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Engineers and designers from IMEG, a top 5 U.S. engineering firm, discuss innovative and trend-setting building and infrastructure design with architects, owners, and others in the AEC industry. Topics touch on all market sectors, engineering disciplines, and related services.
Episodes
Monday Sep 13, 2021
Embodied Carbon: In the Crosshairs of Designers, Bill Gates, and Girl Scouts
Monday Sep 13, 2021
Monday Sep 13, 2021
In the first of a series on sustainability strategies of the future, IMEG Director of Sustainability Adam McMillen discusses embodied carbon. “We have pretty much figured out how to reduce operational carbon,” he says. “Now the AEC industry is ready for the next step — reducing embodied carbon in steel, concrete, and wood.” Getting these materials to a construction site requires extraction or harvesting, processing, and transportation — each of which requires energy, mostly from burning fossil fuels, which in turn releases CO2. These emissions combined make up the carbon footprint, or the embodied carbon, of a material. “People in the industry and elsewhere are really starting to get it,” says McMillen, who counts Bill Gates and Wisconsin Girl Scouts among those who are helping to spread the word. Learn more in this 15-minute podcast.
Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
With legalized medical and recreational marijuana continuing to expand across the U.S., many new grow facilities will be licensed and constructed in the coming years. This episode examines important infrastructure considerations that are critical for “keeping the plants happy” and achieving successful harvests — not only for cannabis but also for other crops grown within controlled environment agriculture (CEA) facilities. “Our experience designing these facilities allows us to provide valuable information and lessons learned for owners who will be venturing into this market for the first time,” says IMEG’s Luke Streit, a project manager for several cannabis grow facilities. Luke discusses a variety of topics during this episode, including water and energy use, HVAC systems, power requirements, and other unique challenges encountered by CEA owners. Based on a recent IMEG webinar, this podcast provides valuable information for owners and architects alike.
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
The 2021 National ACEC Engineering Excellence Grand Conceptor Award – which honors the year’s most outstanding engineering achievement in the U.S. – was presented to IMEG Corp. for its design of the Denver Water Operations Complex Redevelopment. This episode examines the project’s extensive water and energy efficiency goals and challenges from the perspective of Ken Urbanek, who led the IMEG team on the $205M redevelopment featuring a 186,000-sf LEED Platinum, net-zero energy and “One Water” administration building. “This project is a testament to what we in the AEC industry can do,” says Urbanek. “It demonstrates that given the right drive from ownership, we can achieve carbon-free emissions, net zero energy, and even significant reductions in water use. Engineers, contractors, and architects – we can all deliver on this.”
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
Charging Ahead with EVs: From Restaurant ‘Plug-ins’ to Powering our Homes
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
All signs point to an exponentially increasing number of electric vehicles on U.S. roads in the coming years. What this monumental automotive revolution will look like and the changes it will bring — from roadside restaurant charging stations to EV-provided emergency back-up power for homes — are discussed in this podcast featuring Keith Vandenbussche, Automotive R&D Market Leader for IMEG. “Some automotive manufacturers are projecting 100 percent EV production within 10 years,” says Vandenbussche, adding that some forecasts call for 1 million new EVs on the road this year alone. “In addition to solving the R&D and manufacturing challenges this will bring, on the consumer side we have to make sure the infrastructure to support EVs is in place so that the consumer is supported and confident in buying these vehicles.”
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Back to the Office, Part 2: Crisis Management and Taming the Lizard Brain
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
The role of crisis management in helping employees feel safe and secure is examined in part two of an IMEG podcast based on the executive guide, “Back to the Office: Key Steps for Safeguarding Health, Well-being and Continuity.” This episode features Ryan Searles, a security, threat assessment, and emergency preparedness expert — and who, in a former life, earned two Purple Hearts while in special operations and chased pirates in the Indian Ocean. Ryan draws on his vast security experience in the private sector to explain how organizations can help employees be prepared for and recover from crisis situations — from COVID-19 to catastrophic weather to active shooters. He also explains the importance of taming our “lizard brains” when responding to an unfolding emergency.
Friday May 21, 2021
Back to the Office, Part 1: Helping Employees Feel Safe
Friday May 21, 2021
Friday May 21, 2021
Helping employees feel safe and secure as they return to the workplace is discussed in part one of a two-part IMEG podcast based on the recent executive guide, “Back to the Office: Key Steps for Safeguarding Health, Well-being and Continuity.” Part 1 features guest Charles LeBlanc, an IMEG security expert and a co-author of the guide. Charles, who is also an electrical engineer, looks at security not only from the technical side but also from the behavioral side and how each perspective affects the other. “People are feeling a lot of discomfort right now in regard to returning to work,” he says. “Office managers, meanwhile, are trying to figure out how to bring people safely back, and how to do it in a comforting way that reduces anxiety.”
Monday May 10, 2021
Acuity Adaptability and the Future of Healthcare
Monday May 10, 2021
Monday May 10, 2021
Acuity adaptability – a healthcare model in which patients remain in one room regardless of level of care – is being considered by many healthcare organizations looking for safer, more efficient care delivery in the era of COVID-19 and beyond. But is this model feasible – and if so, under what conditions? “One of the things that you look for when you are exploring this option is how to balance the patient experience, patient safety, and the staff experience,” says Erin Clark, R.N., a clinical operations specialist and guest on the 35-minute podcast. Also featured on this episode are IMEG National Healthcare Director Mike Zorich and HIT Specialist Corey Gaarde, co-authors of the free executive guide, "Acuity Adaptability: Innovative Planning and Design for Responsive Healthcare Delivery."
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
Virtual Reality: Past, Present, and Future
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
In an arc of development that stretches back nearly 200 years, virtual reality is now finally making great inroads in design and construction. In this episode of The Future. Built Smarter., IMEG Director of Virtual Design Sarah Garthaus and mechanical engineer Mike Lawless discuss how VR has emerged from the shadows of video games to become a powerful and ever-evolving tool for the AEC industry. They examine the variety of current applications — from immersing stakeholders into a design to fully understand a space to immersing engineers to identify clashes — and predict what the future may hold for designers and owners alike.
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
Intelligent Buildings
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
We’ve long heard the words “Smart Building,” but these days “Intelligent Building” has become the buzz phrase for the opportunities presented by the IoT and the ever-growing amount of building system data it provides. In this pilot episode of the new podcast, “The Future. Built Smarter,” IMEG engineers Jeff Carpenter and Mike Lawless explain the important distinctions between the two phrases. They also discuss how Intelligent Building design expands the focus beyond building systems to consider such things as the occupant experience – all while providing more concrete, actionable, and measurable paths for building owners to take in their quest to benefit from the IoT.