A World Beneath Glass

The Biodôme is die largest of all four institutions al 35,000 square metres. With its glass roof, it brings plentv of natural light to the various ecosystem exhibits inside. The 35,000-m2 building was originally built as the Velodrome for the 107O Montreal's Olympic games and had a bicycle iace track and ice rink. Today the shell remains untouched but new divisions have been created inside to recreate four different ecosystems of the Americas: the Tropical Forest, the Saint-Lawrence Marine ecosystem, the Eaurentian Forest, and the Polar World. Each has its own appropriate climate control. Housing over 4,800 animals of 230 species and nearly 750 plant species, the Biodôme is an exceptional concept with unique operating challenges. Ecosystem's reengineering aspect of the project was essential to fully take advantage of the heat pumps' efficiency. A new hot water network, complete with new pumps, had to be installed in order to supply all the mechanical moms with hot water. Major modifications also had to be made to the cooling network thai supplies the office spaces and the ecosystems. Approximately 230 hp of pumps have been removed and the new cooling/heating network has roughly added 370 hp. The major pumps are equipped with variable speed drives to modulate according to the building's heating/cooling loads. In the ventilation systems, six steam coils totalling 70,000 CFM had to be replaced by low temperature hot water coils to take advantage of the 35°C (95°F) hot water produced by the heat pumps. In winter, the heat pumps provide cold water to cool the HVAC units supplying the Polar ecosystem (Arctic and Antarctic), the Laurentian Forest and the St-Lawrence Marine ecosystems. By doing so, the system recovers the heat and transfers it to the hot water loop supplying the HVAC systems of the Tropical Forest and the office spaces. Additional heat is also recovered from the ground water. During the summer, the process is reversed. As the cold water is directed toward the HVAC systems supplying the office space and all the ecosystems (except for the Tropical Forest), the hot water is directed toward the Tropical Forest and the excess heat is released within the confined ground water.