Partners in Profile: MechWave

Earlier this summer, MechWave Engineering became the 53rd member of the imagineCALGARY Partnership. MechWave’s Alan Williams and Robert Bakewell recently offered their company’s perspectives on the value of the imagineCALGARY Partnership – and the work they are doing to contribute to a more sustainable future for the community.

Q. What prompted MechWave Engineering to join the imagineCALGARY Partnership?

There are many reasons that prompted MechWave to pursue membership with imagineCALGARY. We had heard about the imagineCALGARY Partnership from a number of different sources and decided it was something that we would like to investigate further. After some research and discussion, we realized that imagineCALGARY’s Plan aligns with many of our own company directives regarding sustainable, smart and efficient design. Our office encourages all of the members of our design team to pursue their LEED certification – we currently have four LEED Approved Professionals with MechWave. Our office has also started to investigate green roof design.

Q. How do MechWave’s goals align with the imagineCALGARY Vision?

MechWave Engineering specializes in the design of mechanical systems. We deliver the design of these systems, on time and on budget, with a strong integrated team approach, coupled with the use of technology and the dedication and skills of our staff. We have the ability to deliver innovative solutions that embody new and enduring standards intended to enhance the quality of life and celebrate the abundance of nature.

Our focus:
• Full life cycle approach
• Sustainable design
• Encourage clients to make smart decisions that will help reduce costs in the long run

Our team:
We encourage everyone on our team to keep learning. This includes any courses of interest that have to do with our industry or which will help improve the individual – anything from LEED certification to green roof design, public speaking courses, etc.

Our environment:
Our office recycles… everything…
The majority of our work output is electronic and we rarely print, minimizing the use of paper products and other office supplies.

Q. How does MechWave anticipate using the imagineCALGARY Plan?

We anticipate using the imagineCALGARY Plan as a guide when discussing design guidelines with clients. Alongside our own recommendations, we can show clients what the people in the city of Calgary want to see happen in the future. This will facilitate the design process by providing clients with alternatives that will produce better results in the long term. These long-term results will not only benefit the client’s operating and repair costs, but they will also benefit our environment and help to achieve the goals that have been set forth for our city through imagineCALGARY.

Q. Are there any particular Targets within the imagineCALGARY Plan that MechWave will work to achieve?

From a corporate standpoint, there are a number of Targets that we will work internally to achieve. From a design standpoint, our office will continue to offer smart design and energy solutions that will help to ensure that our city one day reaches the targets set forth by the imagineCALGARY Plan. We believe in a LEED approach to design; an integrated team approach where the building project and its components are viewed on a full life-cycle approach, where the whole team considers all aspects of the building’s economic and environmental impact as well as its energy performance.

We believe that the team must take into consideration the economic, ecological, and social responsibility of systems that make up any building design and that this is crucial to meeting and exceeding the project goals.

Q. What benefits does imagineCALGARY offer the Calgary community?

imagineCALGARY gives us the opportunity to put all of our ideas to improve ourselves, our community and our world into action. Instead of wishing that things would change, we have set forth common ideals and goals that we would like to see achieved in the next 100 years. Through setting these goals, we are able to encourage and educate others to make choices that will help to ensure that these goals are met and our vision for Calgary becomes reality.