Portfolio

Lighting designed for worship and gathering

With engineers from Lee Architects, we planned the power distribution and lighting systems for this modern building. We sized the electrical service for the current design, keeping in mind future classroom and chapel additions.

Worship services at Mission Hills connect members with one another and welcome them with open arms. Gatherings at the church routinely include highly-engaging media presentations. We designed distribution to serve these “road shows” via road show disconnects for theatrical lighting and audio visual systems. The design incorporated distribution for the worship center theatrical lighting, audio and video systems in addition to general power of the facility. We also planned AVL systems for the youth and children’s worship areas.

Wherever possible, we incorporated energy efficiency into the lighting design. We used fluorescent lighting, occupancy sensors and integrated lighting control systems. We built the main lobby area to include high, two-story ceilings lit with a combination of fluorescent multi-lamped, multi-switched can lights, fluorescent decorative wall sconces, fluorescent direct and indirect pendants, and decorative accent lighting at the centralized fireplace and café areas.

We structured the “Main Street” corridor connecting the west and east wings as a two to three story mall-like atrium that incorporated a combination of decorative fluorescent wall sconces and matching large scale pendants. The pendants used fluorescent and metal halide lamp sources and included emergency lighting. We designed the worship center using incandescent quartz halogen can lights and decorative wall sconces—all fully dimmable and controlled via the theatrical lighting systems. We designed lighting for the facility to meet the 2006 IECC and it passed 23% better than code.

Creative mechanical solutions

We designed the mechanical system using constant volume and variable volume HVAC systems to serve classroom occupancies, sanctuary, church offices, youth rooms and assembly spaces. We drew on our teams’ expertise to overcome design challenges including: designing the HVAC systems to achieve NC25 and RC N 27 sound criteria in the worship center. We innovatively deigned a sound reduction solution using contractor-fabricated sound attenuators.

Plumbing solutions for the present and future

We designed new restrooms with standard efficiency plumbing fixtures throughout the project. We planned a coffee shop to include plumbing fixtures and systems to allow for full kitchen service, including a 1500 gallon grease interceptor, as required by the local wastewater department. We planned a hot water system for the coffee shop and classrooms to meet health department criteria for both food preparation areas and commercial childcare facilities. As the church planned to grow, we included plumbing infrastructure within the church to allow for several planned future expansions without having to modify the existing systems.

Project Highlights

During this $15 million project, MEP engineers collaborated with the entire design team to provide a space that met energy efficiency goals, minimized utility costs and saved energy. Our team researched and coordinated the use of alternative ventilation approaches that are not covered under the 2003 International Mechanical Code.

These approaches included using ASHRAE 62.1-2004 ventilation calculations for minimum outdoor air flow rates as well as CO² sensing and outside air control strategies for the high occupancy spaces throughout the floor plan. Using the ASHRAE ventilation calculations and CO² sensing allowed the HVAC equipment to reduce energy consumption by not heating or cooling as much outside ventilation air. The equipment tonnage was reduced by approximately 70 tons of cooling capacity and approximately 1,512,000 BTU/h of natural gas usage and capacity.