Primera is pleased to announce that two of our projects were honored at the American Council for Engineering Companies of Illinois (ACEC-IL) Engineering Excellence Awards Gala held at the Geraghty in Chicago on March 1^st. Our Wheaton Downtown Streetscape project and our Solar Feasibility Study were both recognized with Merit Awards this year. We are greatly humbled by this recognition and proud of all the hard put forth by our employees and partners who helped us achieve this honor. Below is a quick overview of the work we performed for these two award-winning projects:

The City of Wheaton’s Downtown Streetscape project is a multi-year design and construction effort to upgrade the outdated streetscape of Wheaton’s downtown area to a more welcoming and modern look that the City’s residents can enjoy for years to come. The design and construction of the streetscape project was the sequel to a preliminary study to evaluate the downtown business owners and residents’ priorities for a revamped downtown. In this study, business owners stressed their desire to increase sidewalk width, tree canopy, and parking. Primera Engineers was brought onboard in early 2017 as the primary engineering designer and project construction manager. Throughout the design and construction, the team from Primera worked alongside the City of Wheaton to ensure that all their goals were met for this phase of the project. Primera was selected to continue the work throughout the next phase of the project for the City.

For our second project, Primera was commissioned by Exelon Generation to provide a Solar Feasibility Study for installing solar generation at ten Exelon – Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) facilities in northern Illinois. This feasibility study considered issues related to installing solar panels on roof-tops of ComEd-owned commercial buildings as well as on parking lot canopies for these facilities. Primera’s work included the following: site layout, production simulations, shading analysis, major equipment selection, service interconnection, and civil/structural analysis. While the layout and installation for PV panels is straightforward, each site presented unique challenges. However, Primera provided conceptual design and engineering for each of the sites including equipment selection, energy production analyses, shading analysis, civil/structural analysis, interconnection plan, and estimated installed cost. Upon completion of our solar feasibility assessment, a full report with summary tables indicating installation costs and production capacities for all sites was prepared for ComEd. Subsequent future projects with them will include full detail design and engineering, construction documents, permit negotiations, and construction support.

Each year, the ACEC-IL Engineering Excellence Awards competition recognizes projects of engineering achievement by Illinois consulting engineering firms. ACEC-IL is the only statewide association dedicated solely to the interests of consulting engineering firms. Entries are judged on the basis of engineering excellence, the degree to which the client’s needs are met, and the benefits to the public welfare and private practice of engineering.