search
Ask ACHR NEWS AI
cart
facebook twitter instagram linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • Heating & Boilers
    • Cooling & Chillers
    • Pumps & Flow Controls
  • SECTORS
    • Commercial
    • Health Care
    • Data Center
    • Educational Facilities
  • DESIGN | CONSTRUCTION
  • OTHER TOPICS
    • High-Performance Buildings & Automation
    • Ventilation and IAQ
    • Commissioning
    • HVAC Retrofits
  • TODAY’S BOILER
    • Today’s Boiler Archives
    • Today’s Boiler Digital Edition
  • MORE
    • Case Studies
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Directory
    • Webinars
    • ES NEWS Store
    • White Papers
  • SIGN UP
  • Back to The NEWS
Engineered Systems NEWSVentilation and IAQHVAC Retrofits

Facility Files: Replacing a College Campus Administration's Rooftop System

By Amanda Parolise
Facility Files
July 12, 2019

This month’s Facility File will focus on the B2B June test for the renovation of an office building located on a major corporation’s U.S. headquarters campus. The existing HVAC system to be replaced is an antiquated hot water heating system serving baseboard radiation, unit heaters, and a rooftop HVAC unit.

This single-story building is scheduled to be renovated into an open office concept, and the HVAC system will have a direct outside air system (DOAS) with gas-fired heat and direct expansion cooling supply air to active chilled beams. Supply air to active chilled beams shall receive supplemental cooling via a 60-ton, air-cooled chiller providing 55ºF chilled water supply connections at each active chilled beam. Hot water radiant heat panels, located around the perimeter of the building, will be served by a 600-MBH condensing boiler providing 125º hot water supply to these panel.

The project delivery is design-bid-build (DBB), so there will be little interaction between the owner, outsourced O&M staff, design team, and the DBB general contractor and his subcontractors. The design engineer will specify in the contract bid documents the method of data collection of equipment in a manner that will make seamless the compilation of the preventive maintenance (PM) work orders to populate the existing corporate campus CMMS system to have work orders ready for day one of owner occupancy.

The building owner did not retain an owner representative but did retain a third-party commissioning and testing, adjusting, and balancing consultant (CxTAB) to assist in system verification and functional performance.

It will be beneficial for the owner and the outsourced O&M staff to have access to 2019 ASHRAE Handbook — HVAC Applications Chapter 3 (Commercial and Public Buildings), 2016 ASHRAE Handbook — HVAC Systems and Equipment Chapter 5 (In-Room Terminal Systems) for active chilled beam discussion, and Chapter 6 (Radiant Heating and Cooling) for radiant heat design considerations. The O&M staff will also reference Chapter 32 for boilers and Chapter 43 on liquid chiller systems for design considerations. In addition, the design team and owner’s outsourced O&M technician staff shall review Chapters 36-43 (Building Operation and Management) and Chapter 61 (HVAC Security) for design guidelines to assist in the training in the design phase.

In the design phase of the project, the outsourced O&M staff will want to contribute information to the design team’s writing of the contract specification and more specifically service contracts, parts inventory, and as-built drawings requirements. They’ll also want to review the design documents and gain assurance equipment serviceability will be adequate.

For a building program as well as a business plan to continue to successfully manage the corporate offices on this campus, energy management and the new radiant HVAC and DOAS will contribute to this ongoing success. Occupant comfort within the building itself is imperative, and it’s important that this renovation-building program includes an O&M budget in addition to the program’s construction budget.

In the construction phase, the O&M staff will want to revisit the issues noted earlier during the design phase. Next comes the startup, TAB, and commissioning phases. The outsourced O&M staff will be proactive in following along with the general contractor’s mechanical-electrical coordinator, the subcontractor’s startup personnel and receive equipment/system training from the HVAC subcontractor’s startup technician, and system training using the O&M manuals and contract drawings (that will eventually become the as-built drawings).


Once the startup has been completed and the ATC subcontractor and the third-party commissioning and testing, adjusting, and balancing (CxTAB) consultants have completed the air and water balancing work, the HVAC subcontractor shall go through an automatic control system initial dry-run demonstration prior to the general contractor and his mechanical and electrical coordinator demonstrating the system to the CxTAB consultants. The ATC subcontractor should also begin collecting system performance by trending pertinent chilled water cooling, outdoor air ventilation, hot water heating system, and equipment data as follows:

[X] Outdoor air dry bulb and wet bulb temperature [X] Open space air dry bulb and wet bulb temperature [X] Chilled water supply and return temperature [X] Hot water supply and return temperature [X] Outdoor air temperature [X] Alarms [X] Safety control points

 

Taking the same approach as the design engineering, the owner shall direct the O&M personnel to use a series of computer-generated touchscreen project checklists that allows the staff to confirm that the following facility files have been collected. This process should start at the beginning of construction and not at project closeout so that the facility files can be inputted into a CMMS work order system. Touchscreen O&M checklists should include:

[X] Equipment shop drawings [X] O&M manuals, parts list, and lubricants [X] Troubleshooting tips [X] Seasonal startup and shutdown instructions

 

The O&M staff should review the contractor-produced sheet metal and piping field fabrication/field coordination drawings prior to fabrication. Touchscreen service checklists should include:

[X] Location of shutoff valves, ATC valve, and balancing valve [X] Circulator [X] Control devices [X] Access for servicing equipment

 

The training process should include specific heating system and terminal equipment training. The water balancing of the radiant heat zone along with the final TAB report should be included in the preventive maintenance work order system for rebalancing in a couple of years. This requires the TAB consultant to provide the water balancing reports along with the associated system flow diagrams noting quantities and pressures for rebalancing, if necessary, as part of the project closeout documents. Touchscreen training checklists should include:

[X] Equipment [X] System [X] Automatic controls [X] Energy management

 

To read the article in pdf form, please see here.

More Facility Files here. 

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

 

Parolise is project manager consultant with BuildingSmart Software LLC. Reach her at mckew@yahoo.com.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
To unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • HVAC-enrollment

    The Trades Are Back: HVACR Programs See Nearly 30% Enrollment Spike

    A new wave of future technicians is entering the pipeline.  
    News
    By: Matt Jachman
  • 2025 Top 40 Under 40

    2025 Top 40 Under 40 HVACR Professionals List

    The 11th annual Top 40 Under 40 list highlights those...
    HVAC Contracting
    By: Hannah Belloli-Oster
  • LG Ductless Mini-Split Systems

    The 9 Types of Heat Pumps

    As the U.S. moves toward electrification, heat pumps are...
    HVAC Commercial Market
    By: Joanna R. Turpin

More Videos

Today's Boiler

Spring 2026 Issue

Today's Boiler - Spring 2026 Cover

Read More from Today's Boiler

Case in Point Logo

Smarter Hydronic Design for Data Centers - Free Webinar - January 22, 2026

Related Articles

  • Facility Files

    Facility Files: Replacing an Antiquated Hot Water Heaing System with a DOAS and Chilled Beams

    See More
  • Mitsubishi Electric VRF at Noorda Engineering

    Creating a More Sustainable College Campus with VRF Heat Pumps

    See More
  • Facility Files

    Facility Files: A Boiler Retrofit at a 40-building Campus

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • Manual Q.jpg

    Manual Q - Low Pressure, Low Velocity Duct System Design

  • Uncomplicating The Heat Pump: Electrical System Troubleshooting DVD

  • srepm.png

    System Recovery & Evacuation

See More Products

Related Directories

  • Carrier, Replacement Components

    Replacements Components is the parts division of Carrier dedicated to after sale support of the Carrier/Bryant/Payne/ICP equipment brands.
×

Sign Up. Stay Informed.

The #1 trusted source for the HVACR industry since 1926

SUBSCRIBE
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Advisory Board
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Letter
    • Directories
    • Store
  • ACCOUNT CENTER
    • Create an Account
    • Start a Subscription
    • Manage My Account
    • Sign Up for Newsletters
    • Visit Customer Service
    • Update Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2026. All Rights Reserved BNP Media, Inc. and BNP Media II, LLC.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing