Engineering Inc. - November/December 2008 - (Page 28)

mULtI-PRojECt FEAtURE Energy Savings Fuel Historic School District’s Green Dream EMC Engineers designed this energy-efficient school building, part of Manitou Springs School District 14 in Colorado. Eric Young PRojECt: manitou Springs School district 14, manitou Springs, Colo. FIRm: A EmC Engineers, Inc., Lakewood, Colo. mid concerns over energy consumption and rising costs, but without the funds to make substantial improvements, the Manitou Springs School District 14 entered into an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC), with EMC Engineers, Inc. (EMC), to update and improve the performance of its facilities. The district, comprising of nine buildings totaling 246,000 square feet across three campuses with the oldENGINEERING INC. est building constructed in the early 1900s, serves the Colorado mountain communities of Manitou Springs and Cascade. An ESPC is a contract through which the building owner finances energyefficient upgrades with the projected savings from those upgrades. “EMC guaranteed the projected energy savings that would result by implementing the improvements, allowing the school district to acquire the construction financing package necessary to make them,” says Eric Young, president of EMC. As the project’s lead engineer and construction manager, EMC conducted an initial technical energy audit to determine the energy performance of the existing sys- tems. The firm also performed energy analysis and modeling to simulate baseline energy performance and to determine the possible improvements and the mechanical and electrical designs for sustainable upgrades to improve energy performance. Finally, EMC was responsible for hiring the appropriate contractors to complete the construction. The district’s goal was to make its buildings more energy-efficient, reduce energy consumption and, in turn, reduce its utility bills—all part of the community’s goal of becoming a sustainable city. EMC’s innovations included a districtwide BACnet system to monitor alarms, trends, schedules and individual equipment operation; occupancy sensors to control lighting and HVAC equipment in each room; variable frequency drives for fan-powered equipment and pumps; new veryhigh-efficiency condensing boilers; and a water-heating system that uses a recirculation loop controlled by occupancy schedules. Because the existing buildings have different types of mechanical systems and controls, EMC had to create a uniform control system simple enough to be effective, but complex enough to operate the different equipment and systems. In another challenge EMC had to change “from the original summer installation schedule, due to the discovery of an incomplete asbestos mitigation project and a previously improperly installed boiler plant,” says Young. EMC rewrote schedules and contracts to accommodate these project delays, requiring contractors to work when they could—including weekends, holidays and at night—to avoid classroom disruptions. “By enabling the school district to accomplish its goals, EMC has demonstrated that consulting engineering firms can provide more than just design and construction services, but can enable creative financing and implement innovative, energy-saving strategies that offer improved efficiency, comfort, health and safety for building occupants,” adds Young. n 28 NovEmbER / dECEmbER 2008

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Engineering Inc. - September/October 2008 Contents From ACEC to You News & Notes Market Watch Legislative Action Engineering Goes Back to School Winning the Talent War Mastering A Hard-Luck Economy Education Makes the Grade in Green Construction 2008 Young Professionals of the Year 2008 Fall Conference Highlights Technology Members in the News One On One

Engineering Inc. - November/December 2008

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