Henneman Takes on New Football Stadium

A Conversation with Kyle Lambert, P.E., CEM, LEED® AP

When Henneman Engineering was selected to become the commissioning authority of the new football stadium at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas, the assignment came with some unique challenges. Because there are currently no LEED Silver, Gold, or Platinum college football stadiums in the United States, this facility represents a first of its kind opportunity for both the University and Henneman.

Henneman Engineering was up for the challenge and Kyle Lambert, Director of Commissioning Services based in the firm’s Dallas office, agreed to lead the commissioning team.

Kyle describes the project below, along with some of the interesting aspects and challenges of LEED commissioning for the new football stadium.       

Q.  Please describe the new stadium and Henneman's role in the project.

Kyle:  The new North Texas Football Stadium will be the centerpiece of Mean Green Village, the main athletic complex at UNT. The seating capacity is 28,000 with provisions to expand to 50,000 maximum in the future. The open-air facility will primarily be used for football games, but can be utilized to host other university events and community activities for the entire north Texas region.  

As the commissioning authority (CxA) for the project, Henneman Engineering is responsible for the planning and execution of commissioning activities. The University has elected to implement the fundamental and enhanced commissioning process in conjunction with the project’s LEED objectives. In addition, UNT has instructed Henneman to integrate the testing, adjusting, and balancing (TAB) activities into the comprehensive commissioning scope of work.

The project is in the early construction phase and is scheduled to be completed in July of 2011. The project is planned to achieve a LEED Gold certification at a minimum, with the potential to reach LEED Platinum if certain project elements can be integrated within the schedule and budget parameters established by the Owner.

Q.  Describe the LEED Commissioning and TAB aspects. Were there any unique aspects to this project?             

Kyle:  Since formalized commissioning projects are fairly new services to many in the design and construction industry, let’s start with a definition: Commissioning is a quality assurance process in which the CxA acts as the Owner’s advocate during the design and construction phases to advise, inspect, test, and verify that the delivered products or services meet or exceed the Owner’s project requirements.   

In the context of a LEED project, the CxA helps the project team fulfill the prerequisite fundamental commissioning requirements (EAp1) and if desired by the Owner, can also assist in fulfilling the requirements to achieve the enhanced commissioning credit (EAc3). UNT has elected to pursue fundamental and enhanced commissioning activities for the stadium project.

Typically, the TAB provider is contracted either through the construction team or directly by the Owner. However, UNT’s policy is to use an integrated Cx + TAB approach, which streamlines and simplifies the complementary functions of the CxA and the TAB provider.   

For this project, Henneman Engineering is using the services of a local TAB provider that is registered with the State of Texas as a Historically Underutilized Business, or HUB firm. The subcontracting of TAB services allows Henneman to help UNT meet state objectives for HUB participation on professional services contracts.

Q.  What made this project challenging?

Kyle:  One of the challenging aspects of the project has been facilitating the team collaboration to establish clear goals and objectives for system performance in conjunction with the LEED initiatives. There are currently no LEED Silver, Gold or Platinum college football stadiums in the United States, so this facility represents a first of its kind opportunity for UNT. Interpretation and application of LEED requirements into the design spectrum of an outdoor sporting events facility such as a football stadium has been challenging for everyone involved in the project.   

Q. What made this project rewarding?

Kyle:  The entire team has been focused on achieving sustainable results without sacrificing functionality, quality, performance, or durability. As the CxA, Henneman has had many opportunities to offer constructive critique to the design team, provide supportive advice to the University, and facilitate open thinking in the areas of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and energy systems design and implementation.

The University has utilized Henneman as a trusted advisor throughout the design phase to ensure that the planning and selection of MEP equipment is technically robust, fundamentally sound and operationally energy efficient.

LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT

Karl F. Miller, P.E., LEED® AP

Senior Vice President and Director of St. Louis Office

So far 2010 has been a banner year for Karl Miller both professionally and personally. From a career standpoint, Karl became a LEED accredited professional, while on a personal note he received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. These are two big achievements for 40-year-old Karl who is Senior Vice President and Director of Henneman’s St. Louis office.  

Karl joined Henneman 12 years ago and has a total of 17 years experience as an electrical engineer. In 1998 he took a position in the firm’s Champaign headquarters and moved to St. Louis two years ago to become the office director.

Karl grew up in Virden, Illinois, a small town near Springfield, Illinois and went to college at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale where he received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He went on to receive an MBA from Eastern Illinois University.

Karl credits his father for inspiring him to pursue a career in engineering. “Although he did not have a college education, my father worked for 36 years for the same power utility company outside of Chicago. He was a hard worker and was able to work his way up through his company. My father encouraged me to go to college and taught me that hard work can pay off,” Karl said.

When it comes to hard work, Karl’s favorite quote is, “That which does not kill me makes me stronger.”    

He explains, “This means to me that although at the time something may seem very difficult or that you won’t survive, if you can just persevere then you learn that the experience is often worth the pain. This certainly applies in both personal and professional situations. “

One of Karl’s most important projects at Henneman was the electrical distribution and substation design for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002. “It was very exciting to work on a project of this magnitude from start to finish. It was a technically challenging project and true exercise in power engineering.”

Currently, Karl and his team at Henneman are working on several large projects in the health care industry including a new patient care tower at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

When not at work on engineering projects, Karl has many hobbies in addition to Tae Kwon Do. A major Porsche enthusiast, Karl owns a 1987 944 Porsche which he enjoys both driving and working on. His favorite magazine is Excellence, a magazine about Porsches.  

Recently, Karl has taken up Go-Kart racing with his 13-year-old son. He also enjoys reading novels by authors Dan Brown, Stephen King and Ann Rice.

From an early age, Karl said he gravitated to engineering and knew that’s what he wanted to do with his professional life. He still loves the variety of designing and managing different projects after 17 years in the field.   

“From designing large substation projects all the way to imaging equipment projects for a hospital, I really enjoy the variety and challenges of being a consultant. Every project is so different; it’s a puzzle every time. That’s what makes each project so rewarding,” Karl said.