Practical MEP design — comprising modular boilers, waste heat recovery, remote monitoring, designing around local restrictions, and much more — delivers flexibility and sustainability to Chicago’s largest community center.
In today’s world, so-called “high-performance, sustainable” facilities are a dime a dozen. But many of these buildings rely on overly complex mechanical systems to carry out their mission.
The author’s longtime interest in bundling efficiency techniques in a single system eventually led him to a new pairing: VRF zoning technology and geothermal design. See how he got there and how this couple played out for an historic 107-year-old Iowa courthouse that serves the law through the area’s brutal winters and humid summers.
When it comes to celebrating the new Exploratorium museum project, located at Pier 15 along San Francisco’s Embarcadero, the engineering and systems design professionals at Integral Group tend to take it a bit … well, personally.
Saint Arnold Brewing Company co-founder Brock Wagner knew that his growing craft brewery’s move to a 104,000-sq-ft building in Houston’s Northside district would require a new steam boiler system.
In an age when a three-year-old cell phone is considered to be obsolete, steam heating systems, which are often well over 50 years old, get no respect.
While active beams are making great strides toward becoming a standard part of the designer’s toolbox, knowing when to deploy them is a critical judgment. The author focuses his considerable experience with them into a good look at related thermal comfort considerations. Operation and controls, two- and four-pipe systems, and condensation control strategies round out a worthwhile look at how active beams can work for you.
High-performance solutions result in savings, LEED® certifications, and better health care Spectrum Health is the largest not-for-profit health care system in West Michigan with nine hospitals, more than 180 service sites, and 1,983 licensed beds system-wide.
Managing solar loads and incorporating radiant ceilings were just part of the plan for this five-level mixed-use building. Chilled beams and chiller plant decisions joined ventilation strategy to serve both occupants and LEED ambitions.
Take a large hospital, subtract unexamined rules of thumb, add meaningful incremental improvements like VFD’s and a controls upgrade, and what do you get? Smarter engineering via improved performance for both the pumps and the chillers. But it all starts with one little question.