In this issue:
- C&S Introduces ACE Students to Facility Design
- Engineer Spotlight – Jarrod Lopatka
- Insights – Improving BIM Practices from the Ground Up
- Project Brief – Tampa International Airport Monorail System Decommissioning and Moving Walkway Installation
- C&S National News
- Rules of Thumb – Louver Sizing
C&S Introduces ACE Students to Facility Design
This past January, a local client reached out to C&S’s Orlando staff needing assistance in preparing a presentation on MEP building systems for a group of Central Florida high school students. The students are part of the ACE Mentor Program, which helps educate high school students on careers available in the A/E/C industry. Each year, groups of students select a project type, come up with project ideas (such as renovating their school for COVID safety), and then apply cost estimation, architectural design boards, and more in preparation for a national competition. Matt McQuinn and Bryn Currie stepped in to teach the students about MEP systems, their importance to facility design, and helped guide their project design considerations. Matt has continued to tune-in to the ACE meetings and provide support with his expertise.
The ACE Mentor Program not only aims to enlighten high school students to pursue careers in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry but seeks to help build a diverse, better-prepared workforce, prioritizes the engagement of underrepresented communities in the industry, and guides students by providing scholarships, internships and mentoring towards an A/E/C career path. C&S’s Philadelphia office is also assisting its local ACE Mentor Program affiliate through financial support.
C&S is deeply committed to education, particularly the science, technology, engineering, and math fields. We believe that STEM/STEAM education is vital to the future of our company and community, and we are proud to support a number of initiatives to build a strong pipeline of students capable of tackling our community’s future challenges. Last year, C&S’s Syracuse office hosted over 50 students for a day of hands-on learning. Watch the video here.
C&S is proud to support the ACE Mentor Program of America and would like to thank ACE for the work it does in our communities!
Engineer Spotlight – Jarrod Lopatka
Jarrod was born in Winter Park, Florida and grew up in the Orlando area. He attended the University of North Florida for one year following high school and, after exploring several different industries, his mind kept returning to architecture. Jarrod received his Bachelor’s degree in Design from the University of Central Florida and obtained his Master of Architecture degree from the University of Florida. He was hired by Rick Swisher Architect, Inc. and followed the company into its merger with C&S. He is proud of his job at C&S and is passionate about learning in order to help the architecture department grow into a design-oriented entity. He enjoys a variety of activities including traveling and learning about other cultures, hiking, biking, kayaking, canyoneering, boat trips, museums, theater, and is game for just about anything!
Question & Answer with Jarrod Lopatka
Q: What was your “aha” moment that made you want to become an architect?
A: The sights, sounds, smells, and general feel of my grandfather’s office inspired me to become an architect. I remember the office as a happy place and was given a seat with pencil and paper so that I could draw with “the guys” when I visited. I used to walk around and watch the architects create on paper, and was so impressed that their drawings would be transformed into buildings. Then, I would ride with my grandfather to the house that he designed for himself and my grandmother. This is the life that I wanted.
Q: As an architect, what’s the first thing you notice when you enter a building?
A: I ask myself if my expectations are realized from the initial moment of approach.
Q: What’s your favorite commercial architectural style to admire? To design?
A: I find high-tech and modern design very fascinating because it is the height of architectural achievement in our particular time. My favorite architect is Norman Foster and favorite engineer is Pier Luigi Nervi. In Central Florida, my favorite architecture is anything by my grandfather, Manfred Lopatka, or his contemporary, Gene Leedy. I also very much enjoy timbrel/guastavino vaulting. To design anything that is poetically joined to light, wind, and water at a specific site is my vision of good design.
Q: If you switched to MEP engineering, which discipline would you choose and why?
A: Each of those practices has its own methodology for sustainability. I think mechanical engineering would be interesting, especially when it is treated considering systems and processes of nature – the biological interconnectivity that works together for the whole building.
Q: What’s one thing you wish more people understood about architecture?
A: Phenomenology. People admire buildings for many reasons, but to understand time and culture as the metaphysical reasons of a building’s essence transcend the observer into deeper understanding and memory of place. The book Genus Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture by Christian Norberg-Schulz is a must-read for design professionals!
Q: We want to see great architecture on our next vacation, what city do you suggest?
A: Anyplace that gives you chills at the first memory, that your mind keeps returning to, or that you dream about. It is important to fulfill those curiosities; I think that it returns with engaging memories. Two cities that I am passionate about are Hong Kong and Prague. I’ve described Hong Kong as a “Wonkavator” regarding circulation. Elevated walkways, trains, buses, escalators, taxis, elevators, stairs, ramps, cable cars, hiking paths, or boats will take you anywhere! The dichotomy of ancient culture and modern world is apparent. Prague is a comfort city for me. It’s a wonderful place with friendly people, steeped in beautiful architecture and the best beer at every turn.
Q: What order of architecture do you identify with? Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan or Composite?
A: I think that I’m of the Doric order because I believe that simple intellections can perfectly manifest into well-executed architecture through craftsmanship and proportion.
Improving BIM Practices from the Group Up
While building information modeling (BIM) often plays such a large part in day-to-day design and construction operations, it can quickly fall to the wayside to other areas of focus. An overhaul of existing BIM practices can seem like a daunting task, but one that is well worth the effort. C&S’s Peter Rowan discusses ideas for improving BIM practices from the ground up.
Tampa International Airport Monorail System Decommissioning and Moving Walkway Installation
As Tampa International Airport continues to grow and enhance its experience, design is underway to improve passenger convenience in the long- and short-term parking garages. C&S is performing engineering design that will include full decommissioning and demolition of the existing monorail & track system between the garages, accompanied by the addition of new moving walkways on Level 4 of the long-term parking garage. Currently, passengers have a path of travel of up to 1,000 feet to the terminal building foot bridge once on Level 4 of the expansive garage. The new walkways will flow to and from the terminal along the path of the existing elevator banks. On Level 7, the existing monorail connection to the short-term garage will be modified for egress and expanded foot traffic access. Through this effort, a goal to also afford more parking spaces to both garages will come to fruition.
C&S is providing structural and electrical engineering design services along with architecture and wayfinding in a progressive design-build delivery with Manhattan Construction.
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Solar Array Installed at Syracuse Facility |
IAA’s Sustainability Tooklit Earns Multiple Industry Awards |
Louver Sizing
Mechanical Louver Sizing
Need to estimate an outdoor air intake mechanical louver size before an engineer is on board? The following estimation approach can prove helpful for getting sizes, especially if they will factor into the building aesthetic.
Determine Ventilation Rates
Ventilation rates are dictated by the mechanical code and can range from simple to complex, depending on the system types used. However, this rule of thumb could help you get in the ballpark of providing a placeholder louver size within your conceptual designs.
To find the required ventilation rates, head over to the Florida Mechanical Code, Table 403.3.1.1. You will find than an office occupancy for buildings with enclosed offices or cubicles is 5 persons/1000 sqft (maybe safer to assume 100 sqft/ person if using smaller offices) and the ventilation required is 5 CFM per person and 0.06 CFM/sqft of facility. A data entry/telephone space usage typically is a denser occupancy with fewer sqft/persons and the code recommends 30 people/1000sqft. If you know the expected occupant count, us that number instead. As engineers, we’ll apply these calculations space by space, but for estimating purposes, applying to the overall building area is a good start.
For a 10,000 sqft call center, we would use the information above to estimate that there are 300 occupants. The CFM/person is 5 and the CFM/sqft is 0.06. Using 300 people and 10,000 sqft, we get a ventilation rate of 2100 cfm.
Size the Louvers
For louver sizing, we limit the intake air speed to 500 ft/min. Newer louvers can handle intake airspeeds up to 1000 ft/min without bringing in much wind-driven rain, but 500 ft/min is a conservative estimate and provides less pressure drop. For our example 2100 CFM at 500 ft/min will require a louver free area size of 4.2 sqft. Hurricane rated louvers tend to be only about 50% free area compared to the overall area of the louver, so the actual louver face size will be twice the size of the free area, or 8.4 sqft.
Abbreviations
CFM = cubic feet per minute
sqft = square-feet
ft/min = feet per minute
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