What is an MEP Contractor?
What is MEP? MEP, or mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering, are the three technical fields that confine the systems that permit building interiors to be fit for human usage and occupancy. MEP installations are normally organized together, due to the high degree of interaction between them. This combined system also prevents equipment location conflicts – difficulties are a common problem when mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems are designed separately.
As a result of this difficulty, modern engineering firms tend to use software to speed up this design process. Repetitive tasks are undertaken by a computer, allowing MEP design engineers to focus their attention elsewhere. When you work with an MEP engineering firm, their MEP services offer such advantages as optimizing material requirements to reduce installation costs, while achieving high performance and meeting codes.
In this article, we’ll go through the three separate disciplines to see how they have been incorporated into a project plan as well as the benefits they bring to construction. There are also many MEP estimation service providers online.
Mechanical Engineering:
Residential, commercial, and industrial buildings tend to have several mechanical systems installed in them. Most of the mechanical configuration work in residential and commercial buildings is affected by HVAC: space heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
- These systems allow the indoor temperature and humidity to remain within a range that provides convenience and health
- Mechanical ventilation also delivers a steady supply of fresh air, to keep contaminants at low and safe levels
Concerning equipment capacity, these mechanical facilities operate at their best when capacity is adequate. Over-engineering is never a good thing, however, oversized boilers and chillers tend to cycle rapidly, creating a fluctuating room temperature and a wearing down of equipment at an accelerated pace.
Other than sizing HVAC equipment correctly, mechanical design involves finding the optimal routes for heat distribution systems: air ducts, refrigerant lines, steam piping, etc. If combustion is used for heating, which is the case in many buildings, equipment must be carefully vented to remove harmful exhaust gases.
Electrical Engineering:
In high-rise constructions, finding the optimal routes for electrical conduit and wiring can save a bunch of material. There tend to be more flexible compared to mechanical systems since electrical circuits need much less space and can be routed around obstacles more easily. MEP software comes in particularly useful in this regard, as it allows conduit and wiring to be laid out with lowly circuit lengths, avoiding location difficulties with mechanical and plumbing installations.
Lighting facilities are the electrical system with the most heightened energy usage in most buildings. LED lighting is frequently recommended by energy consultants as it achieves the most savings. Many design software packages can help with this.
HVAC is an area that needs close collaboration between mechanical and electrical engineers:
- Mechanical engineers figure out the space heating and air conditioning loads, to determine equipment capacities
- Electrical engineers design the electrical circuits and protection measures that let this equipment run continuously and safely.
Furnaces and boilers are the main HVAC elements that use fossil fuels as a power origin.
Plumbing Engineering:
Plumbing needs to spread out complex piping routes, assisted by MEP design software to facilitate the process. As plumbing facilities will interact with both mechanical and electrical systems in many areas within the interior of the building, it supports just how significant it is that all involved members collaborate. MEP Company can help with advanced software to simplify the process and avoid clashes.
Collaboration among design teams is important
- High-towering structures normally need water booster pumps
- Domestic hot water systems normally use a dedicated water heater or heat exchanger linked to a space heating boiler
Benefits of MEP:
Controlled carbon dioxide emissions make your building more energy-efficient, whether you are still at the development stage. Given the complexity of MEP system layouts, modern engineering companies use software to speed up the design process. When modern MEP software is utilized, the value of the 3d model produced goes beyond the construction phase. It can be updated along with the building’s major renovations.