Drain Water Heat Recovery Ontario Building Code

Supplementary standard sb 12 energy efficiency for housing amended on july 7 2016.

Drain water heat recovery ontario building code. As of january 1 2017 the ontario building code obc sb 12 has been revised to require heat recovery ventilation or ventilators hrv in all new homes. Just like hrv s drain heat water recovery coils take the heat from the waste and use it to pre heat the incoming cold fresh water before it heads over to be heated by the water heater. Even if your home is older hrvs will really improve the air quality. An amendment to supplementary standard 12 sb 12 has made ontario the first canadian province and the first north american jurisdiction to include drain water heat recovery dwhr in its building code.

Ontario has become the first province or state in north america to recognize drain water heat recovery dwhr as part of its building energy code. Why is hrv required in ontario building code. Supplementary standard sb 12 sb 12 helps stakeholders meet the building code energy efficiency requirements for houses that came into force on january 1 2017. The thermodrain must be at least 42 efficient.

To meet the mandatory requirement systems must have a minimum rated efficiency of 42 when tested according to csa b55 1 and must also comply with csa b55 2 b55 2 for safety and quality. Provincial builders will now be able to use dwhr to meet energy savings requirements in the ontario building code and the change also should prove a boost for manufacturers. If more than one shower is in the home at least two showers must be hooked to the thermodrain. According the cmhc the benefits of this are reduced energy consumption reduced energy costs and a reduced environmental impact.

You see modern homes are insulated as much as possible. According to drain water heat recovery and the 2012 ontario building code an independent study released march 31 2011 by mindscape innovations it has been estimated that efficient dwhr technology can reduce the cost of building each average sized home by 500 to 3 900 when complying with existing building energy codes upcoming building energy codes new home labelling programs and or as an upgrade offering for home buyers. Thermodrain and the ontario building code a thermodrain drain water heat recovery device must be installed on a shower in a residential dwelling such as a home condominium or apartment. This is to ensure that ontario homes are built with energy efficiency in mind and have a system that can effectively recycle the energy used to make hot water.

The problem with the powerpipe is that the header that distributes the water to the coils has not been certified to astm b88 and is not nsf61 as per the requirements of the plumbing code. The inspector told me that the drain water heat recovery unit has to be astmb88 potable water tubing and astm306 drain pipe certified.