How Great Buildings Work: Recent Episodes
John Melvin
This is a podcast where we discuss all things buildings: from construction & build methods, to architecture, engineering, and systems designs.
Our guest today is Nick Searle, and our topic is Chilled Beams. What are they? Where are they used and why you should have them in your building?
Nick is in sales and is a Chief Engineer for Titus, specializing in chilled beams and underfloor air distribution. Nick resides in the Atlanta, Georgia area, but he is originally from the UK. He moved to the United States about 12 years ago to help bring innovative chilled beam technology to the US market. Titus is a leading supplier and manufacturer of air distribution products with a focus on providing healthy and efficient building environments.
Nick has a colorful personality, and a passion for the products he promotes. I hope you enjoy learning from his expertise during this episode!
Key Topics
- Nick’s journey from the UK to the US
- History of chilled beams
- What is a chilled beam?
- The 3 basic types of chilled beams
- Air quality in educational applications is key
- The what and why of DOAS systems
- Water -vs- Air - Why water wins.
- Is that load latent or sensible, and why do you care?
- Myth busters – humid climates and chilled beams
- Maintaining a chilled beam system saves
- Other reasons chilled beams are smart for your building
Check Out:
www.titus-hvac.com
www.jmengineering.net
Social media: @jm_engineering
www.howgreatbuildingswork.com
We want to know what you have to say on the topic! - Leave us your thoughts in the comments.
On today’s episode, Kath Williams is the president of Kath Williams and Associates. Kath Williams and Associates is a collaborative of creative independent contractors who come together to support innovative projects worldwide. Their goal is to change the way buildings are designed, built and operated through aggressive learning and continuous improvement.
Kath has a doctorate in education focused in conflict resolution and adult and higher education from Montana State University. She loves her job because she gets to work with amazing people on green building projects all over the world. She spends much of her time flying and traveling.
Kath is not a designer; her and her team help and support creative designers on architecture, engineering and construction side. Learn more about Kath, Kath Williams and Associates and LEED in this episode.
Key Topics
- What LEED is
- What does LEED stand for
- How LEED is related to US building counsel
- Type of projects that can be LEED projects
- Basis for LEED originally
- Why should a project assume LEED status
- Differentiating LEED projects and buildings
- LEED for healthcare, the most rigorous of LEED standards
- LEED for schools, opportunity and focus for acoustics
- Looking more holistically through LEED
- Processes of getting LEED status
- The future of LEED
Check Out:
Kathwilliams.com
www.jmengineering.net
Social media: @jm_engineering
www.howgreatbuildingswork.com
Tell us what you think - Leave us your thoughts in the comments.
On today’s episode, we will be talking about how in floor radiant heating and cooling systems work. Our guest, Devon Abilon, will share the ins and outs of heating and cooling systems.
Devon Abilon is the Business Development Manager at Uponor North America. He has over 23 years’ experience in HVAC and plumbing industries with a focus on high performance and sustainable building, design and construction. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara and is a registered professional engineer in California and Arizona. He is also an active member of ASPE and Ashray.
When starting out, Devon was working as consulting engineer. He worked in consulting and air for over 15 years. Starting out, he worked for a firm in Phoenix, Arizona. He ended up managing their Business Operations in San Diego, California. Through personal experience, he learned how and how not to design a radiant system.
9 years ago he got an opportunity to switch directions with Uponor. He has been able to work with engineers across the country on innovative projects. Learn more about Devon and his expertise around radiant heating and cooling systems in this episode.
Key Topics
- 3 modes of heat transfer
- Radiant systems first being used in the United States
- Components of radiant systems
- How radiant systems work
- Applications of radiant heating and cooling is used
- Uses in corporate settings
- Limitations to radiant cooling and heating
- Why you would use radiant system instead of conventional system
- Health benefits of radiant heating and cooling systems
Check Out:
uponor-usa.com
uponor.com
www.jmengineering.net
Social media: @jm_engineering
www.howgreatbuildingswork.com
In this episode we will be discussing Geothermal Heating Systems. We will explain how the relatively constant temperature of the earth is leveraged to create dynamic, yet highly efficient heating systems for our homes, offices and schools. This episode will give a brief history of the technology behind geothermal heating systems, explain the basics of how these systems work and discuss potential benefits or limitations of using a geothermal system.
About our Guest:
Craig Fishbach, the heat pump product sales manager at Daikin Applied will be our guest today. Craig provides training and presentations for various heat pump projects and systems. He is a licensed Mechanical Engineer from the University of Minnesota. He lives and works in Denver Colorado, but travels across the northwest providing training and support to vendors, engineers and contractors who are interested in using geothermal heat pumps in their projects. Diakin Applied is one of the largest worldwide manufacturers of HVAC equipment. They build geothermal equipment along with other items such as chillers and air handlers.
Episode Topic List:
- Introduction of our Guest, Craig Fishbach
- How Craig ended up in the geothermal field
- Brief history of geothermal HVAC systems
- Number of geothermal systems in place today
- How do geothermal systems work? The Basics
- How is cold ground water used to produce heat?
- Types of geothermal loops: Closed Loops -vs- Open Loops
- Types of geothermal systems: Forced Air, Water-to-Water
- What geothermal heating systems look like
- Noise concerns
- Applications of geothermal systems: Commercial, Residential
- Limitations to where geothermal can or cannot be used: Geography, Climate, Government Regulations, Other Factors
- Efficiency of geothermal systems
- How much more efficient is geothermal over a conventional system?
- Costs associated with geothermal systems
- Availability of federal tax credits or other incentives for installing geothermal systems
- Where can people go to learn more about Daikin McQuay and geothermal heat pumps?