The Building Science Engineer is primarily responsible for managing projects and providing building science recommendations and consultative engineering services to clients for both new construction and rehabilitation projects.  Additionally, the Engineer will conduct building enclosure peer reviews, condition assessment field surveys, evaluate and interpret design and field reviews and reporting, and research services, and make recommendations to senior technical staff and project managers.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Peer Review

  • Participate in design meetings with owners, developers, architects, and other consultants.  Provide design recommendations and design review of building enclosure assemblies and details.  Conduct drawing, detail and specification reviews.
  • Review construction for conformance to contract documents and overall design intent and prepare site visit reports.
  • Review documentation, including architectural, structural and mechanical drawings to determine original construction detailing and identify area of risk for water penetration, air leakage, and/or condensation.
  • Review manufacturer’s shop drawings for conformance with the project intent, performance with respect to the various building science principles.
  • Research building materials when considering alternative/new materials requested by contractors or materials considered for specific, non-typical conditions.  Use independent judgement in the evaluation of materials and make recommendations to senior staff for contractor alternate submittals.
  • Prepare written reports fully documenting current conditions and evaluating future risks.

Site Visits and Field Duties

  • Attend regular site meeting with owner(s), architects, contractors, developers, product manufactures, and any other relevant parties to discuss progress of the work.
  • Review and analyze “mock-ups” of various details and assemblies within the scope of work (e.g. window installation, metal flashing transitions, stucco application procedure, etc.).
  • Prepare and review and analyze site visit reports, documenting observations and field-testing results.  Provide recommendations for all deficiency items, including field sketches.
  • Conduct visual review of the building exterior and interior components, re-evaluating existing conditions and high-risk areas.  Exterior review is typically conducted from ladders, swing stages, or boatswain’s chair (once proper training has been arranged).
  • Create exploratory openings within the building enclosure to allow for visual review of the underlying components for evidence of decay/deterioration and to evaluate moisture contents levels of the wood or gypsum materials.
  • Perform water testing in accordance with ASTM and AAMA industry standards.

Tender Package Creation (Details)

  • Create project detail drawings to clearly identify and layout the work.
  • Consider all material transitions and their performance with respect to water, vapor, thermal, and air.
  • Create project specifications to identify various issues, including acceptable product materials, material delivery to site, site storage of material, quality assurance of work, installation procedures, protection of finished work, etc.

Instrumentation and Testing

  • As required, develop, construct and deploy instrumentation to monitor Relative Humidity, Temperature, Moisture Content, Rain, Driving Rain, Wind, Wind Direction, Solar Radiation, CO2, etc.
  • Analyze collected data and use independent judgement along with standard methods to determine exposure conditions.
  • Design and conduct experiments, and analyze and interpret data.

Litigation Support Duties

  • Documentation of the original site conditions, which typically includes field-testing of various building enclosure assemblies (e.g. windows).
  • Collection and storage of evidence (sequential demolition photos, physical specimens) for expert opinion reports.
  • Water leakage path determination as supported by physical evidence.

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in civil or structural engineering, building or architectural science, or mechanical engineering from an accredited college or university
  • 4 to 7 years previous related professional experience is required
  • Trained in use of building science or energy modelling software or a Master’s Degree in a related field is an added plus
  • Licensed Professional Engineer (P.E. license)

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES:

  • Technical knowledge of building enclosure design and construction principles
  • Knowledge and application of engineering theory
  • Ability to work on multiple projects at a time
  • Possess excellent written and verbal communication skills and be able to publicly present himself/herself in a professional manner
  • Ability to draft engineering plans, compile engineering specifications, and inspect construction
  • Skilled in use of building science modeling software, such as WUFI, THERM, HEAT3 or energy modeling software is an added plus
  • Experience with water testing in accordance with ASTM and AAMA standards
  • Ability to formulate and solve problems on projects using past experience and building science principals
  • Good ability to communicate with clients, trades, employees, project managers, and management

ABOUT US:

RDH is an amazing place to work. A role with RDH is a career commitment to learn and grow alongside inspiring and dedicated people who care deeply about making buildings better.

We are an employee-owned consulting firm with 300 employees in nine offices across North America. Our core area of business is the integration of building science engineering, architecture, and construction management to optimize the performance of the building enclosure (walls, windows and roofs). Since our beginnings in 1997, we have become industry leaders in North America and continue to grow as we focus on technical excellence and delivering high-quality projects.

We offer a positive workplace with incredible teams, opportunities for professional growth, development and ownership. As well as your background, we seek alignment with RDH’s core values: 1) commit to excellence, 2) act with integrity, 3) work as a team 4) do what it takes, and 5) always learn.

Our collaborative teams fuel our mission of Making Buildings Better. We seek balanced representation in our teams, and to achieve a welcoming and inclusive community for all people who share a passion for our values and mission. We believe diverse thought, ideas, and voices make us great – people of different identities, races, ethnicities, genders, ages, orientations, religions, abilities, education, cultures, and skills. We are committed to equity through building teams based on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

Additional information on our expertise, projects, and culture can be found at www.rdh.com

HOW TO APPLY:

Please submit your resume and cover letter in one PDF to hr@rdh.com with the job title and location in the subject line.

No phone calls please. While we appreciate all responses, only candidates under consideration will be contacted. Please note that only those already entitled to work in the US legally need apply.

  • Drop files here or
    Accepted file types: pdf, Max. file size: 50 MB, Max. files: 2.