Building owners need to look into MEP engineering to add quality, sustainability, and longevity to their buildings. A building might have the most attractive design on the outside, but does it have the facilities needed to be sustainable? MEP engineering exists to add functionality to buildings and maintain their long-term value.
Installing a building’s electrical lines unsystematically could lead to excessively high electric bills. MEP engineers, through careful and thorough planning, are capable of finding ways to optimize the use of electrical energy and minimize costs.
Almost everything runs on electricity, such as lighting, computers, heating, and cooling. As a matter of fact, these are the major energy consumers in most buildings. But the thing is, they’re also essentials, and it’s almost impossible to get anything done without them. MEP engineering can utilize energy sources, like solar and wind, and coordinate between them. The net result will be saving on energy costs without compromising on functionality.
HVAC and lighting are two particular areas that need attention. HVAC eats up about 32% of the energy used by a building while lighting consumes 25%. Between the two of them, that’s over 50% of a building’s total energy consumption.
Perhaps the most effective way to save on lighting is to maximize natural light entry. The impact of natural light is huge during the summer. On the other hand, in order to control HVAC energy consumption, MEP engineers must find ways to minimize energy loss.
Conserving water should be one of the priorities of any modern-day building owner. Whether your building is in an area where water is plentiful or where frequent droughts occur, it’s just not acceptable to put water into waste. Saving water is beneficial for building owners when it comes to paying water bills.
One way MEP engineers conserve water is by using low flow faucets and toilets. A low flow faucet can use 40% less water while a low flow toilet saves a couple of gallons of water per flush.
Grey water is also quite valuable. This isn’t drinking water, but the water that has been used for other purposes like washing. It’s still clean and can be used for other purposes that don’t necessarily include drinking.
Carbon dioxide emissions are terrible for the environment, and they speed up global warming. Even if it’s not part of state or city requirements, building owners need to be forward thinkers and they should care about lowering their emissions.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning emit a lot of carbon dioxide waste. Using efficient systems with low carbon dioxide emissions will certainly help the atmosphere. Make sure that the systems are regularly repaired and are always in their best condition to lower emissions.
MEP engineering isn’t a fancy option that building owners can opt in or out from. Building owners would suffer the implications of not consulting MEP engineers before starting a construction project. MEP engineering keeps buildings sustainable and functional many decades after it was built.