Sustainability
YES is committed to designing sustainable, energy efficient buildings.
According to the US Green Building Council, buildings use approximately 30% of the electricity in the United States.
It is important for building designers and owners to work together during all phases of the building design process to ensure that buildings are operating at optimal energy efficiency.
The mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems in a building can be large consumers of energy. It is imperative for the design engineers to ensure that all systems selected for a building can provide energy savings measures.
In order to become a LEED certified building, a series of design iterations and certifications are necessary to document compliance with energy saving measures. The bulk of the points available for LEED certification stem from energy efficient design in the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. LEED Certification points are achieved via many design options, but some of the highlighted point opportunities for mechanical, electrical and plumbing design engineers are:
- Water Efficient Irrigation
- Domestic Water Use Reduction
- Optimize Energy Performance: Lighting power and lighting controls
- Day lighting and light harvesting
- Increased Ventilation
- Outside Air Delivery Monitoring
- Minimum Indoor Air Quality performance
- CFC Reduction in HVAC&R Equipment