Plant Room & Riser Space Planner
Give the building type, area and floors, and get first-pass sizes for every MEP plant room and riser at concept stage: substation, LV room, generator, chiller or ETS room, FAHU rooms, water and fire tanks, pump rooms, telecom room and the riser shafts on each floor. Drag the floors slider to see how plant space grows with the building.
How to use: change the building, and every room updates. These are concept stage allowances to reserve space with the architect, not final sizes. Tap i for explanations.
1. Building
Concept stage inputs.
2. Where the plant goes
Basement, ground, roof and the risers through every floor.
3. Checks
4. Room and riser schedule
5. How the allowances are worked out
Electrical
Demand comes from the load density times the gross area. The utility transformer size sets how many transformers, and each one needs substation and LV room space. Standby generators are sized for the life safety and essential share of the load.
Mechanical
Cooling load comes from the W/m² density. District cooling needs an ETS room, chillers need a plant room or roof space, and fresh air units are sized from the occupancy at about 10 L/s per person. Shafts are sized at about 6 m/s for the main air risers.
Plumbing and fire
Domestic water storage is one day of use. Fire water follows the larger of a typical sprinkler and wet riser demand for 60 to 90 minutes. Pump rooms hold the booster and fire pump sets.
Risers
Each floor plate needs an electrical riser, an ELV riser, a plumbing wet riser and mechanical shafts. Large plates need more than one set so cable and pipe runs stay short.
Concept stage rules of thumb only. Confirm with each discipline's calculations and the authority's room standards, for example DEWA substation and Empower ETS room requirements.