Elm Engineering lands large international project in Republic of Korea
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Charlotte, NC- Kim Reitterer, president of Elm Engineering, will be heading to the Republic of Korea next month to meet with the Chairman of the Board of Korean Airlines and other team members for the new 785,000 square foot (71,000 square meter) Hyatt Regency Hotel, “H2”, at Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea. Incheon International Airport is one of the top airports in the world, occupying a strategically important position for international trade and cultural exchange. Incheon is one of the exemplary airports on the planet with a golf course, spa, countless shops, restaurants, bars and food courts, private nap rooms, a rink, casino, indoor gardens and hosts the Museum of Korean Culture. This airport consistently wins top honors from Skytrax, IATA, and Airports Council International.
The “H2” hotel and retail complex will be LEED Gold certified. The complex is being designed by Gensler, an international architectural firm headquartered in San Francisco. “We are working with the Los Angeles office of Gensler. After our selection, we were excited to learn Gensler was the architectural firm since we have collaborated with their Charlotte office on previous projects,” stated Heather Kinsey, who leads sustainability efforts for the company. Gensler is a global architectural and planning company with 3,000 plus employees in 41 locations, including Charlotte.
Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) selected Elm for their leadership in commissioning and commitment to sustainability. PB is a professional services firm with 14,000 employees in 150 offices providing construction and operation management, planning, design, engineering, program management, strategic consulting, environmental and sustainability services for clients and communities in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia-Pacific regions. Elm was founded in 2005 to increase sustainability awareness and improve resource conservation. They are an original signatory of the Architecture 2030 Challenge, an agreement which seeks to reduce carbon emissions to zero by the year 2030.
For the H2 project, Elm Engineering is providing commissioning services, facilitating communications among the owner, American and Korean designers, and contractors, ensuring that energy and water consuming systems are installed and function at peak operating efficiency. “Commissioning is quality control for the construction process, giving building owners and facility managers an operating manual for their expensive and complex buildings. You wouldn’t buy a car without an owner’s manual, why should a building owner spend millions without getting an owner’s manual for the building? Asked Tom Garchk, commissioning manager for the H2 project and an owner at the firm. “Heating, ventilating, air conditioning, lighting, and water controls will be monitored for optimum performance by the measurement and verification system we are deigning for the facility”. Over time, performance degrades without regular maintenance so regular tune ups are necessary for longevity and best operation. Savvy building owners all over the world are commissioning their buildings to increase building profitability and reduce operating costs.
The project is scheduled for completion in 2014. Elm will be traveling to South Korea at least six times during the design and construction period. “This is an exciting time in our industry, and this will be a beautiful building,” stated Ms. Reitterer. “The opportunity to do business internationally is a thrilling experience .”
