Sep 29 2009
As holistic building continues to grow, more electrical contractors are joining the design team to reach key project goals for sustainability.
According to an article by Chuck Ross in the latest issue of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR magazine, “Design/Building Green,” electrical contractors can offer engineers and architects the added benefits of cutting-edge product knowledge along with critical energy efficiency expertise.
According to Ross, electrical contractors with knowledge in new technologies such as advanced LED lighting and power-over-Ethernet sensors and controls are becoming increasingly important in the effort to boost building performance. Their product knowledge is moving them from a traditional design/bid/build specialty contractor to more of a design/assist consultant.
“In our 2008 survey, about half—46 percent—of electrical contractors worked on projects in 2007 that included green/sustainable building elements,” said ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR Publisher John Maisel. “About 30 percent of the firms surveyed reported working in either LEED projects, solar photovoltaics, wind generation, net metering and cogeneration and their LEED accreditation is increasing,” he said.
An article example includes the restoration of San Francisco’s Federal Reserve building, also known as the Bently Reserve, which featured the first U.S. installation of Lutron Electronics Co.’s advanced Quantum lighting and control system. The systems ties daylighting sensors to lighting controls and the company’s Sivoia QS shades for automated lighting management that is sensitive to both area occupancy and changing natural light, and enables communication with other building equipment.
“In the process of working with such advanced technology, it turned into design/assist,” said Bill Musgrave, president of McMillan Cos., the project’s San Francisco-based electrical contractor. “We found ourselves collaborating with the engineers and Lutron. Because the product was so new, nobody knew what to do with it,” he said.
Musgrave said they recognized that the interconnectedness of high-performance buildings almost forces designers, contractors and even manufacturers to work as a team even when design/bid/build contractors are in place. “We had to make sure the lighting control would talk to the mechanical system,” he said.
Source: http://www.ecmag.com/index.cfm?fa=article&articleID=10585/