explains Director of Marketing and Sales for Geosource Energy, Darryl Chow.

All levels of government have a role to play to ensure that environmental protection is legislated, and that carbon-intensive energy resources continue to be taxed appropriately, while offering incentives up front that can help offset the higher installation costs and encourage the adoption of greener alternatives.

From Alaica’s perspective, “Helping bridge the incremental cost of a higher performance building is the key. If there is any way to allow the development community to reduce those incremental costs, this will help drive the business case for a higher performance building; this is exactly what the geothermal third-party utility model does.”

The construction industry is historically one of the slowest to evolve. There is a commitment to tried and true construction methods, despite the increasing availability of viable alternatives that improve performance and sustainability.

However, as municipalities continue to establish green building standards to help achieve lower emissions targets, the construction industry will have no choice but to adapt to a cleaner, greener approach to design and construction. Geothermal will be an important part of the overall solution.

“Toronto is a great market for understanding how the municipalities can drive change in the building sector, specifically. With the introduction of the Toronto Green Standard, the city is showing leadership in establishing a more prescriptive guideline around energy and carbon performance of facilities, which is a step in the right direction,” says Alaica.

Sustainability is nothing without collaboration, and in the case of green construction, it will require a multifaceted effort of industry professionals, government representatives, and education leaders to ensure the industry has the capacity to support growth in demand. This is particularly true of training what Chow refers to as, “the next generation of sustainable green construction-trades people.”

Fleming College has launched a first of its kind geothermal program to provide a combination of hands-on training in drilling, installation, repair, and maintenance of geothermal systems which will address a growing need for industry accredited professionals.

To support these ends, Geosource Energy created the Sustainability and Renewable Energy in Construction Student Award through the Tridel Corporation’s BOLT Charitable Foundation to encourage students in the field and provide mentorship. As Chow puts it, “We really do have to equip our future workforce with the right opportunities so they can get into this game to put not just Ontario, but Canada on the map as a global leader in the green construction industry.”

As a constant champion of geothermal, Geosource Energy supports Workforce 2030, a coalition of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) that is dedicated to fast-tracking workforce growth and building industry capacity overall.

In partnership with the CaGBC, Geosource Energy will be convening an expert panel of key industry stakeholders via an interactive webinar that will serve as a masterclass in geothermal heating and cooling. They hope that by having these conversations with individuals involved throughout the design, construction, and operation of buildings, convenings of this nature can break down barriers to the implementation of critical low-carbon technologies like geothermal. The Drilldown: Masterclass in Geothermal Energy is scheduled for April 20 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern via Zoom.

Tune in to learn more and see for yourself how leaders like Geosource Energy and Collecdev are embracing low-carbon alternatives like geothermal for a greener future. The market is ripe with potential, and geothermal is a business decision that can improve lives, save money and the environment, while improving the bottom line.

The post Things Are Heating up For Geothermal Energy<p class="company">Geosource Energy</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.