On several recent projects, we have had control contractors who have promoted the use of pressure-independent control valves (PICV).

Circumstances converged to construct a pair of plants on campus in a short timeframe. However, these projects weren’t identical twins by any means: different needs, locations, and other factors drove some major differences, from cooling towers to standby power.

This month’s column is a continuation of my September and October columns regarding excessively long commissioning action lists (CALs).

Gotta tell you, I’m not sure we’ve ever had three closer competitors for cover story status.

The majority of, if not all, office buildings will go through a series of office space retrofits over the course of time

Continuing on with Part 2 of the discussion on troubleshooting problematic HVAC systems and buildings, I want to get a little more detailed with how to grasp the big picture when starting out with problem solving an installation.

Air changes in some but not all spaces, duct liner here but not necessarily there, rooftop unit requirements … do the rounds and get a feel for the current condition of ASHRAE Standard 170, Ventilation of Health Care Facilities.

When aging, outdated systems at Hardin Medical Center (HMC) provided inadequate cooling and insufficient humidity control, hospital administrators undertook a number of upgrades.

Personnel, common practices, and pathogen behavior all complicate the battle against hospital-acquired infections (HAIs).

On all projects, the need to provide reliability, accuracy, and safety need to be carefully considered as part of the overall design, but when we start looking at critical environments, these requirements become paramount in the design process.