Commercial HVAC design and design-build

Who this is for

• Building owners planning a replacement who want the system sized for how the building is used now
• General contractors who want the mechanical scope designed and installed by one party
• Tenants fitting out a space where the base building system was never intended for their use
• Anyone who has been handed a set of drawings and suspects the equipment schedule is wrong

What design-build actually means

On a traditional plan-and-spec job, an engineering firm designs the system, the design goes out to bid, and the winning contractor installs what was drawn. It works, and on large or complex projects it is often the right structure. But it splits responsibility: if the installed system underperforms, the designer says it was installed wrong and the installer says it was designed wrong.

Design-build collapses that into one contract. The tradeoff is that you are relying on one firm's judgment rather than getting a second set of eyes, so it matters who you pick.

What we deliver

• Load calculation — heating and cooling loads based on the building's construction, orientation, occupancy and actual use
• Equipment selection — tonnage, staging, efficiency and refrigerant, with the operating cost consequences spelled out
• Layout and distribution — where equipment sits, how air gets where it needs to go, how it will be serviced in ten years
• Structural and electrical coordination — what the roof has to carry and what the panel has to supply
• Controls — how the system is sequenced, and how it integrates with anything already in the building
• Permits and submittals — drawings, cut sheets and the paperwork the construction office needs
• Installation, startup and commissioning — and documentation of what was actually installed