The Collado Team Members added in 2023:
Case Study:The parking garage in a COOP building is leaded by a third-party operator. Electric Vehicle Charging Stations were improperly installed by the vendor’s electrician. What was intended to be a benefit to the building and its parking garage users, resulted in more headaches for the building management.
The property manager then retained Collado Engineering to remedy the issues brought to light by the installation. We performed a review of the installation including the electrical infrastructure supplying the garage panel and the loads connected to the panel in question.
The garage panel was found to be past its useful life and once the panel door was opened, found to contain exposed busbars (see photo 1), creating a Safety Hazard. The panel itself was in poor condition, and we recommended that it be replaced.
We then discovered oversized fuses that did not protect the wires feeding the panel. This alone was an Electrical Code Violation. The fuses were replaced with correctly sized overcurrent protection for the conductors.
In reviewing the branch circuit wiring fed from the panel, the smaller wiring, typically fed from a 20 Amp breaker, was observed emanating from 100 Amp, 3 pole circuit breaker (see photo 2). Breakers were also observed with multiple wires terminating on the breakers (see photo 3) another Electrical Code Violation.
The installed wiring to the electrical vehicle charging stations was observed and identified to be inadequate to accommodate the electrical vehicle charger at full capacity. This was due to the wiring for all chargers sharing a conduit. Based on the NEC, conduits with 4 or more conductors require the wiring to be derated.
With the initial assessment and design by Collado Engineering, the property manager was able to retain an electrician to install a code compliant system to support the existing EV chargers. A new panel was installed and provided with feed through lugs to allow for the installation and expansion of a second panel. The added panel would allow for connections to future loads, such as the additional electrical vehicle chargers.
EVs use batteries as their energy source, replacing the standard gasoline tank. Battery capacity is measured in kilowatts-hours (kWh), which is analogous to the size of a gasoline tank. The efficiency of the battery to move the vehicle is measured in kilowatts (kW). Typical batteries in electric vehicles today can span anywhere from 25 to 200 kWh. Which for the larger battery, depending on driving conditions, could translate to approximately 500 miles per charge. The larger the battery, the further the EV can travel between recharging.
Charging stations are essentially gas pumps for your vehicle, but rather than filling up with gas, you charge your vehicle’s battery similar to how you would any other battery powered device.
The power grid uses alternating current (AC), soc each EV contains a power supply and rectifier/inverter to convert the grid power into a usable form of energy for the car’s direct current (DC) battery. The most common forms of EV chargers available today are:
A space is cooled by removing “heat” energy using an HVAC system. The system rejects this “heat” to the condenser water system and eventually to the atmosphere through the cooling tower (typically located on the building’s rooftop). In the tower, condenser water is sprayed over a fill material increasing the water’s surface area while fans blow air through the fill evaporating a portion of the water and, in the process, reducing the temperature of the remaining portion. While there are other losses of water in a cooling tower system (drift and blow-dow) approximately 80-85% of the make-up water is lost through evaporation.
Starting in 2024, all NYC buildings over 25,000 square feet must report their annual carbon emissions by May 1st of each reporting year. A building’s emissions score is calculated based on its energy benchmarking data (Local Law 84) and compared to an emissions limit set for each type of building.It is mandatory for all NYC buildings that exceed 25,000 square footage. Knowing your building’s carbon emissions will also help target improvements to reduce those emissions.
“Miguel has held the reigns, as a department head, of our Plumbing and Fire Protection department. As our newest Principal, we welcome him to our leadership team and are confident that he will continue to contribute to the growth of the firm,” said Andrew Hlushko, Collado Engineering’s President.
Miguel has worked in the industry for 20 years after graduating from Stevens Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering. He is licensed in NY and four other states, is a certified LEED AP, and is an active member of the American Society of Plumbing Engineers and the National Fire Protection Association.
Miguel is currently leading Collado’s effort on the energy performance-based MEP system upgrades at the NYCHA Adams Housing Complex. The work is focused on the central heating plant serving the seven residential buildings in the complex including refurbishing the steam boilers, decoupling the domestic hot water from the boiler plant, and electrifying the system using heat pump water heaters.
“I am honored to become a principal at Collado Engineering, and I appreciate the opportunity to be part of its leadership team,” said Miguel about his recent promotion. “Collado’s mission, to provide value to our clients through our expert quality work, resonates with my core beliefs as a consultant.”
Alberd Misku, CPD Associate“Alberd has been a part of our firm for nine years and has become a key member of the Collado team working on projects that range across the architectural engineering spectrum. We are thrilled to promote him to this important position,” said Andrew Hlushko.
He is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology and is a Certified Plumbing Designer by the American Society of Plumbing Engineers, of which he is an active member. He is also a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and the National Fire Protection Association.
Alberd is a member of the Collado team that is currently working on the new Graduate Hotel in Princeton, NJ. Once complete, the hotel will have a total of 148 guest rooms, street-level lobby, food and beverage space, and on-site laundry. Collado is designing the MEP systems for the new building, as well as the renovation of the existing building.
“Collado was my entrance into the consulting engineering world and ascending to the Associate level highlights the confidence the principals have in me, as well as my commitment to the firm,” explains Alberd. “I am excited for the future and look forward to contributing to the firm’s innovation and growth.”
The 2022 New York City (NYC) Construction Codes go into effect on November 7th. With these new codes rapidly approaching, it is imperative to understand how your project will be impacted.
The most significant changes to the Plumbing Code are related to the capture, release, and reuse of stormwater. The changes potentially increase the area within a building that is required to detain stormwater on-site while encouraging its reuse.
Due to climate change, the frequency of 100-, 10-, 2-, and 1-year storms has increased. Just in 2021, the northeast experienced three, 100-year storm events. This, along with the increase of impervious area, has created a rainwater run-off emergency in NYC.
The new code attempts to deal with our new reality by severely limiting the rate of stormwater that a building is allowed to discharge to the city sewers. The code also expands on a building’s ability to reuse stormwater for cooling towers, flushing, and irrigation systems.
How to download the letter grade:
A building energy audit is a process of determining how a facility uses energy, the types of energy used, the energy cost, and identifying opportunities to reduce consumption without decreasing occupants’ thermal comfort or life safety. New York City (NYC) Local Law 87 (Energy Audits and Retro-Commissioning) mandates periodic energy audits for buildings that exceed 50,000 square feet. The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) and local utility companies require an energy audit as a requirement for participation in some of their utility incentive programs. And NYC Local Law 97 (Carbon Emission Limits), scheduled to be implemented in 2024, will require some level of energy auditing to determine a property owner’s actual carbon emission and potential financial penalties.
An energy audit is often also referred to as an energy assessment, survey, evaluation, or investigation. There are four commonly accepted types:
This audit is an analysis of energy use and cost to determine a benchmark index such as Btu (British Thermal Unit) per square foot per year. It involves analyzing annual utility bills and is relatively quick for simple building layouts. NYC Local Law 84 (Energy Benchmarking) requires annual benchmarking submissions for buildings exceeding 10,000 sq. ft.
This audit involves a cursory Level-0 analysis and quick identification of recommended energy improvement measures that are no-cost or low-cost. On-site surveying is limited to a few hours with a small team of auditors, and the survey cost is small. Estimated energy savings and implementation costs are rough estimates. A Level-1 audit is ideal to determine if a building has potential energy reduction and cost savings. If a building does not, the auditing effort is ended with no further resources expanded. If a building has potential, a higher auditing effort is necessary to quantify that potential.
While firestopping and firestopping inspections have been required for a long time, they are not always given the attention they deserve. The A/E industry has developed a false sense of comfort in simply seeing the red goop (intumescent fire sealant). It is not that the industry does not think fire stopping is important, the issue is that there is a lack of understanding of the basic requirements. Currently, there is a renewed effort by municipalities to ensure that firestopping and firestopping inspections are performed properly.
Let us look at what firestopping is, and why we should all be paying more attention to it.
Compartmentation is a passive fire protection system designed to impede the spread of fire and smoke. It is a key component of the life safety triangle and has been a Code requirement for many years. Firestopping is an enhancement of that system, it is used to seal around openings and between joints in a fire-resistance-rated wall or floor assembly; ensuring the fire rating of a compartment is achieved or maintained. Compartmentation, and the required separation of adjacent spaces, is the purview of the architect, as is the construction of the barriers to achieve the necessary separation and the sealing of joints between these barriers.