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.
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?
Water scarcity is a growing issue globally. Some regions are adopting water reuse and rainwater capture solutions. Onsite water reuse can help save money, reduce water demands, and manage stormwater flows. With onsite water reuse, you can reuse up to 95% of a building's wastewater.
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.
>By combining water heating with space heating through heat pumps, a synergy is achieved that maximizes efficiency. This dual functionality is particularly relevant given the constant demand for hot water in residential, commercial and industrial settings.
As the world seeks more sustainable and electrified solutions for common construction and engineering challenges, the ways in which large buildings deliver hot water to tenants are worth examination.
In my last column of 2023, I discussed the growing use of Artificial Intelligence in engineering and construction firms. This month, I want to focus on another trend we will see continuing into this next year — sustainability and efficiency.