Consultant Archive: Paul Sack

He and his firm have been our primary mechanical, electrical, plumbing consultants for all of our major projects, including public school, library and church projects.

In actuality, Brian and Dan both met Paul in the late 1980’s when they were all working for different firms. Dan is always astonished that Paul remembered him as a very, very junior draftsman on a project from so long ago. Dan first met Paul when he was working at Christen Sack. Their work together continued with the successor firm of Sack & Associates. We have been grateful to Paul for providing mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering for our projects for more than three decades.

Paul is an ideal member of a design team, he is creative, patient, and kind. He is ready to let you know if something is completely infeasible, or just illogical for the intended application, but he is always trying to find a way to accomplish the goals of the team. The old cliche is that mechanical, electrical, and plumbing consultants just want to tell you what does not work, but that has never been the case when we’ve worked with Paul. His profound depth of knowledge combined with his sunny personality combine to make the design process a delight.

Paul has an uncanny ability to “think outside of the box” with solutions to problems that at first seem insoluble. An example of this was the Jephson Campus project for the former Cazenovia College. This building had metal working, welding, and kiln facilities on the lower level of a historic building with very limited floor to floor height. Paul was able to work out a way to install ductwork underneath the floor slab, connecting to each of the work stations which provided the needed ventilation without taking up any (non-existent) ceiling space.

Our relationship with Paul and his firm has extended to his family. Paul’s three children Elizabeth, Grace, and Beecher started working with their dad in the 2000’s. A few years ago, Sack and Associates transitioned into F/S engineering, the successor firm which is being run by Elizabeth and Grace.We have enjoyed working with each of them on a variety of projects and love that they all share the creativity, passion and sense of humor that Paul has. This transition was, from our point of view, seamless and easy for our clients.

While the firm has continued to evolve and grow, we are delighted that Paul has stayed involved in an advisory capacity. We look forward to continuing to work with our dear friend.