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Elara’s Experts Today’s Spotlight: Melissa Rodas

What Does Melissa Do?

Ms. Rodas, an Illinois Licensed Professional Engineer, is a Senior Electrical Engineer with Elara Engineering who has acquired diverse technical expertise within an equally diverse range of markets that include K-12, Hospitality, Photovoltaics (PV), Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Power, High-Rise Commercial Office, Multi-Family Residential, and Healthcare clients. In her technical role, she develops complex and demanding electrical engineering designs for multi-disciplinary new construction, renovation, and energy retrofit projects that encompass a wide variety of electrical system types, power demands, and challenging internal building constraints.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Rodas has gained extensive hands-on experience with numerous technical and design applications such as Revit, AutoCAD, SKM Power Tools, AGI32 and Visual Lighting. In addition to her expertise with these tools and applications, she has extensive experience with assessments, surveys, planning, system studies, power delivery design, and construction oversight. Power system studies that Ms. Rodas has developed have encompassed short circuits, selective coordination, arc flash, and power quality analyses.

Her Areas of Expertise

  • Technical Knowledge
  • Industry Experience
  • Sustainable Design
  • Innovation
  • Construction Knowledge
  • Cost Estimating
  • Troubleshooting
  • Collaboration
  • Project Management
  • Experience in Multiple Markets

Ms. Rodas is driven by…

…the many aspects that have guided her role at Elara and her overall career. She is passionate about power infrastructure design and is propelled to provide innovative solutions to Elara’s clients through a collaborative team approach that addresses the needs of all project stakeholders. Additionally, with a desire to ‘pay it forward’ and to create a legacy of knowledge that others can build upon, she strives to impart her expertise and experience as an involved and caring mentor as well as providing direct encouragement to high school students considering a career in engineering. As an industry expert in electrical engineering design and as an exceptional and talented role model for Elara, Ms. Rodas has compiled a long list of successful projects for Elara’s valued clients.

Key Project Contributions

  • Kankakee Community College West Campus – Fire Alarm Replacement Project (Electrical Design Engineer)
  • Guaranteed Rate Field – Fire Alarm Replacement Project (Electrical Design Engineer)
  • 270 East Pearson Street – EV Charging Stations Power for Indoor Garage (Electrical Design Engineer)
  • New Construction Multi-Residential Campus – PV System Design (Lead Engineer)
  • Davenport Animal Hospital (Davenport, IA) – New Construction (Lead Engineer)
  • Lockport Park District Challenge Fitness – Renovation & Addition (Lead Engineer)
  • Joliet Park District Banquet Hall – Renovation (Lead Engineer)
  • Village of Lombard – Fleet Services – Renovation and Addition – (Lead Engineer)
  • Multiple K-12 Projects (Lead Engineer)
  • School District 126 – MEP Renovation & Additions to Multiple
  • School District 135 – MEP Renovation & Additions to Multiple School
  • School District 159 – HVAC and Lighting Replacement
  • School District 204 – District-Wide Facility Assessment
  • School District 300 – Numerous Projects

Key Industry Contributions

Melissa has been, and continues to be, an active contributor within the industry as she eagerly passes her experience and expertise to others in the field.

Beyond her education, training, and mentoring activities, Ms. Rodas is an active member of the Chicago Chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Chicago Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and the Chicago Chapter of Professional Women in Construction.

As part of the SWE, Ms. Rodas volunteers as the K-12 Outreach Chair where she is involved in collaborations with K-12 schools to inspire the next generation of women engineers. She is also a mentor as part of iMentor where she is actively mentoring a Chicago Public School high school Junior as she guides them through the challenges that come with being a first-generation college student.

Ms. Rodas states that “as an immigrant who was fortunate enough to have great mentors, I know how important it is to give back to the community. It is a personal passion of mine to reach out and work with students from underprivileged areas.”

What People Are Saying About Melissa

“Not only has Melissa’s extensive electrical knowledge, commitment to excellence, and drive to innovatively solve complex engineering challenges made a significant impact on our team’s success; she also brings such positive energy to our office and has become a passionate and effective mentor to our young, aspiring engineers. Her ability to articulate electrical concepts clearly and concisely to both technical and non-technical individuals over the course of delivering a project has proven invaluable to all those that work with her. We are so proud and fortunate to have Melissa on our team and I look forward to her continued growth with Elara.”

~Bhupendra Tailor, Elara Principal

Life Before Elara.  

Ms. Rodas was born in Peru and then moved to New Jersey when she was seven years old. Her interest in STEM started in high school when her perceptive physics teacher noticed her interest in math and science. He encouraged her to look at engineering as a career – which ultimately led to her applying to an engineering school for college. Even then, she had an early interest in renewable and sustainable technologies and after a few introductory courses in college, Ms. Rodas decided to commit to a career in electrical engineering.

Upon graduating from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in central Massachusetts Ms. Rodas was offered a job in Glendale Heights, Illinois and – true to her nature as an adventurer – took it on as she was looking for a change of location from the East Coast and was eager to try life in the Midwest.

Like many new electrical engineers, she started her career doing power system studies which facilitated her growing knowledge of existing and older building electrical systems. However, ever looking for a challenge, Ms. Rodas wanted to design electrical systems for new buildings along with the necessary innovation that came with problem solving to meet specific needs. To this end, she applied for a position with her previous employer and was excited to be introduced to the world of electrical building design. It was a perfect fit as she enjoys the challenges and out-of-the-box thinking that is often required to provide practical, innovative, constructable, and sustainable solutions to clients.

Before her current role as Senior Electrical Engineer at Elara Engineering, Ms. Rodas was an Electrical Engineer IV at Syska Hennessy Group in Chicago, IL and a Power Systems Engineer at Eaton Corporation in Chicago, IL

Life Outside Elara

Likely to the chagrin of most Chicagoans – and possibly anyone beyond the NYC area, Ms. Rodas is an avid Yankees fan. But it’s totally understandable that she backs the Yankee pinstripes as her mom was a huge Derek Jeter fan in the early 2000s. Like mother, like daughter. And, Ms. Rodas is serious about this to the point that she heads back to New York to see one or more games a year with her mom or younger brother.

Now that’s a true fan. As a passionate baseball ambassador, she says that she’s often guilty of dragging friends and family members to games even when they have no interest in baseball. Further proof that she’s an effective baseball promoter is exhibited when she recently talked Elara’s entire electrical team into attending a game.

In addition to baseball, Ms. Rodas is an avid hiker and is on a mission to visit as many National Parks as possible in her lifetime. Needless to say, she loves to travel and her favorite countries visited – so far – are Spain and Ireland. Activities closer to home include bowling, reading, and boxing/mix-martial arts where she practiced Jeet Kune Do for several years – achieving Blue Belt status before an injury stopped her progression. She still boxes, though it’s more for fun and conditioning. Finally, she is the proud cat-mom of a 15-year-old kitty and occasionally volunteers at a no-kill shelter as part of PAWS Chicago.

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2021 & 2022 – Two More Years of Accomplishments for Elara Engineering

We are excited to announce that the last two years have again shown that Elara Engineering continues to grow in staff, awards, design issuances, and philanthropy efforts; all the while remaining an enjoyable and fulfilling place to work. Elara’s talented and dedicated staff are – without doubt – key to our ability to deliver industry leading innovative, sustainable designs and to build a work environment that prizes collaboration, technical development, work/life balance, and the enjoyment of each other’s company.

Given our accomplishments over the last two years, we eagerly look forward to the next two as we continue to provide our experience and expertise to meet the needs of our valued clients.

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Elara Projects Win Chapter-Level ASHRAE Excellence-in-Engineering Awards

On December 6, 2022, Elara Engineering was recognized by the Illinois Chapter of ASHRAE with two 2022 Excellence-in-Engineering Awards. Cumulatively, Elara has now earned a total of 30 ASHRAE chapter awards, several of which have advanced to earn awards at ASHRAE’s regional and international levels, including a recent International Award for 3833 North Broadway Urban Geothermal – New Construction.

The key to these recognitions is Elara’s dedicated and talented project teams and we congratulate them on their achievement and recognition by their ASHRAE Illinois Chapter peers. We also extend our sincere thanks to the owners, managers, and staff of these award-winning buildings for their vision and commitment to sustainable, energy efficiency projects.

These awards once again provide tangible evidence of Elara’s passion and commitment to the sustainable design of energy efficient building infrastructure systems. More specifically, they showcase the breadth and depth of our team’s experience and expertise to deliver practical solutions and designs, and innovative applications of existing and new technologies.

Chicago Public Schools – Christopher Elementary School

  • New, more energy efficient air source VRF system replaced main heating and cooling systems.
  • Hybrid VRF approach incorporated existing heating systems for supplemental heat to reduce implementation costs.
  • Ventilation systems upgraded to new, more robust setup that utilizes energy recovery wheels with improved distribution.
  • Displacement Ventilation added to spaces to improve IAQ and as a primary cooling source for select high occupancy, large volume spaces.
  • Full project details can be found here.

 

St. Louis County Residence

  • Geothermal field serves entire heating and cooling needs of building as well as DHW preheating.
  • Energy and custom, parametric TRNSYS model to determine field performance for appropriate geothermal field sizing.
  • Use of new technology – gravity wall units – minimizes (along with radiant floor) the need of fan energy for heating and cooling of spaces.
  • System conducive to project requirements with limited ceiling space and multiple temperature zones.
  • System eliminated reliance on natural gas for space heating and prepared site for potential future carbon neutral or net zero operations.
  • Full project details can be found here.
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Elara is MBE Certified!

Elara Engineering is pleased to announce that – after being in business for over 20 years — the firm has decided to finally become a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) under the State of Illinois’ Business Enterprise Program (BEP) for Minority, Females, and Persons with Disabilities. 

We are proud to now be a part of this important program and to be driven by the opportunity it provides our clients to not only address project/contractual obligations, when applicable, but to do so confidently with a reliable, highly experienced team of professionals committed to achieve sustainable energy efficiencies through constructible designs that minimize the carbon footprint on the environment, save money, enhance occupant comfort, and increase asset value.

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Elara Wins ASHRAE Technology Award for MEP Upgrades

Elara Engineering’s design team has earned a 2022 ASHRAE Region VI Technology Award for energy retrofits that included innovative MEP upgrades at Hanover House in Chicago’s Near Northside Neighborhood. In addition to the recognized achievement, Elara’s team was able to secure $33,924 in incentive funding for obtained energy efficient equipment.

Constructed in 1962, Hanover House (21 Goethe) is a 19-story, 166-unit, 165,000 square-foot building with a heated pool, sundeck, common laundry, heated indoor parking lot, and commercial space that currently houses a restaurant.

Master Plan

Before design work was initiated, Elara’s Master Plan identified and prioritized projects to replace/enhance major MEP systems in phases based on Condominium Association financial constraints and a stated goal to reduce carbon emissions. Prioritization and planning enabled full occupancy of the building throughout construction and utilized creative sequencing to reduce the overall cost of all projects.  Additional efforts to reduce project costs while addressing the need for larger cooling capacity included a 30-day load study that avoided the need and cost to increase the building’s electrical service.

Phase I Projects

First prioritized projects replaced the existing heating boiler plant, dual temperature and hot water pumps, and makeup air unit (MAU) with a new, modular condensing boiler plant, rooftop MAU, and open protocol DDC system as well as new horizontal dual temperature, domestic and cold-water piping.

Phase II Projects

Second prioritized projects installed a new high-efficiency chiller that utilizes multiple compressors and refurbished the building’s existing cooling tower.

Project Innovations

Because inadequate dehumidification and spatial constraints within the building’s penthouse negated a “like-kind” replacement of the building’s undersized MAU, ventilation to corridors is now provided via a new 100% outdoor air, rooftop MAU equipped with MERV 14 filters and a dehumidification strategy that uses hot air bypass.

Additional information about this and other Elara projects can be found here.

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Opening Celebrated for an Elara MEPFP-Designed Elementary School

To commemorate the opening of the newly constructed Big Timber Elementary School, District 300 recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in August with community leaders, project participants, school board members, and school district personnel in attendance. Big Timber Elementary School addresses population growth in the District’s western portion in Hampshire and Pingree Grove, Illinois. With its 40 classrooms, two playgrounds, gym, media center, multi-purpose room, kitchen, specialty rooms with sensory adaptation, and administrative and mechanical spaces; the new 2-story, 100,625 square foot building will accommodate faculty, support personnel, specialists, and students from kindergarten to fifth grade. Elara Engineering was pleased to partner with Dewberry Architects Inc. (Architect) and Lamp Incorporated (General Contractor) on this exciting project.

Elara’s Contribution
Elara’s MEPFP Design Team provided Schematic Design, Design Development, Permit/Bid/Construction Document, Bidding, and Construction Services to District 300 for the new school building. Specific design elements included mechanical/HVAC systems (ventilation, boiler/chiller plants, space conditioning, ductwork, piping, and controls), electrical (normal/emergency power distribution, interior/exterior lighting, fire alarm system), and plumbing (including fire suppression).

Elara also completed energy modeling and a building optimization study to support the early planning phase and to identify the most effective building design.

“District 300 is excited to recognize and celebrate the opening of Big Timber Elementary School,” said Superintendent Susan Harkin during the celebration Tuesday. “Many individuals contributed to the development of this beautiful building, and we cannot thank them enough for their hard work. I know this school will be a source of pride for us for many years to come.”

Project Highlights and Innovations

  • As a result of its modeling effort and building optimization study, Elara not only delineated the best design for Big Timber Elementary, but the project further developed the school district’s model school MEP systems (previously updated 14 years prior) and included energy efficiency enhancements and airborne infectious contaminant control strategies.
  • Big Timber Elementary School’s gymnasium – designed to ICC500 Storm Shelter Standards — is the District’s first storm shelter.
  • To accommodate likely future population growth in the District, Elara’s Design Team:
    • Ensured that the hot water boiler plant, which includes two 3,000 MMBTU fire tube condensing boilers located in the building’s second floor, was sized to support a future addition which was designed a short time later and constructed in time for the 2022/2023 school year.
    • Ensured that the chiller plant, which includes two 90-ton air cooled chillers located on the roof above the building’s second floor, was also sized to support a future addition.

Additional information about this and other Elara projects can be found here.

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Elara Project Wins ASHRAE International Award!

After receiving recognition at the local and regional level, an Elara Engineering new construction project – 3833 North Broadway Urban Geothermal Multi-Family – has received ASHRAE’s highest honor; a first place International-Level Award.

This project represents Elara’s fourth International-Level ASHRAE award and we congratulate our team of dedicated experts: Don McLauchlan, Dustin Langille, Bhupendra Tailor, Nick Capretta, and Mark Rockwood, for their contributions to this internationally recognized project.  We also thank the owner, managers, and staff of 3833 North Broadway for their commitment to this highly sustainable, energy efficient project and for the trust and confidence they had in Elara Engineering to bring it to completion.

3833 North Broadway Urban Geothermal – New Construction

  • MEPFP design of 8-story, 228,960 square foot apartment building with 134 residential units, indoor heated parking, retail spaces (20,777 sf), fitness center, community area, outdoor running track
  • Geothermal heating and cooling, solar PV, exhaust air heat recovery, shower drain heat recovery, sidewalk snowmelt and demand control strategies
  • Actual EUI: 22 kbtu/ft²

Key Innovations

  • 60-well geothermal field located underneath the building structure on a limited urban site.
  • Detailed energy modeling along with a parametric analysis allowed for careful sizing of the geothermal field to minimize project costs.
    • Detailed modeling reduced the field size by an estimated 40% over standard designs for geothermal systems in Chicago
  • The simplicity of the design allowed the building owner to assume portions of the project management duties and to utilize several contractors that had worked on previous smaller projects with them. This resulted in project costs well below similar projects in Chicago.
  • The building’s low actual EUI of 22 kbtu/ft² saves $159,555/year over the baseline model EUI of 44 kbtu/ft².
    • The geothermal cost of approximately $500,000 is offset in just three years compared to the baseline building (1.5 years when compared to a typical Chicago new construction building), not including any avoided costs such as large central chiller/boiler plants.
  • Energy savings result in an approximate annual reduction of 1,115 metric tons of C02; the equivalent of removing 242 passenger cars or 134 homes from the energy grid.

With careful planning and a simple design, Elara shows that – with this project – buildings can be constructed with sustainable and energy efficient features such as geothermal at competitive costs.  Additional project details can be found here.

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Elara Projects Win 2020 Region VI ASHRAE Excellence-in-Engineering 1st Place Awards

Advancing beyond local chapter recognition, the following two Elara projects have been selected to receive a Region VI ASHRAE 1st Place award:

  • Hilton Washington Hotel & Conference Center High Pressure Boiler Conversion/Upgrade (Washington, DC)
  • 3833 North Broadway Urban Geothermal – New Construction (Chicago, IL)

These projects represent Elara Engineering’s fifth and sixth ASHRAE recognitions in Region VI which spans across portions of six US states (IL, WI, IA, MN, MO, ND).

As both projects continue to progress for potential International/Society level recognitions, we once again congratulate our dedicated and talented experts on their achievements.  We particularly recognize Don McLauchlan, Jay Parikh, and Chad Von Holten for their contributions to the Hilton Washington Hotel & Conference Center project and Don McLauchlan, Dustin Langille, Bhupendra Tailor, Nick Capretta, Mark Rockwood, and Adam Sanders for their contributions to the 3833 North Broadway project.

We again thank the owners, managers, and staff of these now Regional winners for their commitment to sustainable, energy efficiency projects and for their trust and confidence in Elara Engineering to successfully complete their projects.

Hilton Washington, DC Hotel High Pressure Boiler Plant Conversion/Upgrade

  • $56,000 in utility incentives
  • Energy opportunities identified by Elara Energy Audit and Engineering Analysis
  • Boiler conversion from medium to low pressure, burner upgrades, and DA tank modifications in lieu of replacement due to space constraints
  • Required collaboration with local authorities to gain required project approvals
  • Significant energy savings and reduced operating costs due to elimination of stationary engineers required for high-pressure steam plants
  • Full project details can be found here.

 

 

3833 North Broadway Urban Geothermal New Construction

  • New construction 8-story mixed-use building with 134 residential units, an indoor heated parking, retail spaces, and shared amenity areas
  • Geothermal heating and cooling, solar PV, exhaust air heat recovery, shower drain heat recovery, sidewalk snowmelt and demand control strategies
  • Actual EUI: 21 kbtu/ft²
  • Full project details can be found here.

 

 

 

 

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Elara Engineering Celebrates 20 Years of Collective Passion Delivering Sustainable, Energy Efficient MEPFP Designs

Today, on June 1st, 2021, Elara Engineering attained the milestone of being in business for 20 years.  Throughout the last two decades, Elara has continuously evolved and grown to meet the needs of the industry and the many clients that it proudly serves. From its humble beginning derived from the common passion of the firm’s founders to its current leadership team and dedicated and talented staff, Elara has not wavered from its mission to achieve sustainable energy efficiencies through constructible designs that minimize the carbon footprint of the environment, save money, and increase asset value.   This passion will – without question – continue to carry Elara Engineering forward for the next 20 years.

As with any milestone, it presents an opportunity to reminisce and reflect on how far one has come, what has changed, and what it all means for the future.  In this context, Elara’s founders and partners offer the following thoughts.

Don McLauchlan – Founder, Principal

20 years ago, with our collective passion for making buildings more energy efficient and for creating value for clients; Steve Maze, Doug Smith, and I formed Elara Engineering. With our previous experience of design build contracting, we saw a need for a pragmatic engineering firm that thought outside the 9 dots to find cost effective and innovative solutions to save energy and improve comfort and indoor air quality in the indoor environment. Our firm quickly grew with the early addition of Caitlin Levitsky, Iole Cappiello, David Lavan, and Adam Sanders; followed by Jay Parikh, Brian Malone, and Matt Swanson. We have now grown to almost 50 employees serving a wide spectrum of clients including major Universities, Health Care, K-12, Hospitality, Pharmaceutical, and High-Rise Residential markets in multiple states. We also grew our services to include full Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection design for both new and existing buildings. Through all these changes, and as we brought in new engineers that began their careers at Elara, we have maintained the hands-on culture of our beginning. We want to thank our clients for their confidence and support over these last 20 years.

 

Steve Maze – Founder, Principal

We knew we could make a difference. Don McLauchlan, Doug Smith, and I each with a unique skill set, but with one singular goal; provide a quality consulting experience. “Quality”… a focus we encountered in the 1990s while we owned a contracting company (Arrowhead Environmental Control) included taking full responsibility for the design, construction, and performance of our projects. That identical philosophy was the foundation for the 2001 formation of Elara. 20 years later Don and I along with partners Jay Parikh, Caitlin Levitsky, Brian Malone, Matt Swanson, Dustin Langille, and Bhupendra Tailor remain committed to that foundation. We teach it in different ways each day to our employees. 20 years from our beginning and again each partner with a unique skill, set but with one singular goal; provide a quality consulting experience. I know we are poised for another successful 20+ years.

 

Jay Parikh – Partner, Principal

After ten exciting years at Abbott Labs, I joined Elara as a Partner in July 2006 to fulfill a long-awaited dream of ownership. Elara started out as a small, close-knit family of 10 and has now expanded to nearly 50 employees because of its culture and platform of opportunities. The past 15 years have been an incalculable journey that has enhanced my professional development as a successful business partner and contributed to the growth of Elara. We have secured numerous ASHRAE awards, submitted articles for various publications, and conducted speaking engagements. We have helped clients secure energy rebates totaling over $6.5M over the last 10 years and continually work to reduce buildings’ environmental carbon footprint through innovative, cutting-edge designs.

Our culture, commitment, and dedication make the pillars of our foundation stronger, allowing us to groom and offer partnership to our young aspiring employees for the growth of this company. We may have started out in a small satellite rental office, but now Elara’s growth has allowed us to cater to clients throughout the country. We work to pave the path for our successors in hopes to lead Elara to an elite position in the engineering world.

 

Caitlin Levitsky – Partner, Associate Principal

Brian Malone – Partner, Associate Principal

Matt Swanson – Partner, Associate Principal

Dustin Langille – Partner, Associate Principal

Bhupendra Tailor – Partner, Associate Principal

For all of us, we have individually and collectively strived to ensure our firm’s passion for saving energy, advocating for our clients, creating cutting edge designs, and cultivating a fun learning environment for all our employees.  As stewards for what has been achieved over last 20 years, we hope to see Elara continue to build and expand on these foundations as we grow in the future, adopt and advance new technologies, and implement new ways to empower our employees at all levels. Elara is continuously evolving and adapting to new challenges and we are excited to see how we can continue to contribute to our industry and our local and global communities through our work.

The Principals and Associate Principals of Elara Engineering wish to express our gratitude and appreciation to the many clients, vendors, suppliers, and former employees that have been part of our amazing and successful 20 years.  We are excited, energized, and ever passionate about what we do, and we eagerly look forward to our next 20 years.

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Elara Wins 5 ASHRAE Excellence-in-Engineering Awards

On January 4, 2021, Elara Engineering was recognized by the Illinois Chapter of ASHRAE with five 2020 Excellence-in-Engineering Awards.  Cumulatively, Elara has earned a total number of 29 ASHRAE awards, several of which also represent projects that have secured awards at ASHRAE’s regional and international levels.

Taken together, the five awards exemplify Elara’s passion and ongoing commitment to the sustainable design of energy efficient building infrastructure systems.  The five awards also showcase the breadth and depth of our team’s experience and expertise to deliver practical solutions and designs for a wide variety of project types (new construction, retrofits), building types (high-rise residential, hospitality, higher education), and innovative applications of existing and new technologies.

We congratulate our dedicated and talented project teams on their achievement and recognition by their peers in the Illinois Chapter of ASHRAE. We also extend our thanks to the owners, managers, and staff of these award-winning buildings for their vision and commitment to sustainable, energy efficiency projects.

The Elm at Clark (1122 N. Clark) Makeup Air Unit Replacement

  • $82,539 in utility incentives
  • New chiller plant, condensing boiler plant and MAU for operational flexibility, comfort, performance, reliability, and efficiency
  • New BAS system and dual temperature changeover
  • Project implementation prioritization plan reduced overall project cost
  • Full project details can be found here.

 

 

 

3383 North Broadway Urban Geothermal New Construction

  • New construction 8-story mixed-use building with 134 residential units, an indoor heated parking, retail spaces, and shared amenity areas
  • Geothermal heating and cooling, solar PV, exhaust air heat recovery, shower drain heat recovery, sidewalk snowmelt and demand control strategies
  • Actual EUI: 21 kbtu/ft²
  • Full project details can be found here.

 

 

Hilton Washington, DC Hotel High Pressure Boiler Plant Conversion/Upgrade

  • $56,000 in utility incentives
  • Energy opportunities identified by Elara Energy Audit and Engineering Analysis
  • Boiler conversion from medium to low pressure, burner upgrades, and DA tank modifications in lieu of replacement due to space constraints
  • Required collaboration with local authorities to gain required project approvals
  • Significant energy savings and reduced operating costs due to elimination of stationary engineers required for high-pressure steam plants
  • Full project details can be found here.

 

Loyola University Chicago Francis Hall MEPFP New Construction

  • New Construction 8-Story, 133,400 sq. ft. residence hall
  • LEED Silver
  • Heat recovery VRF units and DOAS system with CO2 controls, energy recovery exhaust air, high-efficiency boilers, and variable speed VRF compressors
  • Natural ventilation design includes a motorized façade that opens to outdoors
  • Ultra-low flow toilets, low-flow showers, and separate irrigation/non-potable water loop
  • LED lighting/automatic light controls, automatic plug load control, and continuous power monitoring
  • Full project details can be found here.

 

The Legacy at Millennium Park Electric to Gas Makeup Air Heating Conversion

  • 73-story, existing mixed-use building
  • Elara ventilation study identified opportunity to convert makeup air system from electric to natural gas heating
  • New hot water heating and re-heat coils sized to maximize efficiency, with negligible fan energy penalty and minimum boiler efficiencies of 94%
  • Parallel ECM pumps reduced pump energy usage
  • Phased implementation to minimize interruption
  • $330,000 in annual energy cost savings
  • Full project details can be found here.

 

Additional Recognitions

University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Academic and Residential Complex New Construction

  • Multifamily Pillars of the Industry Award for Best On-Campus Student Housing Community from the National Association of Home Builders
  • 2020 Architizer A+ Awards: Popular Choice Award for Higher Education and Research Facilities from Architizer
  • Full project details can be found here.

Fields Lofts Renovation and Adaptive Use (Chicago, IL)

  • 2020 Metamorphosis Award, First Place Winner in the Multi-Family Residential Category by Retrofit Magazine, a national journal covering renovations and adaptive use projects
  • The link to the official announcement and article can be found here.

29 North Wacker (Sun Life Assurance Building; Chicago, IL)

  • Featured in Building Energy Exchange Report High-Rise/Low Carbon – Office Deep Retrofit Profiles
  • The link to a PDF of the report can be found here.
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2020 – A Different Year, but with Continued Success for Elara Engineering

We are pleased to announce that 2020 was another successful year for Elara Engineering as we quickly modified the way we do our work to keep our employees, clients, and vendors safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continuing to build from our increase in staff, project locations in more states, greater involvement in K-12 schools, and philanthropic involvement from our dedicated employees, we eagerly look forward to providing our clients in 2021 with constructible, energy efficient designs that help the environment, save money, and increase asset value.

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Associate Principals Matt Swanson and Caitlin Levitsky Co-Author: “Planning for MEP Infrastructure Projects in High-Rise Buildings”

Elara Engineering Associate Principal Matt Swanson, LEED AP, CEM and Associate Principal Caitlin Levitsky, LEED AP BD+C recently co-authored the above titled article placed as a featured story in the Spring 2020 issue of Chicagoland Buildings & Environments.

The heart of any building is its major mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems that allow the building to successfully operate and provide comfort to its occupants. However, when one or more MEP systems require repair or replacement, significant cost and inconvenience to building owners and occupants can occur. Mr. Swanson’s and Ms. Levitsky’s article provides a practical, proactive approach to plan and implement a large-scale MEP repair or replacement project in a high-rise building to minimize costs and disruptions.

Because of the many alternatives that exist for MEP system replacements, the potential for significant disruption and inconvenience to building occupants, and the associated high capital cost incurred to undertake these projects in high-rise buildings, the article recommends a variety of key elements to ensure that a project delivers the intended result and best value.

A reprint of Mr. Swanson’s and Ms. Levitsky’s article can be found here.

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2018 – A Year of Continued Success for Elara Engineering

Elara Engineering is pleased to announce to its valued clients, employees, and vendors that – in 2018 — we have continued to build upon our previous successes.

From the continued design of new technologies such as Variable Flow Refrigerant to Riser Pipe Replacement Projects to the design of large Emergency Backup Power Systems, our dedicated and talented team continues to achieve energy efficiencies through constructible designs that minimize the carbon footprint on the environment, save money, and increase asset value.

 

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Elara Earns 23rd and 24th Excellence in Engineering Awards

On December 4, 2018, Elara Engineering received two 2018 Illinois Chapter ASHRAE Excellence in Engineering Awards.

The first award recognizes Elara’s sustainable design of energy efficient mechanical systems and infrastructure at the Indian Trails Public Library in Wheeling, Illinois while the second recognizes our team’s innovative design that improved energy efficiency at Loyola University Chicago’s (LUC) Quinlan Life Sciences Building; a continuously operated, energy intensive laboratory building.

 Indian Trails Public Library

  • Renovated building with new addition uses approximately 40-50% less energy than typical library building.
  • New energy efficient mechanical systems and infrastructure incorporate a geothermal heating and cooling system that utilizes water source heat pumps.
  • $100,000 EBSCO grant awarded for solar array installation costs – selected from 90 grant submissions from 15 countries.
  • Additional details about this project can be found here.

LUC Quinlan Life Sciences Building

  • Practical design that generates approximately $62,000 in annual energy cost savings with a quick ROI.
  • Design integrated two heat recovery systems to enable year-round heat energy recovery and eliminated heat rejection equipment to reduce implementation costs.
  • Reduced load of campus’ central chilled water plant to provide additional capacity for future buildings.
  • Additional details about this project can be found here.

Elara congratulates its dedicated and talented project teams on their achievement and recognition by their peers in the Illinois ASHRAE Chapter.

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Elara’s Don McLauchlan Receives UIC Engineering 2018 Outstanding Achievement Award

Elara Engineering is pleased to announce that on November 7, 2018 at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) College of Engineering’s Alumni Awards Dinner, Don McLauchlan was awarded a 2018 UIC Engineering Outstanding Achievement Award.  Don holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from UIC and is a founder and principal of Elara Engineering, Inc.

As described by UIC for the awards event, Don has over 35 years of experience in MEP design, construction, and commissioning and focuses on energy efficient design in the building environment; including, new construction, major renovations, problem-solving, green buildings, and fully integrated sustainable systems.  He has led engineering teams on projects for large commercial buildings, schools, universities, and hospitals; among others that have earned 21 first-place Illinois ASHRAE Excellence in Engineering Awards, three first-place Midwest Regional ASHRAE Technology Awards, two International Society ASHRAE Technology Awards, a Green Design Award from the Institute of Real Estate Management, and a Green Innovation Emerald Award from the United States Green Building Council.

As a licensed professional engineer in several states, Don is a certified energy manager and LEED-Accredited Professional. He has authored several technical articles for the ASHRAE Journal and other trade journals and has been a speaker at numerous industry conferences.

Elara Engineering is proud to congratulate Don for his 2018 UIC Outstanding Achievement Award and for his infectious passion, guiding leadership, industry involvement, commitment to client service, and a career devoted to energy conservation and innovative design.

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Loyola University Chicago Ranked 5th Most Eco-Friendly College in U.S.

Elara Engineering is pleased to announce that Loyola University Chicago (LUC) has been ranked by College Magazine as the 5th most eco-friendly college campus in the United States.  Congratulations!

According to College Magazine’s article (found at www.collegemagazine.com), the ranked schools and their students work to reduce their carbon footprint on a campus-scale.  For example, the top ten schools make the most of their resources by providing easy access to recycling, using renewable energy, committing to zero waste at events, having great Environmental Science programs and student run eco-clubs, and holding high standards for environmental sustainability.

The article specifically cites LUC’s zero waste biodiesel production process, rainwater utilization, multipurpose soap, and successful student-lead campaigns to ban water bottles, the use of plastic bags, and to get the University’s administration to take a stand in support of a price on carbon.  Students have also created clubs such as the Student Environmental Alliance and the Growers Guild.  Additionally, the University offers six majors within its Environmental Department: Environmental Science, Environmental Policy, Environmental Public Health, Environmental Studies, Conservation and Restoration Ecology, and Food Systems and Sustainable Agriculture.

Elara is honored for the many opportunities it has had during its ongoing partnership with Loyola University Chicago to advance the school’s commitment to an energy efficient infrastructure.  Completed projects to date have earned an Energy Star Award, a LEED Gold or Silver Designation, a USGBC Emerald Green Innovation Award, and numerous ASHRAE awards at the Chapter, Regional and International level.

Congratulations again to Loyola University Chicago on its recognition as one of the most eco-friendly college campuses in the country.

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Elara Earns 22nd Excellence in Engineering Award

In December of 2017, Elara Engineering received an Illinois Chapter ASHRAE Excellence in Engineering Award for its energy retrofit project at The Residence at Water Tower Place in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood (180 East Pearson Street).  This latest recognition represents Elara’s 22nd Chapter-Level ASHRAE award since the company’s inception in 2001.

The innovative project, further highlighted in the Autumn Issue of Chicagoland Buildings & Environment (access the article) and led by Don McLauchlan and Ryan Hoff, reduced energy costs by 50% and improved occupant comfort through a design approach that re-established centralized humidification and improved building pressurization.  Additional details about the project can be found here.