Posts Tagged ‘mechanical’

How to Integrate Electrification Efforts into Future Projects

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024
Tesla charging

As new legislative initiatives take shape and decarbonization goals are on the horizon, integrating electrification efforts into future construction projects has become a top priority for general contractors, project  owners, and property managers. New technology and practices are leading the way to create sustainable buildings and carbon-neutral campuses. Electrification is at the forefront of carbon-free initiatives for many builders, and integrating electrification technology and practices into new builds or retrofit projects is becoming increasingly common among projects of all sizes. 

PRIORITIZE HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEMS

Targeting heating and cooling systems during new construction and retrofit projects can significantly reduce energy consumption and improve the associated costs within a building. Energy efficient alternatives to traditional HVAC systems, including heat pumps and geothermal systems, are ideal for contractors and building owners who are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and potentially receive tax incentives for integrating sustainable building practices into their projects. The electrification of HVAC systems can improve the energy efficiency of buildings, as well as the comfort. These systems can integrate with updated building automation systems to adjust to daytime temperatures and improve the quality and comfort of the facility all year round. 

ADD RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

Whether it is a corporate campus or a single-building facility, renewable energy sources offer significant benefits in offsetting carbon production and electrifying facilities. On-site solar and wind generation systems are common alternative energy solutions, as they can be scaled to different facilities and provide major benefits in energy costs and decarbonization goals. In addition, building-integrated photovoltaic solar (BIPV) technology is also gaining popularity, as it combines solar panels with building exteriors, enhancing both aesthetics and energy efficiency. Partnering with low-voltage contractors who understand the electrical codes and requirements for this technology is the first step to achieving carbon neutrality and receiving tax incentives and cost benefits. 

Solar panels

IMPLEMENT SMART BUILDING TECHNOLOGY

Smart building technology plays a crucial role in maximizing energy efficiency and integrating electrification to new and existing buildings. Automation systems, LED lighting, and energy management systems are the perfect solution for retrofit projects, as they do not require significant demolition or reconstruction of buildings. Installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations is another way to improve the sustainability of a facility and meet future demand as EVs continue to rise in popularity. Smart building technology is also common for new builds, as well, helping project owners and building managers get ahead of the curve and begin optimizing energy usage and reducing waste right away. These systems can be customized to each project, giving owners full control over their building and optimizing the way they run the facility day-to-day.

HOW MULTI-TRADES EXPERTS CAN HELP

Integrating electrification efforts into future projects is a proactive step towards a sustainable and carbon-free future. By implementing sustainable technologies and building practices, project owners, general contractors, and property managers can potentially receive tax benefits, as well as long-term cost reductions in the operations within the facilities. 

Whether the project is a new build or a retrofit within an existing building, Egan Company is ready to help bring your electrification goals to life. Our multi-trade expertise enables us to deliver electrical and mechanical solutions through a single partner, improving the flexibility and efficiency of your project. Begin your next project and consider how Egan Company can help you achieve your decarbonization and electrification goals. 

Finance & Commerce Announces 2019 Top Projects

Monday, August 10th, 2020

Rapid changes and growth were experienced in Minnesota which included a stadium, cultural center, and multiple housing and apartment buildings, amongst other projects. As a glimpse into the year 2019, Finance & Commerce published its  “Top Projects” piece which highlights the top new construction and remodels around the state. Amongst these, we see a few familiar spaces. Egan was fortunate to have played a role in five of these top projects.

ALLIANZ FIELD

“The soccer-first venue transformed a once-contaminated and vacant lot in the Midway area into a thriving, popular, and must-see destination.”

Read more about this Top Project

Egan services provided: Curtainwall, storefront, ticket windows, nanawall, entrance doors, and art glass

HOĊOKATA TI

“The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s culture center blends modern design with visual representations of Native American traditions and history.”

Read more about this Top Project

Egan services provided: Cafeteria build-out, stadium, theater, in-floor radiant heating, cogeneration, glass handrail, glass doors, skylights, sage glass, storefront, aluminum doors, curtain wall, auditorium, low-voltage, lighting controls systems, emergency system, generator, and electrical wiring

ONE DISCOVERY SQUARE

“The city of Rochester and other partners have been developing the 16-block area around Mayo Clinic since 2013 into a complex called the Destination Medical Center. Their hope is to build and enhance the DMC’s reputation, not only for medical treatment but also for research.”

Read more about this Top Project

Egan services provided: Mechanical systems, mechanical controls, aluminum curtainwall, aluminum entrance doors, glass handrails, building automation controls and engineering

RAFTER 

“Rafter is an $83 million high-rise luxury apartment in northeast Minneapolis designed to reflect the area’s artistic vibe.”

Read more about this Top Project

Egan services provided: Curtainwall, storefront glass, metal panels, fin wall, glass guardrail, nanawall, sliding glass doors, and fire-rated glass

RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF ROCHESTER

“Over the last four years, the previous 40-year-old Ronald McDonald House had to turn away nearly 4,000 families due to operating at capacity. But the new facility will serve more than 600 families per year.”

Read more about this Top Project

Egan services provided: Added additional parking, play areas, active play areas, and remodel of the existing building

Exceptional Service is Recognized by JFCS

Thursday, May 17th, 2018

The Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Minneapolis (JFCS) has recognized Egan with an award for exceptional service for work on the JFCS office building that was completed in March. Egan was part of the project team that remodeled the interior and exterior of it’s existing building in Golden Valley, Minn.

Judy Halper, JFCS CEO, presented Egan with the award at the building’s ribbon cutting ceremony on May 8. “There are so many who were critical to bringing this vision of JFCS and The Stillman Family Foundation to life, including Egan. After so much hard work, we want to acknowledge Egan with an award for service.” – Judy Halper

The service award acknowledges the hard work of Egan teams: electrical and mechanical, technology systems, and building automation. Project managers include Carrie Thompson, Tom Buirge, Tim Johnson, and Dane Grunerud. Field leaders include Joe Baumgartner, Tom Rodrigues, Chris Nelson, Matt Snyder, and Eric Oja.

Find out more information about Egan’s role at JFCS here.

Thinking Outside of the Trimble Box

Monday, May 7th, 2018

The Trimble Robotic Total Station is a no stranger to the world of construction. Used mostly at Egan for large, new construction projects, the “Trimble” plays an essential part of laying out electrical and mechanical systems.

Its state-of-the-art design was built to verify even the smallest details between the shop and field prior to construction on jobsites. This makes it an ideal tool to accurately lay out underground utility systems, between floor structures, and other flat-plane surfaces.

Though the Trimble has many uses, it had never been used for the glass and glazing industry until Egan Company took on its biggest curtainwall project to date: U.S. Bank Stadium.

“Given the massive size and architectural shape of the stadium, we knew we’d have to get creative,” said Dan Ford, Egan Company Field Services Manager. “However, the task to efficiently and precisely install glass to this 30-story structure was a challenge we excitedly took on.”

This project sparked a unique, innovative Trimble process allowing Egan to accurately lay out anchors directly to a vertical steel surface (different than Trimble’s intended use) and solve two big installation components: risk of human error and efficiency.

In a traditional layout of curtainwall, there are multiple passes that happen before anchors are welded to the steel structure and the glass inserted. A pass includes many provisional tasks that progress toward a more permanent step within a phase of construction; many “passes” are within a phase.

The multiple passes for a curtainwall project include:

  • measuring and marking reference points by hand
  • verifying those references
  • tact welding temporary anchor points onto the building

With Egan’s Trimble process, many of those passes are removed. A digital layout and survey of the curtainwall happen concurrently allowing anchors to be permanently welded in one pass. Therefore, saving an incredible amount of time and labor. The process also allows the team to identify structural flaws early, which allows time for correction prior to installing glass.

Successfully applying this process at U.S. Bank Stadium has led to similar work on other professional sports infrastructures. NBA franchise, the Milwaukee Bucks, will call a new, beautiful arena home beginning this summer. The aesthetically appealing arena is being constructed by M.A. Mortenson who has tasked Egan and its Trimble expertise for the arena’s complex glass and glazing scope.

“Egan’s innovative thinking and usage of Trimble is a perfect example of the versatility of technology,” said Aric Stott, Product Manager at Trimble. “As a result, they’ve run multiple glass/glazing projects with intricate architectural scopes very smoothly — and we [Trimble] have been able to implement several feature enhancements to our product that have helped us stay ahead of the curve.”

 

EGAN COMPANY HIRES VICE PRESIDENT

Monday, November 27th, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (November 27, 2017) – Egan Company, a Brooklyn Park specialty contractor, announced the hiring of Ross Noak as Vice President. In this role, Noak will oversee mechanical special projects sales and operations.

Noak has over 20 years of experience in the mechanical industry in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market. Noak has held many roles including: Sheet Metal General Foreman, Project Manager, Operations Executive, and Construction Executive. His work on local projects includes data centers, high-tech manufacturing, and healthcare facilities with Design/Build expertise. He graduated from Dunwoody College with a degree in HVAC.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal highlighted Noak’s promotion in its People on the Move feature.

About Egan Company
Egan Company is a privately-owned, specialty contractor providing building trades to general contractors, engineers, building owners, property managers, and facility engineers. Specialties include: electrical, mechanical, curtainwall/glazing/metal panels (InterClad), millwrights, building technology, controls and system integration, and 24/7 service. Egan serves every stage of a building and provides in-house expertise in planning, design and engineering, construction, and maintenance.

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Media Contact:
Jessica Johnson
jkjohnson@eganco.com // 763-595-4310

Winning with UltraFlo — one pipe plumbing system

Monday, July 31st, 2017

The Grand Casino Hotels in Mille Lacs and Hinckley are home to two of Minnesota’s favorite casinos, as well as long-time customers of Egan. While undergoing recent renovations, Grand Casino
was searching for a more cost-effective, hands-free faucet system to be installed in its newly updated bathrooms. And, with the help of Egan’s team, a jackpot of a solution was found that utilized a
new plumbing technology: UltraFlo.

Ron Hanson, Egan Company Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, carefully reviewed several new sensor faucet manufacturers before landing on the Ohio-based UltraFlo. Given its design – clean, simple, and free of cluttered pipes or wires – it was perfect for the highly trafficked, rarely closed bathrooms of the casinos.

Our clients at Grand Casino have respect and trust for Egan’s knowledge of systems. When we proposed UltraFlo, they had the confidence in us that this was truly the best fit for them and the results so far have been highly successful.

-Ron Hanson, Egan Company Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

With the installation of this system, it is the first of its kind in this region. The new sensor faucet technology is set to save both time and money for the casino. Unlike traditional battery and control-box-operated sensor faucets, UltraFlo is a one-pipe plumbing system that provides a central control location to operate up to eight faucets.

Another major cost saving perk is its one mixing valve system, which allows maintenance personnel to adjust the faucet temperature for the entire bathroom through a single valve. This differs from battery-operated systems, which each have their own controls, resulting in a very costly and time-consuming process when maintenance is needed.

“We’re always looking to find innovative solutions for our customers,” said Hanson. “And, sometimes that means introducing an entirely new technology system to the Midwest like UltraFlo,” said Hanson.

As the renovations continue, Egan’s Mechanical team is scheduled to install more UltraFlo systems throughout Grand Casino.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN UPDATES THEIR PERFORMANCE HALL

Friday, January 6th, 2017

 

The recently renovated Beverly & John Lord Knight Performance Hall in the University of Northwestern’s Totino Fine Arts Center recently opened. This renovated facility seats up to 1,390.

Egan’s mechanical team provided additional warmth for the atrium with the installation of two large fireplaces and in-floor heating. Our electrical team also installed energy-efficient LED’s that change color to compliment and accent events in the performance hall.

Bee and Pollinator Research Lab Opens

Saturday, October 29th, 2016

BeeLab_Exterior_3

The Bee and Pollinator Research Lab celebrates its grand opening today. This state-of-the art laboratory on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus is dedicated to protecting bees, in order to protect human food supply and health.

Egan Company provided mechanical services, including the HVAC system that allows bees to move freely from outdoors to their hives inside the lab.

 

Quick Turnaround for Northern Star Company

Monday, October 10th, 2016

NORTHERNSTAROn a Wednesday morning, Egan received a call that there was an emergency at Northern Star Company with their steam boiler. By the following Monday morning, With careful trade coordination and collaboration, Egan pipefitters and electricians completed the work by switching over a 900 HP high pressure steam boiler to a mobile boiler (provided by Northern Star Company) while the existing boiler was being serviced. Northern Star Company is a potato processing plant in Chaska, Minn.

Bethel University Project Featured in Smart Solutions Magazine

Friday, October 7th, 2016

bethelMCAAmag

Egan’s HVAC work on the Bodien Residence Hall at Bethel University was featured in Smart Solutions, a publication from the Mechanical Contractors Association of America.

Read the whole article here.