News & Insights

Three Employees Earn Professional Engineer (PE) License

Barton Associates is pleased to announce that three employees have earned their Professional Engineer (PE) License. Amy Diehl, PE Amy L. Diehl, PE earned her Professional Engineer (PE) license from the Pennsylvania State Registration Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists. Amy recently joined Barton and holds a bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from … Read more

An Alternative for Operating Room Ceilings

For many years the conventional operating room ceiling consisted of a gypsum board or plaster ceiling with openings framed out for lights and diffusers. Openings would be field cut in the gypsum board for overhead surgical light supports, diffusers, general lighting and medical gas columns. With the advent of hybrid operating rooms, the construction of … Read more

Benefits of LED Lighting Technology in Healthcare Facilities Design

Lighting controllability is an important aspect of healthcare facility design. The healthcare industry is experiencing increased demand for lighting designs that create calming environments and offer flexible lighting options to increase patient comfort. To meet the demands of the industry, lighting designs often include complex controls and specialty lighting fixtures to address patient and clinical needs, … Read more

Employees Volunteer with Special Olympics Pennsylvania

Employees from the State College office joined Special Olympics Pennsylvania and volunteered during this year Summer Games by assisting in the basketball competition. It takes about 2,000 volunteers to make the Summer Games happen. Duties range from making 3,800 dormitory beds for athletes and coaches to carrying tables and chairs to score-keeping and time-keeping areas. … Read more

Three Interns Hired in York

We are happy to welcome three new interns, Kristen Cole, Ryan Davie and Matthew Torello to work in our York office. Kristen completed her third year at Penn State University majoring in Architectural Engineering with a Mechanical Option and plans to continue to get her Masters upon graduation. Kristen is the President of Alpha Rho Chi … Read more

Chad Shelley Hired as Electrical Designer

We are pleased to welcome Chad Shelley as an Electrical Designer to work in our York office. Chad brings over 13 years of experience in the engineering profession and previously held the positions of CAD Drafter, Electrical Drafter and CAD/Revit Specialist at his previous job. He earned an Associate’s Degree in Computer Aided Drafting from … Read more

Things to Consider When Planning to Upgrade Your Hemodialysis Unit

Age and Condition When considering improvements to your Hemodialysis unit, you may want to modernize furniture, finishes, lighting and equipment in order to improve the patient environment. While planning the upgrade you will also need to consider the age and condition of the water treatment system that provides either distilled or reverse osmosis water to the … Read more

Three Interns Hired in State College

We are happy to welcome two new interns, Joshua Lange and Jonathan Alles to work in our State College office and welcome back Nolan Amos whom also interned last year. Joshua Lange is a student at Penn State University majoring in Architectural Engineering with a Lighting/Electrical Option. He has previously interned at Penn State’s Office … Read more

Lighting and Controls in High Performance Buildings

The Energy Policy Act of 2005, defines a high performance building as one that “integrates and optimizes all major high-performance building attributes, including energy efficiency, durability, life-cycle performance, and occupant productivity.” (EPACT 2005, Section 914) One of the simplest ways to incorporate these attributes into any building is through the use of high-efficiency lighting and … Read more

MEP Design Requirements for Central Sterile Processing Areas

Successful outcomes from surgical procedures in a hospital rely, in part, on the ability of the central sterile processing suite to provide equipment and materials in an efficient, reliable, and sterile manner.  Similarly, the central sterile processing suite relies on the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems serving the area to be reliable and to meet all … Read more

Robert Hiner Hired as Construction Services Representative

We are pleased to welcome Robert Hiner as a Construction Services Representative to work in our York office. Bob brings over 36 year of experience in Construction Services and Project Construction Management. He worked for ATCO Mechanical for 14 years and then started a Mechanical Contracting Business, H&R Mechanical, Inc. which he owned and operated for … Read more

Future Proofing Your Building During Design

As technology in the building industry changes and advances, designers must ask themselves how they can make a building’s Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing systems adaptable for new or emerging technologies.  The ability to “future proof” a building’s MEP systems may seem like a daunting task but with planning and foresight based upon the owner’s desires, … Read more

Evaluating MEP Infrastructure for Retail Clinic Retrofit Projects

Fueled by the adoption of the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare industry is undergoing a shift from inpatient to an outpatient based model of care.  The emergence of “retail healthcare” facilities across the country is evidence of this shift in patient care delivery.  This shift, along with growing competition in the market place, has created … Read more

Is Integration Right for You?

With constantly increasing capabilities of IP-based communications, integration of communications systems in building projects is a major topic of discussion today. Whether it’s as simple as controlling lights and room temperature by using occupancy sensors in a room or as extensive as collecting patient medical information throughout a medical facility into a common database or coordinating … Read more

Do Lean Principles Apply in a Service Industry?

Regardless if you are a healthcare facility, school or university or a consulting engineering firm, we are all looking for ways to reduce cost, increase quality and drive employee engagement.  Lean concepts and principles have long been a part of industry but how can they be applied in a service industry? Some of these principles … Read more