Anastasija Taranenko

Anastasija Taranenko (goes by "Anna"), founder of AE Consulting, brings the HVAC designer's seat to the procurement/coordination conversation. Born in Lithuania, moved to Scotland at 19 for a five-year architectural engineering degree focused on building services, transferred from WSP UK to WSP NZ to land in Auckland, then Jacobs, then set up her own consulting firm. Chartered engineer. Designs building services engineering with a specific focus on HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), "we ensure that space is not too cool, not too hot, and that the air is fresh, and that you don't get panic when you get your energy bill." She names concept and preliminary design as "the honeymoon", where everything looks good on paper, and the point at which services engineers get ideally engaged. After preliminary, every downstream stage is "dealing with constraints," and the most common fight is about plant room space that nobody wants to increase even by 1%. She walked away from a hotel fit-out because architects would not compromise on ceiling height, even when Anna's team offered multiple alternative routes and system types; "you're playing with physics, force of gravity is the same anywhere you go." On coordination: clash comes from teams not understanding each other's constraints. A layout change that looks trivial to an architect (a 4x4 meeting room becoming a 4x10 kitchen) cascades into ventilation rate recalcs, fire rating changes, hydraulic reworks, and electrical load changes, none of which the initiating team sees. On procurement: collaboration still happens but "despite the contract, not because of it." The industry's risk posture is self-preservation, not management, risk gets pushed down the chain, away from whoever could best manage it. Andy pushes her through a full 4D design lifecycle (3D model → auto-quantities → program via verb-plus-noun → change management against the live model) and shares his own Uniclass machine-learning platform (85% accuracy on asset classification from any 3D file). Anna agrees on the direction ("we're absolutely designing in 3D") and names the blocker: New Zealand industry capability and vision. Contracts don't mandate digital. Government procurement models don't mandate digital. Smaller suppliers are being crowded out by the single monopoly supplier whose Revit files are specifiable. On future direction: AI and data-driven performance analysis, long-term value over short-term cost, and flexibility of spaces. The episode closes personal, Anna's father passed when she was 25; "courage is realising that if you're not doing anything, it's probably got a bigger impact on your life than actually taking the step." That's how she ended up in New Zealand.

Key Topics Discussed

• HVAC in the design lifecycle. Services engineers want to be engaged from concept. Concept and preliminary are "the honeymoon." After preliminary, every stage is constraint management.
• Plant room space as the permanent battleground. Nobody wants to increase it by even 1%. Duct runs hit structural beams. "People didn't test their assumptions properly."
• The hotel fit-out walkaway. Old building, preset structure, preset risers, preset ceiling space, brief to deliver compliant ventilation to every hotel room. Architects would not compromise on ceiling height. Anna's team walked away because "we couldn't come up with a solution that was feasible."
• Force of gravity is the same anywhere you go. Physics is not negotiable. Compliance is not negotiable. Architects, engineers, and contractors are negotiating with each other inside a fixed physical envelope.
• Clash comes from teams not understanding each other's constraints. A 4x4 meeting room changing to a 4x10 kitchen sounds trivial. Downstream it's ventilation recalc, fire rating penetration changes, hydraulic refixtures, electrical load changes. Silo mentality makes fixes expensive and the client pays.
• Collaboration happens despite the contract, not because of it. Anna agrees with Bryce Caldwell's (Ep 24) "contract in the bottom drawer" rule. Andy adds the lawyer's version: "the best contract is one you never look at."
• Risk is pushed down, not managed by whoever can best manage it. PM companies exist to push risk away from the client. Main contractor pushes it to subs. "Even if you do nothing, there's still risk."
• Pre-conceived defensive positions. Design teams assume contractors cut corners. Contractors assume designers don't know how to build. Everyone starts defensive. Understanding what drives each role (designers: performance; contractors: program and margin) changes the conversation.
• Why prelim is still in 2D. Andy challenges the convention. Anna responds: industry capability. Not everything is captured in 3D (many nodes, non-physical elements). 3D file limitations for services engineers. Andy's counter: start in 3D and cut 2D from it, don't redo work twice.
• Clash detection works, but needs someone to actively resolve. Push a button to generate the report. Filter out false clashes (flexible duct work with structure is often fine). Real clashes need active thinking, adjusted Revit, adjusted shop drawings.
• Andy's 4D lifecycle pitch. 3D model → quantity take-off → verb-plus-noun task list (install steel, pour concrete, install HVAC) → quantity ÷ production rate = duration → program tied to the model. Change the model, the estimate and program update automatically.
• Andy's Uniclass ML platform. 85% accuracy assigning Uniclass codes against 3D model objects from any firm's file, regardless of naming convention (slab vs slab on grade vs structural decking system, all the same thing, all named differently).
• StratApps launched free to the industry. Andy announces Strategic Planning Co's app suite will be free "for now" to break the license-cost barrier that stops people progressing.
• Cost vs value in NZ. "We understand cost. We don't understand value in New Zealand." Warehouses everywhere because cheapest is always chosen. Tiny plant rooms that nobody can maintain. Plant replaced in 5 years instead of 20.
• Contracts and government procurement don't mandate digital. Anna confirms the systemic block named by Pamela Bell (Ep 63). Change is needed upstream, not just in design.
• Blender + Bonsai as free IFC viewer/editor. Anna is shown a free open-source tool. Monopoly supplier Revit files vs free alternatives for smaller suppliers.
• Personal courage. Anna's father passed when she was 25. The shock reframed "why not now" as the only sensible question. She moved to NZ. "Courage isn't always going for it. Sometimes it's realising that not doing anything has a bigger impact than taking the step."
• Energy bill cold-open. Andy and Anna open with their own bills: Anna $300, Andy $280, four-bedroom home $480. HVAC's punchline is the monthly bill, and the episode grounds every design decision in what it costs to run.
• 21-day hotel stay empathy. Anna references having stayed 21 days in a hotel room herself. That personal experience is why she understood (and respected) the architect's refusal to compromise on ceiling height in the walkaway project, "feel" matters in hospitality.
• $20,000 per day site running cost. Andy's figure for a medium-sized commercial project. Protocol builds, labour, temporary works, scaffolding, plant, material. Frame for why "is this in my scope or not?" becomes the dominant question as soon as a problem hits site.
• Six scaffold arrangement changes on one stability. Andy's specific live-project example. Services uncoordinated at design meant the main contractor had to reconfigure scaffolding six times on one level. Anna's direct evidence that design decisions cascade into contractor overhead nobody estimates upfront.

Notable Quotes

"HVAC makes sure the space isn't too cool, not too hot, the air is fresh, and you don't get panic when you get your energy bill."

"Most people call concept and preliminary design the honeymoon, everything gets along, everything looks positive, things actually working on paper. After that we're dealing with constraints, and nobody wants to increase the plant room by even 1%."

"You're playing with physics, right? Force of gravity is the same anywhere you go."

"Collaboration does happen. But it's not because the contract inspires us to collaborate. It doesn't."

"We understand cost. We don't understand value in New Zealand."

"Even like our contracts don't promote digitalisation. Our government procurement models don't promote digitalisation. Something's got to change."

"Courage is not always going for it. Sometimes it's realising that if you're not doing anything, that probably has a bigger impact on your life than actually taking the step."

Guest Background

Anastasija Taranenko (commonly "Anna") is the founder of AE Consulting, a building services engineering firm in Auckland specialising in HVAC design. Born in Lithuania. At 19 she moved to Scotland to study a five-year architectural engineering degree focused on building services. Transferred from WSP UK to WSP NZ, arriving in Auckland. Chartered engineer in NZ. Worked at Jacobs before setting up AE Consulting during the 2025-2026 downturn. Her father passed away when she was 25, a turning point that catalysed the move away from Europe. Outside the firm: focused on building the company and serving clients through a difficult market.