Working in existing buildings is always a challenge. It is not always clear what criteria was used to design the existing HVAC systems. When it comes time to replacing existing equipment due to age or underperformance, the designer should always verify the current criteria the system needs to meet. For example, we recently designed the… Read More

During my internship I have learned a lot, doing CAD modeling, and load calcs in Trace. I cannot enter a building anymore without looking for ductwork, supply diffusers, return grilles, and plenums. I was assigned to work on a project at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which involved the design of fume… Read More

This summer, one of the buildings I worked on was the was a secure facility in Maryland. The facility is a two-story, underground building that has been used as a standby command center, Secret Service Training Center, and National Archives storage. Currently, the building is being renovated to house different research groups. For this project,… Read More

One of the most interesting projects that I had the opportunity to work on was with the in-house designers and engineers at a secure government facility in the Metropolitan Washington area. It actually included a lot of mini projects, each with their own unique renovations to consider. It was empowering that I was able to… Read More

The majority of our clients at Summer Consultants are government, military or institutional organizations.  Because of that, many of the buildings we work on are not readily accessible to the general public, but occasionally we have a project that is.  One weekend, without even planning it, I stumbled upon a project that I had a… Read More