About Us
Smart Solutions for Healthier Buildings
VISION
Help to make the world a more sustainable place.
MISSION
We are committed to ensuring a safer and healthier indoor environment in commercial, industrial and condominium buildings by providing the most advanced and effective permanent hazardous gas monitors. Our rental division, EnviroRentals has an extensive fleet of monitoring instruments to test for air flow, carbon dioxide, dust, toxic gases, volatile organic compounds and noise in order to evaluate and solve your indoor environment quality issues.
“Smart solutions for safer and healthier indoor environments, from penthouse to parkade.”
HISTORY
Our story begins in the early 1980s, when our founder, Kae Shummoogum, was working as a gas detection sales engineer. At that time, the carbon monoxide (CO) detection business had been growing for about 10 years, but the industry was still very much in its infancy. Whenever equipment service or calibration was required for installed CO detectors, sensor modules had to be sent back to the factory, leaving their site locations unmonitored for weeks at a time. Kae recognized that this posed great health and safety risks, and upon diligent investigation, he discovered on-site calibration was both possible and feasible through investing time in developing field calibration procedures. In 1985, Kae launched Gasonic Instruments Inc. to provide mobile calibration services for CO detectors – a service which is still a large part of work we still do today.
In addition to mobile calibration, Kae created another unique advantage for Gasonic. While most competitors in the air quality market were focused on the oil and gas sector, Gasonic focused on serving the commercial buildings market. This allowed Gasonic to diversify its equipment arsenal and skills, as the requirement for gas detection within commercial buildings grew rapidly to include ammonia, carbon dioxide, chlorine, Freons, nitrogen dioxide and many more toxic gases.
During the late eighties, Gasonic conducted a comparative evaluation of several carbon monoxide sensor technologies. The data showed clearly that using a certain type of CO sensor resulted in more accurate detection, which in turn eliminated false alarms. This meant that air quality was enhanced while energy could be saved by preventing the unnecessary operation of exhaust fans. This striking reveleation spurred many building owners to upgrade to this new model of CO detector. In addition to energy savings, the new detectors also saved money in another way: rather than require service calibration 4 times per year, they only needed calibration annually. While Gasonic’s competitors were reluctant to introduce technology that would reduce their service department billings, Gasonic forged ahead, saving its clients millions of dollars in wasted energy, and winning the trust of many building owners.
During the 1990’s, increased environmental legislation spurred tremendous growth in the number of environmental consultants in Western Canada. To support this sector, Gasonic increased its portfolio of equipment substantially to offer these consultants access to quality equipment on an as-needed, rental basis. In 1995, EnviroRentals was launched as a division of Gasonic. EnviroRentals proved itself to be a popular solution for several years, providing over 60 different models to measure outdoor and indoor environmental parameters, largely related to the oil and gas sector. While EnviroRentals supported many small consulting businesses in their beginning stages, the environmental consulting industry has since evolved to the point where many of these small consulting firms have consolidated and purchased their own in-house equipment. Gasonic continues to operate EnviroRentals on a smaller scale, while focusing more on Indoor Environment Quality.
Today, Gasonic is proud to serve over one thousand buildings in Alberta, monitoring a dozen or more toxic gases in parkades, condominiums, office buildings, warehouses, industrial areas, and apartment buildings. We also have expanded upon our role in the community and are aiming to enhance public awareness of air quality and sustainability issues. We welcome your feedback on our website and services, and hope we can assist you in the near future.
VALUES
ACCOUNTABILITY
HONESTY
EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT SOLUTIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
KEY PERSONNEL
Kae Shummoogum
Kae Shummoogum, BEng, PEng.
President & CEO
Kae Shummoogum was born on the tiny island of Mauritius off the coast of Madagascar, east of Africa. He left in 1976 to pursue further studies in London, England. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 1981 and shortly after, immigrated to Canada. In 1983 Kae became a registered Professional Engineer in the province of Alberta. He is fluent in English, French and Patois. While actively at the helm of Gasonic Instruments, Kae is often called on for his expertise by the Calgary Fire Department. Kae has also been featured on CTV, Global and other news publications to comment about air quality and safety.
Kae is passionate about the environment and is known widely as a rare man who “walks the talk.” He has implemented many energy saving ideas such as a fleet of hybrid vehicles, a smart car, wind energy at Gasonic’s office and a thermal solar water heater for his own house. He also owns a personal wind power generator. An engaging and passionate public speaker on environmental issues, Kae is also one of only 200 Canadians trained by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore to present the ‘Inconvenient Truth’ Environmental Seminar to audiences in Alberta. For more on Gasonic’s and Kae’s Environmental Stewardship, click here (link to stewardship page.)
Dana Valaydon, BComm
Vice President, Operations
Dana was born on the tiny island of Mauritius and immigrated to Canada in 1987. She is fluent in English, French and Patois and has a functional level of Spanish, having visited many Spanish-speaking countries to learn the language.
Dana joined her brother-in-law, Kae as a minor partner in Gasonic Instruments Inc. in 1990 and got started by assuming responsibility of the company's accounting department. She pursued a business degree at University of Calgary on a part-time basis while still maintaining her role in the business. In 2007, she was awarded a Bachelor of Commerce degree by the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. When EnviroRentals (a division of Gasonic Instruments Inc.) was established in 1995, Dana took on the challenging tasks of operational management and customer service. She also researched and implemented an industry-leading logistics and quality management system for Gasonic, which was this system’s very first installation in Western Canada. With an intimate knowledge of business, environmental monitoring equipment and corporate operations, Dana is an invaluable asset to Gasonic Instruments in every aspect of its success.
Help to make the world a more sustainable place.
MISSION
We are committed to ensuring a safer and healthier indoor environment in commercial, industrial and condominium buildings by providing the most advanced and effective permanent hazardous gas monitors. Our rental division, EnviroRentals has an extensive fleet of monitoring instruments to test for air flow, carbon dioxide, dust, toxic gases, volatile organic compounds and noise in order to evaluate and solve your indoor environment quality issues.
“Smart solutions for safer and healthier indoor environments, from penthouse to parkade.”
HISTORY
Our story begins in the early 1980s, when our founder, Kae Shummoogum, was working as a gas detection sales engineer. At that time, the carbon monoxide (CO) detection business had been growing for about 10 years, but the industry was still very much in its infancy. Whenever equipment service or calibration was required for installed CO detectors, sensor modules had to be sent back to the factory, leaving their site locations unmonitored for weeks at a time. Kae recognized that this posed great health and safety risks, and upon diligent investigation, he discovered on-site calibration was both possible and feasible through investing time in developing field calibration procedures. In 1985, Kae launched Gasonic Instruments Inc. to provide mobile calibration services for CO detectors – a service which is still a large part of work we still do today.
In addition to mobile calibration, Kae created another unique advantage for Gasonic. While most competitors in the air quality market were focused on the oil and gas sector, Gasonic focused on serving the commercial buildings market. This allowed Gasonic to diversify its equipment arsenal and skills, as the requirement for gas detection within commercial buildings grew rapidly to include ammonia, carbon dioxide, chlorine, Freons, nitrogen dioxide and many more toxic gases.
During the late eighties, Gasonic conducted a comparative evaluation of several carbon monoxide sensor technologies. The data showed clearly that using a certain type of CO sensor resulted in more accurate detection, which in turn eliminated false alarms. This meant that air quality was enhanced while energy could be saved by preventing the unnecessary operation of exhaust fans. This striking reveleation spurred many building owners to upgrade to this new model of CO detector. In addition to energy savings, the new detectors also saved money in another way: rather than require service calibration 4 times per year, they only needed calibration annually. While Gasonic’s competitors were reluctant to introduce technology that would reduce their service department billings, Gasonic forged ahead, saving its clients millions of dollars in wasted energy, and winning the trust of many building owners.
During the 1990’s, increased environmental legislation spurred tremendous growth in the number of environmental consultants in Western Canada. To support this sector, Gasonic increased its portfolio of equipment substantially to offer these consultants access to quality equipment on an as-needed, rental basis. In 1995, EnviroRentals was launched as a division of Gasonic. EnviroRentals proved itself to be a popular solution for several years, providing over 60 different models to measure outdoor and indoor environmental parameters, largely related to the oil and gas sector. While EnviroRentals supported many small consulting businesses in their beginning stages, the environmental consulting industry has since evolved to the point where many of these small consulting firms have consolidated and purchased their own in-house equipment. Gasonic continues to operate EnviroRentals on a smaller scale, while focusing more on Indoor Environment Quality.
Today, Gasonic is proud to serve over one thousand buildings in Alberta, monitoring a dozen or more toxic gases in parkades, condominiums, office buildings, warehouses, industrial areas, and apartment buildings. We also have expanded upon our role in the community and are aiming to enhance public awareness of air quality and sustainability issues. We welcome your feedback on our website and services, and hope we can assist you in the near future.
VALUES
ACCOUNTABILITY
HONESTY
EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT SOLUTIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
KEY PERSONNEL
Kae Shummoogum
Kae Shummoogum, BEng, PEng.
President & CEO
Kae Shummoogum was born on the tiny island of Mauritius off the coast of Madagascar, east of Africa. He left in 1976 to pursue further studies in London, England. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 1981 and shortly after, immigrated to Canada. In 1983 Kae became a registered Professional Engineer in the province of Alberta. He is fluent in English, French and Patois. While actively at the helm of Gasonic Instruments, Kae is often called on for his expertise by the Calgary Fire Department. Kae has also been featured on CTV, Global and other news publications to comment about air quality and safety.
Kae is passionate about the environment and is known widely as a rare man who “walks the talk.” He has implemented many energy saving ideas such as a fleet of hybrid vehicles, a smart car, wind energy at Gasonic’s office and a thermal solar water heater for his own house. He also owns a personal wind power generator. An engaging and passionate public speaker on environmental issues, Kae is also one of only 200 Canadians trained by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore to present the ‘Inconvenient Truth’ Environmental Seminar to audiences in Alberta. For more on Gasonic’s and Kae’s Environmental Stewardship, click here (link to stewardship page.)
Dana Valaydon, BComm
Vice President, Operations
Dana was born on the tiny island of Mauritius and immigrated to Canada in 1987. She is fluent in English, French and Patois and has a functional level of Spanish, having visited many Spanish-speaking countries to learn the language.
Dana joined her brother-in-law, Kae as a minor partner in Gasonic Instruments Inc. in 1990 and got started by assuming responsibility of the company's accounting department. She pursued a business degree at University of Calgary on a part-time basis while still maintaining her role in the business. In 2007, she was awarded a Bachelor of Commerce degree by the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. When EnviroRentals (a division of Gasonic Instruments Inc.) was established in 1995, Dana took on the challenging tasks of operational management and customer service. She also researched and implemented an industry-leading logistics and quality management system for Gasonic, which was this system’s very first installation in Western Canada. With an intimate knowledge of business, environmental monitoring equipment and corporate operations, Dana is an invaluable asset to Gasonic Instruments in every aspect of its success.