Four animal-first engineering solutions to your building problems

Animal shelters have some of the most complex engineering requirements of any building type. And engineering decisions can impact your animals and staff—for better or worse—for years to come.

Animal-first engineering solutions can mean the difference between a building riddled with disease and odor issues or a building that can aid in disease and odor control.

Common animal shelter building problems

Think about your animal shelter. How many of these building problems and facility issues sound familiar?

• Noise issues
• Odor issues
• Disease issues
• Behavior issues
• Unnecessary stress on animals and staff

Animal-first engineering solutions

When working on animal shelters and other animal care facilities, the Design Learned team of animal care experts and building engineers uses state-of-the-art engineering and design practices to ensure animal-first engineering solutions. The Design Learned team works with animal shelters throughout North America, including the Franklin County Humane Society in Kentucky and Cedar Bend Humane Society in Iowa, to proactively address and resolve their building challenges using floor planning, mechanical design, electrical design (including lighting) and plumbing design. Keep in mind that all these solutions must be used in conjunction with one another to be most effective.

Solution 1: Floor planning

Did you know that engineering practices actually start with floor planning? Floor planning has a dramatic impact on noise control, environmental comfort, air quality and stress reduction in animals. If a floor plan is not intentional, then engineering options are extremely restricted. The Design Learned team considers equipment size, separate smaller animal zones, separate species housing, circulation corridors, centralized service areas and distributed outdoor access.

Solution 2: Mechanical systems

With mechanical system design, the goal is to reduce or eliminate noise, odor, disease and stress. The Design Learned team uses multiple smaller HVAC systems that are fully independent. This approach increases the flexibility for how space is used across the animal shelter and within each smaller area. The team understands the delicate balance of providing cost-effective engineering designs that also consider the impact of future operating costs within the animal shelter.

Solution 3: Lighting systems

Staff and animals both benefit from lighting systems that aid work and provide comfort. Lighting levels are important and change throughout the day. Think about the impact of lighting when animals are resting and when they are playing or eating. The Design Learned team considers animals’ circadian rhythms when designing lighting systems and determining natural lighting placement.

Solution 4: Plumbing systems

Well-planned plumbing systems are essential to animal shelters and can dramatically cut down on odor and disease issues. The challenge is that many animal shelters use systems that are undersized and inadequate for the unique demands of animal care. The Design Learned team ensures animal-first plumbing systems by incorporating floor drains, trench drains, automatic rinsing systems, flush fixtures for solid waste, power washers for cleaning and drainage systems with hair traps.

Overcome your building problems today!

Are you ready to fix the building problems and facility issues at your animal shelter? Is your animal shelter looking to renovate or expand its facilities? Partner with the animal care experts and building engineers at Design Learned to ensure animal-first engineering solutions are used throughout the shelter.