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MARCH 2015

COVER STORY 26 | Integration: BIM design Building information modeling (BIM) is used frequently when working across multiple disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering, and also with other stakeholders such as architects and contractors. ED PAUL

FEATURES 32 | Energy performance in mission critical facilities ON THE COVER: This overall view of a building shows a single mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection (MEP/ FP) design model representing accurate location and overall dimensions of equipment and systems. This image is rendered from a single Revit model containing all MEP/FP disciplines. Courtesy: Arup

Mission critical facilities, such as data centers, are judged carefully on their energy use. Engineers should focus on the codes and standards that dictate energy performance and how building energy performance can be enhanced. BILL KOSIK, PE, CEM, BEMP, LEED AP BD+C

DEPARTMENTS 07 | Viewpoint Work smarter, not harder

09 | Research

19 | Codes & Standards Piping arrangements for fire pumps

Seven key findings for the fire and life safety industry

25 | Digital Edition Exclusives

11 | Career Smart

 Using IPD and Lean in

Is an international assigment right for you?

12 | MEP Roundtable Learning objective: Designing K-12 schools

40 | Selecting fire pumps The key for fire protection engineers is to understand the requirements of both NFPA 20 and NFPA 70 to properly choose and configure a fire pump so that the fire protection systems can serve their intended use. ALLYN J. VAUGHN, PE, FSFPE, and RICK REYBURN, PE

building design  LCCA for HVAC systems

47 | Advertiser Index 48 | Future of Engineering Key political trends in green building

ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES Use the icons to identify topics of interest. AUTOMATION & CONTROLS

HVAC

COMMUNICATIONS

LIGHTING

ELECTRICAL

PLUMBING

FIRE, SECURITY & LIFE SAFETY

CONSULTING-SPECIFYING ENGINEER (ISSN 0892-5046, Vol. 52, No. 2, GST #123397457) is published 11x per year, monthly except in February, by CFE Media, LLC, 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Jim Langhenry, Group Publisher /Co-Founder; Steve Rourke CEO/COO/Co-Founder. CONSULTING-SPECIFYING ENGINEER copyright 2015 by CFE Media, LLC. All rights reserved. CONSULTINGSPECIFYING ENGINEER is a registered trademark of CFE Media, LLC used under license. Periodicals postage paid at Oak Brook, IL 60523 and additional mailing offices. Circulation records are maintained at CFE Media, LLC, 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. E-mail: [email protected]. Postmaster: send address changes to CONSULTING-SPECIFYING ENGINEER, 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40685520. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Email: customerservice@ cfemedia.com. Rates for nonqualified subscriptions, including all issues: USA, $150/yr; Canada/Mexico, $180/yr (includes 7% GST, GST#123397457); International air delivery $325/yr. Except for special issues where price changes are indicated, single copies are available for $30.00 US and $35.00 foreign. Please address all subscription mail to CONSULTING-SPECIFYING ENGINEER, 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Printed in the USA. CFE Media, LLC does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material contained herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident or any other cause whatsoever. www.csemag.com

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online now csemag.com When engineering systems in K-12 schools, what is the most difficult issue you face? Automation and controls

14%

Codes and standards Electrical and power

19% 17% 10%

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20%

12%

4%

Energy efficiency, sustainability

*Lighting and lighting controls

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17%

8%

17% 17%

2014 2015

Read the Q&A about K-12 schools on page 12. To view more poll results, visit www.csemag.com/poll/cse. *New information gathered in 2015.

2015

Pure Power has been enhanced to include additional information including topics like mission critical facilities, energy efficiency, electrical and power systems, and much more. Read it at www.csemag.com/purepower.

The 2015 MEP Giants program lists the top 100 mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP), and fire protection engineering firms in the United States. The in-depth analysis of these firms appears in the August issue and reveals what’s going on in the industry and how it has changed over the past few years. Special emphasis is placed on commissioning firms in a separate report each October. Your completed submission is due April 3, 2015. Please note that only one person may complete this form on behalf of your company. You can learn more about the program at: www.csemag.com/giants.

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Each week, Consulting-Specifying Engineer highlights the top articles from the previous week based on the feedback from the website viewers. To see past articles from each week, search “Top 5 Consulting-Specifying Engineer articles.” 4

Visit www.csemag.com/archives for these Web exclusive articles:  NFPA 72 and 720 code changes  Sustainable alternative refrigerant products to be released this year  Hankins & Anderson (H&A) announces Rob McAtee to be the new director of energy and sustainability services.  2015 NEBB Conference to focus on HVAC, BAS issues and standards

Pure Power: Critical Power and Energy Solutions

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The tablet and digital editions of this publication are greatly enhanced and have unique content for digital subscribers. Update your subscription at: www.csemag.com/subscribe.

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Honoring Engineering Leadership Submit your firm’s data to be considered for the Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2015 MEP Giants program and be among the top mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP), and fire protection engineering firms in North America. Your firm’s information will be included in the printed and online MEP Giants poster, featured in the Consulting-Specifying Engineer August 2015 issue. The in-depth analysis of these firms appears in August and reveals what’s going on in the industry, and reveals engineering trends over the past few years. Special emphasis will be placed on commissioning in a separate report in October. Nominations for the 2015 MEP Giants are now open! Go to www.csemag.com/giants to download the official 2015 MEP Giants submission form.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: To participate in the 2015 MEP Giants, submit your firm’s information by Friday, April 3, 2015.

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KEMMIE TURPIN, Digital Media and Circulation Coordinator 630-571-4070 x2223, [email protected]

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD ANIL AHUJA, PE, LEED AP, RCDD, President, CCJM Engineers, Chicago PETER ALSPACH, PE, LEED AP BD+C, Associate Principal, Mechanical Engineer, Arup, Seattle J. PATRICK BANSE, PE, LEED AP, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Smith Seckman Reid Inc., Houston JERRY BAUERS, PE, National Program Executive, Outcome Construction Services LLC, Kansas City, Mo. MICHAEL CHOW, PE, LEED AP BD+C, Principal, Metro CD Engineering LLC, Powell, Ohio JASON GERKE, PE, LEED AP BD+C, C X A, Mechanical Engineer, GRAEF, Milwaukee JOSHUA D. GREENE, PE, Vice President, RJA Group Inc., Chicago RAYMOND GRILL, PE, FSFPE, Principal, Arup, Washington, D.C. DANNA JENSEN, PE, LEED AP BD+C, Associate Principal, ccrd partners, Dallas WILLIAM KOFFEL, PE, FSFPE, President, Koffel Associates Inc., Columbia, Md. WILLIAM KOSIK, PE, CEM, LEED AP BD+C, BEMP, Principal Data Center Energy Technologist, HP Technology Services, Chicago KENNETH KUTSMEDA, PE, LEED AP, Engineering Design Principal, Jacobs Engineering Group, Philadelphia KEITH LANE, PE, RCDD, LC, LEED AP, President, Lane Coburn & Assocs., Seattle JULIANNE LAUE, PE, LEED AP BD+C, BEMP, Senior MEP Engineer, Center for Sustainable Energy, Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis KENNETH L. LOVORN, PE, President, Lovorn Engineering Assocs., Pittsburgh DAVID LOWREY, Chief Fire Marshal, Boulder (Colo.) Fire Rescue MICHAEL MAR, PE, LEED AP, Senior Associate, Environmental Systems Design Inc., Chicago BRIAN MARTIN, PE, Electrical Engineer, CH2M Hill, Portland, Ore. DWAYNE G. MILLER, PE, RCDD, AEE CPQ, Chief Executive Officer, JBA Consulting Engineers, Hong Kong SYED PEERAN, PE, Ph.D., Senior Engineer, CDM Smith Inc., Cambridge, Mass. BRIAN A. RENER, PE, LEED AP, Associate, SmithGroupJJR, Chicago RANDY SCHRECENGOST, PE, CEM, Austin Operations Group Manager and Senior Mechanical Engineer, Stanley Consultants, Austin, Texas GERALD VERSLUYS, PE, LEED AP, Principal, Senior Electrical Engineer, TLC Engineering for Architecture, Jacksonville, Fla. MIKE WALTERS, PE, LEED AP, Principal, Confluenc, Madison, Wis.

Work smarter, not harder

A

t a recent gathering, I was talking to a longtime high-voltage electrician. I knew that he’d been laid off for close to 2 years. But when I asked how work was going, his face lit up and he said he was busy. So busy, as a matter of fact, that he felt guilty for putting in overtime. He hadn’t seen overtime pay in some time, and was happy to say that he felt that the construction industry was on the mend. In a different conversation with engineers based out of Houston, I heard similar sentiments. In one case, an electrical engineer was putting in 50 to 60 billable hours per week, and could work even more due to a heavy workload. Projects were rolling in, and they needed to work more hours, hire additional staff, and streamline their project review processes to keep up. Finally, chatting with manufacturers at a conference earlier this year, I learned about several ways they’re enhancing products and systems to help engineers make faster calculations, learn new systems more quickly, and specify familiar products without having to request detailed information because it’s already available at the touch of a button. Within all levels of the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, the “work smarter, not harder” mantra keeps bubbling to the surface. This low rumble will likely become a dull roar in the near future as fast-growing industries, like hospitality, manufac-

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turing, and health care, continue their upward climb. To work smarter, engineers should take note of a few things:  Many manufacturers are now providing calculators, tools, and other specialized software to help engineers work through a proposal or specification more quickly. Ask your manufacturer rep to explain them to you, and incorporate them into your proposals and workflow to save time on designs.  Keeping on top of industry trends is key to the business development process. Data may come from business-to-business references, research reports, or education sessions. Make sure someone on your team remains on the cutting edge to give your firm that extra leg-up within the marketplace.  Succession planning takes time but pays back when done correctly. Engineering firms approach this in different ways—some hire straight out of college and mold them to fit the firm’s needs, while others hire people with muchneeded knowledge and abilities already in place. Both are good approaches, but without training and mentoring, neither will play out in the long term.  Think differently—and encourage your team to contribute ideas from outside the engineering community. Some of the best ideas are “borrowed” from divergent industries—think TED talks, Google’s hiring practices, or about other nontraditional thought leaders.

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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Check out ConsultingSpecifying Engineer’s eNewsletters! Providing helpful and specific information that’s directly applicable to your career. • CSE Codes and Standards • Electrical Solutions • Fire and Life Safety • HVAC Solutions • NewsWatch: Data Centers Educational Facilities Hospitals Office Buildings • Product and Media Showcase • Pure Power

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Electrical, power challenges 82% 71%

research

58%

2015 FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY STUDY:

Inadequate Project Energy budget delivery speed efficiency

>85%

of lighting engineers specify LEDs; T5s, T8s, or T12s (any size); and/or lighting controls. Source: Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2014 Lighting and Lighting Controls Study

9 out of 10

mechanical engineers rank product quality, product energy efficiency, manufacturer’s reputation, service support, and initial product cost as very important factors for selecting HVAC products. Source: ConsultingSpecifying Engineer 2014 HVAC and Building Automation Systems Study.

50%

or more engineers frequently use prescriptive or open (proprietary) fire and life safety specifications issued by their firm. Source: Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2015 Fire and Life Safety Study

Seven key findings for the fire and life safety industry

R

espondents to the ConsultingSpecifying Engineer 2015 Fire and Life Safety Study identified seven important high-level findings impacting the fire and life safety industry today: 1. Building structures: The top building structures respondents specify, design, or make fire and life safety system product selections for are office buildings (68%), industrial/ manufacturing facilities/warehouses (60%), and government buildings/ military facilities (55%). 2. Systems specified: More than 70% of respondents specify or expect to specify detection products—including control systems, dampers, and fire, smoke, heat, and linear detectors. 3. Systems value: The average total annual dollar amount of fire and life safety systems specified for new and existing systems is $1.9 million, a 12% decrease from 2014. 4. Challenges: When asked about the challenges to fire and life safety

system design and specifications, 65% or more indicated subjective interpretation of regulations by code authorities, inadequate design budget, and the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) or code enforcement not understanding new systems as constant hurdles. 5. Disciplines: Local AHJs or fire officials have the most input and impact on fire and life safety design, according to 65% of respondents, followed by owners (40%), architects (35%), and electrical engineers (35%). 6. Design factors: Product quality (70%), service support (50%), and manufacturer’s reputation (45%) were identified as extremely important to respondents when selecting fire and life safety systems. 7. Experience: The average engineer involved in fire and life safety systems has been in the industry for 21 years. View additional findings at www.csemag.com/2015FireLifeSafety.

Average total annual dollar amount of fire, life safety systems +6.5% -12.1%

More research Quarterly, Consulting-Specifying Engineer surveys its audience on four topics: fire and life safety, electrical and power, lighting and lighting controls, and HVAC and building automation systems. All of the reports are available online at www.csemag.com/research.

$2,031,383

2013

$2,163,750 $1,902,625

2014

2015

Source: Consulting-Specifying Engineer, CFE Media www.csemag.com/research FOR MORE RESEARCH INFORMATION

www.csemag.com

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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Improve your HVAC and BAS business with CSE Research Turning research into insights to make better business decisions

In 2014, Consulting-Specifying Engineer surveyed its audience members responsible for decisions related to the design of HVAC and/or building automation systems (BAS) products and services within their firms. According to the data in this report, half of HVAC and building automation products specified by engineering firms for new and existing buildings are valued at more than $1 million, compared to 59% in 2013 and 47% in 2012. Download the new Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2014 HVAC and Building Automation Systems Research today!

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1/9/2015 3:52:30 PM

Career Smart BY JANE SIDEBOTTOM AMK LLC, Louisville, Ky.

Is an international assignment right for you? Consider these 5 questions if you’d like to work abroad.

A

former colleague recently asked me for help in identifying all the things she needed to consider in deciding whether to accept an international project assignment. The position was a 2-year assignment in Paris that would be a nice step up in responsibility and pay. And as a midlevel team leader, this friend was hoping the assignment would advance her career path to a more senior level position upon her return. And well, it was Paris—she was definitely dazzled by the idea that weekends could be spent traveling and exposing her children to the European lifestyle. In the right circumstances, foreign assignments can turbocharge your career path. The professional challenges that come with prolonged project assignments, business development roles, or operations can put all your skills to the test and help you develop some new ones. Cultural differences, language barriers, limited local resources—especially in developing countries—will force you to use both your technical as well as your softer skills. Success in these types of assignments can cast you in a different leadership light with your company’s senior management, especially when you are able to demonstrate flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to lead an often diverse team to success—all skills needed for senior management positions. And in your company or field, such an assignment may even be a prerequisite for a senior position. But before you run out to get your passport renewed and start volunteering www.csemag.com

for foreign assignments, consider the following:

1. Is the assignment in a country where you are comfortable working? Examine your personal and professional values and make sure the local business practices and culture align with them. 2. Where is your internal sponsor/ mentor, and who will keep you top-of-mind in the home office while on this assignment? You do not want to suffer from “out of sight, out of mind” while slaying dragons for your company in a foreign market. 3. What is the duration of the assignment, and what are your expectations upon completion? Make sure you and your employer are clearly in agreement on your specific career expectations when the assignment is complete. This is not just alignment on career advancement but also continued employment. I have seen multiple cases where a colleague returns from an overseas assignment to find there is not a position for him or her at home. This can especially be the case in heavy project-based environments where there is not room for another billable individual on existing projects. 4. Consider the impact on your family. Ask yourself if your family can survive and thrive in the assigned country. And don’t assume that because the assignment is in a cosmopolitan, westernized country that your family or spouse will do well. The

simple act of going to a grocery store to find the makings for your favorite chili recipe or finding a family dentist can be a huge challenge. Consider asking your employer to allow you to take your family to the country before the assignment starts to experience first-hand what life will be like. Don’t just limit your trip to house hunting and visiting your kids’ school options; spend time with other expatriate families to really understand what life is like there.

5. Consider how your life will change with the international experience. Living and working abroad will change you, and are you OK with that? Everyone I know with international experience has returned to the U.S. with a different perspective that makes their views and decision-making multidimensional, myself included. But if you fear change or are uncomfortable with allowing a different professional and cultural experience to affect you, then an international assignment is probably not a wise choice. Jane Sidebottom is the owner of AMK LLC, a management and marketing consulting firm that provides market development and growth expertise to small- and medium-size firms. She has more than 20 years of management and leadership experience in both consulting engineering and Fortune 100 organizations. Sidebottom is a graduate of the University of Maryland. Read the longer version of this online at: www.csemag.com/careersmart.

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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MEP Roundtable PARTICIPANTS

David Ellis, PE, CEM, LEED AP Senior Vice President of Engineering Allen & Shariff Engineering LLC Columbia, Md.

Nestor Ortiz Senior Construction Engineer, Project Officer Parsons Brinckerhoff Long Island City, N.Y.

John C. Palasz, PE, HFDP Mechanical Engineer Primera Engineers Ltd. Chicago

12

Learning objective: Designing K-12 schools In K-12 schools, technological advancements, code requirements, and other demands placed on engineers are consistently increasing, while limitations like budget restraints remain a challenge. CSE: Please describe a recent K-12 school project you’ve worked on. David Ellis: I was involved with the design of a complete renovation of a 330,000-sq-ft high school located in Washington, D.C. This project included a natatorium, performance auditorium, arts center, gymnasium, two kitchens, and academic classrooms, including labs. The high-performance conditioning and ventilation system for this school involved the matching of a hydronic variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system, using a ground coupled approach along with a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS). Design was performed using a design assist contract, which included a great deal of cost control input from the contractor, as this allowed for an accelerated construction schedule while containing costs. As this was a renovation, BIM software proved valuable for coordination. Nestor Ortiz: I am the lead project officer for the school construction authority (SCA) construction management for an expansion/ renovation of a public school in Queens, N.Y. We are adding 43,000 sq ft to an existing school. The new building will have four floors and a mechanical equipment room located on the roof. This expansion will be connected to the existing school at all three floor and cellar levels. The school will become Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant as well as provide two elevators, a gymatorium, a new kitchen/cafeteria, eight new classrooms, a music room, a library, a science resource room, and an art room. In case of emergency,

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

the school will be able to run on emergency backup due to its new generator located at the roof level. John C. Palasz: I was the lead mechanical engineer for a boiler renovation project at Carl Schurz High School. A historic landmark on Chicago’s northwest side, Schurz is a 400,000sq-ft building housing more than 2,500 students. The project included the replacement of the steam boilers with new 500-hp lowpressure steam boilers with the addition of steam-to-water heat exchangers, two 365-ton centrifugal chillers and cooling towers, as well as all pumps, feedwater, chemical treatment, and accessories to provide a dual-temperature water plant. In addition, the air-handling systems were refurbished and retrofitted with new dual-temperature coils, fan motors, filters, and dampers. The project also included all associated controls and a new building automation system (BAS). CSE: How have the characteristics of K-12 school projects changed in recent years, and what should engineers expect to see in the near future? Ortiz: There are several safety features that have been added to schools for security reasons, such as cameras throughout the school grounds and designated rescue rooms. Aside from security upgrades, the engineers can expect mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP), and fire protection systems that are more selfsufficient and efficient. They will make the school custodian’s life easier as the equipment

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will be able to communicate if there is an issue or service needed. The equipment will be able to run efficiently, in various modes, such as startup, occupied, unoccupied, and economizer mode. Palasz: Similar to a number of other markets, K-12 school projects have started to see more demanding design and construction schedules in recent years. Schools and districts are stretching their budgets in multiple directions to cover necessary building repairs, infrastructure upgrades to reduce energy costs, teacher salaries and pensions, utilities, and the desire for improved teaching technologies such as smartboards and computers. As budgets stay the same or decrease and schedules decrease, these projects become a challenge. In the near future, engineers can expect to see an increase in the overall number of projects as aging buildings and rising energy costs drive the need for building control systems and high-efficiency design. The energy codes (International Energy Conservation Code and ASHRAE Standard 90.1) raise the bar for both renovation and new construction projects, but this usually comes with a higher price tag. Furthermore, the longterm energy savings that are designed may not be realized. Commissioning the system after the initial setup as well as regularly scheduled user training can help to achieve or maintain the projected energy savings. Ellis: Sustainability—in regard to energy—water, and acoustics have taken charge of the design approach. The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Schools program has led to innovation in school design, where measures such as energy-efficient design, water conservation, and a focus on room acoustical performance has improved classroom effectiveness while improving the sustainability of the school project. As certification programs ratchet up performance expectations, along with higher performance sustainability codes, expect the www.csemag.com

Figure 1: Primera Engineers was engaged to renovate the boiler at Chicago’s Carl Schurz High School, a historic landmark. The team replaced steam boilers with 500hp, low-pressure steam boilers, added steam-to-water heat exchangers, two 365-ton centrifugal chillers, cooling towers, and other components. The project also included a new building automation system. Courtesy: Primera Engineers Ltd.

drive to net zero to enter into the next generation of facilities that begin design within 5 to 10 years. CSE: How does engineering systems in K-12 schools differ from colleges and universities? Palasz: My experience is that college and university engineering systems are generally designed to encourage student enrollment. Expenses are seldom spared to ensure quiet and comfortable designs while systems are designed with a higher standard of quality. These systems can be designed to last 100 years or more. Additionally, classrooms are designed with more versatility to specifically allow for rapid furniture changes to allow for collaboration one day and independent work the next day. On the contrary, many K-12 projects are limited by budget, and improvements are made to bring the school up to par or code minimums. Budget constraints often limit the design approach, which results in equipment that is expected to last between 20 and 30 years. Ellis: There are similarities, of course, but in general, along with the discrete

focus buildings, as opposed to the combined activities in schools, universities have the potential for campus-wide utilities and the hours of operation tend to be extended. In addition, university operations staff typically have a higher level of training than the staff of K-12 schools. CSE: Please explain some of the general differences between retrofitting an existing school and working on a brand-new structure. Ortiz: When working on retrofitting an existing school, some of the challenges entail upgrading current utility services (electrical system, water/sewer services, and/or gas service) or having to interface new with outdated equipment. Even with thorough surveying and planning, unforeseen conditions inevitably occur when working in an existing building. When working with a brand-new structure, a critical factor will be complete coordination of trades and compliance with all the latest codes and standards. Ellis: Existing schools pose a challenge in adapting to existing structural and envelope constraints than that encountered in new school approaches. Usually,

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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MEP Roundtable there is uncertainty in locating or identifying these existing constraints, and that leads to risk in containing construction costs. As such, renovation projects benefit from having a contractor involved early, providing demolition to reduce the uncertainty during design. Palasz: Some of the general differences between retrofitting an existing school and working on a brand-new structure are that retrofit projects often require more site survey work prior to construction and are likely occupied during construction. This introduces logistical challenges and requires additional design considerations. New structures allow for increased design flexibility in building shape and system type. That flexibility leads to an increased potential for energy savings from a tighter and more insulated envelope and/or a spacious mechanical room that allows for accessible, sustainable, and maintainable equipment that may be integrated directly

into the building type. Older structures seldom offer these opportunities. CSE: Many schools require flexible space—building features that can be adapted to different uses as the school’s needs evolve. How do you take such requirements into consideration? Palasz: By gathering as much information about the different uses and coordinating the ways that the space will be adapted, many system types may be eliminated. If different space uses are few and known, then a system can be designed to have various modes to accommodate accordingly, such as a lab mode (using 100% exhaust), lecture mode, or disco mode. To be cost-effective when designing a flexible space, the design requirements must be well-defined. One common approach is to design added capacity

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CSE: When designing integration monitoring and control systems, what factors do you consider? Ortiz: Major components for designing integration monitoring systems and controls are efficiency and energy conservation. For example, motion sensors are being used to shut off lights when there are no occupants in rooms, and mechanical equipment is designed using heat wheels to save energy and minimize heat loss. Ellis: To the extent possible, operational and maintenance complexity has to be reduced. CSE: What are some common problems you encounter when working on building automation systems? Ellis: Given the proprietary nature of most control manufacturers’ architectural approach, despite the drive toward open systems, defining architecture is still subject to customization by each vendor.

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in the system to account for high occupancy, or additional computer equipment while incorporating the appropriate controls to reduce or shut off cooling, ventilation, or exhaust as needed. The controls help maintain energy efficiency, but oversizing equipment to account for design flexibility may result in a high installation cost. Ortiz: My current project includes a gymatorium that is a combination of a gymnasium and auditorium. Aside from the two obvious functions, this space gives the school a location for kids to play on rainy days, a location the community could use for events, or a community refuge from natural disasters. The gymatorium will have its own dedicated rooftop unit and emergency lighting that will be tied back to the school’s new emergency generator. The gymatorium will have chair storage and retractable basketball rims so the school can transition to different sporting setups.

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Ortiz: Some of the challenging problems we have encountered with our expansion/renovation project are dealing with modifications of existing systems or integrating them with new ones. The older systems are sometimes obsolete and need to be integrated with the new system. To avoid further issues, the old system will be upgraded as well. CSE: What codes, standards, or guidelines do you use as a guide as you work on these facilities? Palasz: ASHRAE has great reference

information available to engineers. Specifically, for the work we do with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the City of Chicago code governs these projects. Likewise, CPS publishes an HVAC design guide and provides details, specifications, and invaluable input to optimize design maintain consistency and reduce cost. Ellis: In addition to current codes, each school district typically has its own design guidelines, and frequently LEED for Schools is employed. Ortiz: The current school project complies with the 2008 New York City (NYC) building code, and some aspects of the 2014 codes. Many of the standards and guidelines are based on the needs of the school in coordination with the New York City Dept. of Education. CSE: Which code/standard proves to be most challenging in such facilities? Palasz: Meeting the prerequisites for LEED certification is typically the most challenging. Because projects are trending toward tighter budgets and shorter design and construction schedules, the addition of a requirement to exceed the energy code while providing quiet ventilation presents a challenge. Ellis: Given the typical approach of decoupling ventilation from conditioning, acoustic performance is the biggest design challenge. New codes, especially the IECC and the International Green www.csemag.com

Construction Code (IgCC), pose a documentation problem that code officials want resolved by new documentation that increases production effort. CSE: Energy efficiency and sustainability are often the No. 1 request from building owners during new building design. What is your experience in this area? Palasz: My experience is that to achieve excellence in energy efficiency and sustainability, the designers need to work with building owners and approach it as a team effort. Prior to building occupancy, new buildings are being finetuned to balance system controls and flow rates to provide comfort with the designed operation. Adjusting systems often needs to occur for months and

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Major components for designing integration monitoring systems and controls are efficiency and energy conservation. For example, motion sensors are being used to shut off lights when there are no occupants in rooms, and mechanical equipment is designed using heat wheels to save energy and minimize heat loss. —Nestor Ortiz

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requires adjusting for the heating season as well as the cooling season. I believe that striving for improved efficiency should be an ongoing effort that should not stop once the building is occupied. To do this, it is necessary to have energy meters to establish a baseline and to track the system operation improvements or denigration from year to year. This information is also critical in determining corrective actions for equipment replacement and/or operational adjustments to achieve cost savings.

Ellis: Energy performance and other sustainability practices have been involved in the majority of K-12 projects in the last few years, and going forward are to be a part of all projects based on the implementation of the new codes, in particular the IgCC. CSE: What changes in fans, variable frequency drives, and other related equipment have you experienced? Ellis: The biggest change in the design approach has been the introduction of decoupling of ventilation from conditioning by the use of DOAS, and the application of VRF systems. DOAS allows for substantial energy savings in the avoidance of conditioning unnecessary ventilation air, and VRF allows for low-energy transport of heat during periods of concurrent heating and cooling. Of course, improvements in design and cost of variable frequency drives (VFDs) allows for more opportunities for implementing the energy-saving advantages associated with variable flow, both air and water, and development of inexpensive pressure independent constant air regulators allows for the mixing of constant and variable flow ventilation on the same variable air volume (VAV) DOAS, which allows for ventilation savings with highly variable occupancy classrooms with fixed makeup spaces, such as labs. Palasz: Over the past few years, I have experienced a change in the trend of using a roof-mounted return fan in an insulated housing (similar to a rooftop unit) to wrapping a mixed flow fan. This results in a lighter and more efficient design, which helps to decrease initial costs by reducing the structural reinforcement requirements. It also helps to improve the return on investment with a very efficient fan (up to 85% efficient). In regard to VFDs, they have become less expensive and more widely used to provide system flexibility and soft-start capability in addition to diagnostic alarms. Read the longer version of this online at: www.csemag.com/archives.

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Codes & Standards Piping arrangements for fire pumps NFPA 20 provides fire protection engineers with guidance on design and installation of fire pumps and related components. BY MILOSH PUCHOVSKY, PE, FSFPE, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass.

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ffective fire pump installations require fire protection engineers to consider numerous components, and correctly apply a range of design and installation standards. In addition to addressing the more obvious components that comprise a fire pump installation—such as the fire pump, driver, controller, and pump room— careful attention also needs to be given to the piping leading to, from, and around the pump and the equipment associated with that piping. While NFPA 20: Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection serves as the principal standard addressing the sizing and installation of the associated piping, the next edition being the 2016, other codes and standards such as NFPA 13, NFPA 14, NFPA 22, NFPA 24, NFPA 25, and NFPA 291, as well as the applicable building and fire codes, also need to be reviewed and correctly applied depending on the type of fire protection systems served by the fire pump.

Suction piping

The piping connecting the water supply to the fire pump is referred to as suction piping. It comprises all piping, valves, and fittings that feed water to the pump’s suction flange. The selection and installation of such suction pipe material is addressed by NFPA 24, which specifies the use of certain types of iron, steel, concrete, plastic, and copper. In addition, NFPA 24 addresses how the pipe and fittings are to be joined together, depth of cover if the pipe is buried, protection of the pipe from freezing and other damaging events, joint restraint, and acceptance testing including flushing and hydrostatic tests. NFPA 20 addresses the arrangement of the suction pipe and associated devices. Generally, www.csemag.com

the suction pipe and associated devices need to be arranged in such a manner so as to minimize the likelihood of turbulent and imbalanced water flow entering the pump. Such conditions decrease overall pump performance, can result in a sudden system failure and can cause premature wear of system components. The size of the suction pipe is influenced mostly by the fire protection system’s hydraulic demand as determined in accordance with the appropriate system installation standards, such as NFPA 13 or NFPA 14, and the size of the fire pump selected. NFPA 24 provides guidance on suction pipe sizes and generally states that for any system, the pipe should be at least 6 in. in nominal diameter. Smaller pipe sizes are permitted provided hydraulic calculations verify that the pipe can supply the necessary system demand at the corresponding required pressure. NFPA 22 provides specific guidance with regard to suction piping connecting a water tank with the fire pump. For instance, if the suction tank exceeds 100,000 gal, the size of the suction pipe must be at least 10 in. in diameter (nominal dimensions). The smaller the pipe, the faster the water flow, and therefore more turbulent flow will occur. Increasing the pipe size lowers the flow velocity and reduces the occurrence of turbulence. NFPA 20 includes more specific provisions about suction pipe where fire pumps are installed, and specifies certain pipe sizes. The philosophy is that suction pipe be sized so that when the pump is operating at its maximum flow rate, which is 150% of its rated capacity or the maximum flow available from the water supply, the gauge pressure at the pump suction flange

NFPA 20 addresses the arrangement of the suction pipe and associated devices.

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Codes & Standards does not drop below -3 psi (-0.2 bar). where the requirements of NFPA 20 and present concern with water-based fire protection systems. The control valve is Furthermore, the suction pipe is to be NFPA 22 do not take precedence. permitted to be any type of valve listed sized such that with the pump operating for fire protection service, including a butat 150% of its rated capacity, also referred Discharge piping to as pump’s overload point, the velocity NFPA 20 defines discharge pipe and terfly valve, because turbulence is not as in that portion of the suction pipe located equipment as the pipe, valves, and fit- critical on the discharge side of the pump. A check valve is also to be installed within 10 pipe diameters upstream of the tings that extend from the pump discharge pump suction flange does not exceed 15 flange to the system side of the discharge on the discharge piping, between the fire ft/sec (4.57 m/sec). Pipe flows in excess control valve. Practically, any pipe, valve pump and the discharge control valve. of this velocity are more prone to turbu- or fitting downstream of the fire pump’s The discharge check valve traps the highlence. Where the suction pipe differs in discharge control valve is no longer con- er pressure in the fire protection system size from the pump suction flange, reduc- sidered to be part of the discharge piping. after the fire pump operation stops. The ers or increasers are permitted to be used Such pipe, valves, and fittings are con- check valve also prevents other sources but must be of the eccentric tapered type sidered part of the supply piping for the of water flow into the system, such as through a fire department conand installed in such a way so The size of the discharge pipe has an nection, from flowing back into as to avoid air pockets. the fire pump. In addition to specifying effect on friction loss, but that effect NFPA 20 requires that the suction pipe sizes based on the pressure rating of the disrated capacity of the fire pump, can be accounted for though hydraulic charge components, includNFPA 20 also addresses other analysis. As with suction pipe sizes, ing all piping, fittings, and system attachments that could valves, be adequate for the cause turbulent or imbalanced NFPA 20 specifies minimum discharge maximum total discharge flow into the fire pump. Where backflow preventers or check pipe diameters based on the capacity pressure with the pump operating at churn conditions at valves are being considered, rating of the fire pump. the pump’s rated speed. they are to be located a minimum of 10 pipe diameters from the pump suction flange. If the backflow fire protection system being served by the Pump bypass piping device incorporates butterfly valves, the fire pump. In the case of a sprinkler sysA bypass is an arrangement of piping device is to be installed at least 50-ft tem riser, the requirements of NFPA 13 around the fire pump that can be used to from the pump’s suction flange. In fact, would apply from the point of the pump supply water to the fire protection system the 50-ft criterion applies to any valve, discharge control valve. should the pump fail or be taken out of other than an outside screw and yoke gate NFPA 20 addresses the size of the dis- service. Such bypass piping is to be sized valve, installed in the suction pipe. charge pipe and associated fittings, and as required for the discharge pipe. Elbows and tees in the suction pipe requires all of the aboveground discharge Bypass piping is required where the also warrant special consideration. Such piping to be composed of steel. In certain water supply is considered to be of “matedevices are to be located and positioned cases the discharge pipe is permitted to be rial value” to the fire protection system with respect to the orientation of their smaller in diameter than the suction pipe without the use of the fire pump. While centerline plane. Where the centerline because the water flow velocity is not of this is a rather subjective requirement, plane is parallel to a horizontal split-case the same concern on the discharge side bypass lines are usually required where fire pump shaft, the elbow or tee needs of the pump. The size of the discharge the water supply is provided by a pressurto be located a distance at least 10 pipe pipe has an effect on friction loss, but ized fire service main such as municipal diameters from the suction flange of the that effect can be accounted for though waterworks or private fire service main. fire pump. If the centerline plane is per- hydraulic analysis. As with suction pipe Where the water supply for the building pendicular to the horizontal split-case sizes, NFPA 20 specifies minimum dis- is from a private stand-alone fixed suppump shaft, no limitations are placed on charge pipe diameters based on the capac- ply such as the suction tank, a minimum the location of the elbow or tee. ity rating of the fire pump. pressure due to the elevation head of the It is important to recognize that NFPA A control valve is to be installed on the stored water in the tank is available but is 20 only addresses the size of the suction discharge piping so that the pump can be not usually considered to be of material pipe within 10 pipe diameters of the pump isolated for service and repairs. Additional value. However, this should be verified suction flange, while NFPA 22 addresses valves are discouraged to minimize the through hydraulic analysis, and needs to the size of the pipe connected to the tank. possibility that a valve will be inadver- be confirmed with the respective authoriThe provisions of NFPA 24 would apply tently shut and not reopened—an ever- ties having jurisdiction. 20

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A check valve needs to be installed in the bypass piping so that the flow from the pump discharge cannot recirculate back to the pump suction. Additionally, control valves need to be installed on either side of the check valve so that the check valve can be isolated for maintenance. Pressure maintenance pump

A fire pump should operate only during fire conditions or when it is being tested. A fire pump should not be used to maintain system pressures under nonfire conditions. The activation of a fire pump provides an alarm signal as it indicates the operation of the fire protection system, and such fire pump activation under nonfire conditions would serve as a false alarm. Pressure maintenance pumps, also referred to as ”jockey” pumps, are used to maintain pressures within the fire protection system under nonfire conditions. Many water-filled fire protection systems are designed so that they are pressurized upon their installation. A system check valve serves to maintain system pressures. During a fire event, the activation of a sprinkler or the opening of a standpipe valve will cause a drop in system pressure, which will be sensed by the pressure switch in a fire pump controller. In turn, this will initiate activation of the fire pump. Minor pressure losses can also occur downstream of the fire pump check valve under nonfire conditions. Pressure losses can occur due to water seepage across check valves or leaky fittings, or changes in system temperature. With regard to temperature, air pockets are usually trapped in the system piping. Ambient temperature changes in proximity of the fire protection system piping will cause the air pockets to fluctuate in size, thus varying the relative pressure in the system piping. A large decrease in ambient temperature in the warehouse, such as might occur in an unconditioned space over a 24-hour period, can cause a notable pressure drop, which could be sensed by the fire pump pressure switch. www.csemag.com

Jockey pumps mitigate false alarms by compensating for small pressure fluctuations in system piping and return the system to its normal static pressure range under nonfire conditions. As with a fire pump, the jockey pump installation will include a controller with a pressure switch. The jockey pump pressure switch is normally set at a higher pressure so that the jockey pump starts before the fire pump. Note that each controller, the one for the jockey pump and the one for the fire pump, must have its own independent pressure sensing line that connects the fire protection system with the pressure switches in each controller. Jockey pumps are high-pressure, lowflow pumps that typically cannot sustain system pressures after the activation of a single sprinkler. When a sprinkler operates or a standpipe outlet is opened, the jockey pump operates but cannot maintain adequate system pressure due to the relative high volume of water flow from an operating sprinkler or opened outlet as compared to that of a leaky fitting. The pressure within the system continues to fall until the fire pump starts and produces the required flow and pressure for the operating system. Jockey pumps are not required as part of fire pump installation. However some means of maintaining system pressure under non-fire conditions without relying upon the fire pump as a pressure maintenance pump is needed. Jockey pumps do not require a listing as fire protection equipment. Any pump that can produce the necessary pressure is acceptable. In general, jockey pumps are sized so that their flow is lower than that expected from the smallest orifice sprinkler on the system, allowing for system pressure to fall and the fire pump to properly activate. Although jockey pumps and their controllers do not require a listing, NFPA 20 includes a number of requirements addressing their installation. As noted above, it needs to be confirmed that the jockey pump controller has a pressure-sensing line independent from that of the fire pump.

Test header and flow meter

Every fire pump installation needs to be provided with a testing means to ensure proper operation. At a minimum, arrangements must be provided to evaluate the pump at its rated condition as well as at its overload (150% of its rated capacity) condition. The means of testing must allow for the flow and discharge of significant quantities of water. NFPA 20 includes provisions for sizing the pipe used for testing. Such testing is conducted during the initial acceptance and/or commissioning of the fire pump installation, and on an annual basis in accordance with NFPA 25. NFPA 20 allows for three different types of testing arrangements. These arrangements include the use of a discharge outlet such as a test header where water is discharged to atmosphere through connected hoses and nozzles with appropriate pressure and flow readings taken. The other two methods involve a metering device that is used to measure the flow produced by the fire pump. The metering device is installed on a pipe loop that is arranged so that the pump discharge is circulated back to the water supply tank, or arranged so that the pump discharge is circulated directly back to the suction line feeding the fire pump. This latter arrangement is referred to as closed-loop metering. For closed-loop metering arrangements, NFPA 20 requires that an alternate means of measuring flow, such as through a test header, be provided. It is important to recognize that the alternate means of measuring flow must be installed downstream of and in series with the flow meter. NFPA 25 includes provisions that fire pump metering devices be recalibrated every 3 years. Locating the alternate means of measuring flow (test header) in the manner required by NFPA 20 facilitates this calibration activity and better ensures an accurate assessment of fire pump performance. As noted above, a test header can be installed without the use of a metering device and loop. Located on the discharge side of the pump, the test header must

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Codes & Standards be installed on an exterior wall of the pump room or pump house, or in another location outside the pump room so as to allow for adequate water discharge during testing. Hoses are connected to the test header during testing to allow for proper discharge and measurement of the water flow. Flow from the test header is usually measured by using a pitot gauge or other flow-measuring device placed in the flow stream. See NFPA 291 for further discussion on flow testing procedures. The pitot gauge registers a velocity pressure from the flow discharge, which can then be converted to a flow rate using a conversion formula or table.

A pressure-relief valve is a device on the discharge side of the fire pump that can be used to prevent overpressurization of the system. It operates when the pressure in the system reaches an unacceptably high level, such as may occur during an engine overspeed condition. input #8 at www.csemag.com/information

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The connection for the test header should be between the discharge check valve and the discharge control valve for the pump assembly. This allows the pump to be tested even when the control valve is closed, isolating the pump from the rest of the system. The size of the pipe leading to the test header and the number of hose connections depends on the size of the pump. This is specifically addressed by NFPA 20. In the case of a 1250-gpm pump, a pipe at least 8-in. in diameter is required. The test header itself is to consist of six 2.5-in. hose valves and outlets. Where the length of pipe leading to the hose valve test header is more than 15-ft in length, the next larger pipe size as indicated in NFPA 20 is to be used. Additionally, the pipe can be sized through the use of hydraulic calculations based on a total flow of 150% of the rated pump capacity. This hydraulic calculation is to include the friction loss for the total length of pipe plus any equivalent lengths of fittings, control valves, and hose valves, and elevation losses between the pump discharge flange and the hose valve outlets. This hydraulic calculation then needs to be verified by a flow test. Pressure-relief device

A pressure-relief valve is a device on the discharge side of the fire pump that can be used to prevent overpressurization of the system. The pressure-relief valve operates when the pressure in the system reaches an unacceptably high level, such as may occur during an engine overspeed condition. Operation of the pressure-relief valve causes the pressure in the system to drop. One type of pressure-relief valve employs an adjustable spring22

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

loaded mechanism. When the pressure in the system reaches a predetermined level, the system pressure overcomes the force of the spring and forces the valve open. Another type of pressure-relief valve uses a pilot operated diaphragm which forces open the valve when the pressure in the system reaches a predetermined level. With either one of these types of valves, a substantial discharge flow is expected and needs to be appropriately accounted for. NFPA 20 allows the use of pressurerelief valves only under two conditions. The first pertains to installations involving a diesel engine pump driver. The second addresses installations involving variable speed pressure-limiting controllers for either electric motors or diesel engines. Note that if pressure-relief valves are installed, NFPA 20 places a number of restrictions on the arrangement and sizing of the relief valve discharge depending on where the discharge is piped back to. In summary, NFPA 20 does not permit the use of pressure-relief valves as a means of limiting system pressure under normal system operation conditions, that is, as a substitute for higher pressure-rated system components. For their broad range of applications, diesel engines are designed and built to operate over a range of speeds. For the purposes of driving a fire pump, a diesel engine should run at or near its rated speed so that the fire pump produces the desired flows and pressures. However, situations can occur in which the diesel engine operates faster than its rated speed, creating an overspeed condition that produces excessive system pressures that could cause a catastrophic system failure or shortened life of system components. From a hydraulics theory standpoint (pump affinity laws), a small increase in fire pump or driver speed creates a substantially greater increase in system pressures, that is, the pressure developed is proportional to the square of the pumps’ rotational speed. Therefore, pumps operating at speeds in excess of their rated speed can be a cause for concern. NFPA 20 includes a number of provisions that

address engine overspeed and system overpressurization. Where the possibility for an overspeed condition of a diesel engine drive exists, and such an overspeed condition results in system pressure in excess of the pressure rating of the system components, which is

typically 175 psi. Specifically, NFPA 20 requires a pressure-relief valve in the discharge piping where a total of 121% of the net rated shutoff (churn) pressure plus the maximum static suction pressure, adjusted for elevation, exceeds the pressure for which the system components are rated.

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Codes & Standards To facilitate avoidance of an engine overspeed and overpressure situation, NFPA 20 also requires the installation of an engine governor to regulate engine speed. The governor is required to be capable of limiting the maximum engine speed to 110% of its rated speed, result-

ing in a maximum system pressure of 121% of the fire pump churn pressure. However, failure of the governor would result in a more critical overspeed condition. As such, an overspeed shutdown device that senses the speed of the engine and shuts down the engine when it oper-

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ates at a speed greater than 20% over its rated speed is also required. When the overspeed shutdown device operates, it sends a signal to the fire pump controller preventing automatic restarting of the engine until the situation is investigated. However, the pump can be manually restarted through the controller. Another means of regulating engine speed and system overpressurization is through the use of a controller equipped with a variable speed pressure-limiting control. Such a device limits the total discharge pressure produced by the fire pump by reducing the pump driver speed, be it an electric motor or diesel engine. Prevention of overpressurization is therefore accomplished by altering the speed of the driver. However, where a variable speed pressure-limiting controller is used, and the maximum total discharge head adjusted for elevation with the pump operating at shutoff and rated speed exceeds the pressure rating of the system components, NFPA 20 requires the installation of a pressure-relief valve. Fire pump installations are often complex and require the coordination of various pieces of mechanical and electrical equipment, as well as the correct application of several installation standards and local regulations. Proper attention must be given to not just the sizing and connection of the more obvious components such as the fire pump, controller, and driver, but also the arrangement of the associated piping and attached devices. Without a well-coordinated effort addressing all the associated aspects of the installation, the life span of the fire pump equipment can be severely reduced and, more importantly, the fire pump cannot be expected to effectively operate during its most critical time—when a fire occurs. Milosh Puchovsky, PE, FSFPE, is professor of practice in the department of fire protection engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is president-elect of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, and serves on a number of NFPA Technical Committees including fire pumps and sprinkler system discharge criteria.

Digital Edition Exclusive Content Visit www.csemag.com/digitaledition for exclusive content and for technical features from past issues.

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Using IPD and Lean in building design Consider integrated project delivery (IPD) and Lean design to provide a more streamlined engineering process and less waste. BY SARAH S. KUCHERA, PE, LEED AP

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LCCA for HVAC systems Lifecycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a tool used to determine the most cost-effective option among HVAC system alternatives. BY DAVID J. MACKAY, BEMP, CPMP, LEED AP

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Using IPD and Lean in building design Consider integrated project delivery (IPD) and Lean design to provide a more streamlined engineering process and less waste. BY SARAH S. KUCHERA, PE, LEED AP, ccrd, Dallas

Learning objectives  Understand the key aspects of integrated project delivery (IPD) as it relates to building construction.  Learn how incorporating Lean can eliminate waste in the engineering process.  Know how to combine IPD and Lean processes to streamline building engineering.

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hen we think of the best way to deliver a product, some of us might think of the UPS slogan, “We Love Logistics.” But how often do you think about the logistics involved with delivering building projects more effectively? Many of us think about the manufacturing industry as a way to streamline production. The Toyota Production System focuses on the elimination of waste. It is not important how many cars are produced, but rather that the best car is produced. Another place to look is in the kitchen. Chefs learn mise-en-place during training at places like the Culinary Institute of America. There, they learn to gather and arrange the ingredients to help them focus on the meal preparation. In some cases, chefs will spend 6 hours prepping for 3 hours of meal production. When you look at the engineering industry, it seems the focus has turned away from these practices and is solely on the speed of production, not the quality of the work. Imagine if the schematic phase of the project was twice as long as the production phase. A trend is building to reorient our processes and use other industries as a guide to produce better building design and construction projects with fewer errors and less waste— and that deliver better value to the owner.

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

Lean design and construction is a process that focuses on these areas to deliver a better product. Lean: Is this IPD?

Often, we use the concepts of integrated project delivery (IPD) and Lean interchangeably. While they are concepts that partner well together, they are not the same. IPD is a contracting method. This sets the rules for a project. Lean, on the other hand, is a mind-set. It’s the mind-set you adopt on a project or in your daily work that focuses on the elimination of waste. IPD is a building trend in design and construction communities. Many owners have heard about IPD and are requiring it for their projects. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has developed a multi-party agreement that can be used to contractually join together several entities, rather than the traditional owner-architect agreement. The AIA has also published a guide on IPD that can be referenced for additional information. Lean practices can be used on a project and are even valuable as a way to better manage your personal workload. The Lean Construction Institute (LCI) has formed Communities of Practice around the country that bring together Lean practitioners to develop skills and share knowledge within their business community. www.csemag.com

Figure 1: The “big room” space brings together all of the key stakeholders on the project. Sitting side-by-side allows for greater communication and for best practices to be incorporated into the project design. Courtesy: ccrd

Getting started

So, where does this all begin? As most things do, it starts at the very beginning of the project. The important part of an IPD project is that all of the major stakeholders are brought on board at the onset. This means the owner, architect, engineers, and major subcontracting partners are all involved at day one. This enables everyone involved with the lifecycle of the building to have a voice. Whether a project uses a formal multi-party contract or a standard contract, the spirit of collaboration is very important in setting the rules for how all of the parties will interact. At the heart of collaboration is trust. This is often an uncomfortable place to start as a project team because we all bring our past experiences with us and worry that something bad will happen again. That is how most designers build their library of specification modifications and details. It is a way to manage a past problem and ensure that it will not get repeated. In an IPD environment, it is important to get the voice of all the players to guide decision making so you can ensure that the reason for a decision matches the goals of the project. www.csemag.com

Example: The electrical engineer has laid out the electrical rooms to show all of the equipment and to verify the size of the room for the architect during its initial floor plan layout. During a meeting with the owner’s team, the electrical team finds that the adjacent room needs to grow larger, but the engineer is concerned about giving up space. The contractor suggests the use of an integrated switchgear system that could consolidate the equipment into a smaller footprint. Still, the engineer is concerned about designing for this without input from a manufacturer. In a traditional process, identifying a single manufacturer (sole sourcing) is a practice that is discouraged. There is a fear of losing a competitive pricing opportunity with only a single manufacturer. In an IPD environment, the pricing is open to the entire team. Involving suppliers in the process allows for a design to be developed around the dimensions of that specific product. Suppliers are also a good resource in assisting to manage the budget amount and can help the team better under-

stand the alternate options their product offers. In a traditional process, a change in manufacturer can often result in expensive modifications to constructed work and schedule delays to get equipment to fit within a space. Work share

Another aspect of collaboration is work share. This can take on many levels of involvement, from sharing ideas to collaborative production of construction documents. Every project is different, and the team should start by identifying what each player’s strengths are and how best to apply them to the project. If you think of the Lean principle of eliminating waste, focus on the elements of the project that can be streamlined. Extreme collaboration can involve a coordinated effort between the engineer and contractor to produce a single document that is used for permitting and construction. In a traditional process a lot of time is involved with duplicating information. An engineer will design and draw the systems and then transfer them to the contractor to redraw the entire system for fabrication. When these processes are

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Using IPD and Lean in building design combined, waste in the form of duplicated effort is eliminated from the process. Example: During construction documents, the mechanical engineer draws the ductwork for the supply air on the floor. After the documents are complete, the fabricator looks at the design drawings and finds that there would be a more efficient way to connect the diffusers in a space that would result in far fewer fittings. In a traditional process, this occurs on most every job with different avenues for resolution. In most cases, a compromise is made. By using the teams’ best resources, these situations can be identified prior to completion of the design work. Including the sheet metal fabricator as a part of the team during development of the HVAC design ensures that the duct routing is efficient, meets all of the design criteria, and preps the construction team for prefabrication. Co-location

If you really want to push the boundaries of the traditional process, have the team think about co-locating for the duration of the project. Sometimes the best way to share information is in a casual conversation between team players. Sharing ideas can be reinforced when the work is produced in this environment. Setting up a “big room” (see Figure 1) is a great strategy for encouraging deep collaboration. Here you have the key stakeholders present during document production and providing constant feedback to the development of the design. We all know how hard it is to truly coordinate information even among the design team members, but in a big room setting, the focus remains on the development of the project and all key stakeholders monitor the development based on their expertise.

Example: The architect has shown an electrical room adjacent to a stairwell and a mechanical shaft in the initial layout of the floor plan. During a work session, the DE-3

electrical contractor sees the location and expresses a concern about her ability to successfully route all of the conduit in and out of the room to serve the floor. With all of the key stakeholders sitting at the table, the entire team can find a more suitable place on the floor plan that does not come with the same limitations as the original location. Value management

One of the underlying principles with an IPD approach is to eliminate waste to drive more value into the project. With all of the key stakeholders present at the beginning of the project, complex issues can be analyzed more thoroughly to ensure the owner’s money is being spent in the best way possible. Target value design (TVD) is a tool that many teams use to ensure that the design is tracking to the project budget. One of the greatest wastes in a traditional process is the concept of value engineering and the redesign efforts that often accompany those decisions. When a design team develops documents that exceed the project budget, teams waste a lot of time in redevelopment of the documents, the most important parts of the design are lost, and lifecycle costing decisions are sacrificed. Because the owner is engaged early, it can assist the team in identifying a hierarchy of key factors that are important to the development of its project. When all members of the team understand these key factors as well as the budget constraints, conversation is encouraged at the project start about what type of building the owner truly expects. As the design develops, the budget is continually monitored to ensure the project is trending in the right direction. This process also allows design iterations involving multiple disciplines to be analyzed for the best value to the owner.

Example: The owner has asked that its building be a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Silver project. The mechanical

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

engineer has determined that a highly efficient chilled water system would be the best system design for the project and has incorporated this into the project. The drawings are completed and priced, but the project has come in over budget and the mechanical budget seems proportionally high compared to the last project. In a traditional process, the mechanical contractor may offer up value engineering to go to a direct expansion (DX) system because it would save the project a substantial amount of money. If all of the stakeholders are not involved, the project could risk losing its ability to meet the LEED Silver requirements with a less energy-efficient system. This may also have an impact on the owner’s long-term operating costs. In an IPD approach, this chilled water system would be evaluated at the beginning of the project to ensure the system will meet the budget demands before any of the work gets drawn. If not, the team can evaluate the importance between a LEED Silver project and this particular system selection. Putting it into practice

Like most things, we find it is easy to talk about the process, but it’s difficult to master it until you get a chance to put it into practice. Every project comes with a unique set of requirements, and new team members make this process fluid. An IPD approach enables your team to lower the risk involved with producing the documents and provides ample opportunity to interface with the trade partners to lay the groundwork for the Lean processes to carry over into the construction side.

Sarah S. Kuchera is associate principal at ccrd in Dallas. Kuchera is a project manager and electrical engineer specializing in health care projects. She has been involved with multiple integrated project delivery teams and actively applies Lean construction methods in her designs. Kuchera is involved with Lean Construction Institute (LCI) and spoke at the 2013 LCI Congress on Lean Collaboration. www.csemag.com

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LCCA for HVAC systems Lifecycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a tool used to determine the most cost-effective option among HVAC system alternatives. BY DAVID J. MACKAY, BEMP, CPMP, LEED AP, Kohler Ronan, New York City

P

ractically speaking, there are multiple building design options that can meet programmatic needs and achieve accept Understand basic lifecycle able levels of performance. cost analysis (LCCA) concepts and best practices. From a purely financial perspective,  Learn to incorporate LCCA the only appropriate design alternative into an HVAC system selecis the solution that satisfies the owner’s tion process. project requirements for the lowest total  Identify tools that simplify cost of ownership. Lifecycle cost analyLCCA calculation and results sis (LCCA) is a powerful tool used to documentation. determine the most cost-effective option among competing alternatives. Although LCCA has been used for decades to reliably identify cost-optimal design solutions, many building owners and architecture and engineering professionals still rely on simple payback to make project investment decisions. LCCA is an economic method of project evaluation in which all costs Equation 1: This simplified lifecycle cost formula is adapted arising from ownfrom the NIST Handbook 135 (HB 135), “Lifecycle Costing i n g , o perating, Manual for the Federal Energy Management Program.” All maintaining, and graphics courtesy: Kohler Ronan LLC

Learning objectives

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ultimately disposing of a project are considered to be potentially important to that decision. LCCA is particularly suitable for the evaluation of building design alternatives that satisfy a required level of building performance (including occupant comfort, safety, adherence to building codes and engineering standards, and system reliability), but may have different operating, maintenance, and repair (OM&R) costs, and potentially different useful lives. Project-related costs that occur at different points in time cannot be directly combined for meaningful economic analysis because the dollars spent at different times have different values to the investor. LCCA provides a rational means to weigh the value of first costs versus future (e.g., operating) costs (see Equation 1). Adjusting to present value

Most individuals intuitively recognize that a dollar today does not have the same value as a dollar in the distant future. This concept, referred to as the time value of money, results from two considerations: 1) general inflation, which is the erosion of future purchasing power; and 2) opportunity cost, which for existing capital is the cost of www.csemag.com

forgone investment opportunities and for borrowed capital is the cost of borrowing (i.e., the loan rate). Lifecycle costing considers both effects in weighing the value of present costs against future costs. General inflation and price escalation: General price inflation measures the decline in the purchasing power of the dollar over time. LCCA methodology provides two approaches for dealing with general price inflation: current dollar analysis and constant dollar analysis. Current dollars are dollars of any 1 year’s purchasing power, inclusive of inflation. That is, they reflect changes in the purchasing power of the dollar from year to year. In contrast, constant dollars are dollars of uniform purchasing power, exclusive of inflation. Constant dollars indicate what the same good or service would cost at different times if there were no change in the general price level (no general inflation or deflation) to change the purchasing power of the dollar. In general, LCCA calculations for building systems should treat general price inflation using a constant dollar approach. The constant dollar approach has the advantage of avoiding the need to project future rates of inflation or deflation, which adds unnecessary complexity and uncertainty. The price of a good or service stated in constant dollars is not affected by the rate of general inflation. For example, if the price of a piece of equipment is $1,000 today and $1,050 at the end of a year in which prices in general have risen at an annual rate of 5%, the price stated in constant dollars is still $1,000; no inflation adjustment is necessary. In contrast, if cash flows are stated in current dollars, future amounts include an assumed general inflation rate and an adjustment is necessary to convert the current-dollar estimate to its constantdollar equivalent. Few commodities have prices that change at exactly the rate of general www.csemag.com

Figure 1: Each year the National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes Energy Price Indices and Discount Factors for Life-Cycle Cost Analysis—The Annual Supplement to NIST Handbook 135. The price indices shown here have been reproduced from the U.S. Energy Information Association “Table Ca-5 Projected fuel price indices (excluding general inflation) by end-use sector and fuel type-United States Average.”

Figure 2: The discount rate (d) is a special type of interest rate that makes an investor indifferent between cash amounts received at different points in time. An investor with a 3% discount rate would be willing to invest up to $424 dollars today in order to save $1,000 in year 30; an investor with a 7% discount rate would only be willing to invest up to $141 for the same return.

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LCCA for HVAC systems low general price inflation, while utility prices tend to be much more volatile. Typically, LCC methodology assumes that prices for all goods and services, other than for energy and water, will increase at approximately the same rate as general inflation. However, if there is a documentable basis for assuming that prices change at a rate different than general inflation (e.g., when price escalation rates are established in a maintenance contract), these rates can be used in the analysis. While goods and services are assumed to Equation 2: Future value of present cost may be used inflate at the same rate to determine a future price, given present price and a (i.e., the general inflation constant, real escalation rate. For example, assume the rate), LCC procedures present price of natural gas is $1/therm and that the require that inflation of price of natural gas is anticipated to escalate at a conenergy prices be treatstant rate of 5%. At the end of year 10, natural gas will ed separately. In other cost $1.63/therm. Note that this escalated price must words, this assumes that still be discounted to present value using Equation 3. energy prices will not The formula is adapted from NIST Handbook 135 (HB inflate at the same rate as 135), “Lifecycle Costing Manual for the Federal Energy other goods and services. Management Program.” Accordingly, we distinguish general price inflation from energy price inflation by referring to the latter as energy price “escalation.” As with the use of the discount rate, the energy price escalation rates are “real” (i.e., net or differential). The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) publishes official Equation 3: The present value of future cost equation projections for future may be used to calculate the present value equivalent of energy prices annually a future cost, such as the natural gas price previously each April for the residetermined using Equation 2. Although the future price dential, commercial, and of natural gas at the end of year 10 may be $1.62/therm, industrial sectors broken to an investor with a 3% discount rate, that therm of down by region of the natural gas is only worth $1.21 today (net present value). country for six energy With a 3% discount rate, the investor is only willing to types (electricity, natural spend up to $1.21 today in order to save a therm of natugas, propane, distillate ral gas 10 years from now. The formula is adapted from fuel oil, residual fuel oil, the NIST Handbook 135 (HB 135), “Lifecycle Costing and coal). Figure 1 illusManual for the Federal Energy Management Program.” inflation year after year, but many commodities have prices that change at a rate close to that of general inflation over time. Maintenance and repair costs and construction materials tend to fol-

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trates how the Dept. of Energy projects national average electricity, fuel oil, and natural gas prices are expected to move over the next 30 years in real dollar terms. These fuel escalation rates are suitable for most building-related LCCA studies. If using alternative escalation rates, be sure to use “real” rates that indicate how energy prices will increase above and beyond general price inflation (note that Equation 4 may also be used to convert a “nominal” escalation rate into a “real” escalation rate). Given a present price and a real escalation rate Equation 2 may be used to determine an escalated future price. For example, assume the present price of natural gas is $1.00 per therm and that the price of natural gas is anticipated to escalate at a constant rate of 5%. At the end of year-10 natural gas will cost $1.63 per therm. In all likelihood, general price inflation will drive the actual price of natural gas higher than $1.63 per therm in year-10. However, constant dollar analysis focuses on incremental price change for energy by using “real” escalation rates. Note that this escalated price ($1.63) may not be used in Equation 1 until it is discounted to present value using Equation 3. Opportunity costs and discount rates: Opportunity costs recognize that a fair comparison of the economic benefit of two or more project options must consider what else we might have done with our money (i.e., in the case of existing capital) had we chosen to invest in something other than the available project options or what it would cost us to borrow the capital if necessary (i.e., loan rate). In constant dollar LCCA methodology, opportunity cost is accounted for through the use of the “real” discount rate (d). The discount rate is a special type of interest rate that makes the investor indifferent between cash amounts received at different points in time. That is, the investor would just as soon have one amount received earlier as the other amount received later. For example, with a discount rate of 5%, the present value www.csemag.com

Making decisions using LCCA

T

he design team agreed that the investment decision of whether to build an on-site plant or use the local energy

options should be determined using LCCA. In this example, an institutional client was trying to determine if it should install a central chiller and boiler plant on-site or purchase chilled water and steam from a local district energy system (DES base case). It was clear that installing an onsite plant would add significant upfront cost and additional maintenance cost; however, future operating costs would be substantially higher if energy was purchased through the DES

Table 1: Example LCCA Building characteristics Gross square footage

220,000

Winter temperature setpoint

70 F ±2.5 F

Summer temperature setpoint

75 F ±2.5 F

Central plant equipment Modular air-cooled chillers

$380,000

Water side economizers

$190,000

Condensing boilers

$175,000

Primary pumps and variable frequency drives

$30,000

Total incremental cost

$775,000

Plant performance

supplier. The design team decided that the investment decision

Cooling (coefficient of performance)

should be determined using LCCA.

Heating efficiency

 If the client decided to take advantage of the DES, over a 30-year period the client would avoid approximately $1 million

3.2 92%

Incremental pump power

19 W/gpm

Lifecycle costing

worth of initial construction, future equipment maintenance,

Base year

and replacement costs. However, over a 30-year period, energy

Service year

2017

costs through the DES would likely total $8.6 million in net

Study length

30 years

present value  Although installation of an on-site central plant would increase initial investment and future capital costs by approximately $1 million, compared to the DES alternative the central plant option would save the client approximately $2.4 million in energy expenditures over 30 years

2017

Discount rate

3%

Discounting convention

Year-end

Discount and escalation rate types Treatment of inflation

Real Constant dollar

30-year incremental cost data (not discounted) Capital cost

$775,000

analysis period, the central plant option is the most economi-

Maintenance cost

$232,500

cally viable alternative. Initial investment costs are likely to be

Replacement cost

recovered within a 9-year period (discounted payback period);

Residual equipment value

($396,540)

Total investment cost

$1,150,960

 Based on total cost of ownership during the 30-year

over a 30-year period the central plant would likely provide the client with $1.4 million net savings (NS) compared to the DES alternative.

$540,000

30-year annualized lifecycle costs Initial capital cost

$39,543

Energy cost

$312,633

Maintenance cost

$7,750

Capital replacements

$13,651

Residual value

($8,337)

Annualized lifecycle cost

$365,242

Compared to DES option 30-year net savings

$1,421,861

Savings-to-investment ratio Adjusted internal rate of return

Figure 3: The design team agreed that the investment decision of whether to build an on-site plant or use the local energy options should be determined using LCCA.

www.csemag.com

2.62 6.36%

Simple payback period (years)

8

Discounted payback period (years)

9

Table 1: The LCCA is calculated for both building a new central plant and for using the district energy system option. The central plant option turned out to be the most economically viable alternative.

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LCCA for HVAC systems broken down by region of the country for a variety of fuel types. While these blended rates can be a good starting point, take care when applying them to metropolitan areas; utility prices in major cities tend to be significantly higher than regional averages. With base-year energy costs calculated and energy cost escalation rates determined, future energy costs for each year in the study period may be calculated. Once future energy costs have been discounted to their net present value as of the base date they may be summed for use in Equation 1 (E). Operations, maintenance, and repair costs: OM&R costs are often more difficult to estimate than other building expenditures. Because operating schedules and maintenance standards vary from build-

ing to building, there is great variation in associated costs even for buildings of the same type and age. It is therefore especially important to use engineering judgment when estimating these costs.

Cost estimating guides may be used to calculate initial assumptions, but the most direct and reliable method for estimating OM&R costs is to obtain preventive maintenance service contract quotes directly from equipment manufacturers. Remember, as with initial investment costs, only the incremental OM&R costs need to be considered. If OM&R costs are essentially the same between project alternatives, they do not have to be included in the LCCA. Tools for calculating LCC

There are several software programs that simplify LCC calculation and results documentation. One of the most widely used is BLCC5, which was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in support of the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). It computes the LCC for project alternatives, compares project

alternatives to determine which has the lowest LCC, performs annual cash flow analysis, and computes supplementary measures of economic performance including net savings, savings-toinvestment ratio, and adjusted internal rate of return for project alternatives over their designated study period.

While BLCC5 is useful for most LCCA studies, more advanced analysis techniques are not supported. LCCAid is a Microsoft Excel-based tool developed by the Rocky Mountain Institute that provides additional flexibility, including multi-parameter sensitivity testing.

David J. MacKay is an associate with Kohler Ronan LLC in the New York City office. MacKay’s expertise includes building performance modeling, building commissioning, energy auditing, energy reduction plan development and energy procurement consulting.

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Cover story

Integration:

BIM design

Building information modeling (BIM) is used frequently when working across multiple disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering, and also with other stakeholders such as architects and contractors. BY ED PAUL, Arup, Los Angeles

Learning objectives  Understand the requirements for a BIM model.  Learn the key components of a BIM execution plan.  Understand the nuances of smart data, content, and other details within a model.

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I

s it possible for BIM to be done correctly for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection (MEP/ FP) design? Numerous factors come into play when integrating BIM into the MEP/FP engineering and design process. It is up to the design team to take the best from each variation of modeling and apply the appropriate elements to create a successful process. Expectations are never the same on any engineering project. Everyone has various ideas of how BIM will be incorporated, and quite a few of them are unrealistic. The MEP/FP engineering team needs to set appropriate expectations with the architect and owner at the onset of the project. Before defining these expectations, we need to understand why divergent expectations exist. When we say or hear BIM, it is often interpreted to mean 3-D modeling using Autodesk Revit. While other platforms are available, most architects use Revit, which sets the expectation that MEP/FP models will also use Revit. The main concern is related to the detail and accuracy that an architect or owner might expect because he or she doesn’t completely understand the MEP/FP software or process. Archi-

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

tectural models are detailed and dimensioned to a high level of accuracy, and it is expected that MEP/FP models will match that accuracy, an attitude also shared by the client/owner. This sets the precedence in architectural and structural models, which are required to provide dimensional control for the contractor as an element of design. MEP/FP design work rarely, if ever, has the same level of detailing. However, as MEP modeling software became mature enough to be used on major projects, expectations were already set for similarly detailed MEP/FP models. Contractors have also become accustomed to using architectural/structural models directly to create their 3-D coordination models; increasingly, they expect the MEP/FP models to have the same detail and accuracy. For example, a general contractor was completely surprised by my “negative” response when he asked about modeling all the conduit runs in the electrical model. MEP/FP design models are created primarily to show design intent. While support modeling and constructability are secondary drivers, they are still important, as the subcontractors make a substantial investment in the trade coordination exercises www.csemag.com

and rely on that information from the design models. Keeping this in mind, the MEP/FP models should focus on overall dimensional accuracy of equipment, ducts, pipes, and other items that will require coordination with other disciplines. This virtual coordination for physical location must satisfy everyone’s needs, including those of the facility engineers who will eventually maintain the equipment and facility. These expectations should be clarified in meetings with the various teams when collaborating to create a joint BIM execution plan (JBEP). Creating the JBEP

Collaboration to create the JBEP is another key factor for a successful project. Quite often the request for proposal (RFP) for a potential project is accompanied by the client’s BIM requirements. The JBEP is simply a response to the requirements, defining the plan and processes that will be used throughout the length of the project to meet the goals. If the RFP or the client does not have any BIM requirements, it is still in the best interest of the project team to create a JBEP so that all members understand what is created and delivered to each other—and finally to the client at turnover. Without an agreed-upon JBEP, teams often move forward with their own definition of BIM goals, which results in misaligned expectations, at times allowing the architect and/or contractor to continually ask the MEP/FP engineers and designers for small changes in the model’s detail or accuracy that may add up to a significant amount of work beyond the contractual scope. When creating the JBEP the MEP/FP team needs to pay special attention to topics like roles and responsibilities, BIM uses, model organization/setup, models exchange, level of development (LOD), modeling matrix, software used, and data export. Quite often Construction-Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) is required as a data deliverable, though it is not always clear how it will be used by the owner. While all the elements of the JBEP are important, the topics noted above are the core working parts of a well-defined BIM execution plan. Once these topics are defined in the plan, www.csemag.com

Figure 1: An overall view of a building shows a single mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection (MEP/FP) design model representing accurate location and overall dimensions of equipment and systems. This image is rendered from a single Revit model containing MEP/FP disciplines along with IT and audio-visual (AV) disciplines representing accurate location and overall dimensions of equipment and systems. All graphics courtesy: Arup

effort must be maintained to stay within the bounds of the JBEP. For projects within the U.S. the following documents provide good references for creating the JBEP:  AIA Document E203–2013, Building Information Modeling and Digital Data Exhibit  AIA Document G201–2013, Project Digital Data Protocol Form  AIA Document G202–2013, Project Building Information Modeling Protocol Form. It is important to keep the JBEP simple; the goal is to create a virtual building before the contractors start working on the real building. Contractor input for

constructability is necessary to create the virtual building, which defines the necessity to model major items in 3-D. The LOD matrix identifies the development of objects in the model, which should be used to populate the modeling matrix, identifying MEP/FP systems and element authors. The modeling matrix is an excellent place to start identifying which items will be modeled at the agreed-upon LOD. Accept the fact that certain elements will always be at LOD 300 and continue to add such elements to your content library. Elements like pumps, fans, chillers, panelboards, transformers, ducts, pipes, and cable trays should always be shown in 3-D, in the correct X, Y, and Z location with respect to the architectural model. The goal is to build a virtual building, and one similar to a real building.

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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Cover story: BIM design If the structure is not in place, none of the MEP objects can be installed. Every effort should be made to have the right models in place so the most appropriate elevation is given to elements as they are modeled. An important item that needs to be added to the JBEP is the variance in size of objects given that MEP/FP engineers specify equipment with final dimensions by the manufacturers. This entry gives the flexibly needed to design the right system. If you are part of a design-build project, there must be an agreement regarding level of detail necessary from the design team given that the trade contractor’s model will show the elements in greater detail with all the necessary fittings, flanges, hangers, and other details.

well as code-required clearances. Whenever possible, the clearances should be included as a subcategory of the Revit families. This helps with coordination during modeling and, if desired, the flexibility to easily turn off subcategories like clearances for printing purposes. Content

With respect to content in Revit, there are three major categories that we can refer to: 1. Equipment 2. Systems 3. Connector objects.

Items like fans, pumps, water heaters, panelboards, and transformers are equipment objects that are referred to as families (MvParts in AutoCAD MEP). Systems are the supply, exhaust, return, cold water, Space allocations The importance of setting the vertical chilled water supply, and fire main made space allocations for each discipline and of components such as duct, pipe, conduit, system is paramount. This information or cable tray. These are also the connector should be shared with all the disciplines objects that connect systems to the equipbefore starting any modeling. If the eleva- ment families. The project template has tions are not established early in the proj- to define these items correctly for all the ect, either the MEP/FP will be going back pieces to come together and create the and revising their models or the contractors right BIM model. The contractor installing and the subcontractors will take on the chal- the piping has to know when to use black lenge and burden the MEP/FP team with a pipe and when to use PVC and which sysmultitude of requests for information (RFI). tem they will serve. Furthermore, he or Equally important is the allocation of she has to know which system connects space for required maintenance/service as to which equipment. Quite often MEP/FP engineers start modeling with a default system of duct or pipe and provide all this information in the specifications or through annotation as in the past. The contractor will miss out on using some of the automatic features that the software offers, such as ability to count fittings, measure pipe sizes/lengths, add value to objects, and perform early and progressive cost estimates. Once the BIM templates are set up correctly, the engineers can quickly get to modeling without having to define systems and associated objects. Figure 2: This partial model view shows piping and a Retroactively trying to fix related pipe size/quantities schedule.

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Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

multiple instances of errors in incorrect templates will adversely affect the profitability of the project. Smart data in models

“Information” is the core component for all successful BIM projects. MEP/FP engineers must decide on a standard approach to what information will be contained in a model. Early determination in the JBEP is important when deciding at which phase of the project information will added to model elements. It is often felt that BIM requires significant amount of data in the early phases of the project, though in reality the amount of information available to the engineer progresses as the engineering/ design of the project progresses. Planning ahead for this information growth within the families will allow all project team members to easily add detailed information as necessary. Take a simple pump, for example. In early phases all a team needs to know that it is “P-1” and that it will be located in the mechanical room. Before placing this pump in the model, however, it would be expedient for the long run to create the basic parameter (name, manufacturer, location, size, etc.), default electrical parameters (horsepower, voltage, phase, frequency, etc.), and HVAC specific parameters (gal/min, total head, efficiency, etc.) and incorporate fields for this data into the pump symbol/family. When the pump element P-1 is placed in the mechanical room where a “space” object exists, the software will automatically record the location in the internal database. As engineers and designers, we can now follow the JBEP and know when certain information will be available and reliable enough to be added to the equipment objects. At the same time the electrical engineer will know when the electrical data is available in the model and can plan the circuiting effort accordingly. The aim is to have information live and correct within the objects and model. When the project is in the construction phase, final modifications should be made within the model, so that the final deliverable “asdesigned” or “record” model has captured www.csemag.com

the latest information. Facility managers will be indebted to the design team when they realize the amount of smart, useful information they are receiving. Ultimately this is what BIM is about, using the information contained in the models to manage the facility. Family content

Managing a firm’s content library is a constant maintenance and investment task. While most firms have established a standard library for symbols/families, every new

level one and two are in the basement. This can be scheduled only one way. Type or instance parameters should be created with scenario 2 in mind to allow for maximum flexibility. The “location” parameter has to be instance, though the equipment “type/number” parameters (P-1) can be type or instance based. The automatic tags for equipment are dependent on this being set correctly. When there is a limited number of different pump types, it is not a major concern, but when the count will go up to hundreds or even

Figure 3: A partial model view shows electrical equipment, mechanical/plumbing equipment ducts and piping, along with a related pump schedule.

project requires items that don’t exist in the library. When working with BIM objects, the library needs to manage both graphics and property/parameter data. Parameters that tie in with the graphics to control size and shape require special attention. Every effort should be made to follow the same process each time when creating the families and adding the appropriate parameters. The parameters should be divided into subgroups for management purposes: basic or common, electrical default, sound data, vibration isolation, etc. These subgroups can be added into overall equipment-specific groups like fans, pumps, chillers, transformers, and more, that can share the same subgroup parameters as the base parameters will be consistent. Certain equipment objects like air handling units or fan coil units can have 100 or more parameter fields. Accurately managing this type of content metadata is better handled by add-on utilities than the default functionality offered by the main software package. Special attention is needed to decide between “type based” and “instance based” parameters. Consider two scenarios: Scenario 1: Five pumps in a building and they all have the same specifications, three are in the mechanical room level one and two are in the basement. This can be scheduled three different ways. Scenario 2: Five pumps in a building and each is a different manufacturer model. Three are in the mechanical room www.csemag.com

thousands, it is important to make almost all the parameters type based, including the name/number. Manufacturers’ content

More and more manufacturers are providing Revit families along with AutoCAD blocks. While this is very useful, care should be taken before using manufacturer content. These objects are very detailed to support the manufacturer’s

processes but typically too detailed for design model due to file size. In addition, the objects use parameters and formulas to manage content that is useful to the manufacturer, but that may not always be clear to the designer. Best practice is to use the manufacturers’ content as a starting point and simplify it down to the graphic shape that makes sense to display. Then go through the same steps as above for adding standard parameters to families to meet the design team’s obligation for appropriate detail. These steps will keep all the content in the model to the same standard established for the project. The automatic generation of schedules and equipment tagging should be a standard approach on all projects. As the models progress, size tags, circuit tags, etc., should be generated from the model. Limit the use of text objects to annotate items that cannot be generated from the model. As the team gets more comfortable with using the model-generated information, the design/engineering accuracy will be reflected in the BIM model. An unseen and usually forgotten part of the MEP/FP model is the “space” object.

Early planning simplifies BIM design

A

large private university in Southern California recently completed a technologically complex retrofit of an existing 1950s building for its mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection (MEP/ FP) system design. This owner is quite sophisticated in rolling over engineering design data generated by BIM Autodesk Revit models to be used for facility management purposes with minimal modifications at project closeout. Given the large effort to compile data after the fact, this owner requires the design team to set up families to accommodate the collection of design and construction data during the process within the BIM model. To facilitate this effort, the owner hosted BIM collaboration meetings to share goals and requested the design teams to create a plan and process to capture the necessary data as part of the design process. The design team worked together with the client and the contractor to develop a joint BIM execution plan (JBEP) that will deliver on the client’s request. The JBEP includes such items as explicitly defined families with prescribed sets of university-required parameters, coordination review processes by owner-contracted third-party BIM reviewers, and file exchange workflows. Because the design team in collaboration with the construction team reached an early agreement on the JBEP, the MEP engineers were able to start creating Revit families that met the necessary criteria and were able to avoid rework. A predetermined scheduled was added to JBEP for model exchange and additional workshops for model coordination with the contractor. Data from models was exported at milestones and verified against facility management checklists to ensure that model objects carried all pertinent engineering data that a facility engineer can use as needed in the future. Proper and early planning can address the issues and challenges that MEP/FP engineers face when asked to integrate BIM into design and use model-generated data for facility management.

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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Cover story: BIM design It is possible to engineer/design and produce all the drawings needed for construction documents without placing a single space object; however, they are extraor-

dinarily useful at adding sophistication to the BIM process. It is possible to export room size data to run load calculations, to create space schedules to show room/area/

volume within your model, and to track which objects exist within a space to do room/equipment quantity takeoffs. Spaces can be tagged to show room names and numbers from the architect’s model and yet allow the BIM technician to move the tags freely to less congested parts of the room. Space schedules can be exported to spreadsheets and then compared to project program and room data sheets to verify that model objects are placed and accounted for as planned. In addition, they are required to build a COBie compliant BIM model. Data delivery (COBie)

Figure 4: Modeling matrix lists objects using the Construction Specifications Institute UniFormat code and requires the project team to fill in the appropriate level of development values based on project phase.

As more facility owners request design data for facility management software from the MEP/FP engineers, COBie will become a normal part the project deliverable. COBie is standard format for structuring data to allow for data export from models to facility management systems. Providing COBie compliance is a small step on top of what the engineering team is already

input #12 at www.csemag.com/information

doing. Models already have assigned the name/numbering, the manufacturer, and/ or alternates. The equipment already knows in which space/room it is located and more. The rest of the information that is required for a COBie deliverable comes from the trade contractors during the construction phase as information that is already required in their submittals. The COBie effort is simply to combine that information into one location, either in the Revit model or more commonly in a spreadsheet or an external database. MEP/FP teams should create the necessary fields/parameters in their models so the design engineering parameters can be filled in as the design progresses, while leaving fields available as placeholders that can be exported at predetermined milestones by the contractors. Several third-party software packages allow much of the data and placeholder fields to be exported to Excel. Once in a spreadsheet, the data can be manipulated in mass, verified, and reimported into the BIM model. Editing the data external to the BIM modeling software also provides opportunities for multiple personnel in a firm to be engaged in the workflow without having to be experts in the BIM software. Streamlining workflow

This article has discussed some of the topics that MEP/FP engineers and designers should incorporate into the workflow when integrating BIM. Other factors like type of project, project size, complexity, number of systems, number of users, and locations all play a significant role in determining the model setup. Because there is more than one way of setting up the model, it is important to capture all possible information within the JBEP. The JBEP will be the “go to” document to clarify BIM related issues as the project progresses. Model exchange schedule should be established and incorporated in the JBEP. Quite often a bi-weekly exchange works best for schematic design and design development phases; it can switch to weekly when moving into the construction documentation phase. The process for milestones and final delivery of the model should include the file format that will be exported from the models, such as PDF

and/or DWG format for all sheets to document design progress. Certain owners are also asking for Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) format models to allow exchange of model objects between BIM software by different vendors, along with models from the authoring software.

Ed Paul is the BIM manager at Arup’s Los Angeles office. He has more than 20 years’ experience in managing large multidiscipline projects from inception to handover. His experience includes various CAD/ BIM software packages along with information systems management.

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Energy performance in mission critical facilities Mission critical facilities, such as data centers, are judged carefully on their energy use. Engineers should focus on the codes and standards that dictate energy performance and how building energy performance can be enhanced. BY BILL KOSIK, PE, CEM, BEMP, LEED AP BD+C, HP Data Center Facilities Consulting, Chicago

Learning objectives  Understand the various ways to measure energy use in mission critical facilities.  Learn about the codes and standards that dictate energy performance.  Learn about the codes, standards, and organizations that govern energy performance.

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M

ission critical facilities support a wide variety of vital operations where facility failure will result in complications that range from serious disruptions to business operations, to circumstances that can jeopardize life safety of the general public. To minimize or eliminate the chance of facility system failure, mission critical facilities have three hallmarks that make them different from other type of commercial buildings: 1. The facility must support operations that run continuously without shutdowns due to equipment failure or maintenance. Seasonal or population changes within the facility have a small impact on the energy use profile; generally, the facility is internally loaded with heavy electrical consumption. 2. Redundant power and cooling systems are required to support the 24/7/365 operation. Depending on the level of redundancy, there will be additional efficiency losses in the power and cooling systems brought on by running the equipment at small percentages of the capacity. 3. The technical equipment used in the facility, such as computers; medical

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

and laboratory equipment; and monitoring , communications, and surveillance systems, will have high power requirements that translate into heat gain and energy use. Putting these hallmarks together, mission critical facilities need to run continuously, providing less efficient power and cooling to technical equipment that has very high electrical requirements, all without failure or impacts from standard maintenance procedures. This is why energy use (and ways to reduce it) in mission critical facilities has been, and will continue to be, of great concern. This is true whether the mission critical facility is a laboratory, hospital, data center, police/ fire station, or another type of essential operation. And due to constant advances in the design of technical equipment, the strategies and tactics used for reducing facility energy consumption need to anticipate how future changes will impact building design, codes, standards, and other guidelines. Fortunately, the technical equipment will generally become more energy-efficient over time with improvements in design. This can reduce facility energy use in two ways: the equipment will use less www.csemag.com

Figure 1: Using IT equipment that can run in an environment with 26 C supply air (top) enables the use of different cooling technology than IT equipment that runs with 20 C supply air. This allows for a 15% reduction in HVAC system energy use. All graphics courtesy: HP Data Center Facilities Consulting

energy, and the energy of the power and cooling systems will also decrease. Data centers are one segment of the mission critical facility industry that arguably see the highest rate of change in how the facilities are designed, primarily based on the requirements of technical equipment, servers, storage devices, and networking gear. Data centers will have the highest concentration of technical equipment on a sq ft or percentage of total power demand as compared to other mission critical facilities. A change in the specifications or operating conditions of the computers in a data center facility will have a ripple effect that runs through all aspects of the power and cooling systems (see Figure 1). Moreover, IT equipment manufacturers are developing next generation technology that can significantly reduce overall energy use and environmental impact of data centers. This is a good thing, but with it brings new design challenges that need to be addressed in codes, standards, and guidelines. www.csemag.com

For data centers and the broader range of commercial buildings, there are myriad programs, guidelines, and codes intended to keep energy use as low as possible. Publications from ASHRAE, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Green Building Council, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are good examples of technical but practical resources aiding in data center strategy. But how did all of these come about? To understand the path forward, it is equally important to know how we got here. Similar to the rapid evolution of power and cooling systems in data centers, many of thedocuments released by these groups were developed in response by changes and new thinking in the data center design and construction industry. Energy-efficiency programs for buildings

In the United States, one of the first programs developed by the federal government that spawned several broader

energy efficiency initiatives is the 1977 U.S. National Energy Plan. This was developed as a blueprint identifying energy efficiency as a priority because “conservation is the quickest, cheapest, most practical source of energy.” This plan became the basis for many other building energy use reduction programs that would typically start out at the federal level and eventually trickle down to state and local government. During this time, one of the most widely used building efficiency standards was published for the first time: ASHRAE Standard 90-1975: Energy Conservation in New Building Design. Because no comprehensive national standard existed at the time, this was the first opportunity for many architects and engineers to objectively calculate the energy costs of their designs and to increase energy efficiency. Since its initial release, the standard has been renamed ASHRAE Standard 90.1: Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings and has been put on a 3-year maintenance

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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Energy performance

Figure 2: The ASHRAE thermal classes are plotted on a psychrometric chart.

cycle. For example, the 2013 edition of Standard 90.1 improves minimum energy efficiency by approximately 37% from the 2004 edition for regulated loads. It is typical that each new release of the standard will contain significant energy-efficiency requirements. With the proliferation of communications and computing technology at the end of the 20th century, building codes and standards, especially Standard 90.1, needed to reflect how technology was impacting building design, especially power, cooling, control, and communication systems. Changes in power density for high-technology commercial buildings began to create situations that made it difficult for certain building designs to meet the Standard 90.1 minimum energy use requirements. Also, when following the prescriptive measures in Standard 90.1, the results show that the energy saved by better wall and roof insulation, glazing technology, and lighting is a small fraction of the energy consumption of computers and other technical equipment. Without adapting the standards to reflect how data center facilities and IT equipment are evolving, it would become increasingly difficult to judge the efficiency of data center facilities against the standard. But without addressing the 34

operation and energy consumption of the computers themselves, an opportunity to develop a holistic, optimal energy use strategy for the data center would be lost. The engineering community and the IT manufacturers, backed up by publicly reviewed, industry-accepted standards and guidelines, needed to take a prominent role in attacking this challenge. ASHRAE 90.1 language

It is interesting to study how the ASHRAE 90.1 standards issued in 2001 dealt with high electrical density equipment, such as what is typically seen in a data center. Keep in mind that around the beginning of the decade in 2000, highend corporate servers consisted of a single 33-MHz 386 CPU, 4 MB RAM, and two 120 MB hard drives and were scattered about in offices where they were needed, a far cry from the state-of-the-art. If needed, mainframe computers would reside in a separate data processing room. Overall, the electrical intensity of the computer equipment was far less than what is commonly seen today in large corporate enterprises. The language in Standard 90.1 at that time talked about “computer server rooms” and was written specifically to exclude the computer equipment from the energy-efficiency requirements, rather than stipulating

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

requirements to make things more efficient. The exclusions dealt primarily with humidification and how to define baseline HVAC systems used in comparing energy use to the proposed design. At that time, the generally held beliefs were the computer systems were very susceptible to failure if exposed to improper environmental conditions and therefore should not have to meet certain parts of the standard that could result in a deleterious situation. Knowing this, data center industry groups were already developing energy efficiency and environmental operating guidelines. And as the use of computers continued to increase and centralized data centers were beginning to show up in increasing numbers of building designs, it was necessary that ASHRAE play a more important role in this process New language for data centers

With the release of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007, based on input from the the data center community, including ASHRAE’s TC9.9 for Mission Critical Facilities, data centers could no longer be treated as an exception in the energy standard. There were several proposed amendments to Standard 90.1-2007 that included specific language, but it wouldn’t be until the release of Standard 90.1-2010 where data center-specific language was used in the standard. The sections in the standard relating to data centers took another big leap forward with the release of the 2013 edition, which contains specific energy performance requirements for data centers, including the ability to use power usage effectiveness (PUE) as a measure of conformity with the standard. Standard 90.1 certainly has come a long way, but, as expected in the technology realm, computers continue to evolve and change the way they impact on the built environment. This includes many aspects of a building design, including overall facility size, construction type, and electrical distribution system and cooling techniques. This places an unprecedented demand on developing www.csemag.com

timely, relevant building energy codes, standards and guidelines because, as history has shown, a lot of change can occur in a short amount of time. And because the work to develop a standard needs to be concluded well before the formal release of the document, the unfortunate reality is that portions of the document will already be out of date when released. Synergy in energy use efficiency

In the past decade, many of the manufacturers of power and cooling equipment have created product lines designed specifically for use in data centers. Some of this equipment has evolved from existing lines, and some has been developed from the ground up. Either way, the major manufacturers understand that the characteristics of a data center require specialized equipment and product solutions. Within this niche there are a number of novel approaches that show potential based on actual installed performance and market acceptance. The thermal requirements of the computers have really been the catalyst for developing many of these novel approaches; state-of-the-art data centers have IT equipment (mainly servers) with inlet temperature requirements of 75 to 80 F and higher. (The ASHRAE Thermal Guideline classes of inlet temperatures go as high as 113 F.) This has enabled designs for compressorless cooling, relying solely on cooling from outside air- or

Figure 3: Using refrigerant-free cooling systems, the compressor power is reduced as the temperature drops. The free cooling pump will run generally when the compressors are off.

water-cooled systems using heat rejection devices (cooling towers, dry coolers, close-circuit coolers, etc.). Even in climates with temperature extremes that go beyond the temperature requirements, owners are taking a calculated risk and not installing compressorized cooling equipment based on the large first-cost reduction (see Figure 2). How are these high inlet temperatures being used to reduce overall energy use and improve operations? A small sampling:  Depending on the type of computing equipment, during stretches of abovenormal temperatures, the computer processor can be slowed down intentionally,

effectively reducing the heat output of the computers and lessening the overall cooling load of the data center. This allows the facility to be designed around high inlet temperatures and also provides an added level of protection if outside temperatures go beyond what is predicted. This strategy really demonstrates the power of how interconnected facility and IT systems can provide feedback and feed forward to each other to achieve an operational goal.  Cooling technologies such as immersion cooling are fundamentally different from most data center cooling systems. In this application, the servers are completely immersed in a large tank of a mineral oil-like solution, keeping the entire com-

What the 1970s oil crisis taught us

S

ome of the seminal events that acted as catalysts to jump-start energy efficiency improvements in buildings, both residential and commercial, stem from incidents that happened far from the shores of the United States. As a result, federal and state governments (and the general public) were exposed firsthand to the consequences of unstable worldwide energy supplies. Arguably the most infamous example of this hit the United States in 1973. And it hit hard. The 1973 oil crisis started when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) started an oil embargo in response to world political events. Six months later, the prices of oil imported into the U.S. rose from $3 per barrel to nearly $12. In addition to massive cost increases for gasoline and heating oil, this event brought on a decade of high inflation where prices of energy and various material commodities rose greatly, triggering fears of an era of resource scarcity with economic,

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political, and security stresses. From 1973 to 1974, residential fuel oil rose from $0.75/million Btu to $1.82/million Btu, a 143% increase. Electricity costs also spiked: from $5.86/million Btu in 1973 to $7.42/million Btu in 1974. This was a 27% increase in electricity cost in just 1 year. The 1973 oil crisis is not the only tumultuous event that has threatened energy supplies in the U.S., but this particular event sparked the greatest debate on energy efficiency in the built environment in the U.S. to date. Also, during this time the unsafe levels of water- and air-borne pollution attributed to the extraction and production of energy were making headlines, putting pressure on private industry and government to develop laws that would protect the welfare of U.S. citizens, and guarantee a cost-effective and secure source of energy. These programs became part of a greater effort, which included the industrial sector, appliances, electronics, and electricity generation.

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

35

Energy performance PUE =

 power delivered to data center  IT equipment power use

=

mechanical + Pelectrical + Pother

P

IT

P

Figure 4: Power usage effectiveness (PUE) is the industry standard for benchmarking data center energy use, according to data from The Green Grid.

puter, inside and outside, at a consistent temperature. This approach has a distinct advantage: It reduces the facility cooling system energy by using liquid cooling and heat-rejection devices only (no compressors), and it reduces the energy of the servers as well. Since the servers are totally immersed, the internal cooling fans are not needed and the energy used in powering these fans is eliminated.  Manufacturers also have developed methods to apply refrigerant phasechange technology to data center cooling that, with certain evaporating/condensing temperatures, does not require any pumps or compressors, offering a large reduction in energy use as compared to the ASHRAE 90.1 minimum energy requirements. Other refrigerant-based systems can be used with economizer cycles using the refrigerant as the free-cooling medium (see Figure 3).  Cooling high-density server cabinets (>30 kW) poses a challenge due the large intensive electrical load. One solution to cool such server cabinets is to provide a close-coupled system using fans and a cooling coil on a one-to-one basis with the cabinet. In addition to using water and

refrigerants R134A, R407C, and R410 in close-coupled installations, refrigerant R744, also known as carbon dioxide (CO2), is also being employed. CO2 cooling is used extensively in industrial and commercial refrigeration due to its low toxicity and efficient heat absorption. Also, the CO2 can be pumped or operated in a thermo-syphon arrangement. Trends in energy use, performance

When we talk about reducing energy use in data centers, we need to have a two-part discussion focusing on energy use from the computer itself (processor, memory, storage, internal cooling fans) and from the cooling and power equipment required to keep the computer running. One way to calculate the energy use of the entire data center operation is to imagine a boundary that surrounds both the IT equipment and the power/cooling systems, both inside and outside the data center proper. Inside this boundary are systems that support the data center, as well as others that support the areas of the facility that keep the data center running, such as control rooms, infrastructure spaces, mechanical rooms, and other

technical rooms. After these systems are identified, it is easier to categorize and develop strategies to reduce the energy use of the individual power and cooling systems within the boundary. Take the total of this annual energy use (in kWh), add it to the annual energy use of the IT equipment, and then divide this total by the annual energy use of the IT systems (see Figure 4). This is the definition of PUE, which was developed by The Green Grid a number of years ago. But there is one big caveat: PUE does not address scenarios where the IT equipment energy use is reduced below a predetermined minimum energy performance. PUE is a metric that focuses on the facility energy use, and treats the IT equipment energy use as a static value unchangeable by the facilities team. This is a heavily debated topic because using PUE could create a disincentive to reduce the IT energy. In any event, the goal of an overall energy-reduction strategy must include both the facility and IT equipment. To demonstrate exemplary performance and to reap the energy-savings benefits that come from the synergistic relationship between the IT and facility systems, the efficiency of the servers, storage devices, and networking gear can be judged against established industry benchmarks. Unfortunately, this is not a straightforward (or standardized) exercise in view of the highly varying business models that drive how the IT equip-

What defines a mission critical facility?

M

ission critical facilities are broadly defined as containing any operation that, if interrupted, will cause a negative impact on business activities, ranging from losing revenue to jeopardizing legal conformity to, in extreme cases, loss of life. Data centers, hospitals, laboratories, public safety centers, and military installations are just a few of the many types of buildings that could be considered mission critical. While there are several formal codes and standards, such as NFPA 70: National Electric Code, various hospital administrative codes and a presidential directive set up to guard against failure of critical infrastructure in the United States, there is no uniform definition of a mission critical facility. But to maintain continuous operation of the facility and the internal processes taking place, redundant power and cooling systems must be present in varying degrees of reliability.

36

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

The redundant systems, regardless of the type of mission critical facility, will cause energy use inefficiencies to some degree. Using multiple paths of power, cooling, and ventilation distribution will likely result in less efficient operation of fans, pumps, chillers, transformers, and more. This is not always true, but it certainly poses challenges to determining the most effective way to run redundant systems— especially when each distribution path will likely contain multiple sensors, actuators, and other safety devices. Many codes acknowledge that systems that support life safety and guard against hazards will be exempt from requirements that apply to noncritical power and cooling systems. However, sometimes it is not apparent where the boundary lies between mission critical and nonmission critical.

www.csemag.com

ment will operate, and the application of strategies such as virtualized servers and workload shifting. To illustrate how energy can be reduced beyond what a standard enterprise server will consume, some nextgeneration enterprise servers will have multiple chassis, each housing very small yet powerful high-density cartridge computers, with each server chassis capable of containing close to 200 servers. Arrangements like this can have similar power use profiles to the previous generation, but by using more effective components (processor, memory, graphics card, etc.) and sophisticated power use management algorithms, comparing the computing work output with the electrical power input demonstrates that these computers have faster processing speeds and use higher performing memory and graphics cards, yet use less energy than the previous generation. But this is not an anomaly or a one-off situation. For example, studying the trends of supercomputers over the past two decades, it is evident that these computers are also on the same path of making the newest generation of computers more efficient than the previous. As an example, in the last 5 years alone, the metric of megaFLOPS per kW, the “miles per gallon” for the high-performance computing world, has increased 4.6 times while the power has increased only 2.3 times (see Figure 5).

that discuss air-handling fan motor power will have to be reevaluated because a much smaller portion of the data center will be cooled by air, creating a significant reduction in fan motor power. Fan power limitations and strategies for reducing energy use certainly will still apply, but they will make a much smaller contribution to the overall consumption. Historically, one of the weak points in enterprise server energy use was the turndown ratio. This com- Figure 5: Since 2005, the power for the world’s top pares electrical power draw supercomputers has increased tenfold (kW curve) to IT workload. It used to while the performance has increased over 140 times. be that an idle server, with Even though the computers used in this dataset are no workload, would draw usually purpose-built, extremely powerful computers, close to 50% of its maxi- this type of performance is indicative of where entermum power just sitting in prise servers are headed. an idle state. Knowing that in most instances servers would be idle The result is today’s server technology or running at very low workloads, a huge allows for a much closer matching of amount of energy was being used with- actual computer workload to the electriout producing any computing output. As cal power input (see Figure 6). There is movement in the IT industry server virtualization became more prevalent (which increased the minimum work- to create the next wave of computers, loads by running several virtualized serv- ones that are designed with a completely ers on one physical server), the situation new approach and using components that improved. But it was still clear that there are currently mostly in laboratories in was a lot of room for improvement and various stages of development. The most the turndown ratio had to be improved. innovative computing platforms in use

The progression of computers

It is important to understand that many of the high-performance computing systems that are at the top of their class are direct water-cooled. Using water at higher temperatures will reduce (or eliminate) the compressor energy in the central cooling plant. Using direct water-cooling also allows more efficient processor, graphics card, and memory performance by keeping the internal temperatures more stable and consistent as compared to air-cooling where temperatures within the server enclosure may not be even due to changes in airflow through the server. As more higher-end corporate servers move toward water-cooling, areas in the energy codes www.csemag.com

Figure 6: As server power management has become more sophisticated, the ratio of power at idle (no workload) compared to full power has decreased by more than 50% since 2007. This will result in a more optimized data center energy use strategy.

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

37

Energy performance

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today, even ones that have advanced designs enabling extreme high-performance while significantly reducing energy use, use the same types of fundamental building blocks that have been used for decades. From a data center facilities standpoint, whether air or water is used for the cooling medium, as long as the computer maintains the same fundamental design, the same cooling and power strategies will remain as they are today, allowing for only incremental efficiency improvements. And even as the densities of the servers become greater (increasing power draw per data center area), the same approximate data center size is required, albeit with reductions in the computer room due to the high-density as compared with a lower density application. But what if an entirely new approach to designing computers comes about? And what if this new approach dramatically changes how we design data centers? Processing the torrent of data and using it to create meaningful business results will continue to push the electrical capacity in the data center needed to power IT equipment. And, as we’ve seen over the past decade, the pressure of the IT industry’s energy use may force energy-efficiency trade-offs that result in a sub-optimal outcome vis-a-vis balancing IT capacity, energy source, and total cost of ownership. While no one can predict when this tipping point will come or when big data will reach the limit of available capacity, the industry must find ways to improve efficiency, or it will face curtailed growth. These improvements have to be made using a holistic process, including all of the constituents that have a vested interest in a continued energy and cost-aware growth of the IT industry. The bottom line: In the next few years the data center design and construction industry will have to continue to be an active member in the evolution of IT equipment and will need to come up with creative design solutions for revising codes and standards, such as ASHRAE 90.1, making sure there is a clear understanding of the ramifications of the IT equipment to the data center facility. As developments in computing technology research begin to manifest into commercially available products, it is likely that the most advanced computing platforms won’t immediately replace standard servers; a specific type of workload, such as very big data or real-time analytics will require a new type of computing architecture. And even though this technology is still in the development phase, it gives us a good indication that a breakthrough in server technology is coming in the near future. And this technology could rewrite today’s standards for data center energy efficiency. Bill Kosik is a distinguished technologist at HP Data Center Facilities Consulting. He is the leader of “Moving toward Sustainability,” which focuses on the research, development, and implementation of energy-efficient and environmentally responsible design strategies for data centers. Kosik collaborates with clients, developing innovative design strategies for cooling high-density environments, and creating scalable cooling and power models. He is a member of the Consulting-Specifying Engineer advisory board. 38

11/7/2013 12:01:55 PM

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Selecting fire pumps The key for fire protection engineers is to understand the requirements of both NFPA 20 and NFPA 70 to properly choose and configure a fire pump so that the fire protection systems can serve their intended use. BY ALLYN J. VAUGHN, PE, FSFPE, and RICK REYBURN, PE, JBA Consulting Engineers Inc., Las Vegas

Learning objectives  Understand the two primary types of fire pumps: electric and diesel.  Learn about the codes and standards and define specification of these systems.  Determine how to select the best pump to meet the intended usage.

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P

ower for fire pumps is critical in the design of a properly operating fire protection system. Without power, the building loses the ability to have an effective fire suppression system. The building’s fire/life safety system also cannot control or extinguish a fire, thereby negating the benefits of the fire protection system. Therefore, careful consideration in the selection of pumps and power supplies is critical to the operation of the fire protection systems. As fire protection engineers, our team often selects fire pumps for various designs. Due to the size, magnitude, and building height of the projects, municipal water supplies often are not capable of providing the required pressures to meet fire protection system (automatic sprinklers and standpipes) demand. Therefore, fire pumps are specified to boost pressures that are needed for these systems to protect the building and its occupants. This team’s first choice in selecting fire pumps is to use an electric-driven pump. An electric-driven pump is easier to design, is easier to maintain on a regular basis, and does not require external fuel to operate the pump. It lends itself to a cleaner and more efficient system. Diesel-driven pumps are very reliable and have their place in the design and installation of fire protection systems. However, they require fuel storage tanks of combustible liquids to be stored in or near the pump room, and require ventilation of combustion products and a means to replenish fuel used during operation,

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

which includes frequent run tests. Sometimes it is just too difficult to locate a diesel-driven pump inside a building due to these considerations, especially when the design requires pumps be installed within a tower due to pressure zone requirements. Diesel-driven pumps are a good choice when the pump is located at the base of the building near the exterior wall or in a separate pump house to accommodate the refueling operations and the ventilation of combustion exhaust. When installed inside a building or midway up a high-rise tower, they are difficult to design and install. An electric-driven pump does not require a combustion-driven engine to start to operate the pump. As long as power is available to the pump, when the pressure drops in the system, the electric-driven pump will start. The key is to provide a reliable source of power to the pump, under both normal and emergency conditions. For an electric-driven pump, power is the key to the reliability of the pump and therefore the fire protection system. Electric power is easier to run through the building, especially within high-rise towers where multiple pressure zone pumps are located. Getting the power there is easier than getting diesel fuel. Codes and standards

Codes and standards governing fire pumps recognize the importance power plays in the operation of these electricdriven fire pumps. NFPA develops many standards and guides on how to design and install fire protection systems. NFPA www.csemag.com

Figure 1: This represents a simple one-line medium-voltage configuration that complies with the intent of the code. All graphics courtesy: JBA Consulting Engineers

20: The Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection outlines the requirements for the design and installation of fire pumps. When a fire pump is required due to system demands, often NFPA 20 is the referenced standard. NFPA 20 provides specific details for the use of both diesel and electric-driven pumps, including the power supply requirements for electric pumps. Chapter 9 of the 2013 edition of NFPA 20 provides specific requirements for electric drives for fire pumps. It outlines the requirements for both normal and alternate power. It is clear that the normal power source be continually available and arranged in one of five methods. These include:  A utility service connection dedicated to the pump  An on-site power production facility dedicated to the fire pump  A dedicated feeder connection derived directly from the dedicated fire pump service www.csemag.com

 A feeder connection that is part of a multi-building campus-style arrangement meeting certain conditions  A dedicated transformer connection directly from the service meeting Article 695 of NFPA 70: National Electrical Code. NFPA 20 requires an alternate source of power when the height of the building is beyond the pumping capacity of fire department apparatus or where the normal source is not reliable. If a backup diesel-driven or steam-driven pump is provided, an alternate source of power is not required. Also, many of the model building and fire codes require an alternate or secondary source of power be provided for all pumps serving systems in high-rise buildings. Per NFPA, this source of power is considered emergency and should be available within 10 seconds of loss of normal power. The emergency source of power is required to be available for at least 8 hours.

Power requirements

One of the things that often gets overlooked when dealing with emergency power to fire pumps is the power requirements for the controller and pump from the backup source. The backup source is typically an on-site generator. NFPA 20 requires the pump to run at up to a locked rotor current, which can be up to six times the full load current. If the generator is sized to handle only the full load, there is not sufficient power available to drive the pump to meet NFPA 20 requirements. Because most pumps are of a significant size (150 to 250 hp), this oversight can be drastic in the overall performance of the system. The generator needs to be sized to handle the required start-up load, not just the running load. Most electric-driven pumps that require backup power will have transfer switches specified that are integral with the controller itself. The transfer switch is a component of the controller, and the two act in unison to operate the pump under both nor-

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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Selecting fire pumps mal and backup power conditions. When normal power is lost, the transfer switch senses this loss of power and allows the controller to switch to emergency power from the generator. The transfer switch in essence transfers fire pump power from normal to emergency. As mentioned, the power requirements for a fire pump have an impact on the design of the electrical systems mostly attributed to the requirements of dealing with six times the full load current. The impacts include coordination of sizing the standby generator to handle the starting in-rush current and all other emergency loads while still meeting the voltage drop allowed during these conditions at the fire pump motor. The normal power distribution raises similar concerns. Can the utility handle the high inrush current while maintaining the minimum voltage drop allowed at the fire pump motor? Typically the answer is yes, because of the stoutness of the

system. When dealing with customerowned medium-voltage distribution, voltage drop becomes an issue when the customer-owned transformer losses have a definite impact on that voltage drop, especially when the transformer selected is closely sized at 125% of the full load amps for the fire pump motor. When locked rotor occurs, the transformer may become saturated, and as such the voltage drop is increased across the transformer. As a rule of thumb, for a 50 hp fire pump, a 100 kVa transformer should be specified. For a 100 hp fire pump, a 300 kVa transformer should be specified. Modeling the distribution system for motor starting analysis is recommended to properly size the transformer. Use of reduced voltage starters can lessen the impact of generator power. Many types are available, ranging from primary reactors to wye-delta closed or open type to autotransformers. Each type has its advantages and drawbacks, and

the more efficient ones will cost more to install. These reduced voltage starters can decrease the inrush current anywhere from 400% to 150% of the inrush current. Regardless of the type of starter, their use can help reduce the impact on the overall generator system when emergency power is required to supply the fire pump. However, when solid-state starters are used, care must be taken to size the generator based upon the across-the-line inrush because these starters have a required bypass, which removes the ramp starting from the circuit. NEC 695.7(A) exception removes the voltage drop limitations for the emergency run mechanical starting but doesn’t remove the requirement for the generator to be sized to start the pump for across-the-line locked rotor current. The benefit of the reduced voltage starter is to lessen the demand on the system for normal inrush current. NFPA 20 requires electrical installation methods to comply with Article 695

Figure 2: This shows one possible method of providing power for both pumps.

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Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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of NFPA 70. One of the key considerations in protecting the reliability of the fire pump installation is protecting the feeder circuits to the fire pumps. NFPA 70 requires electrical services for fire pumps to be routed outside of the building, or if routed inside the building to be installed under not less than 2 in. of concrete beneath a building or encased within concrete or brick not less than 2 in. thick. This is to provide a means to protect the service feeding the pump from damage by fire or other physical injury. The requirements for supplying power to fire pumps are very stringent. This is due to the fact that the code recognizes that a fire pump is an essential element of the fire suppression system. The installation, including the power supplies, has to be very reliable for it to operate under adverse conditions. Often these stringent requirements, coupled with the power demands on both the utility and emergency power sources, make the use of electric-driven fire pumps cost prohibitive, driving the design solution to dieseldriven or other types of fire pumps. But as mentioned, there are times when you simply cannot use a diesel-driven pump, and the best choice is electric. So how does a designer or installer apply these code requirements to the buildings that don’t specifically lend themselves to providing electric power to fire pumps, especially multiple fire pumps distributed throughout the com-

plex? How does the size and configuration of the building impact the ability to apply the code requirements of NFPA 20 and NFPA 70? In some instances, some consideration can be given to alternative methods that are allowed by code; other

Large facilities require lots of power. Many will require in excess of 30 MW of power to be delivered safely and continuously for the building’s operation. times, one must merely consider how to apply the code intent to the building being designed. Following are some suggestions for applying code requirements to the powering of electric-driven fire pumps in large, complex facilities. Complex facility examples

Large facilities require lots of power. Many will require in excess of 30 MW of power to be delivered safely and continuously for the building’s operation. Backup is critical to the investments made to construct these facilities for not only emergency systems (NEC 700) and legally required standby systems (NEC 701), but also optional standby systems

(NEC 702). Many of these buildings are designed with numerous diesel generators to provide backup power in the event of loss of single or multiple services to the property. These generators are typically paralleled together and paralleled with the utility to distribute power to the facility. While the total aggregate generator capacity does not equal the total load for the facility, it does exceed that typically needed for the worst-case scenario of emergency (referred to as priority 1) and legally required standby (referred to as priority 2) loads. Whatever capacity is left over picks up the remaining optional standby (referred to as priority 3, priority 4, etc.) loads. At the time of a utility service failure, whether it be one circuit, two circuits, or all three, the facility may be very lightly loaded and the generators may be able to pick up the entire facility. Other times when the facility has a heavy load, possibly only priorities 1, 2, and 3 may be picked up. Load controllers within the paralleling switchgear will add or shed loads depending on predetermined setpoints and timing. There are multitudes of configurations for the paralleling equipment. Let’s begin with a single 10 MVa, 12,470 V, 3-phase service connection with 10 MW of diesel generator backup. We’ll make the assumed load to be 8 MW and a single 350 hp fire pump. The fire pump will be assumed to have a nameplate of 460 V,

Figure 3: In this case, multiple fire pumps connected to three parallel generators/switchgear in a large complex facility are shown.

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Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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Selecting fire pumps 414 full load amps, 2550 locked-rotor amps, 3-phase, and across-the-line starting. Conductor sizes are based upon 125% of full load current for the fire pump per NEC 695.6(B)(1) and (2) and for this application would be 414 fla x 1.25 = 517.5 amps (900 kcmil or parallel 300 kcmil, 75 C, XHHW per NEC Table 310.15(B)(16)). A simple calculation of the transformer size needed to serve this fire pump is (per NEC 695.5(A)) 125% of the full load amps or 1.25 x 414 fla x 460 V x 1.73/1,000 = 412 kVa. The next standard transformer size is 500 kVa. However, due to the inrush current, we’ll change our selection to a 1000 kVa transformer. The transformer selected will be a 12,470 V delta to 277/480 V wye. This provides a neutral bonding connection on the secondary for any potentially needed control voltage power and is a common transformer size/configuration for ease of replacement should it ever fail. This

transformer is dedicated to the fire pump. No secondary overcurrent or short circuit protection is allowed (NEC 695.5(B)). Figure 1 represents a simple one-line configuration that complies with the intent of the code. Now let’s consider the same building but with two fire pumps; the one discussed above (350 hp) is located in the low-rise portion of the building while a second fire pump is located on the 15th floor of a 30-story tower. Let’s assume the second fire pump is a 100 hp, 460 V, 124 full load amps, 725 locked-rotor amps, 3-phase. The transformer needed for this second fire pump would be calculated as done before, resulting in a load of 123 kVa, and we’ll select a 300 kVa transformer to serve this fire pump to ensure locked rotor currents can adequately be served within the voltage drop limitations. Figure 2 represents one possible method of providing power for both pumps.

Let’s further complicate the needs by changing our building to a mega-resort with an estimated power demand of 26 MW served by three 10 MVa, 12.47 kV circuits each loaded to 9 MW or less. Assume the owner of this facility has requested enough backup power to keep this facility running at a reduced capacity (i.e., not the entire central plant) for a short duration. The design engineer puts together Figure 3 with nine 2 MW paralleled generators, three to each of the three services. These are intended to parallel with each other and the utility. If one service is lost, enough generation is available to pick up the entire load connected by that one service. If two services are lost, approximately all of the loads would be served. If all three services are lost, approximately 2/3 of the facility load would be served. Because the loads are prioritized and priority 1 will serve NEC 700 loads plus fire pump load(s), we have been successful at serving the

Figure 4: A vertical fire pump and its associated controllers serve a high-rise complex.

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Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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Figure 5: Vertical and horizontal fire pumps are shown with their associated piping in a high-rise complex.

fire pumps as a prioritized breaker from the paralleling system for normal power with emergency power coming from the emergency distribution system (priority 1 system). Details to note

When sizing the transformers on the NEC 700 emergency system, care must be given by the engineer to allow for all loads plus the locked rotor current of the fire pump. Some drawbacks to increasing the size of the emergency system transformer are the fault currents increase on the secondary side, which must be considered for equipment ratings as well as arc flash considerations. All three applications will require compliance for the normal power supply conductors to be routed outside of the building or routed through the building in a 2 in. concrete envelope installed per NEC 230.6(1) and (2) as per NEC 695.6(A)(1). The standby generator supply conductors are considered feeders and must meet the requirements of NEC 695.6(A)(2), which give three options. For the medium-voltage feeders there are two options per NEC 695.6(A) www.csemag.com

(1) when routing through the building, either 2 in. concrete encasement or a 2-hour rated enclosure because 2-hour listed electrical circuit protective systems are not available. The downstream feeders at standard voltages (i.e., 208 or 480 V) would be allowed to comply with all three options. There are some medium-voltage designs that implement 480 V generators, and step-up transformers are used to parallel with a 12,470 V system and then step-down transformers used to serve fire pump loads. Inrush current must be applied for both the step-up and the stepdown transformers to meet the minimum requirements of 15% voltage drop per NEC 695.7(A). Single buildings with medium-voltage distribution systems have challenges to comply with the NEC and will require discussions with the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) to apply custom designs and applications of equal or better than the code defined requirements. There are many options to providing fire pumps for buildings and facilities. The size and configuration of the facility as well as the intended use will often

dictate the type of pump to use and the quantity needed. When using electricdriven pumps, consideration should be given to how the primary and emergency power supplies are to be arranged and distributed. NFPA standards provide various options to the designer on how to configure the power supplies to ensure the power feeding fire pumps is reliable and is protected. The key for all is to understand the requirements of both NFPA 20 and NFPA 70 to properly choose and configure a fire pump so that the fire protection systems can serve their intended use. Allyn J. Vaughn is president at JBA Consulting Engineers. He has more than 30 years providing fire protection system design and code consulting services, including design and commissioning of fire protection system for large complex facilities. Rick Reyburn is director of electrical engineering and has more than 30 years of experience in development and design of electrical systems and is a licensed professional engineer in more than 30 states.

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

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Product & Literature Digest SALES ENGINEER – POWER GENERATION/OIL & GAS

Why Should You Filter Your Water?

Scale formation reduces the heat transfer rate and increases the water pressure drop through the heat exchanger and pipes. In fact, one study has shown that .002" fouling will increase pumping needs by 20%.

The Best Engineered Water Filtering Solution Always Costs Less 2 67 2 S . L a C i e n e g a B l v d . L o s A n g e l e s , C A 9 0 0 3 4 U S A ( 8 0 0 ) 3 3 6 - 194 2 ( 310 ) 8 3 9 - 2 8 2 8 F a x : ( 310 ) 8 3 9 - 6 87 8 w w w. t e k l e e n . c o m [email protected] Input #100 at www.csemag.com/information

To apply go to http://www.tmeic.com/North%20America/TWprMg & submit an application for Job # EE15001.

APPLICATION ENGINEER – CRANE SYSTEMS

SALES APPLICATION ENGINEER – CRANES

crane control system solutions that meet customer needs & fulfill project requirements. Provide technical expertise to project engineering teams & customers. Communicate with customers to define the electrical, control & automation requirements for assigned projects. Develop specifications for motor, drive, transformer, switchgear, sensor & automation equipment suppliers to ensure high quality designs & on-time delivery within budget. Provide, or make available, technical guidance to the project engineering team as required to ensure total project requirements are met. Prepare functional specifications for engineering team & suppliers as required. Analyze crane duty cycles to confirm drives & motors meet specifications. Conduct power system studies for crane projects to ensure power systems are sufficient to support new crane equipment. Provide technical consultation to assist customers in specifying solutions to technology challenges that result in projects for company. Prepare technical proposals & costing as assigned using customer specifications & knowledge of company solutions. Provide timely technical support to company field sales & field engineering personnel. Identify new products & applications to increase sales growth. Prepare & lead presentations at customer meetings, seminars & conferences at customer sites or other locations as necessary. Cooperate & collaborate with peers & interact cross-organizationally. Ensure effective utilization of business processes. Requirements: Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering or a related field. 3 years experience sizing & applying TMdrive family of drives in coordinated control systems. 3 years experience sizing motors, transformers & switchgears for control systems for cranes &/or related complex industries. 1 year experience performing power system studies, harmonic filter design & protective device coordination for control systems for cranes &/or related complex industries. Able to climb & work on cranes at heights of up to 175 feet. Able to travel in U.S. & abroad up to 15% with limited notice.

For Roanoke, VA employment with TMEIC International Corporation. Prepare timely & accurate technical specifications & cost analysis to support sales function for crane systems market. Create a network of technical evaluator relationships with customers & vendors to build a pipeline of potential business within the designated markets. Prepare technical specifications of drive & automation systems to meet clients' request for quote requirements & effectively communicate these requirements to clients & internal engineering team. Define solutions that include hardware & software requirements for a project, in collaboration with customers & original equipment manufacturers. Prepare detailed cost elements for the technical specification. Lead technical & commercial proposal development for small projects with limited supervision. Identify enhanced product or service feature needs by soliciting feedback from clients. Design competitive & viable technical approaches to resolve customer issues. Feedback product & service deficiencies to immediate manager for continuous improvement. Prepare specifications for required components. Evaluate supplier proposals to determine the best technical & most economical solution for the application. Prepare & deliver presentations at technical conferences & client sites as necessary or assigned. Review brochures for technical accuracy. Identify & suggest new products & applications to drive business growth. Monitor industry trends to recommend new product & service features. Track competitive environment to identify new products & technology & provide comparative analyses to commercial & R&D teams. Track competitors' offerings, assess client situations & propose competitive options applicable to customers' individual needs. Cooperate & collaborate with peers & interact cross-organizationally. Ensure effective use of business processes. Requirements: Bachelor’s in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering. 2 years systems &/or application engineering experience for the material handling industry or a related complex industry with control systems. Demonstrated experience sizing, specifying & applying TM10e2 adjustable speed drives. Demonstrated experience specifying: Rx3i PLC systems; & Maxview systems. Able to travel in U.S. & abroad up to 20% with limited notice.

To apply go to http://www.tmeic.com/North%20America/TWprMg & submit an application for Job # EE15002.

To apply go to http://www.tmeic.com/North%20America/TWprMg & submit an application for Job # EE15003.

3.5" wide x 4.5" high For Roanoke, VA employment with TMEIC International Corporation. Design Pantone 382c

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For Roanoke, VA and midwestern U.S. employment with TMEIC International Corporation. Develop & implement account plans & strategies for current & potential clients in the oil & gas & power generation industries in the assigned region on a rolling 12 month cycle to deliver the orders budget. Identify, establish contact & develop relationships with a network of purchase influencers within current & potential targeted client organizations to position the company to bid for their new opportunities. Develop & implement sales & business plans & strategies at key accounts, as requested. Lead the tactical plan for pursuing projects at approved accounts. Identify & solicit leads & referrals from current & potential client needs to maintain an active opportunity pipeline. Build industry & client awareness of company products & services via technical presentations at conferences, trade shows & at client meetings. Provide pre-sales technical & systems engineering assistance to clients & channel partners, such as reviewing written proposals & engineering specifications, & conduct product & service presentations. Proactively communicate, cooperate & provide commercial & technical engineering support to sales channel partners on all sales activities in the region. Collaborate with sales & service partners, end user & company personnel to develop & enhance productive relationships. Identify, resolve & communicate resolution on customer issues, escalating unresolved issues to appropriate internal contact. Produce & maintain accurate records of opportunities, proposals, contracts & business activities per corporate guidelines. Provide timely updates on sales activity, performance, integration of corporate business project processes, market trends, project status & customer relationship issues to business unit & company management. Identify & recommend new &/or enhanced products or service feature needs, particularly value-added, engineered solutions, by soliciting feedback from clients, monitoring industry trends & tracking the competitive environment to drive business growth. Track competitors' technical offerings, assess client situations & propose competitive options applicable to the customer's individual needs. Formulate recommendations for improvements within scope of assigned work proactively. Travel to customer locations, both locally & regionally, in support of sales opportunities. Cooperate & collaborate with peers & interact cross-organizationally. Ensure the effective utilization of business processes. Requirements: Bachelor’s in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering. 3 years experience in a technical sales position applying TMdrive family of drives. 2 years experience providing packaged electrical & power electronics solutions utilizing specialized vendors for e-houses, transformers & switchgear. Demonstrated application engineering experience integrating large industrial drives, motors & control systems, including Dura-Bilt DB5i & TMdrive XL series. Demonstrated customer facing experience providing technical support in a commercial environment for large industrial drives & motors for the oil & gas processing &/or power generation industries. Able to travel domestically 40% & internationally, occasionally, with limited notice. Must live in or be willing to relocate to the U.S. midwest region comprised of IN, MI, WI, IL, MN, IA, MO & KS. Must work from home.

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Future of Engineering BY JERRY YUDELSON, PE Green Building Initiative, Portland, Ore.

Key political trends in green building Green building is a major push, with net-zero energy buildings at the forefront.

T

he Republican takeover of Congress in November means that we’re unlikely to see new federal legislation affecting or mandating green building. That is good news for those who believe in free choice in the marketplace for green building certification. However, the November 2014 release of the fifth report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, with its ever more dire predictions of massive disruption from global warming, will likely move some states and many cities to start taking matters into their own hands, particularly with regard to incentives, ordinances, and rules around the subject of increasing energy efficiency in buildings. In the past 3 years, concerns over climate change and new financing mechanisms have led to continued growth in energy-efficiency green building retrofits. This trend appears to be strongest in corporate and commercial real estate, along with municipal buildings, universities, schools, and hospitals (the MUSH market), where energy service companies (ESCOs) are looking for sustainable investments. Along with the growth of the energy retrofit market, net-zero energy buildings are seeing increasing market interest. Developers of commercial and even residential buildings have begun to showcase net-zero energy designs to gain competitive advantage. This trend has been developing for about 5 years and now seems ready for takeoff, especially

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as more mechanical engineers figure out how to design low energy use intensity (EUI, or thousands of Btus per sq ft per year) buildings on conventional budgets. Green buildings, especially larger commercial and institutional building portfolios, will increasingly be managed by cloud-based big data platforms. This trend is reflected by a large number of new entrants and new products in fields of building automation, facility management, wireless controls, and building services information management during the past 3 years. For green building certification, the federal government (General Services Administration, or GSA; Dept. of Defense, or DOD; and Dept. of Energy, or DOE) have put two building certifications on an equal footing for government projects, Green Globes and U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED. This trend was reinforced by DOE’s new rule for federal projects, announced in October 2014. The rule said, in summary, if any government agency is going to use a green building rating system, it has to be one of the designated two or any other that has an open consensus process, and these systems must provide ongoing monitoring and reporting of energy and water use. Offering agencies free choice among competing rating systems gives engineers and building owners greater control. Green building is experiencing rapid expansion globally, but certification commitment has slowed down in the

Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2015

U.S. cumulatively. As of mid-2014 only about 0.5% of the 5 million U.S. nonresidential buildings had been certified to either Green Globes or LEED, indicating that there are significant market headwinds to certification at current costs. As the new construction market continues to grow, private building owners may begin to see the increased value of having a third-party rating assessment on their buildings, since it doubles as a quality assurance program for the increasingly busy building owner and as a differentiator to the public marketplace and to investors. But this must be done at significantly lower overall costs than at present. Green building performance disclosure also continues as a major trend. In the U.S., this trend is highlighted by disclosure requirements enacted in 2013 by more than 30 major cities around the country, and laws that require commercial building owners to disclose actual green building performance to all new tenants and buyers and, in some places, to the public. This trend will spread rapidly, as it is the easiest way to secure and monitor reductions in carbon emissions from commercial and governmental buildings. Jerry Yudelson is president of the Green Building Initiative, a green building nonprofit. A professional engineer, Yudelson is the author of 13 books on green building, water conservation, and sustainable development. www.csemag.com

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