Consulting-Specifying Engineer

City water treatment boiler room. Courtesy: Alex Stemmer – stock.adobe.com A drinking water treatment plant needed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) treatment for domestic water, so the plant hired an engineering team to design a building for the granular activated carbon vessels to treat the PFAS. The plumbing needs for this building include a bathroom with a shower, wall-hung flushometer water closet, wall-hung lavatory and a laboratory sink for the chemical area.

Figure 1: Incoming domestic water entrance through concrete slab (bottom right). Courtesy: CDM Smith Understand the basic components of domestic water service. Determine the design flow rate of a domestic water system. Calculate pressure losses in a domestic water system. Accurate domestic water system pipe sizing begins with understanding applicable plumbing codes, water supply fixture units and pressure-loss calculations.

Succession planning is essential for consulting engineering firms to preserve technical knowledge, client relationships and leadership continuity when longtime leaders transition out of their roles. Effective succession planning requires intentional mentoring, shared responsibility and trust in the next generation to carry the firm’s values and expertise forward. After 19 years with Consulting-Specifying Engineer, this is not an easy column to write.

Figure 1: Geothermal boreholes for ground heat exchange. Courtesy: SmithGroup Identify complementary building systems that can leverage energy reuse or waste heat recovery to improve the energy efficiency of heating and cooling systems. Understand how air-to-water heat pumps support heating-only and cooling-only solutions together with simultaneous heating and cooling (waste heat recovery).

Figure 1: Unitary packaged rooftop unit with an outdoor air intake hood. Courtesy: CDM Smith Learn what a packaged rooftop unit (RTU) is, including its components and configurations. Understand the energy codes related to RTUs and how energy codes favor RTUs because of economizers. Review the benefits and limitations of packaged RTUs. Packaged RTU systems offer a space-efficient solution by combining all heating and cooling components into a single rooftop enclosure.

Consulting-Specifying Engineer September/October 2026 The September/October 2026 issue of Consulting-Specifying Engineer includes: 2026 MEP Giants numbers soar compared with last year More MEP Giants join the deal-making fray in 2025 Is an RTU the best option for your HVAC project? How to improve efficiency and energy reuse with air-to-water heat pumps See how to properly size pipes for domestic water systems How to make higher education campuses future-ready

Figure 4: Piping diagram of an air source chiller (air-to-water heat pump, AHWP) integrated with the ambient loop for the Eversource Networked Geothermal Pilot Project. Taps for future connection to the AWHP enable supplemental heating and cooling capacity to maintain loop temperature and system resiliency.

Georgetown University 111 Massachusetts Ave. design-build project. Exterior facade following adaptive reuse and transformation of a Class A office tower for academic use. Courtesy: SmithGroup Explore how colleges and universities are balancing decarbonization, electrification and resilience goals while managing aging infrastructure and budget constraints. Identify engineering strategies for integrating HVAC, electrical, life safety and building automation systems in future-ready campus facilities.

Figure 1: Typical vapor compression refrigeration cycle piping diagram. Courtesy: CDM Smith How AWHPs operate within the vapor compression refrigeration cycle to provide both heating and cooling in hydronic HVAC systems. Key performance factors that affect AWHP efficiency, including outdoor air conditions and hydronic supply temperature.

Water restrictions can reduce cooling tower makeup water and affect heat rejection, chiller efficiency, water quality and overall mechanical system reliability, so engineers should focus on minimizing avoidable losses, monitoring makeup and blowdown, maintaining water treatment and avoiding deferred maintenance.