Maintenance and Repairs

November 26, 2024 Published by Toronto and Area Chapter - By Mike Spence

The Importance of Surge Protection Devices

From the Fall 2024 issue of CCI Toronto Condovoice Magazine.

Building owners and property managers need to be aware of the importance of these devices for protecting electrical power distribution systems and capital mechanical equipment

An electrical surge can occur from several sources including:

• Nearby external construction that could cause rolling blackouts or brownouts throughout the neighbourhood
• Internal faults from electrical wiring within the building
• Lightning strikes
• Power grid faults

If the building were to undergo a surge spike within their electrical distribution, it could cause severe damage to multiple pieces of equipment that would require costly replacement. Surge protection is a system or a device that is designed to safe guard the building’s mechanical equipment as well as the electrical distribution systems from surges. It regulates voltage, suppresses spikes, offers overcurrent protection, and maintains a clean and steady rate of power delivery.

This article will discuss the role of professional Engineers in developing and analyzing the building’s electrical distribution, as well as design the surge protection plan to cover the building’s most vital and costly equipment.

Surge Protection Project Sample 1

The condominium has been facing rolling brown outs that have caused management to worry about the capital equipment. After discussion with our engineers, the board has decided to ensure that the elevators, and new chiller unit, that had been purchased within the last year, are protected from any potential faults.

Figure 1: Surge protector installed at elevator splitter to ensure elevators are not affected by any electrical faults and to protect the elevator motors. Figure 2: Surge Protector installed at chiller disconnect switch location. Device is currently up and running and is protecting the chiller from any electrical faults.

Surge Protection Project Sample 2

The condominium corporation consists of four high-rise towers. Each tower has its own electrical distribution system. The corporation hired our egineers to perform an investigation and to recommend vital equipment to be protected for all four towers. A surge protection device was added to the main switchboard responsible for the electrical distribution for the towers. In addition, surge protection devices have been added to multiple emergency panels, mechanical equipment panels, and elevator systems. A total of 24 surge protections devices have been added to the condominium corporation.

Figure 1: Surge protector installed at elevator distribution panel feeding various building pumps. Figure 2: Surge protector installed at elevator panel location. Figure 3: Surge protector installed at emergency lighting panel. External disconnect switch was used to accommodate the lack of space within panel. Figure 4: Surge protector installed at make up air unit panel.

Mike Spence, Business Development Manager, Trace Consulting Group Ltd.