HVAC Designer/Engineer

Yates Construction Co.; Birmingham, Northern (AL, KY); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Yates Engineers, the engineering and design arm of Yates Construction, seeks an HVAC designer/engineer with 5+ years of experience to design, size, and specify HVAC systems for industrial facilities in Birmingham, Alabama. You will handle load calculations, equipment selection, design drawings, bid evaluation, submittal review, and commissioning, collaborating with mechanical, electrical, structural, controls teams.

We value practical knowledge from construction/service and strong design depth.

Qualifications

• 5+ years HVAC design/engineering experience.
• Experience with load calculations and equipment selection.
• Knowledge of SMACNA and duct design.
• Experience creating design drawings and submittals.
• Ability to coordinate with mechanical, electrical, structural and controls teams.

Responsibilities

• Prepare engineering man-hour estimates for HVAC scopes.
• Perform building and room heating and cooling load calculations.
• Size and select HVAC equipment, and prepare equipment specifications and data sheets.
• Produce HVAC design drawings, including layouts, ductwork, piping and details, and HVAC control P&IDs.
• Write HVAC work scopes for contractors and equipment suppliers.
• Evaluate equipment and contractor bids technically, and make recommendations.
• Review and approve HVAC equipment submittals against the design intent and project specifications.
• Support commissioning of HVAC equipment and systems, including start-up, testing and issue resolution.
• Coordinate with other disciplines and with clients, vendors and field personnel.

Skills

HVAC design fundamentals

Load calculations

Equipment sizing

Coordination with disciplines

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or Engineering Technology

Tools

AutoCAD

Revit

Navisworks

CHVAC

Trane/Carrier load tools

Job description

Yates Engineers is the engineering and design arm of Yates Construction, a company founded in 1963. We were established in Birmingham, Alabama in 2011 and added a Greenville, South Carolina office in 2019, providing full-service engineering to industrial and commercial clients. We work to the Yates values of Safety, Integrity, Passion and Commitment.

Position Summary

We are looking for an HVAC designer/engineer with 5 plus years of experience to design, size and specify heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems for industrial facilities. You will take projects from load calculations and equipment selection through design drawings, bid evaluation, submittal review and commissioning. We value two backgrounds equally: candidates from the construction and service side, who know what can actually be built and maintained, and candidates from the design side, who bring strong technical depth. Either way, we need both skill sets, and we will help you build the one you don't yet have.

Responsibilities

• Prepare engineering man-hour estimates for HVAC scopes.
• Perform building and room heating and cooling load calculations.
• Size and select HVAC equipment, and prepare equipment specifications and data sheets.
• Produce HVAC design drawings, including layouts, ductwork, piping and details, and HVAC control P&IDs.
• Write HVAC work scopes for contractors and equipment suppliers.
• Evaluate equipment and contractor bids technically, and make recommendations.
• Review and approve HVAC equipment submittals against the design intent and project specifications.
• Support commissioning of HVAC equipment and systems, including start-up, testing and issue resolution.
• Coordinate with other disciplines (mechanical/piping, electrical, structural, controls) and with clients, vendors and field personnel.

Required Knowledge and Skills

Candidates are not expected to have every item below on day one. A working command of the equipment and technical fundamentals is essential, and the rest can be developed with mentoring.

Equipment

• Working knowledge of how an air conditioning and refrigeration system operates; service experience is a plus but not required.
• Air-cooled vs. water-cooled systems, chilled water systems, packaged units and split systems.
• Air-cooled and water-cooled condensers, chillers (air-cooled and water-cooled), and cooling towers and their purpose.
• Compressor types: hermetic, semi-hermetic and screw; and the differences between screw and centrifugal chillers.
• Carbon filter air units and their purpose.
• Heaters: gas, electric, steam, duct-mounted and unit heaters.

Technical

• Heating and cooling load calculations for a room, building or structure, including infiltration (typically 15% to 25%), U-factors/R-values, solar loads, and sensible and latent loads.
• Determining when a system is sized on sensible vs. latent load, and what increases latent capacity.
• Psychrometrics: dry bulb, wet bulb, dew point, relative humidity, enthalpy, grains per pound of dry air, evaporation and dehumidification, and how they relate.
• Calculating mixed air temperature; conversions among hp, Btu/h and kW; single-phase vs. three-phase power.
• AC control strategies, including what drives dehumidification and how to control humidity.
• Sizing electric heaters by temperature rise vs. temperature differential (envelope loads).
• Air changes per hour for an envelope and ventilation design strategy, including heating and ventilating a warehouse or boiler building.
• Ventilation methods: cross-flow, push-pull and stack effect.
• Duct design and fabrication: SMACNA requirements, CFM, constant velocity and static regain methods, and which fittings can be fabricated and in what configurations.
• Refrigerants: pure vs. blends, GWP, ODP, A2L classification and the requirements for using A2L refrigerants.
• Piping: refrigerant piping types and insulation; chilled water piping material, insulation and velocity.
• Pipe design experience is a plus.

Software

• Microsoft Office: Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• AutoCAD (2D, 3D, MEP) and Revit.
• Navisworks.
• HVAC load calculation tools: Excel spreadsheets, CHVAC, Trane, Carrier and others.

Preferred Background

• Experience on the construction, installation, service or startup side of HVAC, which gives practical knowledge of what can be built and its limitations; or
• Experience on the design/engineering side with strong technical fundamentals.
• Industrial or process facility experience.
• Degree in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology, or equivalent experience. [Years of experience and PE/EIT requirements to be set by level.]

Working Conditions

Office-based, with occasional travel to client facilities and job sites for field verification, bid walk-downs and commissioning. Site visits may require appropriate PPE and safety training.

Yates Engineers is an equal opportunity employer. [Insert standard EEO and benefits statement.]