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 twofold:

According to data from Burning Glass Technologies, more than 13 STEM jobs were posted online for each one unemployed STEM worker in 2016.

This month’s Facility File focuses on the March Back2Basics retrofit of a campus-wide hot water boiler system covering 40 buildings with primary-, secondary-, and tertiary-pumping based on a performance lease agreement to retro-commission the system with a guaranteed operating savings. The university will hire an owner representative to work with a design-build-operate-maintain performance contractor (PC).

Once upon a time, humans lived outdoors in harmony with vast and diverse populations of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, largely unaware of the presence of these microbes.

Honestly, the definition of open systems is the most confusing of the three types. Open protocols are pretty straight forward — they’re protocols that communicate with one another.

Much has been written about systems’ readiness for functional performance testing at the end of construction, and pre-functional checklists have become common elements of the commissioning process.

For years, I worked for a mechanical contracting company that shifted its business plan from design-bid-build (DBB) project delivery to design-build (DB) project delivery. The move became very obvious as the optimum way to provide HVAC services.

Constructing a building takes an army. Designers, engineers, general contractors, flooring installers, HVAC contractors, plumbers, roofers, mappers, and surveyors are just a few of the blue-collar experts necessary to optimize a commercial building.  

Over the next 40 years, an estimated 2 trillion square feet of new and rebuilt building space will be constructed worldwide.

This month’s Facility File is based on a new 40,000-square-foot office building HVAC system using VRF heat pump equipment with a focus on the Back2Basics February test. The project will include two VRF systems, each serving approximately 20,000 square feet of space. The building will also have a 100 percent DOAS gas-fired rooftop HVAC system for ventilation to the occupants in the building.