Sustainable Design Engineer Leader, Mission Critical

About the role

A primary managerial position in whole-building dynamic thermal and energy building simulation models for various building types and scales. Shares responsibility for project successes and has a recognized ability to impact revenue and growth. Manages the firm’s resources (people, processes, and tools) with proficiency, fluency, and aptitude. Teaches and mentors staff while embodying and expressing the firm’s values and mission. Advances enterprise-level objectives for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG).

Responsibilities

• Oversees whole-building dynamic thermal and energy building simulation models for various building types and scales, including advanced mechanical systems evaluations, architectural response to enhancing daylighting, lighting control systems, and detailed thermal and moisture response of building façade components.
• Understands business constraints and opportunities when developing energy modeling-related service proposals.
• Manages detailed engineering analysis to minimize energy consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions tied to a building’s architectural design, construction, and operation.
• Manages comfort studies, life cycle cost analysis, energy simulation, daylight simulations, solar shading analysis, and renewable energy evaluation to provide analysis-based recommendations for architects, engineers, contractors, and operators.
• Supports the DesignGreen team and Enterprise leadership to expand and integrate design performance, building energy modeling, and building operation modeling across all projects, informing design decisions by predicting building performance related to energy efficiency, passive and active design strategies, building massing, daylight availability, glare control, shading analysis, thermal comfort, natural ventilation, mechanical systems alternatives, loads analysis, renewable energy systems integration, and similar factors throughout the project’s life cycle.
• Predicts a building’s anticipated energy use and corresponding energy savings compared to a standard baseline using whole-building energy simulation and verifies performance through industry-standard calibration procedures for post-occupancy evaluations.
• Oversees Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for design alternatives with a keen understanding of appropriate economic analysis parameters.
• Leads and/or assists design teams to promote integrative sustainable strategies and leverage complex data sets to support design decisions and research.
• Leads and/or assists with specialized project and enterprise research activities, including energy, environmental, carbon, and general sustainability issues.
• Authors professional publications/journals (prime investigator) and identifies areas of opportunity (innovation) to increase energy efficiency using new or existing technologies, creative market transformation ideas, and/or innovative implementation strategies.
• Advances enterprise-level Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts such as the AIA 2030 Commitment and the United Nations Global Compact.
• Oversees technical reports and presentation materials.
• Collaborates with HKS Research to lead and manage the development and use of indoor environmental sensors and instrumentation for research, diagnostics, and post-occupancy evaluations.
• Participates in or leads team meetings to discuss project issues, technical issues, and coordination with other disciplines.
• Travel may be required.

Requirements

• Accredited professional degree in Architecture, Engineering, Sustainable Design, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Professional engineering licensure preferred.
• Typically 10+ years of experience.
• Modeling credentials such as ASHRAE Building Energy Modeling Professional (BEMP), Building Energy Simulation Analyst (BESA), or equivalent preferred.
• Sustainable design accreditation preferred.
• Familiarity with design and energy modeling applications such as Rhino, Grasshopper, Radiance, DIVA, REVIT, AutoCAD, SketchUp, IES VE, Sefaira, Insight360, EnergyPlus, and EnergyPro preferred.
• Experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, SketchUp, and InDesign graphic software preferred.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite preferred.
• Experience in LEED submission and regulatory compliance energy modeling.
• Familiarity with computational design and parametric modeling preferred.
• Familiarity with energy modeling preferred.
• Knowledge of sustainability and integrated design guidelines.
• Strong knowledge in interpreting and applying high-performance building standards such as ANSI, ASHRAE, IESNA, and ASTM, as well as building energy codes such as IECC and T24.
• Strong knowledge of architectural building systems.
• Working knowledge of building physics, energy transfer, mechanical design, system control strategies, and economics.
• Knowledge of QA/QC and specification processes.
• Knowledge of building codes and ability to research and apply/incorporate into technical documents.

Skills

• Strong organizational skills and the ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Ability to maintain existing client relationships and build new ones.
• Ability to communicate and present ideas clearly, concisely, and professionally, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to problem-solve and apply innovative solutions.
• Ability to collaborate and encourage collaboration in a team environment.
• Ability to effectively meet deadlines at expected quality.