I graduated during the Great Recession and worked multiple jobs before my first journalism job at Patch. My colleagues and manager provided invaluable guidance, particularly on handling difficult situations. Mentorship is critical for MEP engineers, providing practical insights not covered in academic programs.
AHR in Chicago was hectic. With 1,875 exhibitors across 527,520 square feet, it was impossible to visit everyone in the 20 hours open to the public over three days. Preparing ahead of time with a schedule is vital. AHR makes it easy with their app, and we had ours in print with highlighted booths.
A reader asked if the process for water heater selection could be used for selecting a faucet. This column provides the process steps for selecting faucets, without discussing the findings in detail, as several resources are available for comparing faucet types.
When a plumbing engineer receives the design of a health care building — our minds gravitate to designing the system to optimize all the different considerations I mentioned above — with the fixture layout the architect has developed. But what if the layout changed? What if the amount of fixtures were reduced?
Have you heard of terms like "circular economy" or "EPR"? They describe regulations aimed at reducing packaging waste and promoting recycling. Let's explore California's draft regulation for implementing the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act.
A problem is developing with the transition to electric heating: peak demand. Learn how air-to-water heat pumps tackle seasonal needs but struggle during extreme cold, leading to reliance on electric resistance heating.
Do you want to know an odd bit of trivia? Valentine's Day is the most popular day for sewer and wastewater treatment tours, at least in New York, London, and Paris. By 2027, the volume of recycled water produced in the United States is projected to increase 37%.
Introducing Safe Shower's new showerhead that minimizes the growth of biofilm and pathogens like Legionella. The showerhead circulates disinfectants like chlorine or UV water and uses UVC LED disinfectant approach that generates electricity using a tiny turbine.
The Water Demand Calculator has been adopted in several states and cities, including California and Seattle, and is expanding peak flow rate calculations into commercial buildings. The future looks bright as version 3.0 is in the works for commercial buildings.
In February, Standards Development Organizations review end-of-year activities. Energy, water systems, refrigerants, and products had a lot of activity in 2023. See lists for new, revised, or reaffirmed standards, standards in development, and withdrawn standards.