MEP Basis of Design and Engineering Advisory
We help project teams choose the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems for a building, and document that choice clearly enough that a design-build partner, an engineer of record, and an estimator all read it the same way.
We do not produce stamped permit drawings or serve as engineer of record. We define the systems, size them, and document the reasoning so that whoever does stamp the drawings has something firm to work from.
Most of our work happens in design-build delivery.
On a design-build project, the engineer of record is often the trade partner who will also furnish and install the system, and that partner usually joins after the building and site plan are settled. On smaller projects, including high-end residential and small commercial work, there may be no engineering involvement at all until that point.
So the decisions that most affect cost, space, and comfort get made either early, by a team with no mechanical engineer at the table, or late, by the party supplying the equipment. We work in between.
Four ways we engage.
Mechanical and electrical strategy for the building. We compare system options against the criteria that govern the choice: first cost, space, operability, maintenance, resilience, and comfort, along with what the site can support in service capacity and equipment location. You get the comparison, a recommendation, and the reasoning.
A written document stating what each system is, why it was chosen, how it is sized, what it connects to, and how it is controlled. Sized against calculated loads rather than a per square foot assumption, and written so a trade partner can bid it and an engineer can develop it.
- System selection and alternatives
- Load basis and sizing logic
- Space and clearance requirements
- Controls and sequence of operation
- Ventilation and air quality criteria
- Electrical capacity
- Performance targets
Where the delivery method calls for it, this becomes a design-build specification that a trade partner's engineer can complete and stamp.
An independent read on another engineer's design, checked against project criteria, code, and constructability. We look for oversizing, unstated assumptions, systems that will be hard to operate, and coordination conflicts.
We take the mechanical question back into the architecture, studying glazing, shading, orientation, mass, insulation, and air tightness to balance loads and find glare and thermal discomfort while the design can still change. Reducing the load is the most durable way to reduce the size and cost of the system.
Questions we help teams answer.
What system should this building use, and what does it cost to own as well as to install?
Will it fit, and where does it need space?
Is it sized for the actual loads, or for a rule of thumb?
Can the people who will run it actually run it?
What happens to comfort when it is very hot, very cold, or the power is out?
What can the envelope do so the system can be smaller?
What we do not do.
Stamped construction documents and permit sets
Construction administration as engineer of record
Commissioning agent of record, though we write criteria a commissioning agent can verify against
Equipment sales and proprietary product specification, so our recommendation is not tied to what any party is prepared to supply
How an engagement usually starts.
Mechanical and electrical strategy for the building, while the plan is still moving.
The strategy refined into a documented MEP plan and direction, ready to hand to a design-build partner or an engineer of record.
Some projects need only the first. Some bring us back through construction to review what is being built against what was specified.
Projects
Working on a project where the mechanical
decisions are not settled yet?
We engage at concept, schematic, or design development, wherever the decisions are still being made.