Headquarters Boasts Of State-Of-The-Art Mechanical Room

Headquarters Boasts Of State-Of-The-Art
Mechanical Room

The design maximizes the use of limited
space while providing service accessibility.

By Michael G. Miller, P.E.
Assistant Director, Facilities Division

The Buchart-Horn, Inc./BASCO Associates decision to place the firm's corporate headquarters in an abandoned factory made good sense. It fulfilled the company's commitment to the City of York, it protected the environment while being affordable and it gave us an opportunity to showcase the firm's design skills and the latest systems and materials to prospective clients who would visit the completed project

The Mechanical Engineering division was challenged with a five-fold mission: Provide a flexible heating/cooling system, furnish superior indoor air quality for a healthy environment, select system components that are easy to service and maintain, fit the equipment into a very limited space and keep the construction cost within budget.

A well-planned team approach was formed following interviews with the personnel who would use the system. It was clear that a high performance system was essential, but that there was precious little space available to house all of the machinery required. Every inch of space in the 56,000 sq. ft. facility was in demand for our progressively growing firm.

The firm's leadership decided that "a proper environment for productive employees is a sound investment" and authorized all the program aspirations with a charge to the mechanical division to solve the design problems with innovative ways and to be creative in containing costs with the following features:

The modular sound insulated double wall air handling units ("Air- Paks" manufactured by the York International Corporation) were specified for their superior ability to protect the indoor air quality from mold, fungus and other airborne contaminates. Three large units, one for each floor, (sized up to 38,000 cubic feet per minute capacity) are composed of separate sections, supported with a perimeter frame. The units can be individually serviced through access doors for easy maintenance. These units economically vary the quantity of air to each space to meet the load saving operating fan power costs.

Fully conditioned fresh outside air is introduced at a constant level to the facility in sufficient quantity for a healthy environment and to pressurize the cracks around windows and doors against the infiltration of drafts and leaks.

High efficiency pre and final filters capture contaminates before distribution into the ductwork or inhabited spaces and reduces maintenance cleaning and dusting of the facility.

Return air ductwork was eliminated and the machine room itself is kept immaculate for a low maintenance cost with occasional vacuuming and wet mopping.

Winter air is enriched with moisture by three NORTEC electric steam generators to provide a healthy humidity level for respiration and to reduce static electricity at the computer stations. The boiling of the water destroys bacteria and distills out impurities for a dust-free, hygienic atmosphere.

The building is heated with two 91% efficient gas-fired condensing AERCO boilers that can quickly warm the building even after a long cold weekend. Computerized controls cycle the boilers to consume just enough fuel to precisely meet the load. These extremely compact units can each fire up to one million BTUs and wring out so much heat from the products of combustion that the gases condense to a liquid requiring only a six inch wall vent rather than an expensive, large chimney to the roof.

An exterior 200-ton capacity York International Corporation chiller cools the facility. The outside location saves expensive emergency refrigerant gas purging ventilation required for code safety, eliminates the need for vibration and noise containment and saves valuable floor space.

Two sets of compact in-line chilled and hot water pumps are mounted overhead above the space needed for the coil removal area using the same square footage of the floor for both the coil and pump servicing. The pipe and fittings on the pumps are conveniently laid out horizontally for ease of preventive maintenance and service.

To isolate the offices from the machine room fan noise and rumble, adjacent storage room ceiling space was lined with inexpensive batt insulation to form a built-up sound trap.

In all, the mechanical division achieved "Big results in a small package" by assembling a comprehensive team, listening to the users and researching multiple options for innovations and economy. In choosing the correct equipment for an optimum application, the engineers' design maximized the use of the limited space while preserving accessibility for service and maintenance.