Municipal Planning Services
Municipal Planning Services
Where the heart is.
People are the heart of every community. A little advanced thinking helps keep that heart in the right place. Like creating parks and recreational areas. Gracefully meshing tourist draws with the needs of local residents. Skirting roads with pedestrian and bike trails. Bringing multi-discipline expertise to municipal planning. Coordinating the zoning, infrastructure needs, and development plans of adjacent communities. SSM's certified planners work hand-in-hand with municipalities to help manage growth, protect resources, and enhance communities and the quality of life of the people living there.
Municipal Engineering
Municipal Engineering Services
We listen.
SSM is a recognized leader in municipal engineering and consulting. Since 1932, we've assisted our clients in the planning, growth and well-being of their communities.
Today we help 100+ Pennsylvania municipalities and counties find practical solutions to their challenges and problems. We plan and oversee a wide range of infrastructure engineering, surveying, mapping and information technology projects. We attend municipal meetings. We guide growth. We're big in Pennsylvania local government because we pay attention to every little detail.
Building on relationships. SSM provides municipal, county and state governments with a multi-faceted, full-service engineering/consulting firm that serves as an extension of their operations. The more facets to the challenge, the more our clients can appreciate the efficiency of a single-source SSM solution.
Building Engineering Services
Building Engineering Services
Know it inside and out.
Whether it's a specific mechanical or electrical project or a vision for a new building, we start by knowing the challenge inside out. We understand the intricacies of each task, and how multiple disciplines ultimately need to work together to achieve the best possible results. The breadth and depth of SSM's facilities engineering resources guarantee the integrated approach. But we do a lot of listening, too. Working with owners, architects, agents, and process engineers to understand the goals, needs, budgets, and unique considerations. Add our penchant for innovative thinking to the picture, and you'll find SSM to be the best single-source solution for any facilities engineering challenge. No matter how many facets.
Wastewater Planning, Engineering and Design
Wastewater Planning, Engineering and Design
The authority.
When it comes to managing and protecting water resources, SSM is the authority that everyone turns to. SSM offers extraordinary experience in the planning, design, and construction management of wastewater and water systems, piping systems, pumping stations, and treatment plants.
Our GIS and CAD resources are powerful tools identifying sources of potential contamination, using hydrogeologic modeling to visualize the impact of a proposed well, or identifying trends and hot spots for Act 537 planning. We understand utilities' needs for security, regulatory compliance needs, fiscal responsibilities and operational priorities.
We offer solutions for tomorrow through far-sighted water and sewer infrastructure and environmental planning.
Water Planning, Engineering and Design Services
Water Planning, Design and Engineering Services
Pure and simple.
Ah, a refreshing glass of water. On the surface, it's filled with nothing but H20. Thinking deeper, you'll see that a lot more has gone into it. Such as protecting the purity of reservoirs, aquifers, wellheads, and springs. Rehabilitating abandoned wells. Using hydrogeologic modeling to calculate the impact of proposed development on source water and surrounding terrain. Using GIS to manage complex and voluminous environmental databases. Tailoring solutions for municipalities and water suppliers, and getting clean water to communities, buildings and faucets. Into every refreshing glass of water goes a lot of deep thinking.
Protecting, developing, and managing water resources for future generations.
SSM Group Overview of Services
SSM Group Overview of Services
Solutions
We are the resource that communities, institutions, and businesses turn to for forward-thinking solutions to their everyday challenges. We enhance the quality of life of those touched by our work – our clients and those they serve; our employees; and our partners. We work with our clients to plan, design, build, finance, operate, and maintain diverse types of infrastructure and assets. SSM provides and connects specialists, across an extensive network, with deep technical expertise to address complex challenges. Rigorous project management with obsessive communication deliver solutions on time and on budget.
Our work truly knows no boundaries. SSM’s clients have taken us to 25 states, coast-to-coast, and six foreign countries and US territories. We reach out from our Pennsylvania headquarters to serve clients and projects across the country and around the world.
Laser Scanning Terminology
Definitions associated with 3D Laser Scanning
These definitions have been gathered from various sources, some of which have been listed. The definitions associated with the ASTM are further obtained from various standard documents developed by various standards development organizations. The ASTM provides more in-depth discussion of several terms that have not been disclosed here; please refer to Designation: E 2544 — 08b, “Standard Terminology for Three-Dimensional (3D) Imaging Systems” for more details.
Quality Air Is Fundamental
It is vital to maintain a sterile environmental in health care facilities to prevent the spread of infection as well as the threat of exacerbating preexisting conditions. Poor indoor air quality only exacerbates the issue.
QUALITY AIR IS FUNDAMENTAL | ICRA
The majority of an individual’s day is typically spent indoors which makes maintaining good indoor air quality essential to a person’s overall health.
Fifty percent of all illnesses are either caused by, or aggravated by, polluted indoor air. Maintaining the highest levels of air quality is most important in healthcare facilities where occupants are most susceptible to irritants in the air. It is vital to maintain a sterile environmental in health care facilities to prevent the spread of infection as well as the threat of exacerbating preexisting conditions. Poor indoor air quality only exacerbates the issue.
Burn patients and patients with compromised immune systems are at the greatest risk for infection and demand the most stringent infection control measures combined with high indoor air quality. It is reported that 5% of all patients who go to hospitals for treatment will develop an infection while they are there (O'Neal C,2000) . The levels of some hazardous pollutants in indoor air at some places have been found to be up to 70 times greater than in outdoor air. Studies show that patients in controlled environments generally have more rapid physical improvement than do those in uncontrolled environment.
Special precautions must be taken into account especially during construction projects to prevent infections from spreading as well as dust and other irritants contaminating adjacent areas.
When undertaking a construction project in a healthcare facility it is highly recommended to contract an indoor air quality specialist to provide indoor air quality (IAQ) oversight during construction activities. It is important to support construction projects with IAQ oversight in all applications within a healthcare facility due to air systems communicating with the entire building. If construction projects are needed in areas such as burn units, operating rooms, or any area where sterilization is vital special precautions must be taken to assure the air quality is not compromised during the project. Infection control risk assessment (ICRA) measures must be taken and followed to varying degrees based on the sensitivity of the work area to maintain proper air quality and infection control. In areas of highest risk for infection such as burn units and operating rooms ICRA containments must be created and special work practices must be implemented.
ICRA Special Work Practices
- Isolate the HVAC system in the area where work is being done to prevent contamination of the duct system. Complete all critical barriers i.e. sheetrock, plywood, plastic, to seal area from non work areas or implement control a cube method (cart with plastic covering and sealed connection to work site with a HEPA vacuum for vacuuming prior to exit) before construction begins.
- Maintain negative air pressure within the work site utilizing HEPA equipped air filtration units. Seal holes, pipes, conduits, and punctures.
- Construct anteroom and require all personnel to pass through this room so they can be vacuumed using a HEPA vacuum cleaner before leaving work site or they can wear cloth or paper coveralls that are removed each time they leave work site.
- All personnel entering the work site are required to wear shoe covers. Shoe covers must be changed each time the worker exits the work area.
A thorough sampling protocol must be created by an indoor air quality specialist to provide data that the work areas were properly contained and all construction generated particulates were being contained. Upon completion of the work in a contained area an experienced industrial hygienists will perform a visual inspection and additional particulate sampling to confirm the area was suitable for re-occupancy. Through expert design of the sampling protocol and analysis of all data collected by the indoor air quality specialists it can be definitively shown that the air quality was not compromised during the construction project. As always, the goal is to establish the highest level of indoor air quality to promote a healthy working environment as well as maintaining a sterile environment for patients to heal.
Celebrating National Parks Week
Structural Design for Gun Display
Pennsylvania Military Museum
Pennsylvania Military Museum
Structural Design for Gun Display
- Provided engineering services to support the installation of two, 14-inch diameter, 53-foot-long gun barrels from the Battleship USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) on a concrete pedestal.
- Oversaw a geotechnical investigation and prepared structural designs to design pedestal that would approximate the manner in which the guns appeared on the ship, including a 28’diameter disc that replaces the ship’s turret.
Partnership Conjures Up Real Energy Savings
Our focus? Serious energy savings. And by serious, I mean 30% continuous savings on utility bills for businesses and other facility owners spending $1,000,000 or more annually on energy consumption.
PA CHAMBER BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY - Catalyst Magazine, Spring 2015
Business Magic – Pennsylvania Dutch speaks French Canadian
by: Carl Godlove
There are times in business when magic just “happens,” and I love it when it does. In this case, the magic is swirling in a cauldron of blossoming friendships and professional relationships between our Pennsylvania company, SSM Group, Inc. (ssmgroup.com), and Ecosystem Energy Services (ecosystem-energy.com), a Canadian-based company headquartered in Quebec City with a U.S. presence in Manhattan, NYC. We met at a large common client last year, and the synergies between us came together almost immediately. Better yet, the direct beneficiaries of this partnership are businesses and institutions across Pennsylvania.
Our focus? Serious energy savings. And by serious, I mean 30% continuous savings on utility bills for businesses and other facility owners spending $1,000,000 or more annually on energy consumption.
The SSM/Ecosystem partnership is a classic example of the whole being many times its parts. Our combined expertise and decades of experience in Building Engineering and Deep Energy Retrofits comes together powerfully. The cumulative energy savings resulting from Ecosystem’s 20-year project history is climbing toward $200,000,000 this year, with the added benefit of a reduction of nearly 350,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Our partnership is timely. Pennsylvania’s Act 129 requires the four largest electric utilities in the state to reduce their customers’ electric consumption by offering programs and rebates to every customer class. These programs are paid for by all electric users through a line item charge on every monthly bill, whether a customer engages in these programs or not. There are rebates for lighting, appliances, HVAC systems, energy audits, and even self-generation. The primary focus is the reduction in the use of electricity. Several of the Act 129 programs, however, can be used to achieve even greater cost savings through non-electric heating fuel reductions, an approach that goes to the core of our expertise.
As Pennsylvania’s utilities prepare a third round of financing energy reductions under Act 129, the real question for institutions and businesses is not “if” but “how” to implement. The answer can begin with a simple analysis of energy bills or a full-scale facility audit, for which the local utility will likely pay half the cost. Knowing that many facility managers and owners cannot take the time or spend the money for an audit, we take a different approach to quickly get to the very highest value savings – “Energy Use Intensity,” or “EUI,” to benchmark your site against others in your industry. And we do it at no cost. A “Go” decision at this point means that your savings are both guaranteed and sufficient to fund the required capital projects. And while the standard metric for industrial facilities measures energy used per quantity of finished product, rather than square feet of manufacturing space, the business approach remains the same: We prove the savings first.
EnergyStar describes EUI as, “the energy a building uses per square foot each year, with a lower number signifying better efficiency and less total energy used.” Being able to measure what your facilities consume against others in the same industry represents an opportunity to keep costs in line and maintain an even competitive playing field. Peter Hansen, Manager of Office Space Facilities at SEPTA’s headquarters notes, “The energy-efficiency improvements made to 1234 Market Street have certainly helped lower the building’s operating costs. This has been a primary draw for many of our tenants.
To judge how much can be saved, we begin by calculating a site’s EUI to clarify the opportunity and solicit funding. When a hospital’s management team in New York discovered their building’s EUI was 138% the national average, they got motivated to make changes, securing $4,100,000 for an efficiency project. After implementation, their energy bills dropped by over $600,000, representing 39% in savings. Ecosystem CEO, André Rochette, notes the importance of aligning goals from the start: “Our ability to improve building performance stems from a corporate culture of collaboration and commitment to results and agile processes that let us design and build with the end result in mind. We believe we should always be held contractually responsible to our customers for those outcomes.”
SSM and Ecosystem are partners on a mission - “Enhance the Quality of Life” across Pennsylvania. Our self-funding projects not only lower operating costs and preserve capital for hospitals, schools and universities, residential and commercial complexes, manufacturers, and office and government buildings, they also create jobs and improve the environment. Our turnkey solution covers the full project lifecycle, from analysis and design through construction, commissioning, and continuous follow-up. Our partnership is not just a business... it’s a passion. Pennsylvania Dutch is officially speaking French Canadian. Let the magic begin.
Celebrating National Parks Week
Wastewater Treatment Plant Emergency Assessment
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone Homestead
Wastewater Treatment Plant Emergency Assessment
- Conducted site investigations and evaluated appropriate technology and the feasibility of planned improvements to method of proceeding to develop an environmentally sound and technically feasible solution for wastewater collection and treatment.
- Developed preliminary sizing, design requirements, costs, permitting, and regulatory requirements.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Patrick McCoy, PE, LEED AP, Division Vice President, Facilities and Site Engineering
the Source - January 2015
Source Water Protection News: regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, new technologies
Source Water Protection News
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
David Morgan, RLA Named Chair PA State Board of Landscape Architects
David Morgan, RLA, Regional Vice President for SSM Group, Inc. has been appointed chair of the Pennsylvania State Board of Landscape Architects.
“The balance of beautiful outdoor spaces and technically-sound designs depends on the expertise of Landscape Architects and the work of the licensing board is essential in maintaining the high quality of professionally-licensed Landscape Architects in the Commonwealth.”
David Morgan, RLA, Regional Vice President for SSM Group, Inc. has been appointed chair of the Pennsylvania State Board of Landscape Architects.
As a professional member of the State Board of Landscape Architects, Mr. Morgan will participate in regulating the licensure and registration of landscape architects in order to promote the general welfare and safeguard the life, health and property of citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Mr. Morgan was appointed to the board in 2012 by Tom Corbett, former Governor of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Morgan has over 26 years of landscape architecture and land development planning experience. In his current role, he serves as the Central Pennsylvania Regional Vice President for SSM Group, Inc., a multidiscipline consulting engineering and planning firm, headquartered in Reading, PA.
Mr. Morgan is responsible for the day-to-day business operations of the firm’s Harrisburg office along with managing all phases of landscape architecture and site design for the firm from conceptual design and master planning through production of construction documents and presentations to governmental agencies. His experience includes subdivision planning, storm water management, and land development planning; recreation facility planning; site design; grading; landscaping; soil erosion and sediment control; site construction inspections; NPDES/NOI permit preparation; review and commentary of engineering plans for local government agencies and municipalities; PENNDOT Highway Occupancy Permits; feasibility studies, cost estimates, and securing project approvals.
He holds an A.S. in Commercial Arts & Design from Antonelli Institute of Art & Design and is a Registered Landscape Architect in Pennsylvania.
Scott Carl, Sr., joins SSM Group
Mr. Carl will direct the water and wastewater services for the firm including all aspects of water and wastewater engineering services, municipality and authority representation, water and wastewater treatment operations, treatment plant design, construction phase engineering, and regulatory compliance assistance.
SSM Group, Inc., a multi-disciplined engineering and consulting firm welcomed Scott Carl, Sr. as the Vice President Water and Wastewater Services. Mr. Carl will direct the water and wastewater services for the firm including all aspects of water and wastewater engineering services, municipality and authority representation, water and wastewater treatment operations, treatment plant design, construction phase engineering, and regulatory compliance assistance.
Mr. Carl has more than 28 years of experience in the engineering and consulting industry; his experience includes project management and construction management for water and wastewater systems including treatment plants, pre-treatment facilities, source water facilities, pumping stations, residuals handling, water storage, transmission, distribution, and collection systems, SCADA and telemetry systems, automatic metering systems and operation and maintenance programs.
SSM Group, Inc. serves government, education, healthcare, industrial, and commercial clients in Pennsylvania, across the United States and in the Caribbean. SSM offers extraordinary experience in the planning, design, and construction management of wastewater and water systems, piping systems, pumping stations, and treatment plants. We offer solutions for tomorrow through far-sighted water and sewer infrastructure and environmental planning. When it comes to managing and protecting water resources, SSM is the authority that everyone turns to.
the Source - September 2014
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Source Water Protection News
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Energy Efficiency is Good for the Bottom Line
SSM performs Energy Analysis in accordance with ASHRAE's Procedures For Commercial Building Energy Audits. The analysis is performed in steps and a value judgment made at the end of each step as to the benefit of proceeding to the next level.
SSM performs Energy Analysis in accordance with ASHRAE's Procedures For Commercial Building Energy Audits. The analysis is performed in steps and a value judgment made at the end of each step as to the benefit of proceeding to the next level.
Preliminary Energy Use Analysis - Develop the Energy Utilization Index (EUI) of the building.
Level I Walk-Through Analysis - A Level I energy analysis will identify and provide a savings and cost analysis of low-cost/no-cost measures.
Level II Energy Survey and Analysis - A Level II energy analysis will identify and provide the savings and cost analysis of all practical measures that meet the owner's constraints and economic criteria, along with a discussion of any changes to operation and maintenance procedures.
Level III Detailed Analysis of Capital-Intensive Modifications - This level of engineering analysis focuses on potential capital-intensive projects and provides detailed project cost and savings calculations with a high level of confidence sufficient for major capital investment.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Bruce Bell, PE, LEED AP, Sr. Technical Director, Mechanical and Plumbing Services
the Source - April 2014
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Source Water Protection News
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
the Source - January 2014
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Source Water Protection News
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Protecting your water begins with your land
The Eastern Lancaster County (ELANCO) Source Water Collaborative hosted a workshop entitled, Protecting Your Water Begins with Your Land. The workshop invited government, the local farming community, and environmental organizations to comingle and learn about new findings in farming best management practices.
Elanco Source water collaborative
ELANCO Source Water Collaborative
The Eastern Lancaster County (ELANCO) Source Water Collaborative hosted a workshop entitled, Protecting Your Water Begins with Your Land. The workshop invited government, the local farming community, and environmental organizations to co-mingle and learn about new findings in farming best management practices.
Although the theme of the workshop was farming best management practices, the underlying theme in each presentation was communication. Whether it was a member of a federal agency, a conservation organization or a representative of the Mennonite community, each person that spoke promoted respecting differences, seeing from all points of view and coming together to work towards a better balance of environmental conservation and profit maximization.
The event’s keynote speaker, Ray Archuleta promoted soil health in an informative way that simply made sense. Using fantastic demonstrations, he showed how conventional farming techniques strip the soil of nutrients and the ability to form aggregates and hold water. By improving the health of the soil, not only do we increase farmers’ yields, but we also prevent soil runoff and erosion, improving our water quality. Ray’s speech was so engaging that during the exhibition session, farmers crowded around him to discuss the topics further.
The workshop was an eye opener, not only for the community, who was there to learn about, or possibly criticize, the suggestions the workshop was providing, but to the educators, environmental activists, vendors and agency workers. No one in the room expected such a successful workshop and for so many different people to get along so wonderfully. It really inspired hope that we can work together on these critical issues.
If you’d like more information on soil health, you can check out some of Ray’s demonstrations on his Vimeo page at http://www.vimeo.com/channels/raythesoilguy.
The videos are short (about a minute for most) but really do say a lot.