Looking Back to Look Forward

As I start my 33^rd year writing this column for Engineered Systems magazine, I decided to look back before looking forward. In the fall of 1991, Anne Hayner, editor of the magazine at that time, asked me if I would be interested in picking up the monthly column titled, “Energy Engineering.” This column was previously written by a columnist, whose name escapes me at this time. Prior to this moment in time, I had written a few feature articles in Engineered Systems and Ms. Hayner was familiar with my interest in writing about the HVAC industry.

I took up the task with my first “Energy Engineering” column published in January 1992. We changed the title to “Today’s Engineer” in January 1995, providing a large list of topics to discuss in the column, such as operation and maintenance. In 1992, the magazine published 10 issues a year, combining the January and February issues and July and August issues. Today, I’d guess I’ve written approximately 375 columns and still counting.

In January 1999, we changed the column title again to “Tomorrow’s Engineer,” furthering our discussion to professional development, women in the building industry, etc. In May 2008, we changed the title again to “Tomorrow’s Environment,” as energy conservation took a back seat to the environment, global warming, and other more current topics in the building industry.

I don’t recall my first feature article in this magazine, but there have been several to go along with it, and I’m scheduled this year to write a feature article on “super smart” buildings and a second article discussing my fourth book, “Integrated Project Delivery for Building Infrastructure Opportunities,” which is scheduled to be published the second half of this year.

Working with Engineered Systems magazine over all these years, I wrote a monthly column, “Single-Source Solutions,” for a couple of years based on my design-build (D-B) experience that was of great interest in my pre-integrated project delivery (IPD) days. I also wrote several weekly columns for another Business News Publishing (BNP) publication, The AIr Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration NEWS, a weekly newspaper. With all this writing, I always recognized I was continuously learning as I put my thoughts and experience to paper. It wasn’t just “in my head.”

So, as we begin 2023, I want to refer you back to my April 2021 column titled, “Ongoing Inspiration With Life,” and remind you, “don’t let the old man in.” Confucius is credited with the quote: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Working in the HVAC industry, and with Engineered Systems magazine, along with several wonderful mentors, I can say, “I haven’t worked much over all these years. Happy New Year!