2014 40 Under 40: Andrew Lehrer, PE, LEED AP, 34

Vice President, Mechanical Engineer, Environmental Systems Design Inc., Chicago

By Silvia Chavez and Amara Rozgus May 19, 2014

Andrew Lehrer, PE, LEED AP, 34
Vice President, Mechanical Engineer, Environmental Systems Design Inc., Chicago
Washington University-St. Louis, BS Mechanical Engineering

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.