Articles by Howard McKew, P.E., C.P.E.

Sometimes, what seems like a need for more cooling capacity could be the need to take a hard look and fine-tune the existing chiller plant. With a hospital expansion coming up, the team on this UMass Memorial Health Care project avoided adding up to 120 tons of capacity with tactics that included attacking inefficiencies in piping, valves, cooling towers, and controls.

Especially compared to school challenges, the proper reply is, “Oh, please.”

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 clear basis of design with HVAC response strategies, building owners can apply some forethought and preparation to avoid worst-case consequences. Start by asking the right questions about your facility.

Four building pros weigh in on the concept.

How about some learning, lunch, and leisure at the client’s place?

The hard part was more about presentation and persuasion than waiting on technology.

It’s been an interesting two decades (and counting), commenting on the industry one page at a time.

This past March, I asked the question, “Do you have a corporate sustainability plan?” and recently I was discussing this topic with a director of a physical plant for a major college on the East Coast. He commented, “Energy conservation and environmental management should be a team effort.”

Here’s a manufacturer’s competitive advantage waiting to happen.