College & University
STAN's College and University experience includes projects ranging from one room to complete buildings, new buildings to complete retrofits, and services including design and/or commissioning. Our extensive engineering design background has added significant value to our commissioning of these complex buildings. We have completed projects nationally including a multitude of building types.
Our depth of experience in energy conservation, long before LEED became the norm, has impacted all of our projects resulting in low energy use, but highly maintainable systems. Our unique experience in controls engineering adds value to each design.
Please contact us for an in depth list of completed College and University projects.
College and University System Commissioning
Various Locations Nationally
STAN has been awarded the role of Commissioning Agent for 44 projects at numerous colleges and universities throughout the country. Many of these projects include multiple buildings and a wide range of building types. We have commissioned over six million square feet of space for the various campuses since we were awarded our first commissioning project in 1995.
Our clients include Bowling Green State University, Central State University, Miami University of Ohio, Northern Kentucky University, Sinclair Community College, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Toledo, and Wright State Univesity.
Weisman Art Museum
University of Minnesota
The Weisman Art Museum is a radical Frank O. Gehry design of unique architecture. Unfortunately, the HVAC systems were not designed to accommodate the wide load variations nor the filtration standards or tight control tolerances of modern museums. STAN designed HVAC system retrofits that not only improved space conditions but saved energy as well. The complex design involved control strategies that use the complete power of the direct digital control system to maintain the tight temperature and humidity tolerances required by the museum using the minimum energy possible.
A key feature of the project was to reduce energy use. In addition to control changes, the majority of the building was changed from constant volume reheat to variable air volume. The building was continuously occupied during construction with invasive work accomplished during second and third shift. Scope included major HVAC retrofits, a complete temperature control system replacement, and a fire alarm system replacement. STAN provided construction administration services and also commissioned the new mechanical and temperature control systems.
Millett Hall Rehabilitation
Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio
Millett Hall was built in 1966 and is home to the College of Liberal Arts, which consists of a multitude of departments. It was one of the original buildings on campus and had outdated HVAC systems, power distribution, and technology infrastructure. STAN was responsible for all engineering and commissioning for the complete renovation of this 167,000 square foot building which includes classrooms, offices, central computer areas, and educational support functions. The total project cost exceeded $10,000,000.00 with the MEP portion representing more than half of the cost.
Of key importance was the major renovation of the chilled water plant located in Millett Hall which served 5 buildings on the Quad. One of the existing two chillers was replaced with a new 750 ton centrifugal chiller. Both cooling towers were replaced and a new variable speed condenser water system was designed allowing both towers to be used when just one chiller was operating. STAN was also responsible for all engineering and commissioning for the new central hot water plant serving Millett and four other buildings at the center of the WSU campus called the Quad. The new plant replaced three large boilers in Oelman Hall.
Ecology Laboratory Building
University of Minnesota
The Ecology Building was completed in 1992. Laboratory spaces never worked as desired and were unable to maintain temperature, humidity, and pressure control.
STAN was retained to re-commission the HVAC systems and to evaluate the problem. Engineering started with the basics: running loads, measuring flows, calculating duct performance, and evaluating AHUs. We identified duct/fan/HVAC deficiencies due to inadequate capacity and improper control.
STAN was then retained to engineer the retrofit. The air handling unit retrofit used the existing casing components and replaced coils, fans, humidifiers, filter sections, and controls with larger, properly sized components. The work was phased throughout the building to accommodate changes to supply, fume hood exhaust, and general exhaust on a room-by-room basis. Air handling unit retrofits were completed on a tight 24-hour-per-day work schedule to minimize down time. Very close coordination of HVAC down time was required as the entire lower level is a vivarium with long term animal research. Careful coordination between the contractors, University, and our design team made this a success with minimal occupant interference. The total cost for this MEP project was $940,700.00.
This project illustrates our ability to use fundamentals to identify and solve HVAC laboratory deficiencies in comfort and performance, and to retrofit the building while occupied.