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Archive for 2011

Industry Article

Helping buildings operate at their peak

Most people don’t hear the word “conditioning” and immediately think of buildings and construction. But just as a trainer can help athletes reach their potential, James Qualk helps buildings operate at peak efficiency. “The firm was founded in 1968 and originally was performing mechanical, electrical and plumbing design services,” says Qualk, vice president of LEED […]

Industry Article

San Antonio’s newest hospital also the “greenest”

SAN ANTONIO — It’s a first for Texas. A San Antonio hospital has been awarded the highest certification as a “green” building. San Antonio’s newest hospital is also officially its greenest. Mission Trail Baptist Hospital at Brooks City-Base on the southeast side is in the business of treating sick people, delivering babies and saving lives. According […]

Industry Article

Primex Wireless Enters Agreement with Smith Seckman Reid

Primex Wireless, a provider of solutions to automate and maintain healthcare facility compliance, announced that it has reached an agreement with Smith Seckman Reid (SSR), an engineering design and facility consulting firm, to assume responsibility for SSR’s survey and inspection solutions. Under the agreement, Primex Wireless said it will take over all development, support and […]

Industry Article

Plumbing System Efficiency: Repair Or Replace?

The push for water conservation in restrooms in institutional and commercial facilities is creating pressure to address problems related to plumbing components and systems. One key decision maintenance and engineering managers face is whether to repair existing plumbing fixtures in an attempt to address water-conservation demands or to replace plumbing systems to achieve this goal. […]

Industry Article

Smith Seckman Reid opens Chicago office

Nashville-based Smith Seckman Reid Inc. has opened a Chicago office, the company announced late Tuesday. The engineering firm had already been active in the Chicago market, with more than 20 ongoing or recently completed projects in the area. “Based on our growth in the Chicago market, it was only natural that we establish roots to […]

Industry Article

Best Firm: SSR Inc. – Integrity In All They Do

In 1968, Tom Seckman, Andy Reid, Lester Smith and Bobby Smith gathered in a house in Nashville, Tenn., to draft their magna carta for a new company. It was then that the foundation was set for success and Smith, Seckman, Reid, Inc., was born. And, in the 40-plus years since their start, while almost everything, […]

Industry Article

Hospital to Have $1 Billion Impact

OLIVE BRANCH — Olive Branch Mayor Sam Rikard said Wednesday the 14-year effort to site and build a 100-bed hospital in Olive Branch will have a $1 billion impact to the fastest growing city in America.“It’s a big day for Olive Branch,” Rikard said during groundbreaking ceremonies Wednesday at the hospital site near the intersection […]

Industry Article

Texas Children’s Hospital Adds a Pavilion for Women to the Facility Family

Texas Children’s Hospital and its family of medical facilities at Houston’s Texas Medical Center are welcoming a new addition. The Pavilion for Women is a $575-million facility that will bring maternity and neonatal care capabilities to the hospital. Taking the pavilion from conception to birth is the most ambitious construction project in the hospital’s history and […]

Whitepaper

Benefits of a Whole-Building Design Approach

Cx Monitor Newsletter, Issue 5.3 WORKING AS A TEAM EARLIER IN THE DESIGN PROCESS FOSTERS CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING Buildings are tremendously complex. Even the simplest facilities require a highly trained team of professionals for their design, construction, and eventually, operation. It is amazing that many buildings are ever built, considering the necessary financing, land acquisition, code […]

Industry Article

Taking Control: Building automation applications continue to expand

Today’s building automation systems have advanced far beyond their HVAC-centric past to handle additional functions such as lighting, security and more, providing key oppor­tunities to save operational and maintenance dollars. Integration and interoperability are key trends in building automation systems (BASs), creating new opportunities for hospitals to save money. At the same time, new wireless […]

Industry Article

A Clean Bill of Health

Promoting healing and health isn’t just the job of doctors and nurses at Rockingham Memorial Hospital – the building itself plays a key role in patient recovery through environmental stewardship. The first hospital in Virginia to achieve LEED Gold certification, Rockingham Memorial Hospital (RMH) infuses sustainability into every corner of the 630,000-square-foot building. The facility’s […]

Industry Article

From Splashy to Subtle

While new construction has slowed, the interest in all things green among property owners, tenants, environmental activists and government departments continues to drive technological advances. Indeed, the latest green technologies offer new and in some cases cheaper options. Emerging green-building technologies range from the splashy to the subtle. For instance, green-building technology companies are now […]

Whitepaper

Carbon – The Broad-Spectrum Treatment Method

Improvements in analytical testing methods and concerns over micro-constituents and emerging contaminants are continuing to drive changes in federal drinking water standards. As this happens, the use of broad-spectrum treatment techniques, like activated carbon, will continue to grow. The use of activated carbon in treating potable water is not new. In fact, historical evidence indicates […]

Industry Article

2011 Best Multi-Discipline A/E Services Firms to Work For

Superior workplace practices, employee benefits, employee retention rates, and other incentives make the following this year’s Best Multidiscipline A/E Services Firms To Work For. Ranging from 15 to more than 1,200 full-time employees, the sixth annual Best Multidiscipline A/E Services Firms To Work For ranking saw participation from 24 firms, with huge variations in services offered. […]

Industry Article

Methodist Selects OB Hospital Build Team

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has announced it has selected the design and construction team to build its new $137 million hospital in Olive Branch, and that the team is expected to break ground on the project Oct. 19. Methodist, which already has six hospitals in the Memphis metro area, won approval in July from the […]

Industry Article

Methodist to Begin Building Olive Branch Hospital Oct. 19

The health care system announced late Wednesday the design and construction team for the $137 million, 100-bed hospital. Architecture firm Gresham Smith and Partners, with offices in Memphis as well as a dozen other cities, was selected to design the hospital. Nashville-based Smith Seckman and Reid Inc. was chosen to handle the engineering design, and New York […]

Industry Article

Smart hospital engineering

To operate properly, hospitals need smart engineering, from the HVAC systems to the fire/life safety and electrical equipment. Here, some expert engineers offer advice on smart hospital engineering.

Industry Article

The Gradual Conversion to Class A Office Complexes into LEED Silver and LEED Gold

Sustainability is a journey, not a destination. Spectrum Properties | Emery has taken this message to heart, leading the charge for ongoing sustainable retrofits and operations in the Southeast. Though the North Carolina-based real estate company has been implementing best practices and pursuing LEED® certification on new construction projects for several years, the sustainability journey […]

Industry Article

Panel to discuss property acquisition

CROSSVILLE — The Crossville City Council will consider how to move forward to acquire property for the first phase of the Northwest Connector when it meets tonight.City Attorney Kenneth Chadwell was tasked at a June 27 special-called meeting with continuing negotiations with property owners of the remaining two parcels needed for the highway. The city […]

Industry Article

SSRCx: LEEDing the Team to Gold

Gibbens Drake Scott and Systems Integration “Successful relationships equal successful projects.” The tag-line of Gibbens Drake Scott, Inc. (GDS) could also describe the necessity of good working relationships among all the players on the National Security Campus project team. GDS has an important role in maintaining the success of those relationships. GDS is the Mechanical […]

Industry Article

Understanding laboratory ventilation codes

Clinical laboratories are often on-site and associated with hospitals, but many times these facilities are independent and located away from the source of patient care and treatment. Regardless of the lab location, published rules and regulations apply to the design, layout, finishes, equipment, ventilation, and operation of the facility. While this article identifies many of the […]

Whitepaper

Continuous Commissioning

Cx Monitor Newsletter, Issue 5.1 Continuous Commissioning® can generate additional energy savings for a building, even after a full Retro-commissioning process. The LEED-EB Gold certified Caterpillar Financial Center in Nashville, Tenn. underwent both the Retro-commissioning and Continuous Commissioning® processes, and is now on track for a payback of less than two years for cost versus […]

Industry Article

Mobile Healthcare Technology Summit Brings Industry Leaders Together in Houston

Industry leaders fielded questions and provided valuable insights about the use of mobile technologies in Healthcare at the Houston Mobile Healthcare Technology Summit held on May 5, 2011 in Houston. The event was presented by Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. at the University of Houston Alumni Center. Other local sponsors of the event included HIMSS South Central […]

Industry Article

Benefits of a Whole-Building Design Approach

Working as a team earlier in the design process fosters creative problem-solving Buildings are tremendously complex. Even the simplest facilities require a highly trained team of professionals for their design, construction, and, eventually, operation. Actually, it is amazing that many buildings are ever built, considering the necessary financing, land acquisition, code and jurisdictional requirements, extremely […]

Industry Article

Smith Seckman Reid to Host Mobile Healthcare Technology Summit in Houston

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. (SSR), a leading engineering design and facility consulting firm, is hosting a Mobile Healthcare Technology Summit on May 5 in Houston. The event will be held at the University of Houston Alumni Center where a panel of industry experts will explore topics surrounding mobile healthcare technology in the acute care setting. “Our Houston summit […]

Industry Article

People in Business

Rhodes College has been ranked 15th for producing Peace Corps volunteers among among 250 colleges and universities in the southeast region. Rhodes has 91 alumni who have served in the Peace Corps and has 14 currently overseas. Smith Seckman Reid, an engineering design and facility consulting firm, was selected as a winner of the People’s Choice […]

Whitepaper

SSR & The Economic Stimulus

Cx Monitor Newsletter, Issue 4.2  “THE INTENT OF THE STIMULUS BILL is to start construction as soon as possible on ‘shovel ready’ projects so that unemployed workers are put back on the job,” said Donoho. So far SSR has been selected to provide Construction Engineering and Inspection (CEI) oversight for a bridge-replacement project in Carter […]

Industry Article

Does Your Water System Engage in Social Networking?

We all know about the trend in social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and most of us have seen the movie Avatar and know what an avatar is. However, do you know of the new technology that uses avatars for building water systems on social websites? In this new trend, a building has an […]