Monroe County Museum Addition
Project summary
Monroe County Museum – Expansion & Renovation, Monroe, MI
Project Overview
MEEC provided full mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection (MEP/FP) design services for the Monroe County Museum’s expansion and renovation project. The work includes a 13,000 sq ft three-story addition integrated with the existing facility, bringing the total building area to approximately 34,900 sq ft
The project enhances gallery, archival, and event spaces while modernizing building infrastructure to meet current code, comfort, and preservation standards. Special design attention was given to temperature, humidity, and lighting control to protect museum artifacts and to create a flexible exhibition environment consistent with contemporary museum standards.
What we did
Key Features
HVAC Systems: Multiple packaged rooftop units with DX cooling, natural-gas heating, and hot-gas reheat provide precise humidity control (maintaining 40–60 % RH) for artifact preservation
Building Controls: Direct-digital building automation (Carrier i-Vu or equal) allows remote monitoring, alarm notifications, and user-friendly control of system setpoints and schedules
Lighting Systems: State-of-the-art LED lighting design using ERCO Uniscan and Parscan tunable-white track fixtures on a 48 V Minirail system with Casambi wireless control provides curators with full control of color temperature, intensity, and scene programming for rotating exhibits
Handrail & Egress Lighting: Integrated Wagner Lumenlinear LED handrail system enhances wayfinding and accessibility, tied into the emergency lighting network
Power & Infrastructure: New 1,600 A main electrical service with transient surge protection, emergency generator docking station, and reconfigured panelboards supporting the entire museum complex
Plumbing & Fire Protection: New water, sanitary, and gas systems with efficient fixture selections, plus a full NFPA 13 automatic sprinkler system supplied from a 6-inch riser; no fire pump required due to adequate site pressure
Sustainability & Efficiency: High-performance building envelope coordination, daylight harvesting, automatic receptacle control, and energy monitoring compliant with ASHRAE 90.1 (2019) and the 2021 Michigan Energy Code.
MEEC Role
As the MEP engineer of record, MEEC developed the schematic design, system narratives, and basis-of-design documentation for all mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, and fire protection systems. Working closely with the architect and Monroe County project team, MEEC ensured that environmental control systems, electrical infrastructure, and museum lighting design supported both operational efficiency and artifact conservation. The result is a modernized cultural facility that combines historic preservation with sustainable, future-ready building technology.
