Contributed by Ralph Manglass, P.E., Senior Engineer, Criterium Engineers If you own or manage a building with air conditioning or heat pump systems, you may soon notice higher replacement costs, and the reason may not be equipment age alone. Enacted in 2025, new federal refrigerant regulations began reshaping the HVAC industry, with significant cost….
Construction Engineering News
Is Your Façade Leaking?
A building’s exterior façade can experience water infiltration anytime during a its lifetime. The façade is composed of a variety of components including windows / door penetrations; wall cladding; and features such as balconies and other architectural elements. Water infiltration can occur while the building is undergoing transition from developer to a new condominium….
Your Future Roof Surface
Is your community facing resurfacing its flat roof(s) in the near future? This is a generational question as roof surfaces tend to last 25 to 30 years. By ‘flat roof(s)’ I mean a low-slope roof surface having a slope between ¼ and 3-inches per foot. In the Northeast, most existing flat roof surface membranes….
Building Envelope Commissioning (BECx): Building Performance and Energy Efficiency
When a building is designed and constructed, it is necessary to consider how that building’s envelope will perform throughout its life span. Building Envelope Commissioning (BECx) performed by Criterium Engineers, is part of a comprehensive quality assurance program to verify that project specifications and requirements are incorporated into the building envelope’s design, interpreted accurately,….
Drones in Your Future
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) use is rising for condominiums and HOA community Reserve Fund and Transition building inspections. However, the use of UAV’s or drones is not for everyone. Condo boards will face future decisions regarding drone usage by either service providers or unit owners so the board should be prepared. For this reason, I….
Water Intrusion Testing: Building Envelope Integrity
When weather penetrates a building, it can be a costly issue that compromises the functionality and habitability of the building and may eventually lead to structural issues. While there is no single tactic that will prevent water from entering a building, incorporating Third Party Quality Assurance during construction or renovation is essential for reducing….
Innovations Transform the Building Inspection Process
Emerging technology and innovation are continually transforming the building construction inspection process. Criterium Engineers evaluates and adopts appropriate new technologies to provide additional knowledge and information for our clients. Two inspection innovations in particular—the use of drones and thermal imaging—have been change drivers for Criterium Engineers in recent years, reaching areas that were previously unattainable….
The Orange Triangle in Our Logo
Criterium Engineers was founded in the days when building plans were meticulously designed and drawn by hand. The dedicated engineer’s talisman—the plastic drafting triangle—could once be found on almost every drawing table in our offices. And while a clear plastic triangle might easily be lost on piles of white paper, bright orange drafting triangles always….
Fire-Rated Assemblies – Building Science Webinar
Welcome to Criterium Engineers’ educational Building Science webinar series. In this episode, Scott Forbes discusses fire-rated assemblies as part of construction basics. We’ll look at high-risk conditions in attached and detached residential construction and other important topics associated with fire-rated assemblies. If you have questions about this presentation, contact us. Presented by: Scott Forbes, Vice….