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If we're designing for changes in conditions, like occupancy, use, public safety, etc., are we also accounting for the possible changes in temperature, weather patterns, and natural disasters — not the historical or average but the undocumented, yet to come?
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.
Treading lightly with your involvement in troubleshooting in new construction commissioning is necessary to avoid busting your budget or having others shift their responsibility onto you.
Ideally, recommendations for addressing complex issues will prompt healthy collaboration between team members who all keep an open mind and remain committed to doing the right thing for the building.
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.
Monitor your IAQ management plan to avoid unintended health consequences
April 1, 2024
While we manage IAQ to decrease exposure to airborne pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, we need to be extremely careful to avoid IAQ management that has the unintended consequence of suppressing our immune system, making us more vulnerable to infections, inflammatory diseases, and cancer.
The built environment is not made up of the latest and greatest equipment that we see at tradeshows and greenfield construction sites. We're still using the old technologies, so can't we find some way to make them better?
At the present time, many people are unaware of the health significance of indoor contaminants that they cannot smell or feel through irritation of their respiratory tract.