Author
Symmons Industries
Plumbing Engineers are responsible for designing effective and efficient plumbing systems for your commercial projects, including:
- Water management systems (e.g., hot water systems, water conservation, water softening systems, etc.)
- Sewage drainage, management, and safety
- Fire safety systems in conjunction with your project’s fire protection engineers
Here are a few advantages a Plumbing Engineer brings to your project team, as well as tips for collaborating with them on aspects of plumbing engineering that impact your design plans.
The Ability to See Big Picture—or “Whole Building”
Whether it’s new construction or renovation of an existing structure, there is much more to plumbing in a Hospitality or Multifamily property than simply piping water in and sewage out. A Plumbing Engineer has the training and experience to see the big picture, ensuring the building’s plumbing system is designed with enough capacity to provide water to complementary systems such as those used for landscaping irrigation, fire suppression, and more. In addition, he or she is conscientious of the project’s overall budget and timeline when partnering with you to build or renovate your property.
Experience Designing Hot Water Systems That Ensure the Safety of Future Guests/Residents
Ensuring sufficient hot water is a crucial design element of any commercial plumbing system. A Plumbing Engineer has the knowledge and experience to design a system that can withstand the demands on hot water, such as hot water re-circulation systems. They also can design systems that will mitigate the costs of providing so much hot water, including specifying low-energy consumption or solar-powered water heaters.
Plumbing Engineers ensure water temperature is regulated at point of use, such as a shower system. No owner/developer wants their future guests or residents to turn on the shower only to find the water has gone cold or is scalding hot. You can rely on a Plumbing Engineer’s expertise to recommend a durable, high-quality shower valve to regulate shower temperature, but note that their choice of shower valve will impact your shower trim design choices. Work with your Plumbing Engineer to explore shower valve options that are compatible with a wide variety of shower trims to suit your intended design plans.
The Symmons® Temptrol® Shower Valve uses pressure-balancing, anti-scald technology to keep end users safe in the shower. With all-metal brass, bronze, and stainless steel construction, the Temptrol Valve is compatible with any Symmons catalog or custom-designed shower trim. Remodeling the property’s bathrooms in the future is easy: the Plumbing Contractor does not need to break up surrounding tile or walls to access the shower valve in order to upgrade to another Symmons shower trim, which proves to be a huge cost- and time-saving bonus for owners and developers.
Knowledge of Natural Gas Systems
Plumbing design for natural gas heating systems may also fall under your Plumbing Engineer’s area of responsibility. Using an expert to design these systems ensures not only well-designed placement of the natural gas lines, but also a system that is guaranteed to be powerful enough to meet the property’s demands.
Expertise in Sanitary Sewer Systems
Navigating the sewer system requirements can be difficult. In addition to designing a system that drains waste water from the kitchens and bathrooms, the Plumbing Engineer has to consider the special needs of the property, such as whether the waste water will drain into the municipal sewage line or a containment system on-site and whether there needs to be any special treatment of waste.
Understanding of Water Conservation Strategies
Especially in Hospitality or Multifamily projects, water conservation is a must to manage a property’s operating costs. A Plumbing Engineer can help not only to recommend low-flow plumbing fixtures, but also to utilize water-free urinals, systems designed to recycle storm water for landscaping irrigation, and other methods of conserving water. Keep this in mind when you are working on a property seeking to earn LEED® certification.
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Multifamily property 500 Lake Shore Drive enlisted Symmons Design Studio™ to design this custom Single Post Lavatory Faucet with a low-flow rate of 1.5 gpm. As a fixture in the property’s custom bath product suite, the low-flow lavatory faucet served as one water conservation measure that helped this property earn LEED Gold certification.
Understanding of the Importance of Storm Water Drainage
Ensuring storm water and snow-melt can drain safely and efficiently also falls under the Plumbing Engineer’s jurisdiction. The Plumbing Engineer designs drainage systems of a high enough capacity to avoid flooding and can apply conservation efforts, such as recycling collected storm water for landscaping irrigation.
Whether you’re designing a new project from the ground up or renovating an existing building, every detail matters. Work closely with your Plumbing Engineer to specify plumbing fixtures that are built to last, designed to stand out, and backed by a customer-first culture. Looking to bolster your team with additional plumbing expertise? Schedule a consultation with a member of our Hospitality or Multifamily teams for solutions to meet your upcoming project’s needs.
