What are Chilled Beams? Chilled Beams originated in 1986 with the first passive chilled beam being installed in Stockholm, Sweden. A chilled beam is an air recirculation device that uses water to transfer sensible heat to and from a room. It is made of convective coils that are placed in the ceiling of a thermal zone to provide sensible cooling and/or heating. Chilled Beams can be “two-pipe” (cooling only) or “four-pipe” (heating and cooling). There are two types of chilled beams: passive and active. Passive Chilled Beams are cooling coils that are exposed to a space and rely on natural convection as the method of heat transfer. As the air in the space is heated it rises up in the space where it comes in contact with the chilled beam cooling coil. As the air is cooled it falls back into the occupied space, picks up heat, and repeats the cycle. Passive beams should only be used in cooling applications. If they were to be used in heating applications, the hot air would rise off the beam (stratify) and never reach the occupied space below. Active Chilled Beams have a primary air connection that provides conditioned/dehumidified ventilation air. This primary air is pushed through the beam’s induction nozzles, which causes the beam to act as an air diffuser. Active beams may be used for both cooling and heating applications. The forced primary air can force the heated air down to the occupied space. Chilled Beams are a more energy-efficient alternative to air-only conditioning systems as water has a Continue Reading →

Eric Hopkins, PE, Senior Chemical Process Engineer and Senior Associate at SSOE Group, recently authored an article in Plant Engineering where he explains how better energy assessments improve a plant's overall optimization and provides better data insights. He provides an in-depth analysis of three energy assessment strategies that should be considered to unlock value to improve your organization’s next energy assessment. Continue Reading →

Michael Vetter, PE, PMP, Senior Project Manager and Senior Associate at SSOE Group, was recently featured in a Q&A session with Area Development where he was asked about what companies are doing to keep their operations up and running and their employees safe during the COVID-19 crisis. During this session, he focuses on how the pandemic has affected SSOE’s Food and Consumer Products business and what those manufacturers are experiencing during these unprecedented times. Continue Reading →

Jens Ebert, PE, PMP, Principal Division Manager, and Tim Michalski, PE, Department Manager, both of SSOE Group, were recently featured in this Food Engineering magazine article. Based on the publication’s annual survey, this year’s article discusses how COVID-19 is overshadowing project planning and construction while decreasing already short labor supplies. Additionally, Editor Wayne Labs goes on to write three supplementary articles to discuss site-related issues, Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) facility design criteria, and automation trends including integration and flexibility. Continue Reading →

Josh Zimmerman, Department Manager, Business Development, BIM2Fab Steel, and Jourdan Schermerhorn, AIA, PMP, Senior Project Manager, both of SSOE Group, were recently quoted in this Industry Today magazine article. This recently published article discusses how the implementation of Kanbanize across SSOE and training employees on the Kanban Method has brought several key results for the firm. To read the full article, click here. Continue Reading →