Brian Rener joins SmithGroupJJR

Brian Rener has joined SmithGroupJJR, focusing on the design of critical electrical systems and technologically advanced facilities.

By SmithGroupJJR April 8, 2014

SmithGroupJJR has hired Brian Rener, PE, LEED AP, in its Chicago office as a senior electrical engineer. He comes to the firm from M+W Group, Chicago, where he was responsible for managing the Chicago electrical group and improving the quality of electrical designs companywide.

In his 25 years of practice, Rener has established himself as a leader in the design of critical electrical systems and science and technology facilities.

“Brian Rener brings with him a wealth of experience in the design and commissioning of advanced technology facilities such as research labs, data centers and cleanrooms,” said Cindy Cogil, PE, LEED AP, director of engineering at SmithGroupJJR’s Chicago office.

While with M+W Group, Rener collaborated with SmithGroupJJR on the conceptual design of the $135 million Energy Systems Integration Facility at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. The 182,500-sq-ft research complex was recently named 2014 Laboratory of the Year by R&D magazine.

Other notable projects for Rener include the 100,000-sq-ft Singh Center for Nanotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania, a state-of-the-art facility critical to advanced research and development in nanotechnology; and the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, a 90,300-sq-ft data center in Holyoke, Mass., that was the first University Research Data Center to be awarded LEED Platinum certification.

Rener has been integral to the design of science and research facilities for a host of other institutions, such as the Microsoft Quincy Data Centers, Quincy, Wash.; W.W. Grainger Disaster Recovery Center, Kansas City, Mo.; and the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) at Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Ill.

Rener is a member of the Consulting-Specifying Engineer editorial advisory board.