I don’t know who coined the phrase, “High-Performance Building” (HPB) but, whoever that individual was, he or she probably would be surprised how these three words are used to define several categories today.

This past March and April, I wrote in the monthly column, Tomorrow’s Environment, about “How Much Is Too Much.”

Building owners, facility managers, and HVAC design engineers convince themselves that pharmaceutical and mission critical installations are very sophisticated and more complex than many health care applications and certainly more challenging to engineer, operate, and maintain than commercial buildings. But, that’s not the case. 

Seldom will the central plant management maintain the hourly peak chilled water load requirements.

Whether it’s engineering a new campus distribution system, reengineering one, or adding an extension to one for a new building on the campus, hydraulic modeling is an essential design tool.

Remember, time is money, and with every additional contract drawing produced, it takes time and design fee to dissect the HVAC equipment information into the contract specifications and contract drawings.

2024 can be a great year for professionals if they embrace the new opportunities that are available to them and “look back to look forward.”

Master planning today will help you avoid future failure.

Net zero and carbon neutral remain to be achieved on all new projects, especially renovation projects.

To continue progressing in their ventures — whether that's providing education, health care, etc. — or to simply increase corporate profits, an organization should have a master plan that will be monitored and measured annually.