Commercial & Residential Property Mechanical & Forensic Engineer: Investigations in Performance of Building Structure, HVAC System Failures and Resolution Expert

Expertise

• Forensic engineering for plant operations worldwide: Applying engineering principles to the investigation of failures or other performance problems in the commercial and residential property industries.
• Testing and evaluation of failure conditions to avoid real-world critical failure of plant operations.
• Design, manage, and installation of computer control systems for large-scale hotels and industrial applications.
• Civil engineering: Electrical, structural and mechanical engineering.
• Forensic studies, investigations, and problem-solving in chemical and gas exposures and poisonings.
• Troubleshoot and solve unique or complex air conditioning problems, (additionally, resolve disputes between contractors).
• Conduct diagnostics on existing systems and design refrigeration and oil control system solutions.
• Provide manufacturing support through patented and proprietary technologies.
• Model and predict energy usage for commercial buildings and perform load calculations for correct equipment and chiller sizing.
• Monitor and maintain carbon monoxide and other gas monitoring systems for commercial and industrial applications.
• Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), studies and forensics for ventilation design services for industrial, commercial, and residential buildings.

Expert Witness

Case Work

• 4 Million Dollar Construction Case – Plaintiff.
• .Construction and Building Failure: Accepted and testified as a Structural and Mechanical Engineering Expert – Plaintiff.
• Nassau County Jail slip and fall injury. Accepted and testified as an Expert Engineering Witness at the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
• .Alleged Truck Failure: Accepted and testified as an Automotive and Mechanical Engineering Expert in Cecil County, Maryland, Department of Public Works Administrative Hearing - Defense.
• .Construction Failure of Stairs – Plaintiff.
• .State of Delaware Attorney General’s Office, Wilmington, DE: Building Safety Issues. Accepted and testified as a Structural and Mechanical Engineering Expert - Plaintiff.
• Alleged boiler failure, multiple deaths and injuries - Defense.
• Provided engineering analysis of mold and fungus damage to building. Testified and was accepted as an Engineer, Home Inspector and Microbial Remediation Expert in New Jersey Superior Court - Plaintiff.
• Pool Drowning, Provided safety engineering and code analysis - Plaintiff.
• Construction Mechanical and Structural Issues. Accepted as a Structural and Mechanical Engineer in Delaware Superior Court - Plaintiff.
• Sports Stadium Construction, IAQ (Indoor Air Quality), and Delay Issues – Defense.
• Newark, NJ: Chemical Plant failure and gas exposure injuries - Plaintiff.
• Construction failure and building moisture damage - Defense.
• Condominium Stair Accident - Defense
• Department Store, Slip, and Fall - Plaintiff.
• Commercial Bank Vault Moisture and IAQ (Indoor Air Quality), Building-related issues - Plaintiff.
• Critical Failure of manufactured high-performance composite hunting arrow -Plaintiff.
• Building Safety Issues. Provided structural and mechanical engineering – Plaintiff.
• Failure of Manufactured Product. Accepted as a Structural and Mechanical Engineering Expert in Arbitration and Superior Court, Delaware. Provided structural and mechanical engineering - Defense.
• Construction and vibration damage to the building. Structural and mechanical engineering support - Plaintiff.
• IAQ and moisture-related problems in the building. Provided structural and mechanical engineering - Defense.
• Hired by Wayne Township, (NJ) to provide engineering review of cogeneration project. Testified and accepted as Mechanical Engineering Expert.
• Provided engineering analysis of a building to be demolished and how to stabilize the building before demolition. Accepted and testified as an Engineering Expert by the Closter Township and Zoning Planning Board.
• Provided engineering analysis of the failure of an underground central steam boiler system. Accepted and testified as an Engineering Expert in Binding Arbitration.
• Provided engineering analysis for the installation of a buried underground emergency generator vault for a medical facility. Accepted and testified as an Engineering Expert by the Wyckoff Township and Zoning Planning Board. Zoning and Planning exemptions were approved for the installation of a generator.
• Provided engineering analysis of mold and fungus damage to the building. Testified and was accepted as an Engineer, Home Inspector, and Microbial Remediation Expert in New Jersey Superior Court - Plaintiff.
• Provided written report of probable cause for an accident involving personal injury via the use of punch press machinations.
• Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), studies and forensics for ventilation design services for industrial, commercial, and residential buildings.

Experience

H.E.& A.I, President, 1995 - Present

• Forensic engineering services for structural and mechanical building systems, industrial and chemical plant failures.
• Building due diligence, inspection, and design services for commercial and residential buildings.
• General civil, electrical, structural, and mechanical engineering.
• Energy usage analysis for hotels, schools, and other large commercial buildings, including load calculations for equipment and chiller sizing.
• Scientific analysis of chemical failures and product failures.
• Chemical and gas exposures and poisonings.

B.P.E.I., President, 1998 - Present

• Manufacturing and sales management expertise in the areas of Energy Recovery and Energy Efficient Systems. Manufacturing high-efficiency energy recovery systems.
• IAQ and Ventilation design services for industrial, commercial, and residential buildings.
• Consult and provide manufacturing support through patented and proprietary technologies.

Trane Company, Honolulu, HI, and Philadelphia, PA, 1994 - 1996

Senior Controls Specialist & Manager, Specialty Products Group

• Designed and managed the installation and use of computer control systems for large-scale hotels and industrial applications.
• Troubleshot and solved unique or complex air conditioning problems and resolved disputes between contractors and other consultants.
• Performed diagnostics on existing systems and designed refrigeration and oil control system solutions.
• Projected and modeled energy usage for hotels and performed load calculations for correct equipment and chiller sizing.

Berkley Engineering & Equipment Company, Honolulu, HI, 1991 - 1994

Senior Applications Engineer/Group Manager, Instruments Division

• Consulted with engineers in client companies to ensure proper instrument installation and optimum application of a wide variety of analytical and process control equipment.
• Managed a group of engineers, service technicians, and service managers to have projects bid, managed, and built on budget and ahead of schedule.
• Engineered, specified, installed, and maintained Carbon Monoxide and other gas monitoring systems for commercial and industrial applications.
• Analyzed client needs and requirements for instrumentation and mechanical systems, prepared price quotes, and project management for appropriate process systems.

E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company, Wilmington, DE, 1982 - 1991

Research Associate, Central Research and Development

• Designed and supervised the construction of high-pressure reactors (over 40,000 psi) to meet the specifications of a wide variety of hazardous and high-pressure chemical reactions and steam systems.
• Served as Safety Chairman for our division in Central Research and Development.
• Directed and created safety-awareness programs that produced a year with no on-the-job injuries.
• Provided testing and evaluation of failure conditions to avoid real-world critical failure of plant operations.
• Involved with a wide variety of chemistry and research that created numerous patents.
• Provided forensic engineering for plant operations worldwide.
• Designed, built, and repaired a wide variety of high-pressure compressors and equipment to meet all types of extreme and failure-mode testing conditions.
• Designed a control system to monitor and maintain several chemical reactors under extreme thermodynamic conditions.
• Tested several hundred chemical process failures per year, leading to broad chemical industry experience.
• Demonstrated ability to work safely with chemical reactions that involved toxic and explosive gases, explosions, or process failures. Typically, company tested chemical processes that could not be safely tested anywhere else as a service of Central Research for the rest of the DuPont Company.

Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering-Honors:

• Successfully completed Fundamentals of Engineering Exam
• Successfully completed Principles and Practice of Engineering Exam
• Instructor; taught Statics or Introductory Structural Engineering Course
• Instructor; taught Engineering Communications Course
• Presented thesis to Senate Faculty on Advanced Structural Failure Mechanics
• Received Drexel’s Service to the Profession of Mechanical Engineering Award
• Presented Drexel’s Special Distinction Award 

Projects

E.I. Du Pont Company, Central Research, Wilmington, DE

• Automated controls for chemical production plant manufacturing processes.
• Designed high-pressure systems to function safely under extreme operating conditions and failures.
• Provided design for fire suppression and explosion-proof containment for chemical reactors and support systems.
• Tested high-pressure reactions to failure and analyzed results to avoid failures in full-scale plants. Designed, built, and repaired compressors and tested a wide variety of refrigerants for material compatibility, absorption, and different test parameters.

Atlantic Electric Company, Egg Harbor, NJ

• Provided general energy engineering and performance contracting engineering for the deregulated services branch of the Atlantic Electric Company.
• Provided energy analysis, general engineering support services, blueprinting, and project specifications, as well as profiling the performance of several hundred buildings and industrial sites over a period of several years.
• Evaluated numerous central steam systems for summertime peak savings using steam for cooling, absorption chillers, steam energy savings measures, and HVAC systems.

Attorney General Office, State of Delaware

• Provided field inspections for multiple buildings, expert witness testimony in court under cross-examination, and worked on several projects for the State of Delaware.

Giants Stadium, Sales Center

• Provided architectural design and layout for a sale center for the new skyboxes in the new stadium.
• Provided structural, mechanical, and full MEP for the project and construction supervision.

TSA, Newark International Airport

• Provide architectural design, interior layout, MEP and HVAC design for a new TSA training and administration suite at the Newark International Airport.

Honolulu Waste Water Treatment Plant, Oahu, HI

• Provided controls and control panel for the emergency pumping station. Developed monitoring equipment to profile flows through the plant.

Pacific Center of High Technology Research, Kona, HI

• Provided design, performance analysis, and project management for plant-wide sensors, control panels, and controls for the Open Cycle Thermal Energy Conversion Process. This was an exotic, full-scale, cold-steam-driven electric power plant--the first large-scale plant in the world to successfully produce a net positive electric generation from warm and cold seawater.

COMPA, Sibiu, Romania

• Sponsored by Eco Links, United States Department of Energy, this several-month-long energy engineer analysis involved a 3.2 million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Eastern Europe, with the main heating and power plant used an extra-large central steam heating and power plant.

• The steam system was thermodynamically analyzed using stand-alone microprocessor-based temperature sensors and was optimized to save energy.

Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA

• Provided engineering for use of Trigen Central Steam Loop for steam-driven electrical generation and summertime cooling through the use of steam for absorption cooling and peak load demand reduction.

City and County of Honolulu, HI

• Designed and provided performance projections for a fresh and brackish water mixing station for Honolulu’s Ala Wai Golf Course.

Kailua Waste Water Treatment Plant, Kailua, Oahu, HI

• Provided instrumentation, motor control center, and control diagrams for Phase III plant modifications.
• Designed main control panel for level and pump controls.

Enterprise Group Development Corporation, Wayne, PA

• HVAC load analysis and feasibility study for wintertime cooling using plate and frame heat exchanger instead of a chiller.
• Replaced existing chiller for better summertime performance.

Halieva Pumping Station, Aiea, Oahu, HI

• Provided VFD controls and flow sensors for pumping station control.

Honolulu Wastewater Treatment Plant, Honolulu, HI

• Engineered flow and volume measuring system to evaluate usage for 20 MGD wastewater treatment plant.

Stone & Webster, Cherry Hill, NJ

• Provided energy analysis and profiled performance of several options for NASA’s vehicle assembly facility and a U.S. coast guard support center.

Episcopal Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

• Provided building load analysis for HVAC systems and feasibility study for a lighting system upgrade.
• Provided performance contracting survey and financial performance for a 10-year period.

Ihilani Hotel, Oahu, HI

• Solved a dispute between the contractor, the original mechanical engineer, and the owner.
• The specified chilled water control valve was not rated for the necessary design conditions, after equipment replacement, replaced, the hotel functioned very well.

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Kahala Coast, HI

• Provided current operating design loads and evaluated different design feasibilities. 

Kaahumanu Mall, Maui, HII

• Designed strip mall store, HVAC, fire protection, plumbing, and food-handling facilities.

Sheraton Waikiki, Honolulu, HI

• Verified current operating design loads and evaluated different design feasibilities.

Johnston Atoll Island and Waste Disposal Facility, Pacific

• Provided controls, controls panel, and incinerator actuator, and isolation gate valve.
• Provided controls, dual HEPA ventilation system for the medical facility on the island.
• Provided Selection and Central Chiller Equipment.

American Savings Bank, Aiea, HI

• Provided design and engineering support for central computer facility’s pre-action fire suppression system.
• Provided sprinkler field layout and all design parameters.

Jackson Cross Company, Philadelphia, PA

• Provided building load analysis for HVAC systems and feasibility studies for several facilities, including Liberty II, Rosen Bluth Travel, and other commercial buildings.

Franklin Mills, Business Complex, Philadelphia, PA

• Provided building load analysis for HVAC systems and feasibility study for the lighting system retrofit.

Grandview Hospital, Sellersville, PA

• HVAC load analysis and feasibility study for wintertime cooling using plate and frame heat exchanger instead of a chiller.

The West Company, Lionville, PA

• HVAC load analysis and financial study of electric load-leveling using ice storage tanks and staged chiller in a facility-wide chilled water system.

Network Personnel, Wilmington, DE

• Provided building load analysis for HVAC systems and feasibility study for the optimization and modification of existing system for better operation and temperature control.

Tokai University, Honolulu, HI

• Researched fire sprinkler design and provided an opinion on a materials and corrosion problem that solved an unusually high degree of material failure in this fire sprinkler system.

Bethlehem Steel, Bethlehem, PA

• Provided building load analysis for HVAC systems and feasibility study for the optimization and modification of the existing system to support better operation and temperature control.
• The building complex was over 1 million square feet with comprehensive and complicated building and site mechanical systems.

Yale University, New Hampshire, CT

• Received Honorarium for round table discussion of facilities Capital Replacement Cost Study for 12,965,000 gross square feet of campus buildings.

Educator

Bergen County Community College, Paramus, NJ, Adjunct Professor

• Taught and designed sustainability and green initiatives programs.
• CD 510 Weatherization Techniques-BPI Certified Course
• Architectural and Engineering for High-Performance Buildings
• Certificate in Green Pathways to Employment Program 
• CD 511 Understanding Alternative Energy-BPI Certified Course
• Architectural and Engineering for Net Zero Buildings and Off-Grid Energy
• Certificate in Green Pathways to Employment Program
• CD 116 Energy and Sustainability for the Built Environment-BPI Certified Course
• Broad overview of fundamental and applied concepts of energy in the context of the modern and built environment.
• Certificate in Green Pathways to Employment Program.

New Jersey Institute of Technology, University Heights, Newark, NJ

Adjunct faculty member and panelist for Public & Private Rights & Remedies

• Master’s Degree and Ph.D. Programs, seminar on Environmental Problems Solving;  Topic “World Trade Center Redevelopment Plan”

Honolulu Community College, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI

Adjunct Professor for the Department of Occupational Safety & Health

• Taught and designed OSH-204, a course covering industrial hygiene and safety.
• Involved the use of personal protection devices such as Scott Air Packs, CO Sensors, Gas Sensors, Light and Noise control, and monitoring for workplace safety.
• Taught and designed OSH-208, a course covering industrial hazardous waste generation, remediation, and treatment.

Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

• Undergraduate Student Teaching in Mechanical Engineering
• Statics, an Introductory Structural Engineering Course.
• Engineering Computer Graphics Communications Course.
• Completed Introduction to Personalized System of Instruction.
• Completed Course Series to Personalized System of Instruction.

State of Hawaii School System

• Organizer - Math counts, a program to develop potential young engineers and their interest in math.
• Judged and Tested Math Counts competition for Oahu Chapter Math Counts Competition.
• Judged and worked on a team to organize Hawaii State solar car competition, a state-wide program that gives high school students the opportunity to design a solar-powered vehicle.

Honors & Publications

Credentials

• P.E., R.A., CEM, Fellow NAFE of NSPE, D-IBFES
• California Professional Engineer License
• Connecticut Professional Engineer License
• Delaware Professional Engineer License
• Hawaii Professional Engineer License
• New Hampshire Professional Engineer License
• New Jersey Professional Engineer License
• New Jersey Registered Architect License
• New York Professional Engineer License 
• Pennsylvania Professional Engineer License 
• National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying

Academic and Professional Affiliations

• International Board of Forensic Engineering Sciences, Board Certified Diplomat
• President and Former Vice President of Policies and Procedures
• Delaware Society of Professional Engineers, Examining Committee, Former Voting Member
• Engineers and Architects of Hawaii, Former Vice President
• Honolulu Society of Professional Engineers, Former Vice President
• National Society of Professional Engineers, Member
• National Academy of Forensic Engineers, Board Certified Diplomat in Forensic Engineering, Fellow Member, Past Executive Vice President
• ASTM E2292-04 – Voting Member; Standard Guide for Field Investigation of Carbon monoxide Poisoning Incidents.
• ASTM International, Former Voting Member
• Board of Adjustment, Village of Ridgewood, Former Member & Chairman of Site Plan Committee
• T-TAC-TC07.08 Owning and Operating Costs, Former Chairman/Member
• The Practicing Institute of Engineering, Inc., Board of Directors Member – Trustee

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE)

• ASHRAE SPC 133, Voting Member
• ASHRAE Standard 189.1
• GPC 32P - Sustainable, High-Performance Operations & Maintenance, Voting Member, Contributing, Co-Author
• ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award
• Technical Committee 5.5 - Air-To-Air Energy Recovery
• Former Chairman/Voting Member, Former Vice Chairman
• Technical Committee 7.6 - System Energy Utilization - Voting Member
• Technical Committee 7.8 - Owning and Operating Costs of Commercial Buildings
• Former Chairman, Voting Member & Former Program Manager, Vice Chairman   and Secretary, Subcommittee Handbook Chairman
• ASHRAE Standard 84-1991R
• Reviewed draft of ASHRAE Standard 84-1991R and provided engineering details for efficiency calculations.

Course Work and Seminars

• AEC Daily Corporation, Successful completion of “Rolling Door Products: Design Types.”
• ASHRAE, Salt Lake City, Utah, Forum: “What Do People Want in a Design Guide for Air-to-Air Energy Recovery?”
• NAFE, National Academy of Forensic Engineers, Denver, Colorado, Seminar:  General Topics in Forensic Engineers.
• ASHRA, Quebec City, Canada, Seminar: “How Low Can You Go?  Low-Energy Buildings through Integrated Design.”
• ASHRAE, Quebec City, Canada, Seminar: “Fundamentals of Fan Systems.” 
• ASTM, New Orleans, Louisiana, E30-05: Engineering Standards
• American Academy of Forensic Sciences, New Orleans, Louisiana, “There is ‘Gold’ in Mold:  Forensic Evaluation, Litigation and Litigation Issues in Mold and Indoor Air Pollutants Claims.
• NAFE, Forensic Engineering Seminar, San Diego, California, General Topics in Forensic Engineering
• Municipal Land Use Committee Symposium, Bergen County, New Jersey, Annual Review of Land Use Case Law and Legislation for Planning and Zoning Boards
• ASHRAE, Winter Convention, Atlantic City, New Jersey Future programs and handbook improvements for owning and operating costs of buildings.
• NAFE, Forensic Engineering Seminar, Los Angeles, California. General Topics in Forensic Engineering
• NAFE, Forensic Engineering Seminar, Los Angeles, California, Lecture on Chappaquiddick
• ASHRAE, Summer Convention, Cincinnati, Ohio, Future programs and handbook improvements for owning and operating costs of buildings.
• ASHRAE, National Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, Future programs and discussion of Chapter updates and agenda.
• Schinnerer’s Understanding & Managing Risk, Pikesville, Maryland, Professional Development, “The Construction Phase.”
• Trane Company, Wilmington, Delaware Live Satellite Seminar in conjunction with U.S. DOE, ASHRAE/IESNA, “Energy Standards for Buildings.
• ASHRAE National Convention, Dallas, Texas, Seminar, Speaker: “Owning and Operating Costs of Commercial Buildings, What Is Important to the Membership."
• The Consulting Engineers Council of Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, Professional Development for Ethics in the Profession
• State of Delaware, Department of Administrative Services, Newark, Delaware, Commercial Energy Code Workshops
• Criterium Engineers National Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, Seminar: “Commercial Building Inspections”
• Criterium Engineers National Conference, San Antonio, Texas, Seminar: “Building Inspections”
• Leadtec Service, Wilmington, Delaware, Seminar: “Lead Hazards” Workshop
• Trane Company, Nashville, Tennessee, Seminar: “Performance Agreement for Comfort from Trane” Workshop
• United States Environmental Protection Agency, Burlington, New Jersey, Seminar: “Green Lights, Energy Efficient Building Systems" (Workshop)
• Criterium Engineers National Conference, San Antonio, Texas, Seminar: “Building Systems”
• Trane Company, Honolulu Office, Honolulu, Hawaii, Courses:
• Refrigeration System Piping
• Variable Air Volume
• Refrigeration System Components
• Centrifugal Water Chillers
• Air Conditioning Fans
• The Refrigeration Cycle
• Psychrometry
• Monitek Technologies, Inc., Hayward, California, Course Title: Flow Monitoring Techniques
• Foxboro Company, Foxboro, Massachusetts, Course Title: Advanced Process Control
• E.I. DuPont. De Nemours & Company, Experimental Station, Wilmington, Delaware, Course Title: Chemical Engineering Training Program (2-year program)
• E.I. DuPont. De Nemours & Company, Experimental Station, Wilmington, Delaware, Seminar: “Work Place Safety”
• E.I. DuPont, De Nemours & Company, Experimental Station, Wilmington, Delaware, Seminar: “Chemical Safety”
• E. I. DuPont, De Nemours & Company, Experimental Station, Wilmington, Delaware, Seminar: “Laboratory Safety”
• De Nemours & Company, Experimental Station, Wilmington, Delaware, Course Title: Hazardous Material Safety
• De Nemours & Company, Experimental Station, Wilmington, Delaware, Course Title: Computer Process Control

Awards

• Fellow – National Academy of Forensic Engineers a Charter Affinity Group of the National Society of Professional Engineers
• Fellow – Drexel University Philanthropy
• Paul Harris Fellow – Rotary International
• EBIE Award, Existing Building Emmy – USGBC and Urban Green Building Council
• ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award
• Drexel University - Service to the Profession Award
• Yale University Honorarium
• Top 10 Most Sustainable – Sustainable Industries National Sustainability Award 

Publications

• Author, ASHRAE Handbook, Owning and Operating Costs
• Author, ASHRAE Handbook, Owning and Operating Costs and PACE, (Property Assessment for Clean Energy) Financial Analysis

Patents

 Inventor of over a dozen patents (the U.S. and worldwide).

Education

• B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA