ATS Engineers, Inspectors & Surveyors

In our current situation, indoor air quality has gone from a very important issue to a critical one.  Healthcare experts say the most dangerous situation for possibly contracting a transmitted airborne virus is indoors, in a contained environment.

Typical HVAC distribution in offices, manufacturing, institutional or retail spaces, distributes the airflow horizontally from grilles high in walls or in the ceiling, using entrainment and mixing to evenly condition the space.  This works well in maintaining comfort but is a direct distributor of air in a space; moving potentially contaminated air through the space, to be shared by many in that space.

ATS Engineers, Inspectors & Surveyors (ATS), MEP team has vast experience with options to address this distribution of potentially contaminated air and is ready with over 60 years of combined experience to help you improve existing systems or do a better job for new projects.

One of the best options is a different distribution system, noted as Displacement Ventilation. This is a link to a description of the benefits of displacement ventilation to dramatically lower the distribution of airborne contaminants in an internal occupied area: https://blog.priceindustries.com/improve-air-quality-in-schools-with-displacement-ventilation

The staff at ATS designed the displacement ventilation for Zach Topfer Theater. This has mixed temperature air rising under the seats, up past the audience member then up to a high return, such that no air is shared with others.  Adding HEPA filters and UV-C disinfection in the unit can result in the lowest possibility of sharing contaminated air.

Displacement ventilation can be retrofitted to most existing buildings. It is an ideal system for large open areas, such as auditoriums, retail spaces, open offices, etc. Perforated low speed airflow air devices can replace the typical distribution grilles. These allow the airflow to spill across the floor, seeking any heat source, then rising  to a high-mounted return, again limiting the sharing of contaminated air.

ATS also has experience designing filtration, UV-C treatment and clean room environments.

Let us help you build or retrofit a space to be safe for all your occupants!

David Mitchell P.E.

ATS’s MEP department manager, David Mitchell, recently delivered a monetary donation to the Central Texas Food Bank on behalf of ATS Engineers, Inspectors & Surveyors. Proceeds from the employee vending machine are donated each month. This month’s donation will provide approximately 1,600 meals.

ATS’s very own Jim Goes, Structural Department Manager, recently participated as a judge in the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA), Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards selection. Jim was one of six other judges evaluating projects in the categories: New Buildings Under $20 Million and New Buildings over $100 Million. Awards will be presented in November at the NCSEA Structural Engineering Summit in Anaheim, CA. Winning projects will also be featured in future issues of STRUCTURE magazine.

The NCSEA annually recognizes Engineers with this award based on projects submitted that demonstrate an innovative design, engineering achievement and creativity. The Award highlights some of the best examples of structural engineering ingenuity throughout the world.NCSEA Conference Details

Our IT Department Manager, Will Guidry, had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at a recent meeting of Howdy Bots FRC Team 6377. Howdy Bots is a high school robotics team from Austin that participates in the First Robotics Competition. The team consists mainly of home-schooled and private-schooled students who don’t have access to an independent school district’s robotics program. The team members have a passion for STEAM education. The mentors are experienced professional engineers and business leaders. The parent organization, ATX Robotics, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and depends upon donors and sponsors for funding.
Will introduced the students to his own robot he affectionately calls “Wall-e” and the autonomous control programming paradigm he uses, known as Subsumptive Behaviors. In that paradigm, various programmatic behaviors take control of the robot as needed for the robot to navigate, avoid obstacles and complete pre-designed “missions” autonomously.
Howdy Bots Website
Howdy Bots Facebook Page

ATS is proud to announce that it received the 2019 ENERGY STAR® Market Leader Award for its outstanding efforts to promote energy efficient construction and help homebuyers experience the peace of mind, quality, comfort, and value that come with living in an ENERGY STAR certified home or apartment.
“The success of the ENERGY STAR program is grounded in the great work of our partners, and our Market Leader Award winners demonstrate a high level of commitment to making ENERGY STAR certified homes and apartments available to American consumers,” said Jonathan Passe, Chief of the ENERGY STAR Residential Branch at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Each year, the ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction program presents Market Leader Awards to outstanding partners who have made important contributions to energy efficient construction and environmental protection by building or verifying a significant number of ENERGY STAR certified homes and apartments, or by sponsoring a local program that supported these activities during the previous year. More than 98,000 ENERGY STAR certified single-family homes and multifamily units were built in 2018, for a total of nearly 2 million homes since 1995. EPA proudly recognizes ATS’s efforts as an ENERGY STAR partner.
For a complete list of 2019 winners and more information, visit energystar.gov/about/awards/2019-energy-star-certified-homes-market-leader-award-winners.

About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations—including more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500®—rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped save American families and businesses nearly 4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity and achieve over 3 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions. In 2017 alone, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped Americans avoid $30 billion in energy costs. More background information about ENERGY STAR can be found at: energystar.gov/about and energystar.gov/numbers.

ATS Engineers, Inspectors & Surveyors welcomes Nycholas White to the Energy Department. Nyc is a certified Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater and will be assisting our other raters in the field. When not working he enjoys hiking with his dog or pursuing his love of science fiction movies.

ATS Engineers, Inspectors & Surveyors is pleased to welcome John Maldonado to our Inspection department. John is an Army veteran, having served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a native Texan and grew up surrounded by the construction industry. He has numerous International Code Council certifications and comes to us with years of experience inspecting construction projects. When he’s not working John spends time with family. In his spare time, he loves being on the lake fishing, kayaking or just taking in the sun. Welcome to the ATS family, John.

ATS Engineers, Inspectors & Surveyors was recently honored with a very special gift from Registered Professional Land Surveyor and ATS employee, Marty Coston. Marty presented ATS with a United States flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol and a Texas flag that flew over the State Capitol. Both flags were flown on Veteran’s day, November 11, 2018. The flags were accompanied by certificates from U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and State Senator Kirk Watson stating that they were flown in honor of the veterans at ATS.

We are fortunate to have several United States veterans working at ATS. We are grateful for their service and the service of all veterans.

ATS is pleased to welcome Dennis Rodriguez to our Energy Department. Dennis is a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater and will be assisting our other energy inspectors in the field. Dennis is a native Texan and was born and raised in Austin. He loves to spend time with family and stays busy with his 8-month-old little girl. We are happy to welcome Dennis to the ATS family.