Monthly e-Newsletter October 2009

This year we will see our 15th anniversary with Tri-State Plumbing, a relationship that we are proud to have been entrusted with. Two of our most recent projects with Tri-State include the 4100 Alaska Building by Capelouto Development, and the Arrow Head Gardens developed by the Senior Housing Assistance Group.

The 4100 Alaska Project is a mixed use building in West Seattle, with a QFC which occupies 1.5 floors. The building is designed with 3 stories on the East side, five stories on the west side, three levels of parking underground, and a rooftop terrace. The entire building provides 157 rental units, and a series of retail shops at street level. Hewitt was the architect for the building, and Abossein did the plumbing design for Tri-State.

Arrow Head Gardens is a 4 building, 449 unit senior living facility in West Seattle, which just had its grand opening. The buildings were commissioned by the Senior Housing Assistance Group, (SHAG) Washington's largest non-profit organization dedicated to providing affordable, age and income qualified rental apartment living communities for senior and disabled senior residents. Arrow Head Gardens is a lovely, affordable space, which includes features such as: Community Building, Media Center, Exercise Room, Activity Rooms, Courtyards, Roof Decks, Sun rooms, Terraces and Patios, Walking Trail System, “Pea Patch” Planter Boxes for Residents who enjoy Gardening, and Dedicated Transit Van and Electric Cars for Local Transportation. The architectural design was by Johnson Braund Design Group, and Abossein Engineering was the plumbing designer for Tri-State.

This month we are pleased to highlight one of our favorite corporate clients, Jack in the Box, as we send the 200th JIB design set out the door. This has been made possible through our long lasting and supportive relationship with the architect Freiheit and Ho.

The distinctive brand of Jack in the Box now offers 2100 locations, in addition to 480 locations of their Qdoba brand restaurant. Jack in the Box maintains high standards of food quality, delivering food from “farm to folks” - which is the phrase they use to describe their process of getting fresh food to their restaurants as quickly as possible.

Jack in the Box is also well recognized for its corporate citizenship, which includes the support of 14 separate charities, including Big Brother’s Big Sisters; Hermanad, the Hispanic Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization; as well as Make-a-Wish; YMCA; and America’s Second Harvest.

For over 10 years Abossein has been JIB’s corporate MEP engineers in the Pacific North West. Congratulations Everyone! We look forward to the next 200!

The objective of commissioning is to confirm and document that a facility fulfills the functional and performance requirements of the building owner, occupants, and operators.  To reach this goal, it is necessary for the commissioning process to establish and document the owner’s criteria for system function, performance, and maintainability; as well as, to verify and document compliance with these criteria throughout design, construction, start-up, and the initial period of operation.

In addition, complete operation and maintenance (O&M) manuals, as well as training on system operation, should be provided to the building operators to ensure that the building continues to operate as intended.

As commissioning provider (CP), Abossein Engineering will be involved throughout the project up to completion and beyond. The primary role of the CP during the overall design phase is to develop detailed commissioning specifications and review design to ensure it meets the Owner’s objectives. During construction, the CP develops and coordinates the execution of a testing plan, which includes observing and documenting all system’s performance to ensure that systems are functioning in accordance with the Owner’s objectives and the contract documents. Based on the warranty scope the commissioning will continue beyond project completion and occupancy.

After project completion we can coordinate and supervise the required opposite season or deferred testing and deficiency corrections and provide the final testing documentation for the Commissioning Record and O&M manuals. At 10 months into the 12 month warranty period we will review with facility staff the current building operation and the condition of outstanding issues related to the original and seasonal commissioning.  Also we will  interview facility staff and identify problems or concerns they have with operating the building as originally intended. The areas that may come under warranty or under the original construction contract will be identified for warranty corrections.

The scope of services for different levels of commissioing varies from the minimum Energy Code compliance requirements, to a maximum of fully developed and monitored programs designed for LEED credits. James Michael, PE, is our managing staff for this department.

Last Month's Answer: SS C5 Site Development, for protection or restoration of habitat, or maximizing of open space; and SSC 6.1 for Storm Water Design, quantity control

Question of the month (see next month's issue for the answer):

How much power savings can be recognized in data centers by utilizing energy efficient equipment and design?