This whitepaper by Dave Bodenschatz, Director of Mechanical Design, discusses ASHRE’s new standard which establishes minimum requirements to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious aerosols like COVID-19 and influenza in buildings.

Engineering consultant IMEG is using offsite construction in industries including healthcare, apartment complexes, hotels, and schools. Could this building method be right for your next project?

This whitepaper by Richard Vedvik, IMEG senior electrical engineer, discusses what MEP engineers need to know about the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Life Safety Code before making temporary or permanent changes to egress. This paper was originally published as “How egress is planned using NFPA 101,” in the January/February 2020 issue of Consulting-Specifying Engineer magazine.

Denver Water, one of the major water providers in the West, is redefining water stewardship with their implementation of a rainwater capture system and on-site wastewater treatment system in their new LEED Platinum, Net-Zero Energy administration building. In this whitepaper, IMEG Client Executive Ken Urbanek discusses successful solutions the IMEG team implemented while designing the water systems for this highly sustainable project. 

This whitepaper by Richard Vedvik, IMEG senior electrical engineer and acoustics engineer, summarizes the critical concepts MEP engineers need to know about seeking International WELL Building Institute WELL v2 certification. This paper was originally published as “Understanding WELL v2 certification,” in the August 2021 issue of Consulting-Specifying Engineer magazine.  

This whitepaper by Lincoln Pearce, IMEG’s Commissioning Team Client Executive, discusses the challenges and successes the design team encountered while meeting and exceeding Iowa State University’s goals, including achieving LEED Gold certification, for the 60,000-sf renovation of Marston Hall, one of the oldest structures on the campus and home to the College of Engineering.   

This paper examines the structural highlights, challenges, and unique solutions of The Laurel Rittenhouse Square, a 50-story, 583,000-square-foot residential tower under construction in Philadelphia. Written by IMEG’s Kirk Harman and Todd Campbell, the article was originally published in the June 2022 issue of STRUCTURE magazine, a publication of the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA).

This paper by IMEG’s Jeff Boldt and Joshua Ince, P.Eng., of DuBois Chemicals, summarizes the most important items for the HVAC designer to know about master specifications for water treatment, which is required on projects for many reasons. Reprinted with permission from ASHRAE, this paper was originally published as the “Engineer’s Notebook” in the March 22, 2022, issue of the ASHRAE Journal.

Dave Bodenschatz, IMEG Director of Mechanical Engineering, examines the importance of making noise control a consistent design consideration in the HVAC industry for all types of buildings. Reprinted with permission from the ASHRAE Journal, this article provides real-world applications in the use of acoustics design to help improve indoor environmental quality.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) is being conducted through individual, campus-specific projects, all due to be complete in 2028. This paper provides a high-level look at key design considerations and strategies applicable to most EHRM initiatives, which in addition to software and hardware often involve significant building infrastructure upgrades or redesigns.

Successful cold-climate HVAC design depends on having the experience to know what items might cause problems or failures. This paper by IMEG’s Jeff Boldt and William Maki examines considerations for coils, pipes, and chillers, issues with snow, and occupant comfort. Reprinted with permission from ASHRAE, the paper is a follow-up to Designing HVAC for Humid vs. Arid Climates.

Optimizing the impacts of lighting and acoustics by merging their designs is becoming more refined as the approach matures in the built environment—providing a dynamic range of concepts not seen in the past. This paper provides benchmarks and definitions for acoustics as well as design considerations for integrated acoustic luminaires. A case study with four

This paper by IMEG’s Jeff Boldt and David Wright introduces how room functionality improves with improved architectural acoustics, especially in rooms used for collaboration, instruction, and assembly where clear speech is needed. Reprinted with permission from ASHRAE, the paper is a follow-up to a previously posted “Engineer’s Notebook” explaining basic acoustic terms.

Current architecture trends favoring open rooms, hard surfaces, expanded daylighting, and exposed HVAC ducts have made acoustics design more important than ever, but much of the regularly changing terminology surrounding acoustics can be confusing. This paper, written by IMEG’s Jeff Boldt and David Wright and reprinted with permission from ASHRAE, offers a simple vocabulary of basic acoustic terms that are almost always considered in any type of project.

This paper outlines innovative early warning strategies that combine a K-12 building’s new or existing security and lighting systems to function as a notification resource during an active assailant event or environmental emergency. The goal is to show how one cohesive platform can detect and identify various threats and communicate their locations, probable areas of safety, egress information, as well as other helpful directives.

The AEC industry will likely see new regulatory requirements that will greatly impact the planning and design of healthcare facilities to ensure they are prepared for future pandemics. This paper provides a starting point for this preparation by reviewing the lessons learned from COVID-19 and discussing design strategies that will provide the most flexibility for healthcare systems.

Designers must consider outside conditions during all seasons and their impact on the operation of the building and HVAC systems. This paper, co-written by IMEG’s Jeff Boldt, examines key design strategies for projects whether they are in climates that are humid or arid, hot or cold. Reprinted with permission from ASHRAE, this paper was originally published as the “Engineer’s Notebook” in the June 2021 issue of the ASHRAE Journal.

Owners of existing or planned medical office buildings may want to add features that can better prepare these non-acute care buildings for future patient surge events. This paper provides a high-level overview of key design considerations that will enable these buildings to be converted quickly and efficiently into an alternate care facility.

This paper provides an overview of current industry-standard HVAC design components and their effect on mitigating the transmission of airborne viruses. Component energy use and maintenance considerations also are discussed.

At some point every healthcare facility will face the need to modernize its Central Sterilization Services department. This paper provides the framework for conducting a thorough analysis of facility needs and characteristics when CSS modernization is being considered.

This whitepaper examines the growing use of on-site renewable energy production and energy storage and the impact these combined strategies can have on a building’s energy use profile. Co-authors Adam McMillen, IMEG Director of Sustainability, and Sean Smith, Chief Engineer for Trane Technologies, show how the right timing of production, storage, and use of on-site energy can enable facilities to eliminate their use of the electric grid during peak demand hours, save on energy cost, and reduce their carbon footprint.

“The Convergence of Healthcare Delivery in the U.S.” is a study co-authored by IMEG Corp. and Transwestern, and supported by Karen Meyer, Inc. and HPI Advisors. Healthcare experts from hospital systems, academic medical campuses, development firms, design firms, medical products firms, and analysts contributed to the survey. Topics covered include healthcare “mega-disruptors,” how healthcare will be sought by Millennials and Gen Xers, and what the delivery of healthcare will look like by 2020.