scope:

GENERAL OVERVIEW

It is clear at this point in time that the design of mechanical and electrical systems for large commercial office buildings is a continually evolving art form that progressively responds to the local market economic and political concerns, the space utilization needs and requirements of the specific user who will occupy the building, and the building's geographic location.

The techniques and design alternatives for the tall commercial office building, because of its inherent size, physical location in major urban areas, and typically sophisticated group of owners, occupants, architects and engineering designers, are subject to a particularly intense response to the complex requirements of any building. The HVAC design engineer, as a significant member of the design team, must complete the design with due consideration of first cost, operating expense for the completed building, the present and future needs of the building occupants, the resiliency of the building, as well as environmental issues and the conservation of energy, regardless of source, in the completed project. The architectural profession responds to the same pressures, but, in addition, is subject to the requirement to create buildings that are attractive to the public at large, the real estate industry, and, most importantly, the owner of the building.

The purpose of mechanical and electrical systems in commercial office buildings has not changed, in any fundamental sense, over the history of the construction of buildings used for such occupancy. Clearly, the primary purpose of these systems was and is to provide space in the building that will permit the occupants to conduct their business in a productive, comfortable, and safe atmosphere.