Expanding into more square footage is usually treated as a real estate decision, with more desks, more departments, and more room to grow. What often gets overlooked is that an office expansion is also an electrical decision, and one that doesn’t always get the attention it needs until something isn’t working right. But an electrical system built for a smaller footprint doesn’t automatically scale up just because the walls moved.
More Space Almost Always Means More Load
Adding square footage typically brings an increase in workstations, additional lighting, more HVAC demand, and often entire new departments bringing their own equipment needs to the table. Each of these additions brings power requirements and all of them draw from the same electrical infrastructure that was likely sized for a smaller operation. A panel that effortlessly handled a workgroup of 20, could very well find itself underpowered by the same space doubled to 40, despite the building construction work itself looking relatively straightforward on the drawing board.
The Question Most Expansions Skip
When planning out their office expansion, a business rarely asks themselves whether their electrical panel has the room for the growth and if it does, how much will it cost. While understandable, that mindset leaves many expansions vulnerable to discovering this exact issue halfway through the job when it’s already far too late and the electrician has confirmed the panel itself will need to be replaced.
Data and Network Infrastructure Grows Faster Than People Expect
A larger office footprint often means more workstations and more network equipment, and very frequently also a larger server or IT infrastructure to support the added heads. This equipment typically consumes power in a way that is easy to forget when budgeting for an office expansion, but difficult to ignore when the additional kilowatts start to add up at the point of installation.
HVAC Demand Increases Right Along With Square Footage
The larger your building footprint, the more square footage you’ll need to heat and cool. HVAC systems represent one of the largest electrical loads in most commercial buildings, so an expansion without corresponding increases to the HVAC system capacity can find itself unable to meet the needs of the larger space and struggling to maintain temperatures in the appropriate range.
Code Compliance Isn’t Optional as Occupancy Grows
In addition to additional power requirements, expanding into a larger space typically also means changes to code compliance requirements for the number of occupants, emergency lighting, signage, and circuit distribution. These additional requirements are rarely apparent at the start of an expansion, but can easily turn into a roadblock for any project that fails to factor them in before breaking ground.
How to Know Before You Commit
The easiest way to know whether your electrical infrastructure will be able to support an office expansion is to know what the electrical load calculation for the expansion will be, and your current infrastructure’s ability to support it. This load calculation should be carried out before beginning the expansion work, and will provide clear insight as to what your circuit distribution, main panel, and any additional electrical equipment will need to support your growing team and allow you to size your electrical budget accordingly.
Getting this assessment completed is also an important risk management step that helps keep your expansion on time and within budget. Discovering a capacity issue at the planning stage is far easier to budget for than discovering it halfway through an already-delayed project when it’s far too late to make meaningful changes without incurring substantial additional costs.
MV Power Solutions Helps Denver Businesses Plan Electrical Needs Before Expansion Begins
MV Power Solutions evaluates your existing electrical infrastructure against your expansion plans to identify the necessary electrical upgrades and support the space you’re planning to occupy. Contact us before breaking ground on your office expansion to learn more about whether your electrical panel will be able to support the additional square footage and what kind of additional electrical infrastructure will be required for your expansion project. We work with clients throughout the Denver metro area on jobs both large and small before the walls go up, not after an electrical issue emerges.