Cooling towers and condenser water systems are high maintenance systems. They get dirty quickly, and if you do not keep up with the cleaning, the dirt can accumulate in your cooling tower basins and get drawn into your condenser water piping system. Once the condenser water is contaminated, it can reduce the operating efficiency and…
If you do, then the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest Energy Star announcement should be great news! The EPA has decided to extend the deadline for submitting applications for a 2017 Energy Star Certification to Friday, December 15, 2017. That is much later than the normal end of year deadline. Applications received by December 15th, provided…
While working at San Jose State’s Career Center, in the heart of Silicon Valley, at a very technically competitive time, I would have to argue with engineering students to turn in neat, presentable, error-free, well-written, and grammatically correct resumes and cover letters. Their response was always the same, “I am going to be an engineer;…
Variable frequency drives (VFDs) used to be expensive, long-lead time items that were only used in systems where the air flow rate or water flow rate was varied or modulated. Now that competitively priced VFDs are readily available, most systems can benefit from this technology and you could be saving energy even in applications you…
The majority of the construction budget for renovations and infrastructure upgrades is usually associated with the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems. Therefore, the selection of the MEP Engineering firm should be an important consideration to ensure quality documents that satisfy the client’s technical and financial goals. Engineering services are professional services and thus the…
“Green” – that seems to be today’s buzzword. If someone is not talking about “going green”, they are usually talking about “saving green”. Contrary to popular belief, our energy codes strive to do both. Unfortunately, the old adage “You have to spend money to make money” also applies to the energy codes, as compliance may only…