HVAC Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

HVAC Designer / Engineer

Seeking an HVAC Design Engineer to work with an Engineering firm providing full-service engineering to industrial clients.  Work with a company that's thriving!  Offering positive work environment, overtime, challenging projects, competitive compensation.

Position Summary

We are looking for an HVAC designer/engineer with 5 plus years of experience to design, size and specify heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for industrial facilities. Develop load calculations and equipment selection through design drawings, bid evaluation, submittal review and commissioning.

Responsibilities

• Prepare engineering man-hour estimates for HVAC scopes.
• Perform building and room heating and cooling load calculations.
• Size and select HVAC equipment, and prepare equipment specifications and data sheets.
• Produce HVAC design drawings, including layouts, ductwork, piping and details, and HVAC control P&IDs.
• Write HVAC work scopes for contractors and equipment suppliers.
• Evaluate equipment and contractor bids technically, and make recommendations.
• Review and approve HVAC equipment submittals against the design intent and project specifications.
• Support commissioning of HVAC equipment and systems, including start-up, testing and issue resolution.
• Coordinate with other disciplines (mechanical/piping, electrical, structural, controls) and with clients, vendors and field personnel.

Required Knowledge and Skills

Candidates are not expected to have every item below on day one. A working command of the equipment and technical fundamentals is essential, and the rest can be developed with mentoring.

Equipment

• Working knowledge of how an air conditioning and refrigeration system operates; service experience is a plus but not required.
• Air-cooled vs. water-cooled systems, chilled water systems, packaged units and split systems.
• Air-cooled and water-cooled condensers, chillers (air-cooled and water-cooled), and cooling towers and their purpose.
• Compressor types: hermetic, semi-hermetic and screw; and the differences between screw and centrifugal chillers.
• Carbon filter air units and their purpose.
• Heaters: gas, electric, steam, duct-mounted and unit heaters.

Technical

• Heating and cooling load calculations for a room, building or structure, including infiltration (typically 15% to 25%), U-factors/R-values, solar loads, and sensible and latent loads.
• Determining when a system is sized on sensible vs. latent load, and what increases latent capacity.
• Psychrometrics: dry bulb, wet bulb, dew point, relative humidity, enthalpy, grains per pound of dry air, evaporation and dehumidification, and how they relate.
• Calculating mixed air temperature; conversions among hp, Btu/h and kW; single-phase vs. three-phase power.
• AC control strategies, including what drives dehumidification and how to control humidity.
• Sizing electric heaters by temperature rise vs. temperature differential (envelope loads).
• Air changes per hour for an envelope and ventilation design strategy, including heating and ventilating a warehouse or boiler building.
• Ventilation methods: cross-flow, push-pull and stack effect.
• Duct design and fabrication: SMACNA requirements, CFM, constant velocity and static regain methods, and which fittings can be fabricated and in what configurations.
• Refrigerants: pure vs. blends, GWP, ODP, A2L classification and the requirements for using A2L refrigerants.
• Piping: refrigerant piping types and insulation; chilled water piping material, insulation and velocity.
• Pipe design experience is a plus.

Software

• Microsoft Office: Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• AutoCAD (2D, 3D, MEP) and Revit.
• Navisworks.
• HVAC load calculation tools: Excel spreadsheets, CHVAC, Trane, Carrier and others.

Preferred Background

• Experience on the construction, installation, service or startup side of HVAC, which gives practical knowledge of what can be built and its limitations; or
• Experience on the design/engineering side with strong technical fundamentals.
• Industrial or process facility experience.
• Degree in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology, or equivalent experience. [Years of experience and PE/EIT requirements to be set by level.]