ICC Expands Product Line to Grow Industrial Markets

SAINT-JÉRÔME, Québec–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Industrial Chimney Company (ICC), manufacturer of prefabricated chimneys along with high-efficiency fireplaces, has acquired Cheminee Lining, the exhaust solutions division of premier boiler manufacturer, The Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc. The move to acquire Cheminee Lining occurred quickly after Cleaver-Brooks announced its intention to discontinue the sale of exhaust stacks and venting in May 2022. ICC seized the opportunity, finding it aligned well with its continued focus on global expansion and development of new markets.

The combination of ICC and Cheminee Lining will strengthen their position as a market leader in the commercial industrial chimney industry.

As part of the sale, ICC will continue to lease 56,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 21,000 square feet of office space located in Terrebonne, Quebec, as well as provide employment for more than 44 existing Cheminee Lining employees.

Both Cleaver-Brooks and ICC will honor current customer commitments and will maintain contact with customers regarding future activities.

Cleaver-Brooks continues to provide best-in-industry integrated boiler room solutions for steam and hydronic applications throughout the North American and international markets.

About ICC

Established in 1991, ICC employs more than 200 people dedicated to providing the safest and highest quality products. With a recent 30,000-square-foot addition, the 120,000-square-foot factory runs 24/7 all year round. It is located on more than 20 acres of prime industrial property and is filled with state-of-the-art machinery. Visit icc-rsf.com for more information.

About Cleaver-Brooks

Cleaver-Brooks is the premier boiler industry innovator and only boiler manufacturer in the world to offer The Power of Total Integration™. The company engineers and manufactures entirely integrated boiler room solutions for steam and hydronic applications, offers superior sales and service from a world-class representative network, and shares its expertise through a robust training and education program and engineering support. Cleaver-Brooks is committed to providing efficient solutions that help its customers operate boiler systems at optimum reliability, promote sustainability, and reduce costs. Visit cleaverbrooks.com for more information.

Contacts

Darren K. Allen

Cleaver-Brooks

229-558-5503

dallen@cleaverbrooks.com

Steven Rea

Industrial Chimney Company

(514) 591-2505

srea@icc-rsf.com

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Lafarge Canada is proudly co-funding a low-carbon concrete design research project at Queen’s University (Kingston,ON) and providing the company’s specially designed concrete to the initiative. The project, which aligns with the company’s decarbonization strategy and brings together a number of industry partners, is led by Dr. Neil Hoult, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Queen’s University, with Josh Woods, Assistant Professor, Queen’s University, Evan Bentz, Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Toronto, and Dr. John Orr, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cambridge.

“At Lafarge we value partnerships that connect all of the contributors to NetZero construction, in this case we are collaborating with the Owner, the Architect and the Construction Manager in a new way to achieve our shared sustainability goals,” commented Rob Cumming, Head of Sustainability, Lafarge Canada (East).

“Lafarge is excited to participate in a project like this one – it fits perfectly into our green growth roadmap. The integration of our mix design expertise through our ECOPact concrete product line coupled with smart structural engineering design will allow for much lower embodied carbon than would be possible otherwise. This models the sort of partnerships we need to foster innovation in building design and advance our sustainability targets,” commented Abdurahman Lotfy, Innovation & Development Manager, Aggregates & Construction Materials, Lafarge Canada.

“We will be working on several different approaches to making concrete lower carbon,” said Dr. Hoult. “The first is shape optimization, in other words only putting material only where we need material, which saves on not only material use, but also structure weight. If the structure is lighter, then you need even less material. The second is what is known as functionally graded concrete. We put concrete with higher strength where we need the strength, then we use lower strength concrete (which also means lower cement concrete) everywhere else. We will be working on software packages that allow for these new techniques to be used in the design, optimizing structures for performance and low environmental impact.”

The bulk of the research will be done in the Queen’s Civil Engineering labs. Moving from the Lab to practical applications, the project will be taken into the real world in Kingston. “Aecon and Lafarge will help us build it, and it’s all going to happen at the Kingston Fire and Rescue Training Centre,” Hoult said. “It’s going to be both actively used by Kingston’s Fire Services as a classroom and as a living lab so that Queen’s and St. Lawrence College students can come and learn about low-carbon buildings. We’re aiming for a net-zero building philosophy.”

About Lafarge Canada Inc.

Lafarge is Canada’s largest provider of sustainable construction materials and a member of the global group, Holcim. With 6,000 employees and 350 sites across Canada, our mission is to provide construction solutions and products that build progress for people and the planet. The cities where Canadians live, work, and raise their families along with communities’ infrastructure benefit from the sustainable portfolio provided by Lafarge, consisting of Aggregates, Asphalt and Paving, Cement, Precast Concrete, Ready-Mix Concrete, and Road Construction.

About Queen’s University

Queen’s University has a long history of scholarship, discovery, and innovation that has shaped our collective knowledge and helped address some of the world’s most pressing concerns. Home to more than 25,000 students, the university offers a comprehensive research-intensive environment with prominent strengths in engineering, physics, cancer research, data analytics, surveillance studies, art conservation, and mental health research. Welcoming and supporting students from all countries and backgrounds to a vibrant, safe, and supportive community is an important part of the Queen’s experience. Diverse perspectives and a wealth of experience enrich our campus and our community. A core part of our mission is to engage our students, staff, and faculty in international learning and research, both at home and abroad.

Contacts

Anna Salomao – anna.salomao@lafargeholcim.com

WINNIPEG, Manitoba–(BUSINESS WIRE)–TPM strategies were developed in Japan over 50 years ago with the purpose of continuous improvement of equipment effectiveness. Many operations have adopted this philosophy and now require a system to aid in managing it. That is where a CMMS can help. We’re going to go over the 8 pillars of TPM and how a CMMS can help.

Pillar 1: Autonomous Maintenance

A CCMS Identifies the required skills and can assign the right resource.

Pillar 2: Focused Improvement

A CMMS uses historical data to analyze assets and gain insight on breakdowns. Use this information to make asset modifications.

Pillar 3: Planned Maintenance

A CMMS tracks trends and accesses real-time data to increase efficiency, decrease labour costs and decrease downtime.

Pillar 4: Quality Management

A CMMS combines scheduled inspections supported by a predictive maintenance strategy. Find the problem before it’s a problem.

Pillar 5: Equipment Management

The historical data captured and stored in a CMMS allows for review of breakdowns, their causes and repairs.

Pillar 6: Education & Training

Verifications and required training can be tracked in the CMMS system and can notify the appropriate person in advance when it’s expiring or required.

Pillar 7: Administrative & Office

Bridge the gap between the office and the maintenance team by streamlining communication and knowledge sharing via a CMMS.

Pillar 8: Safety Health Environmental Conditions

A CMMS can store information such as safety checklists, safety data sheets and inspection procedures. It can also provide documentation to demonstrate the requirements have been followed.

In summary, a fully functional mobile-enabled CMMS can streamline your TPM needs. There’s never been a better time to setup enterprise asset management than right now. Maxpanda’s Enterprise Asset Management Software is an all-encompassing solution for your asset management needs. Learn more at maxpanda.com.

Maxpanda is an award-winning software for maintenance professionals empowering staff and vendors to work more efficiently. Maxpanda’s CMMS software platform is simple and affordable, and allows maintenance departments of all sizes to perform preventive maintenance tasks more efficiently through the included GoMAX mobile assistant app. For more information visit https://www.maxpanda.com.

Contacts

Media:

Steve Kyriakidis

Email: steve@maxpanda.com
Phone: 1-424-272-6675

Enabling continued development and expansion of its advanced climate tech offering for commercial real estate

MONTREAL–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#ai—BrainBox AI, a leader in autonomous building technology, today announced the close of its Series A fundraise at $30M USD to further expand its global footprint and impact across the built environment. The Series A round, led by ABB in the first close last October, concludes with a $3.5M USD investment from Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s export credit agency dedicated to helping Canadian companies of all sizes succeed on the world stage.

“Ensuring Canadian businesses can reach global markets is vital for their success and for Canada’s economic future. This partnership between our government and BrainBox AI will ensure they can further export their artificial intelligence cleantech solution. Through this investment, BrainBox AI will enable more commercial buildings around the world to intelligently reduce their carbon emissions footprint by up to 40%.” – The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry.

Since BrainBox AI’s launch in 2019, its ground-breaking artificial intelligence technology for the built environment has been installed in over 100 million square feet of commercial building space, in 70 cities and over 20 countries worldwide. At the most recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the company was selected as winner of the Tech for Our Planet Challenge, for innovative climate tech solutions. BrainBox AI creates value with savings in energy costs of up to 25%, up to 40% reduction in carbon footprint and improved occupant comfort for commercial real estate owners.

Just this year, BrainBox AI has been installed in over 180 new buildings and 5 additional countries, with expansion into major cities around the world, including New York City and Milan. Most recently, BrainBox AI announced its partnership with SAIL Outdoors, a leading Canadian outdoor equipment retailer, to deploy its new AI-driven smart thermostat for multi-site retail offering across its entire nation-wide portfolio.

“Our government is committed to reaching carbon neutrality within the decade, including through the kind of partnerships like the one we are celebrating today. Not only is BrainBox AI helping commercial buildings across Canada cut emissions, but through this investment, they will be able to export this technology around the world. This will see them reach new heights while bringing game-changing clean technology to a carbon-intensive industry. A great example of the economy and the environment working hand-in-hand as Canadian businesses scale up and access new markets.” – The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development.

“The world requires new solutions that will support the global energy transition and greater emissions reductions, and BrainBox AI is an excellent example of a Canadian company driving cleantech innovation in the commercial real estate sector,” said Guillermo Freire, Senior-Vice President, Mid-Market, and responsible for EDC’s cleantech practice. “We are pleased to join forces with other investors to support BrainBox AI through our Investment Matching Program, which will help the company expand in key markets in Europe, the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.”

“With the official close of our Series A fundraise, we’re thrilled to be working with investors that share our vision of providing a meaningful solution to decrease countries’ reliance on natural gas,” said Sam Ramadori, CEO, BrainBox AI. “This raise will go towards technological development and fueling our international growth, especially in Europe, a region that is actively looking for technologies to aide in its clean energy transition. As the energy industry continues to change, we are constantly innovating in order to provide the required demand flexibility via AI-enabled grid interactive buildings.”

About BrainBox AI

Founded in 2017, BrainBox AI was created to address the dilemma currently facing the built environment, its energy consumption, and significant contribution to climate change. As innovators of the global energy transition, BrainBox AI’s game-changing HVAC technology leverages AI to make buildings smarter, greener and more efficient. Working together with our trusted global partners, BrainBox AI supports real estate clients in various sectors, including office buildings, hotels, commercial retail, grocery stores, airports and more.

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, a global AI hub, our workforce of over 150 employees, bring with them talent from all sectors with the common thread of being in business to heal our planet.

BrainBox AI works in collaboration with research partners including the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO) as well as educational institutions including Montreal’s Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA) and McGill University.

Learn more about BrainBox AI.

About Export Development Canada

Export Development Canada (EDC) is a financial Crown corporation dedicated to helping Canadian businesses make an impact at home and abroad. EDC has the financial products and knowledge Canadian companies need to confidently enter new markets, reduce financial risk and grow their business as they go from local to global. Together, EDC and Canadian companies are building a more prosperous, stronger and sustainable economy for all Canadians.

For more information and to learn how we can help your company, call us at 1-800-229-0575 or visit www.edc.ca.

Contacts

BrainBox AI
Rebecca Bender

Montieth & Company

rbender@montiethco.com

EDC Media Contact
Media

Export Development Canada

1-888-222-4065

media@edc.ca

As auctioneers across the province can evade rules aimed at safeguarding consumers, Openn’s platform seeks to provide greater transparency and end-to-end protection.

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Openn, a new ‘proptech’ solution, will be launching a pilot program in Canada this summer to help support the offer and acceptance process in a real estate transaction. The platform will provide real estate professionals and their clients with greater transparency and protection through modern solutions.

“Real estate is a rapidly expanding and evolving industry that requires greater transparency, equality and efficiency,” said Eric Bryant, Openn NA Director of Operations. “With that, we are seeing auction companies across Canada emerge and in provinces, such as Ontario, there continue to be regulatory loopholes in the property auction process that pose consumer risks. We believe our technology supports transparency at every stage of the real estate transaction, and Openn is looking forward to bringing that technology to Canada to help solve these consumer challenges.”

While most Canadian provinces having a registration system or legislation regulating the activities of auctioneers, Ontario and Manitoba remain the only two provinces without a regulatory framework. As a result, auctioneers can sell property without a license or experience, putting homebuyers in these provinces at risk.

Openn upholds the belief that the involvement of a licensed real estate professional in the buying and selling process is vital to a consumer’s protection during a real estate transaction. The inclusion of a real estate professional in the process eliminates the opportunity of fraudulent offers, as there are legal requirements to work within prescribed regulations. Openn’s platform ensures that consumers are protected against disingenuous activity, while still providing sellers with the choice in how they sell their properties.

“With our six-plus years in the Australian market, we have seen that the combination of regulated and licensed real estate professionals, qualifying buyers, and a digital audit trail not only mitigates risk but delivers legitimacy to the real estate transaction and builds consumer confidence,” added Bryant.

In addition to the pilot program, Openn is continuing to advocate for a regulatory framework to protect consumers using a property auction process.

About Openn North America

Openn North America Inc. is a property technology company offering a proprietary cloud-based software platform to support the offer and acceptance process in a real estate transaction with greater transparency. The Openn platform facilitates the negotiation process, featuring streamlined digital contracting and automated communication tools, which enhances a property transaction. The solution provides buyers with real-time feedback through their device on how much competition exists and where their price stands in the negotiation.

Contacts

Openn Media Relations
Hayley Suchanek

Kaiser & Partners

hayley.suchanek@kaiserpartners.com
289-681-2477