Expert Witness Services
Dr. Phetteplace has performed expert witness services primarily in the field of district heating and cooling (DHC) for over 20 years of his 41 year engineering career. Clients of his expert services in the DHC field have included utilities, prefabricated piping manufactures, design firms, construction firms, bonding companies, insulation manufacturers, and the federal government. Dr. Phetteplace served as the principal investigator and lead author of an international team of experts in authoring the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) District Cooling Guide and the ASHRAE District Heating Guide. These publications are the only current and comprehensive DHC planning, design, operations and maintenance guides available in the English language. Their publication was the conclusion of a five year effort of the ASHRAE research program.
Until recently, Dr. Phetteplace was the long-standing editor and Handbook Committee Chairman for ASHRAE Technical Committee (TC) 6.2, District Heating and Cooling. In that capacity he contributed all the thermal and hydraulic analysis sections as well as other portions for many past editions and the current 2016 edition of the ASHRAE Handbook, HVAC Systems and Equipment Volume, Chapter 12. Until the present, this has been the most authoritative design guidance for DHC in the US, having now been eclipsed by the ASHRAE guides discussed above. However Chapter 12 of the HVAC Systems and Equipment Volume remains important due to its much wider availability. The contributions of Dr. Phetteplace to the ASHRAE DHC Guides and the ASHRAE Handbook have positioned him as an authoritative international expert in the field of DHC. In total Dr. Phetteplace is the author or co-author of over 140 publications (see publications list).
Dr. Phetteplace's field experience is extensive and includes projects in all regions of the continental United States as well as Alaska, Greenland, and Antarctica. He has participated in approximately 200 exploratory excavations of steam, hot water, and chilled water distribution systems and many more inspections of adjacent manholes for such systems.
Dr. Phetteplace is a Registered Professional Engineer in the states of Alaska, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Vermont. He also holds a current National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCESS) record to facilitate expedient licensing in other jurisdictions.