Sustainable Design / LEED

Sustainable design and concern for the environment is not just what we practice but who we are. We are continuing to learn - constantly redefining, and improving. Our firm provides an integrated engineering approach and depth of capabilities - a single source ready to face today's challenging projects with a focus on innovative design solutions. Our professionals are experienced in working with integrated design teams to design high-performance buildings. Mechanical systems play a significant part in the success of such buildings, through improved indoor air quality, better space temperature and humidity control, and increased energy efficiency.

While many building designs incorporate some elements of green design, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)® certification process is the definitive and quantifiable standard for what constitutes a “green building”. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. We specialize in applying knowledge to the energy, ventilation, and renewable resources related to HVAC systems. HVAC represents 30-40% of a typical energy bill in our area.

Our Environmental Design and green building capabilities include the following services:

• Application of ASHRAE 62
• Application of ASHRAE 90.1 including Energy Modeling
• ENERGY STAR Certification
• Solar Energy Credits

Integrity, innovation, communication and sweating the details are at the heart of MCI’s operation -- key characteristics in developing and maintaining our clients’ trust and ensuring success in a project. MCI assists our clients in implementing a considered approach to sustainable design, carefully balancing initial capital costs with life-cycle costs to achieve an optimum cost/benefit ratio. This may be as simple as proper selection of energy efficient mechanical equipment or it may include incorporating active systems such as solar panels.

LEED certification offers compelling proof to you, your clients, your peers and the public at large that you've achieved your environmental goals and your building is performing as designed.

Contact Barry Misiak for information on how LEED can fit into your plans for the future.

Energy Modeling

Energy modeling allows you to simulate a building’s energy use through a typical year and identify general trends. Energy modeling is also a component of the LEED certification process and can be used as a tool to evaluate alternative design approaches and their impact on energy use.

Through energy modeling, MCI is able to suggest improvements to the efficiency of the mechanical systems by performing such activities as:

• Comparing energy impacts of various mechanical air distribution strategies throughout a facility
• Informing building envelope performance design criteria and design decisions
• Evaluating benefits of energy efficiency measures integrated into the building

MCI’s engineers are trained in the use of sophisticated energy modeling programs used to predict building performance. They are experienced in analyzing the simulation output data to identify areas that present the greatest opportunity for cost savings.