Stephen Hamstra – PE, AEE Fellow, ASHRAE HBDP, CGD, LEED AP

Background

Steve grew up in a family HVAC business, his father was an early-adopter of ground-source heat pump (GSHP) systems in the 1970’s. Steve has always had a passion for sustainability and renewable energy, building concentrating solar collectors while in high school and studying various high-performance building design approaches. He served for nearly 4 decades as a principal in an architecture & engineering firm, piloting the design of many energy efficient and innovative projects that included ground-source heat pumps, energy recovery, thermal energy storage, solar PV, etc.

Steve is the Vice-Chair (soon to be Chair) of ASHRAE TC 6.8 Ground-Source Heat Pumps and Energy Recovery, and has designed many, many ground-source systems in his career. He developed and patented a web based GSHP design software, which would automatically export a self-learning control algorithm for large GSHP systems. This control approach has been installed on several military bases, universities and other applications.

Steve is Senior Vice President of Melink Solar & Geo where he is actively engaged in a DOE-funded research project to develop new technology to reduce the marketplace barriers to GSHP, as well as developing and refining Melink’s unique approach to packaged GSHP control and pumping solutions.

Steve is a recent addition as Member of The GreyEdge Group with the goal of expanding the application of high-performance, sustainable approaches to applying heat pump systems, thermal energy storage and renewable energy approaches.

Steve is a Professional Engineer, licensed in Michigan and Ohio. He resides in West Michigan.

Areas of Expertise

Steve has several patented innovations in the HVAC marketplace and has enjoyed the design process as well as directing and managing many design professionals for several AE firms.

In addition to his work at Melink Solar & Geo, and his efforts with The GreyEdge Group, he also has his own consulting practice; Zeven Element Design Institute (ZEDI PLC).

Notable Projects & Achievements

• ASHRAE 2014 1st Place Global Award for the Low Energy Science Building designed for the University of Findlay. It includes a GSHP, DOAS and radiant heating/cooling.
• Several articles published in Engineered Systems Magazine:
  • “V” is for Ventilation
  • “Large Scale Geothermal Heat Pump Systems”
  • “Pumping and Flow Controls in Geothermal Heat Pump Systems”
• Advisor to ASHRAE and Dr. Steve Kavanaugh on the design handbook; "Ground-Source Heat Pumps: Design of Geothermal Systems for Commercial and Institutional Buildings" published in 2013
• Speaker at dozens of ASHRAE, IGSHPA and various green building conferences since the 1990’s.
• Steve has served on numerous civic, communities, and advisory boards as member and chair including City Council, Board of Education, Hospital Board, Municipal Utility Board and others.

Professional Affiliations and Publications

• Member – International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA); have made numerous presentations at IGSHPA Conferences
• Member – Association of Energy Engineers (AEE); Past Regional Energy Engineer of the Year winner and Fellow
• Member - American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): Steve has made numerous presentations at ASHRAE Chapter Meetings