Sustainable Design

Envision Mechanical Engineers strive to incorporate sustainable design into every project regardless of size or budget. The concept of sustainable design not only includes design for documentation, such as the LEED rating system, but revolves around a design concept where energy efficiency, occupant comfort, and the indoor environment are optimized. Under the LEED rating system Envision Mechanical Engineers has provided designs for several LEED certified projects including:
  • Prairie View Middle School (Henderson, CO) - LEED V2 Gold
  • Stuart Middle School (Commerce City, CO) - LEED for Schools Silver
  • Vista Peak P-8 (Aurora, CO) - LEED V3 Gold
  • Aurora Hills Middle School (Aurora, CO) LEED 2009 Silver (attempting)
  • Lake George Charter School (Lake George, CO) - LEED Gold
  • Eagle County Charter Academy (Edwards, CO) - LEED Gold
  • Sanford P-12 School (Sanford, CO) - LEED Gold
Prairie View Middle School, Brighton School District, LEED Gold. Prairie View Middle School, Brighton School District, LEED Gold.

Sustainable design may be defined as a design which seeks to reduce the negative impacts on the environment, health and comfort for building occupants, and improve building performance. The general concepts behind sustainable design are to reduce overall consumption of non-renewable resources such as energy and water, minimize waste of these resources, and provide healthy and productive environments for building occupants. The sustainable design concept may also be referred to as "Built Green", "High Efficiency Building", "High Performance Building" and "Environmentally Friendly".

A common method used to evaluate the sustainability of a design is the LEED Rating System. The LEED rating system has been developed by the US Green Building Council as a means of "providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts." (usgbc, www.usgbc.org).



Envision Mechanical Engineers provide sustainable design using:

Water Efficiency:

  • Design incorporating low flow and ultra low flow plumbing fixtures to reduce a buildings overall water consumption.

Energy and Atmosphere:

  • Design to reduce the overall energy consumption and optimize energy utilization through the use of energy recovery, thermal storage, and high efficiency heating and cooling systems.
  • Reduce the use of environmentally damaging refrigerants by specifying low impact refrigerants in mechanical equipment.

Indoor Environmental Quality:

  • Design to improve and maintain minimum indoor air quality and improved ventilation.
  • Design to reduce an occupant's exposure to chemicals and pollutant sources through source isolation and providing space exhaust.
  • Controllability of Systems by specifying space temperature controls which are specific to individual environments, and offer building occupants control over their environment.
  • Thermal Comfort Design by providing a design which achieves thermal comfort for building occupants including strategies such as displacement ventilation, radiant floor heating, chilled beams, and de-stratification systems.

Envision Mechanical Engineers strive to provide designs which reflect our continued pursuit of sustainability through energy efficiency, water conservation, and occupant comfort and productivity.

High Performance Note: High performance systems require specialized maintenance to maintain optimal operation of the systems installed and may not be suitable for all projects.

For additional information or assistance with high performance design please contact us at info@envisionengrs.