When talking about sustainability, the most common questions are, “What is it?” followed by, “Where do we start?” For those of us involved in the healthcare space, the American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE) defines sustainability as the balance between environmental responsibility, social equity, and fiduciary to create healthy and resilient communities. While this provides…
At Henderson Companies, we combine our expertise across healthcare, science and technology, and academic markets to design facilities that adapt to the evolving needs of the health industry. Our practice-based structure encourages collaboration and innovative problem solving that allows us to deliver future-ready solutions. By integrating diverse perspectives across our team, we’re able to address…
In the previous installment of this series, we explored the leadership perspectives and managerial considerations surrounding computational thinking (CT) and its application in the development of computational design tools. Through the lens of the Office Space Automator (OSA) project, we highlighted the role leaders play in facilitating and guiding projects driven by CT principles. This…
In the commercial refrigeration and HVAC industry, there’s a strong push to reduce carbon footprints while keeping up with sustainability goals and complying with ever-changing regulations. This green evolution is particularly prominent in food retail, where many are adopting advanced systems that utilize low-GWP refrigerants. To explore this trend, Henderson Engineers and Copeland collaborated on…
Sean Turner and Dauphin Flores, respectively the innovation and research director and the lead computational engineer at Henderson Engineers, were featured presenters at the October 2024 CDFAM Computational Design Symposium in New York City. The event gathered computational design experts from a variety of fields, including engineering and architecture, to learn about the latest technologies…
Listen to an AI-generated, text-to-speech version of this article. Welcome to our second series on computational thinking (CT). In the first series, we introduced the key elements of CT: investigation, decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and logic design. We also discussed why CT is relevant to the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry and briefly shared…
While all building types present their own unique challenges when it comes to lighting, the complexities that come with sports venues are plentiful. These facilities must balance varying league requirements, player safety, and the fan experience when considering building features such as lighting systems. Traditionally, sports venues would feature multiple lighting systems and additional theatrical…
In the past, designers and engineers used separate software tools for design analysis and design documentation. Calculate in one platform and document the answer in another. Think Excel, Trace 700, or AGI 32 and AutoCAD. This approach was time-consuming and error prone as it required transferring data between different software tools. Let’s be honest, it…
With the arrival of the new year, it’s important to remember that our resolutions should be challenging. To paraphrase Stanford School of Medicine neuroscientist, Andrew Huberman, participating in challenging tasks builds resilience to deal with future unknowns. The New York City Department of Buildings’ NYC Sustainable Buildings department was likely not aware of that statement,…
The cold storage market in the United States is growing and there are several factors to consider when designing new facilities including the choice of refrigerant. Traditionally, large cold storage projects have used ammonia plants, while smaller projects have used HFC refrigerants such as R404A or similar blends. However, recent EPA regulations have restricted the…
The world is experiencing the impacts of climate change more than ever with historic droughts and wildfires, storms and flooding, and record heatwaves. The repercussions of climate change are far reaching and put many species and habitats at risk. Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goals are essential to mitigating climate change and its impacts. Net-zero emissions…
As published in ASHRAE Journal, September 2023 Features and design for these laboratories are driven by the nature of the science being taught and the level of hands-on work by students. Understanding the curriculum is key. Figure 1 lists some typical lab-based science classes. Physics and geology typically present minimal hazards. Chemistry may present exposure…