Welcome

This is the homepage for Nebulous LLC. The content on this website is summarized as follows: 

  • Preview and summary of Mike Starr’s electrical commissioning book (below).
  • Preview and summary of Mike’s EE Mentor Series books (below).
  • Two free electrical iOS apps (without ads or in-app purchases).
  • Nebulous LLC Blog (topics like UPS sizing and value engineering).
  • Our support knowledge content article for voltage drop.
    • This is becoming a go-to internet search engine resource. The article is concise and has specific examples.
  • Electrical mentorship program offerings and example notes.
  • Founder and Engineer, Mike Starr, PE’s resume and contact information. 
  • Associated privacy policies for this website and the iOS apps.
  • Suggestions for PE and CDT exam preparation. 

Please reach out to collaborate on topics. Thanks for visiting!

The Guide for Commissioning Building Electrical Systems seeks to help you understand the commissioning process and provides recommendations for successful projects. The chapter sequence first discusses reasons to commissioning electrical systems and follows by overviewing project schedules/budgets and levels 1 through 5 of the commissioning process. Using a mentor-based approach, the chapters overview development of documentation, such as Commissioning Plans, Commissioning Specifications, Test Equipment Plans, checklists, and test scripts. Given the electrical emphasis, there is also an overview of power characteristics needed to specify and operate test equipment such as load banks and Power Quality Meters (PQMs). The Author’s perspective brings firsthand design and commissioning experience forward, with electrical specific examples throughout, such as recommendations for equipment inspections and field observations. The guide also summarizes relevant codes/standards. Having the cited standard/code references available for review as you read is helpful, but otherwise, they are purely supplemental. The Author recommends this text for anyone, novice to professional, in the construction industry with an interest in electrical systems. 

The guide includes hyperlinks to helpful web addresses, which are more convenient in the e-book format. The reader may still choose to type the addresses into a web browser if they prefer a physical copy of the guide.

The Electrical Engineering (EE) Mentor Series is a concise reference for designers, engineers, and contractors. The lessons are meant to provide the details needed for typical electrical building system applications in the USA. Unlike other manuals on subjects of design and installation, this is not an A to Z guide or top-down overview of the subjects. Nor is this considered a chapter-by-chapter commentary of the NEC or other codes. There are many of those guides available that are helpful for general knowledge, home improvement, quick install reference, classroom setting learning, and personal test prep.

In professional settings, mentorship is important, but there is also work to be done. For various reasons, teammates are added or leave. The team would be ahead if there is enough time for coordination, let alone mentorship. Mentees without experience spend time chasing around their mentors to confirm insights or waiting to receive direction. Many times the mentee must resolve to searching on the internet or watching videos online to fill gaps in their knowledge. When the mentors are also the senior engineers and designers busy doing the work, there is a chance for gaps in mentorship – that is what this series is seeking to help bridge. Just as professional mentors guide and suggest methods, the EE mentor series models a mentor approach. The contents are in narrative form, meant to be a discussion. Of course, mentors do not know everything, but they have valuable experiences and enhanced understandings to share for learning.

For some books in this series, the discussions keep narrow to the subject, and others exceed what is listed on the cover, but only to the extent needed to fully detail the featured topic. Because the series of books is published serially, the development of the material shapes as the books are released; rather than completely pre-planned for where every sub-topic will reside in the individual books.

A secondary intent is to be quickly consumed: fifteen to sixty minute reads. Given the brevity, to have robust examples, the descriptions encapsulate several concepts. In some instances, the mentorship in this guide takes a hand-holding approach by showing diagrams and code snips. For other cases, the detail is shallow, and the best course of action is for you to seek out the reference for confirmations. A good mentee knows due diligence is critical to their learning journey. There is enough content in this document to engage with design and installation concepts without further delay. The delivery is straightforward, not textbook-like, but in a fashion of sharing the most pertinent information. As there is no substitute for experience, more knowledge is needed over time, but these fundamentals will help jumpstart your efforts.

As a final note, mentors are only as helpful as their experience. Having an excellent mentor goes a long way toward building knowledge. The mentor series hopes you gain years of insight in a short time, but without question, there is missed content, and there could even be mistakes. Thanks for your understanding and appreciation of the general intent, which is not to be perfect, but to gain valuable expertise for your projects.

If there are concepts not elaborated enough or that deserves a separate book in this series, please reach out at www.nebulous-llc.com. Thanks for your feedback in the form of ratings or reviews also; that helps to know if more books should be produced in this series.