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Within a hospital facility, there is the environment health and safety (EH&S) department, medical equipment management department, custodial department, and O&M department, to mention just a few--each with their own [...]

Engineers who pull out the 2015 ASHRAE Handbook HVAC Applications or 2016 HVAC System and Equipment Handbook will not find the topic of temporary HVAC systems. And yet, these applications [...]

There was a time when HVAC consulting engineering firms had a stand-alone HVAC department with a registered professional engineer as the department head. This individual was the designated leader of [...]

Unfortunately, the potential threats to building occupants are varied and increasing. To adapt properly, let's look at the culture change needed in the design process. Commissioning, recommissioning, and preventive maintenance [...]

UMass Memorial Health Care (UMMHC) is the largest health care system in Central and Western Massachusetts, and the clinical partner of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The health system [...]

Plenty of potential ventilation crises await many otherwise unassuming buildings, thanks to nothing more sinister than truck accidents, emissions from nearby buildings, or unavoidable natural disasters. However, by pairing a [...]

If you follow my 'Tomorrow's Environment' columns, you will be familiar with my quest to elevate testing, adjusting, and balancing (TAB) to third-party TAB consulting to function in parallel with [...]

For decades, health-care facilities, as well as most institutional projects with limited funding, have chosen the design-bid-build (DBB) project delivery method to procure the lowest possible first-cost construction price. While [...]

When UMass Memorial Health Care began planning a demolition/renovation to fit out 14,000 sq ft of mixed space for a new clinic, the assumption was that an additional 80 to [...]

Troubleshooting building systems is a niche business that is immune to the economy or building owner's operating budgets. When an HVAC system doesn't work, or doesn't want to work to [...]

U.S. Route 1 starts as you enter Van Buren, ME near the Canadian border and ends in Key West, FL. Early into the trip, heading south on this historic Route [...]

Expanding a manufacturing facility might motivate a company to consider some sustainable options. But when your company is actually in the HVAC business, the pressure is on. In this case, [...]

When I was growing up north of Boston in the 1960s, there were many people on the New England north shore who had stories to tell about the King's Grant [...]

Is there any reason not to provide the owner with useful record drawings for day-to-day needs? Once upon a time, there wasn't much of a need. Now there's a need, [...]

How do you looking back? In the Harvard Business School's latest green initiative, it means enlisting a consulting firm to apply its hydraulic modeling software to the project. Scrutinizing the [...]

The article emphasizes the importance of master planning in educational and industrial institutions for sustained growth. Key sections discussed include academic areas, degrees offered, infrastructure, and emerging global considerations. The need for a comprehensive approach to HVAC systems and facility management is highlighted.

The second of two parts, this article delves deeper into the possibilities for CAD to improve facility management. Feedback from professional roundtable discussions furthers the discussion on how incorporating CAD [...]

Progress has taken CAD drawings from an electronic extra to standard procedure. However, challenges -- and opportunities -- remain in the effort to make the most of the technology. In [...]

You're in sales, and you're looking at your mid-year sales performance and disappointment is setting in. The sales may be in HVAC equipment or it may be consulting services. The [...]

Last month, I discussed the benefits of HVAC infrastructure design-build (DB) opportunities for HVAC consulting firms and HVAC contractors. The two main reasons for pursuing DB HVAC infrastructure projects were [...]

Heating and air conditioning is something we all take for granted. We probably don't remember that each type of heating and air conditioning system comes with a 'user beware' awareness. [...]

We are starting a new year, and I believe the HVAC consulting engineers responsible for design engineering need to make a change in 2019 as to how HVAC systems are [...]

Years ago, I was responsible for quality control (QC) of our facility manager's performance of outsourced building management services, and 1 did part of my QC responsibilities by completing walking [...]

This month I am continuing with another walking tour, this time a chiller plant. This tour can also be an annual or semi-annual training tour, too. It's important to note [...]

This month's B2B will focus on an existing three-story private office building described in chapter 3 of the 2015 ASHRAE Handbook--HVAC Applications titled Commercial and Public Buildings, and specifically regarding [...]

This month's B2B will focus on an infrastructure central chiller plant replacement. To select the optimum HVAC system for the chiller replacement application, the designer is directed to 2016 ASHRAE [...]

The article focuses on the historical increase in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) contract documents and its impacts. Topics include the growing number of specification pages and drawings, the resulting rise in consulting fees due to the complexity of document production, and the added contractor time required to integrate specifications and drawings effectively.

The article argues that mission critical facilities are not more complex than hospitals or educational buildings. Topics discussed include Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) design simplicity for constant airflow and minimal variability, managing significant air conditioning loads, and standardizing equipment and redundancy planning in data centers.

Helpful Hints * Consideration to equipment location should be given to locating onsite, possibly within a self-contained unit enclosure, vs. on the roof or within the building. * When considering [...]

Back in the 1970s, I was introduced to the phrase 'client maintenance,' when the consulting engineering firm I worked for was revisiting how the company remained in contact with past [...]

Reflecting back to my April 2007 column titled, 'It's Our Turn to Lead, Mentor, and Share,' I mentioned a potential new HVAC mentor with her new computer-aged approach to teaching [...]