Andrew Lehrer and Javier Garcia, Recognized in CSE's 2014 “40 Under 40”
Andrew Lehrer, PE, LEED AP
Vice President, Mechanical Engineer
After joining Environmental Systems Design in 2002, Andrew Lehrer quickly began paving the way toward his long-term goal of becoming a team leader and running some of the firm?s most exciting and challenging projects. Having worked on an extensive variety of high-rise commercial redevelopment projects all across the United States and the Middle East, Lehrer is considered an expert in the Chicago high-rise and commercial workspace markets. For his work as lead mechanical designer during the renovation of the 130,000-sq-ft Spertus Institute in Chicago, Lehrer and his team received eight awards, including the City of Chicago?s Landmark Award for Preservation Excellence. More recently, he led a team on the Motorola project, relocating and condensing 1.3 million sq ft of technical office space and electronics test labs from a suburban office park to a 600,000-sq-ft space in an iconic Chicago mixed-use high-rise, the Merchandise Mart. Working his way through a number of roles at ESD, first as mechanical designer and then as project manager, Lehrer was promoted to vice president in 2012. Over the past several years, Lehrer has specialized in high-risk, integrated delivery models for large-scale commercial and high-rise projects both domestically and abroad. As dedicated as Lehrer has been to his chosen career path, he also enjoys photography, barbequing, and exploring Chicago?s vast cultural offerings. Lehrer and his wife reside on the north side of the city with their dog, and are expecting their first child this summer.
Javier Garcia, LEED AP
Associate, Mechanical Engineer
As a U.S. Marine, Javier Garcia first gained exposure to the engineering field while leading his platoon and training junior marines in generator maintenance, operation, and troubleshooting. During his time oversees, Garcia served as an electrical/mechanical equipment repair specialist focusing on mission critical power generation, maintenance, and repair as well as base power grid design. After completing his 4-year tour of duty, Garcia enrolled in community college and began working his way toward a degree in mechanical engineering. Garcia joined Environmental Systems Design Inc., as mechanical engineer and has grown his sustainability focus, becoming certified in LEED rating systems, system commissioning, system design, and energy modeling. Within a few years, ESD promoted Garcia from staff engineer to lead commissioning authority for health care facilities and higher education projects. As project manager, Garcia has conducted assessments for more than 300 Chicago Public Schools, and commissioned critical cooling systems and critical emergency power systems for data centers and trading floors. In 2011, Garcia worked on the University of Kansas hospital medical office building project consisting of a newly built 200,000-sq-ft medical office facility expansion to the existing hospital. As the project?s lead commissioning authority, Garcia helped the university meet the U.S. Green Building Council energy and design certification requirements and also earned the building LEED Silver certification. Garcia also holds an advisory role as the president of the Daley College student chapter for the Society of Professional Engineers, where he mentors young adults in their career paths to engineering. When he is awarded time away from work, Garcia and his wife love to take their three children on camping trips and traveling to visit family in Mexico.