Project Management

November 25, 2022

The Ultimate Guide To MEP Services: Everything You Need To Know

Complex settings have become common in today’s home and office spaces. But if the services of such a complex space are not designed correctly, one might encounter frequent issues. To resolve this issue, construction companies use MEP services consultants. It guarantees an effective design that comes within a fixed cost.

Continue reading this post till the end to understand what MEP is and its benefits.

What Does MEP Mean?

MEP stands for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering. Here, mechanical engineering is responsible for HVAC.

MEP includes the installation of fire suppression, air conditioning, electrical systems, alarms, and other necessary installation.

While architectural and civil construction provides aesthetics and structure, MEP is responsible for providing facilities to building inhabitants.

Mechanical Engineering

These days, buildings use mechanical systems like heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in different ways. The main aim of this system is to provide better comfort to residential and commercial spaces.

The HVAC systems keep the humidity and temperature level of space to maintain comfort for inhabitants. In addition, it also makes sure enough fresh air passes in the room.

Mechanical engineering is also optimal for heat distributing systems like hydronic piping, air ducts, or steam piping. Washrooms and pantries need air exhaust systems to throw out smelly air. Air filtration systems are required to ensure outside air coming in does not increase indoor pollution levels.

The difficult part in mechanical engineering is creating an efficient and cost-effective design. That’s because many gadgets included in mechanical engineering require a lot of energy to operate and can increase long term ownership cost of the building.

Electrical Engineering

When the building structure gets complicated, it invites challenges in the electrical design. While power takes less space, it requires more planning.

For better design, you can use MEP design software. This way, you can perfectly design wiring and conduit without complicating anything. Doing this also helps you to minimize mechanical and plumbing system problems.

Lately, energy experts have started using LED lights, which consume 30% to 90% less energy and reduce energy bills. They even take the help of a design software tool to know how many lighting fixtures will be required and where they will go.

Also, it’s important to plan electrical and mechanical designs closely. It will ensure that HVAC equipment is properly installed and electrical circuits are running safely.

Plumbing Engineering

Last comes the plumbing system, which should be designed in a way that it can allow the flow of fluids. The main role of this system is to deal with the structure’s drinking water, tanks, valves, and pipelines.

Besides this, the pumps and sprinklers used in the battle fire are also a part of plumbing design.

Benefits of MEP Design

The benefits of proper MEP design in a building helps in:

Controlled carbon dioxide emissions
Utilizes sustainable energy
Helps in conserving water usage
Reduces overall energy consumption
Reduces cost of ownership of the building

Conclusion

The three fields of engineering play an important role in construction design. Whether it’s residential or commercial structures, MEP services are required. It makes sure the building’s electrical, plumbing, and mechanical aspects are working together for better comfort.

For execution of MEP services and for getting quotes for your MEP BoQ’s, please contact Newton.

The 25+ years of design, construction, and interior design experience ranks Newton Services among the top workshops in Delhi NCR.

To get in touch with the team, reach out at +91 87663 05479 or fill out the form on https://newtonservices.in/contact/.

January 13, 2022

EPDM Flooring for sports and play areas

EPDM flooring is a type of artificial flooring that adds colour, patterns and softness to any play or sports area. EPDM flooring, often called as synthetic rubber flooring, makes a play area safer for children to fall on and adds a certain amount of springiness to sports tracks such as jogging or running tracks.

EPDM Granules

newton-epdm-all-colors — *Newton EPDM Granule Colors*

EPDM stands for Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer and comes in the form of colourful granules that are 1 to 3 mm in size. When mixed with a PU (Polyurethane) Binder, they stick together to form a hard surface with a texture and a certain springiness. There are many colours of granules that are readily available and specific colours can be formulated too.

As of date, we have 16 colours in ready stock, the 15 shown in the image and white. While these colours look dull in the form of granules, when the liquid PU binder is mixed with the granules, the colours shine out and become darker too. Our stock of EPDM has >22% virgin polymers, this is important as it gives a longer life to the EPDM surface. While some vendors offer recycled EPDM, we ensure that only virgin EPDM, manufactured with polymer imported from USA/Europe is used in our projects.

These are the specifications of the EPDM used in our projects:

The Base Layer for EPDM Flooring

The surface on which EPDM flooring needs to be should be a hard level floor, like a Plain Cement Concrete (PCC) floor. The top of the floor should be neatly finished with cement mortar, so that a smooth surface is formed on which adhesive will stick. Having a gradient in the floor or drainage pipes under the floor, such that water can drain off instead of being stagnant is crucial. Both the EPDM and the base layers are porous and will allow water to permeate through.

EPDM granules are expensive, so a base layer of recycled rubber buffing or SBR (Styrene-Butadiene-Rubber) is usually created on the flooring. The thickness of this layer varies from 10mm to 130mm, depending on the fall height of the equipment being installed. The choice between rubber buffing and SBR also depends on the softness required – rubber buffing is much softer and will add a lot more bounce to the floor than SBR. It is also possible to mix rubber buffing with SBR to create the right base layer – we recommend a mix of 80% SBR with 20% buffing to create just the right base layer for children’s play areas. The base layer is mixed with 15% PU binder and pasted onto the cleaned surface, and usually dries between 8 to 12 hours.

The Top Layer of EPDM

Once the base layer is dry, the EPDM granules, mixed with up to 25% PU binder are pasted onto the base layer. Dust is blown off the base layer before the top layer work begins. The colours of the EPDM granules are positioned in such a way that they form patterns as per the sites design. It is also possible to form borders with different colours or have a perfect joint between two colours. Some designs require a mix of two or more colours of EPDM granules to create unique colours.

While most specifications are of a top layer of 6mm EPDM, we highly recommend at least 10mm EPDM top layer whereas 15mm is the preferred choice internationally. Increasing the thickness of the top layer increases the cost of the installation but also improves the quality and longevity of the flooring significantly.

Polyurethane (PU) Binders

A key component of both the base layer and the top EPDM layer is the PU binder. The binder is essentially an adhesive and is available from various companies. Some of the reputed ones are BASF, Dow and Huntsman. PU Binders are available in 50KG and 200KG drums. While it is easier to handle 50KG drums, there is less wastage in 200KG drums.

Finished EPDM Flooring

If the EPDM flooring is designed well and correctly installed by a skilled team, it can easily last for 10 years. Newton^® offers a 1 year warranty on all its installations. While it is natural for the colours of the top layer to change a bit due to UV light, other problems such as the joints opening up or the layers detaching from the surface are all covered in the warranty. The finished surface looks beautiful and inviting for play, have a look at these pictures below.

For all your EPDM flooring needs, contact us.

January 8, 2022

Design-Build or Design-Bid-Build: Which works better for you?

The construction of the Taj Mahal, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, was started in the year 1632. While the main mausoleum was completed 11 years later in 1943, work in the rest of the 42 acre complex eventually finished in 1653. It is said that over 22,000 labourers, guided by a board of architects, worked for over these years to complete the construction. Was the contract for building the Taj Mahal a Design-Build or Design-Bid-Build, we will probably never know.

Decision on the method of execution of a project today is taken at an early stage. While there are several delivery systems to execute construction and interior projects, the two most popular ones – Design-Build and Design-Bid-Build are the topic of this post.

Who decides which system to choose for a project?

For any client, the completion of a project has many ramifications. They need to plan the finance, timelines and the use of the building once completed. The quickest way to get it executed is with the Design-Build system while the Design-Bid-Build system can save some costs but add extra time to the project delivery. Therefore, it is the project owner who must choose the system before starting the project.

The Design-Build System

In the design-build project delivery system, a single firm, usually a construction and interiors company like Newton®, enters into a contract with the client to handle the entire project on a turnkey basis, including the design and execution of the project. The company then employs it’s inhouse architects or partners with other architectural firms to create the design. The design is executed by its teams or subcontractors and a finished project meeting the design intent is handed over to the client.

There are several advantages of the design-build system:

Single ownership and responsibility of the project
Open and transparent communication, better coordination between client and contractors
Adversarial conditions are avoided
Design intent is not diluted
Faster project delivery

In the design-build process, the company that owns the contract bears all the project risks. They are therefore responsible for delivering the project on time to avoid penalites.

There are some disadvantages of the design-build system.

The clients feel they may end up paying a slightly higher price than the Design-Bid-Build system.
The risk of the entire project is in the hands of one company, and if that company is not trustworthy or capable, the project can suffer.
Very less involvement of the clients in the execution process

The Design-Bid-Build System

In the design-bid-build system, the clients usually hire an architectural firm to do the design. The firm submits the drawings and tender documents to the client, who invites bids from multiple companies like Newton®. There are rounds of negotiations and the firm that offers the best value is awarded the contract to execute the project.

Some advantages of the design-bid-build system include:

The client is assured of a lower cost of the project and can negotiate better terms
Specialist design firms, that do not involve themselves in execution, can be hired for design
The architects look out for the interest of the client, and ensure contractors deliver to specs.
The client has more involvement in each stage of the design-bid-build process.

However, the design-bid-build process also has disadvantages.

The architects fee, when added to the construction cost, sometimes takes the overall cost higher than what a design-bid system would have delivered.
Often, clients choose the lowest bid and get contracts who do not have capabilities to deliver high quality.
There are conflicts between the clients, architects and contractors which delays decision making and overall project timelines.
Cost escalation and delays in such projects is quite common.
When the overall project execution turns out to be sub-par, there is finger pointing between contracts and architects.

So works better for you – design-build or design-bid-build?

While both systems have their advantages and disadvantages, here are some pointers based on our experience of the past 25+ years, that might help you decide which system to go in for:

For civil construction of large buildings, that needs specialist consultants like structural and MEP consultants, it is often better to go for a design-bid-build system. For smaller residential buildings, a design-build firm would be able to execute faster and at a lower cost.
For interiors, of any size and type, it is better to opt for the design-build system as this eventually leads to time and cost savings.

The above pointers might not apply in some specific projects that have complexities. We would be happy to discuss your project and give proper guidance on the best way forward, do contact us.