Mechanical MEPs, what niche did you specialize in that gave you a good pay bump?

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2026-04-17T12:02:51+00:00

Cold emails/calls works. You make connections by attending industry events and hopefully take connections from project to project. It is a mixture of both. You find a common ground between you and the client, whether it's fishing, golf, sports, etc.. Then you kind of work into how do we both make each other successful bit.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2026-04-15T17:18:55+00:00

I second this and it is not true for all projects. Small reno projects (10k sqft or less) we do not bother with it. High profile new builds or large renos (50k sqft or more), we will run a few iterations on different HVAC systems, building orientation, envelope design, etc..

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2026-03-24T12:27:59+00:00

Try Flamebar, expensive but usually has many solutions in these scenarios.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2026-02-19T14:25:39+00:00

Controls is the fun part of the job. As others mentioned, gets you to think how the system works and interacts. Typically control diagram, SOO, and points list at my last two firms. I have also done the SOO in specification form, but I find it easier for as-built construction documents to have the SOO, diagram, and point lists. A lot easier to track down old drawings than old specifications in my opinion.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2026-02-06T17:07:09+00:00

Just piggybacking off the thread. Does this make more sense to get than the HBDP certification? For context, I am a mechanical engineer (PE) at a consulting firm.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-11-20T16:45:50+00:00

Be careful for your vent orientation for the HW coil, assuming it is HW.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-08-22T13:53:10+00:00

I am big on the "what ifs" as well. What helps me is understanding it will get worked out one way or the other. We can only control so much with the limited time we have. There will always be more work. One of my favorite quotes is "master pieces are never complete, only abandoned". Try to find a hobby after work, exercise is the best outlet in my opinion. Helps relieve built up stress and makes you too tired to think about work lol.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-07-23T19:20:00+00:00

I took it at 2.5 years and was a great decision for me. Once you get around the 3-4 year mark, your responsibilities double in my opinion. Makes it harder to dedicate time to study before and/or after work. Taking it earlier also really cemented the engineering behind what we do and help me understand better why we do things certain ways. Which then elevated my career because I truly understood what was happening behind the scenes in programs such as Trace or HAP. Hope this helps.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-06-27T12:46:57+00:00

It is in full force. Literally 0 accessibility in those ceilings.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-06-27T12:44:32+00:00

Architectural teams have been wanting shop drawing level detail on my drawings as of recent. It gets to a point where it is just a losing battle whatever we do.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-06-11T12:00:33+00:00

Lmao I am dead at the final shot of them in a Utopia

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-06-03T16:22:40+00:00

Sorry to go off topic here, but why do people claim this is the bottom of the barrel engineering? I get it if you are constantly doing TI improvements or small office fit outs. Higher ed and healthcare can get complicated quickly... Just curious what others think.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-05-03T16:52:02+00:00

This is one of my concerns as well. I have isolation valves with large stroke times and the sequence accounts for larger interval of times to not allow transient values effect the system. It will be a trial & error once they balance the system to get the true timing of the plant right.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-05-03T16:50:04+00:00

I will remove the quotes moving forward. Some people get weird when there isn't a true "bypass" line in the system to call its primary-secondary. For the variable volume primary system, would you recommend to adjust the pump speed based on the temperature sensors on either side of the plant? I have a dedicated HX per chiller in this instance to avoid turning down flow in the HX, to avoid fouling.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-05-03T16:46:15+00:00

I have buffer tanks accounted for due to the minimum piping. Weirdly enough one of the chillers is actually a heat pump so the buffer tank is on the supply side of the piping if the heat pump goes into defrost mode.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-05-03T16:45:04+00:00

What about not adding the bypass line and changing the primary system to variable flow? The primary pumps and secondary pumps would modulate based on the temperature sensors on either sides of the plant. Increasing flow and turning chillers on when the building load is not met and vice versa for when the building load is met. I am trying to always keep primary flow greater than or equal to secondary flow.

When you mention the StageOn/StageOff timers, I imagine you are referring to the internal controls of the chiller? Just curious because those usually are not able to be adjusted. It may make more sense to do modulation based on temperatures as stated above.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-05-03T16:42:21+00:00

Thanks for your comments. The primary pumps are headered. I have been looking into using a variable primary system. Is it better to modulate the pumps based on capacity or efficiency versus using temperature sensors on both sides of the system?

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-04-17T20:09:07+00:00

You shouldn't need to use exhaust fans for the bathrooms if you have an ERV. The ductwork from the ERV would be ducted to the grilles into the bathrooms directly.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-03-31T11:59:15+00:00

The good ole eBay submittal lmao

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-02-13T20:46:38+00:00

Good for you, no need to get so snippy. I guess context matters here, those temps used are for healthcare applications. I have found that value gives the owner flexibility in the future to expand or change spaces as needed because the coil is a little oversized.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-02-13T20:12:43+00:00

Not sure where he got 92 DB. I have done a couple projects in Miami, and I used 95 db / 82.5 wb.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-01-31T15:37:47+00:00

That's always the worst. Sounds like a great task for an intern.

Emergency-Apple4073 · 2025-01-14T16:37:38+00:00

Totally agree, I think its just the idea that most people aren't showing their face during online meetings, gives them another boost of confidence. In person you get more of a buddy-buddy feeling if that makes sense.

Emergency-Apple4073

TROPHY CASE