Austin Healthcare MEP
Austin's Trusted Healthcare MEP Engineering Partner
Cleary Zimmermann Engineers designs mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems for healthcare facilities throughout Austin and Central Texas, from our Austin office led by Aaron Lovelock, PE, and Aaron Heaps, PE. Healthcare MEP design carries a different bar than standard commercial work — infection control, redundant power, and continuous ventilation aren’t optional features, they’re code requirements — and our Austin healthcare practice is built specifically around meeting them.
Austin’s healthcare sector has expanded quickly alongside the region’s population growth, with hospital systems, outpatient clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, and specialty facilities all adding capacity across the metro. That pace of growth means healthcare MEP work in Austin increasingly involves phased construction in occupied facilities — projects that can’t simply shut a wing down while the mechanical systems are rebuilt.
MEP Systems Built for Healthcare’s Highest Standards
Healthcare facilities operate under a stricter regulatory framework than almost any other building type, and our Austin team designs to that standard on every project:
- Ventilation and pressurization: Air change rates, pressure relationships, and filtration requirements engineered to ASHRAE Standard 170 for spaces ranging from operating rooms to isolation rooms to sterile processing.
- Essential electrical systems: Life safety, critical, and equipment branch power distribution designed for continuous operation during a utility outage, with generator and transfer-switch systems sized for real facility load, not just code minimums.
- Medical gas systems: Oxygen, medical air, and vacuum system design and coordination for facilities ranging from outpatient clinics to acute care hospitals.
- Infection control coordination: MEP scope sequenced and detailed to support Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) requirements during construction in and around occupied healthcare space.
- Facility guideline compliance: Design that follows the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Guidelines for hospitals and outpatient facilities, in addition to Texas-specific licensing and code requirements.
Serving Austin’s Growing Healthcare Sector
Our Austin healthcare MEP practice supports the full range of facility types driving the region’s growth — acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient clinics, diagnostic and imaging facilities, medical office buildings, and specialty and behavioral health facilities. Each carries its own ventilation classification, redundancy requirement, and code pathway, and we scope every project against the specific standard that applies to it rather than a generic commercial baseline.
That specificity matters most during renovation and expansion work, which makes up a significant share of healthcare MEP demand in a market growing as fast as Austin’s. Keeping existing patient care areas operational while new or upgraded systems come online requires sequencing that a standard commercial MEP approach isn’t built to handle.
Start Your Austin Healthcare MEP Project With Cleary Zimmermann
Whether you’re planning a new outpatient facility, an expansion of an existing hospital, or a renovation that has to stay operational throughout construction, our Austin healthcare MEP team can help you scope the project accurately from day one. Contact Cleary Zimmermann Engineers to talk through your project, or learn more about our building MEP capabilities.
Leadership
Austin Healthcare MEP — Frequently Asked Questions
What makes healthcare MEP design different from standard commercial MEP?
Healthcare facilities operate under stricter ventilation, pressurization, and redundant-power requirements than standard commercial buildings, governed by standards like ASHRAE 170 and the FGI Guidelines. Systems have to account for infection control, continuous operation during outages, and code-mandated air change rates that don’t apply to typical office or retail construction.
Does Cleary Zimmermann design medical gas systems?
Yes. Our Austin healthcare MEP practice designs and coordinates medical gas systems — oxygen, medical air, and vacuum — for facilities ranging from outpatient clinics to acute care hospitals.
What ventilation standards apply to healthcare facilities in Texas?
Healthcare facilities in Texas follow ASHRAE Standard 170 for ventilation of health care facilities, in addition to the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Guidelines and applicable state licensing requirements. These standards govern air change rates, pressure relationships, and filtration for spaces like operating rooms, isolation rooms, and sterile processing areas.
Does Cleary Zimmermann provide emergency and essential power design for hospitals?
Yes. We design essential electrical systems — life safety, critical, and equipment branch power distribution — along with generator and transfer-switch systems sized to keep healthcare facilities operating through a utility outage.
Can Cleary Zimmermann design MEP systems for a healthcare renovation while the facility stays open?
Yes. Phased construction in occupied healthcare space is a significant part of our Austin healthcare practice. We sequence MEP work to support Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) requirements and keep existing patient care areas operational throughout construction.
Who leads Austin's healthcare MEP practice?
Aaron Lovelock, PE, leads building MEP design for the Austin market, including healthcare projects, working alongside Aaron Heaps, PE, who serves as Principal of Operations for the Austin office.
Inquiries
For general inquiries, please reach out to Joyce Watson, CPSM Principal of Marketing, at 210-447-6100, or use the following form.
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