OWP/P: The design pipeline

 

The June edition of Plumbing Engineer’s “Engineering Spotlight” features OWP/P. What started as an architectural firm in 1958 by three of the four name partners — Larry O’Donnell, Len Wicklund and Ray Pigozzi — OWP/P is now a full service architectural/engineering firm, offering architectural and interior design, real estate strategy consultation, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering, telecommunications, low voltage and lighting design, energy modeling and energy audits, commissioning and sustainability consulting, with offices in Chicago and Phoenix. The fourth name partner, Len Peterson, joined the firm in 1965 after having provided structural engineering as a consultant for several years prior.

 

Of the 275 employees, the firm’s personnel includes 108 architects, nine structural engineers, and 56 MEP/FP engineers. The firm was originally located in Evanston, Illinois, and moved to several locations in Chicago’s north suburbs before finally moving to downtown Chicago in 1997. Based on a desire to be able to provide a full range of architectural and engineering services, MEP/FP engineering was added in 1996. And, a decade ago, the firm expanded and opened its Phoenix office.

 

OWP/P operates in multiple target markets, offering specialization in healthcare and hospitals, K-12 education, higher education and laboratories, commercial architecture, commercial interiors and retail. Additional specializations include data center/critical facility design and sustainability consulting.

 

The following is an exclusive Q&A with Daniel Fagan, principal, director of mechanical engineering, OWP/P.

 

What are your initiatives for the company?

 

Fagan: OWP/P’s mission statement is: “We approach architecture and engineering as an inclusive art that serves the needs and responds to the visions of our clients broadly through a range of disciplines and deeply with the goal of achieving significance and value in the built environment.”

 

In support of this mission, we are pursuing an effective design process that incorporates the participation of all consulting disciplines and trades from the very start of a project. We recognize that the biggest impact on the success of a design can be made when all the elements receive proper representation and the effect of decisions is weighed against all resulting implications. As part of this pursuit, we have the following initiatives under development:

 

• Energy modeling on all projects, from the very start of design;
• BIM (Building Information Modeling) for all projects where it will provide value to the owner and/or the design;
• CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic) modeling of critical spaces and non-standard installations;
• Commissioning and/or retro-commissioning of facilities where appropriate and desired by the owner; and
• Sustainability review of all projects to ensure the appropriate conscientious design features and systems are included.

 

Let’s talk piping. What types of piping do you normally spec? Or does vary job to job?

 

Fagan: The piping we specify varies from project to project depending on services to be installed. While most projects include standard piping materials such as schedule 40 black and galvanized steel, copper tubing, service weight cast iron in either hubless or hub and spigot varieties, PVC and CPVC, brazed, soldered, welded, threaded or grooved couplings, there are some projects that require more sophisticated materials. These can include stainless steel with welded or hydraulic fittings, polypropylene, polyethylene, PVDF, brass, or higher schedule steel (80-180). The decision on what material to specify can be as varied as the application.

 

What is your pipe of preference? Why?

 

Fagan: Determination of a pipe of preference is dependent on the system under consideration and intended use. It is not possible to have a particular piping material or joining method as a preference for all uses. Some materials, such as copper tube, are versatile and can be used for pressure applications, open and closed systems, drainage and gases. Other materials, such as PVC, are slightly less versatile, but can still be used for pressure applications as well as drainage.

 

Most unique piping project?

 

Fagan: Projects are somewhat like children in that it is difficult to choose one as more unique than another. The surest way to select a project as unique would be if it was unusual to the point of being very rare. On a number of recent projects for an undisclosed client, we have utilized a water mist suppression system in lieu of automatic sprinklers for fire suppression. Water mist is a system designed to deliver water at a very high pressure (1,200 psi or more), through small diameter stainless steel tubing, where it is atomized upon discharge. Water mist systems are generally utilized in areas where reduced water discharge for fire suppression is desired. The systems have been in use in maritime applications for decades, and are often the system of choice for fire suppression in data centers in Europe. NFPA Standard 750 covering water mist systems was first published in 2000; however there has been relatively little use of the systems for data centers in the United States. Our most recent project (one of three in which we have used water mist), involves a data center of more than 300,000 square feet, and forty water mist zones.

 

What project (piping or otherwise) are you most proud?

 

Fagan: Obviously there are more difficult projects and less difficult projects, and that would tend to alter anyone’s opinion. The more difficult projects tend to be the ones that generate the most pride. Difficulty can be a factor of the sheer size of a project, or the technical complexity, or the schedule for execution. The project that comes to mind is one that we did for Digital Realty Trust in Chicago that involved all three of these factors. This project was for a Tier 3+ data center in an existing technology center, which occupied 29,000 square feet of space on the sixth floor of the building. The data center design incorporated 6 Megawatts of power, including UPS power and standby generation, 1,200 tons of cooling in a prefabricated plant that was assembled off site and lifted to the roof of the building by crane, dual chilled water loops for redundancy, and a minimum of N+1 redundancy for all components. The $28 million project was designed and built (from concept to completed commissioning and occupancy) in less than 12 months.

 

What are some obstacles when designing a piping system? (codes, builders/contractors, building configuration, product, etc.)

 

Fagan: The major obstacle for design of a unique or complex piping system could be the coordination of all of the items listed, but the most insurmountable issues are related to building codes. It is often difficult to address a complex issue utilizing available products that meet the code for the installation. The process can involve research into materials or methods that might be unfamiliar to the engineer, conferences with the contractors to develop consensus on the installation, and multiple meetings with code officials to explain a particular application or unique usage. In the case of the water mist system described, in one instance we were able to obtain approval for the use of the system in lieu of automatic sprinklers in the City of Chicago, yet were unable to obtain similar approval in a Chicago suburb.

 

Any new piping technology the company prefers?

 

Fagan: New piping technology is generally related to some system that provides labor savings on installation or lower material cost. The issue with these types of improvements is that in many cases the new system is usually less robust than the system it is replacing. One newer system that we have had some success with is press fitting for copper tubing. Press fittings utilize the same tubing as a soldered or brazed system, but incorporate a proprietary manufactured fitting that is installed using a tool supplied by the manufacturer. While the fittings cost significantly more than solder fittings, the installation is much quicker, and the joint is equally as strong or stronger. One side benefit to this joining method is the ability to make a joint without a torch, which is useful in renovation of occupied facilities such as hospitals. The speed of installation is also beneficial where a limited time window is available to perform the work. We have specified these fittings for domestic water, hydronic and gas systems, with equal success.

 

Talk briefly of how your firm is entrenched in sustainable design.

 

Fagan: OWP/P believes that the best design will always be sustainable, and because of that belief we have tailored our project process to highlight the issues most often attributed with sustainability so that the right decisions are made for the right reasons at the right time. True sustainability cannot be executed as window dressing, inserted at the end of the design effort to improve the reputation of a building. True sustainability looks at all aspects of a buildings performance according to the buildings intended use and integrates those ideas that are best suited to the needs of that particular building. The current popularity of “green” trends and the LEED certification process for buildings are the most recent incarnations of sustainability, and OWP/P fully supports these efforts. A member of the USGBC since 1999, OWP/P has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to assisting in the development of LEED standards through active participation on USGBC task forces. Roughly 50% of our technical staff are LEED Accredited Professionals, and we have designed more than six million square feet of projects (over $1.6 billion in construction) to LEED standards. But sustainability goes far beyond the LEED certification process. OWP/P has incorporated sustainable products, practices and systems into our master specifications, for use on all projects. We are committed to performing energy modeling on all of our projects, and reviewing the performance of the constructed buildings to understand the impact our designs have on improving that performance over time. The firm is also a signatory of the AIA 2030 Commitment, which requires annual reporting of our projects’ contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water use and energy use. Additionally, we have hosted an “Environmental Awareness Week” annually for the past seven years where we invite our clients and colleagues to participate in presentations by industry professionals and respected speakers on the latest trends in sustainable design.

 

It seems that a lot of manufacturers are getting into the “green” trend. How do you spec products that are truly sustainable and are true to the application?

 

Fagan: The key to specifying products that are truly sustainable is to understand the functionality and performance of those products and to consider sustainability from the perspective of operation, as well as installation. Manufacturers often claim that particular products are “green” or can be used to obtain LEED credits. Some go as far as to claim that their products can garner a certain number of LEED points. Actually, it is the use of a product to provide a particular improvement in performance that is truly sustainable. As an example, consider the use of a waterless urinal vs. a reduced flow urinal connected to gray water. The result achieved could be considered to be the same — a fixture that reduces the use of potable water flushing. But the impact to the operator of the facility is dramatically different for the two products in terms of cost of operation and ease of maintenance.

 

Please describe the “The Third Teacher.”

 

Fagan: For almost two years, OWP/P has worked with VS Furniture (a German manufacturer) and Bruce Mau Design (a Canadian design firm) to develop research on the influence a school’s design can have on the ways kids learn and educators teach. We’ve launched a book (The Third Teacher) and a website (www.thethirdteacher.com) for policy experts, educators, architecture and engineering professionals, students and parents to learn more about the effect where we learn can have on how we learn. It’s a very simple, powerful idea, and we’ve had a lot of success in getting people to participate in a conversation about the design and engineering of a learning environment. 

 

How has the economy affected the way you conduct business?

 

Fagan: The current economy has had a number of different effects on the way that we conduct business. The most obvious effect is the increase in competition for any and all work. As the number of projects moving forward has decreased, the number of firms pursuing a project opportunity has increased dramatically. This has forced us to search all the more diligently for potential opportunities, and to consider them in light of our ability to be successful amongst a host of hungry competitors. Another effect is on the type of projects that are available. The economic crisis is driving an increase in projects related to energy improvement, reuse and revitalization of facilities, as opposed to new buildings. Fortunately for OWP/P, facility renovation, equipment retrofit and performance upgrades have been a mainstay of our practice for years.  Operationally, we think our integrated design approach is a real strength for us in a difficult economy, and we remain confident that this approach will allow us to succeed through any phase of the business cycle.

 

How can engineers/OWP/P better assist builders in today’s economic climate?

 

Fagan: The engineer and the contractor have the same ultimate goal on any project: install the systems that meet the owner’s needs in the most cost effective and expeditious manner. In order to meet this goal, it is important that the engineer address constructability in his design. I have often heard it said that the best compliment a contractor can give to an engineer is to install a system the way the engineer has drawn it. This is even truer in the era of Building Information Modeling (BIM). The value of BIM is not in its ability to expedite clash detection, although this facilitates the coordination of an installation. The real value is in its ability to facilitate prefabrication of system components in the shop, expediting the field erection and quality of an installation. As more designs are performed using BIM, it will be important for the engineer to realize that what he is modeling must be built, and that prefabrication of multiple similar components will greatly improve the final installation.

 

Final thoughts

 

Fagan: After more than a year of careful consideration, OWP/P and Cannon Design have approved a merger of our firms, contingent upon favorable due diligence. This merger is anticipated to close in early July, and will make us one of the most formidable A/E practices in the world. The reasons for the merger are many, but most importantly an alignment of mission and values. We look forward to combining our experience and history into a firm of 1,100 individuals and 15 offices.