Middlebury College – New Squash Center

Cx Associates provided commissioning for the new squash center on Middlebury College’s main campus, which includes nine squash courts, an entrance to the main athletic complex, and seating for hundreds of spectators. Cx Associates was retained to assist in the pursuit of LEED certification for the project. Commissioned systems included HVAC, domestic hot water, and lighting and lighting controls. Our early involvement during the design phase allowed us to develop close relationships with the college and the contractors which helped ensure the controls for the ventilation system and lighting system met the design intent and needs of the college.

Topics: Sustainability commissioning Higher Education New Construction education LEED design review Athletics/pool

Middlebury College Field House (LEED Gold)

Cx Associates provide design and construction phase commissioning for Middlebury College’s new Field House. Our review uncovered several issues that, when corrected, reduced first cost and increased energy efficiency. During the construction phase, we corrected over 50 issues with the rest of the team, each found during commissioning. Correcting these problems improved equipment access and maintainability, improved sequences of operation and other equipment programming, and resulted in improved environmental quality.

Topics: commissioning Higher Education New Construction education LEED design review Athletics/pool

Champlain College Juniper, Butler and Valcour Halls (Res-Tri)

Cx Associates provided commissioning during Champlain College’s two-phase dormitory project to build three new residence halls on their campus. Our work ensured that the buildings conformed with the project Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR), Basis of Design (BOD), and contract documents. The project included energy efficient design elements such as heat pump systems connected to a ground source wellfield serving a multi-building district.

Topics: Sustainability commissioning Higher Education Heat Pumps New Construction education LEED design review

Maine Medical Center RCx, Retrofit Planning, and Controls Upgrade

Cx Associates was retained by Maine Medical Center to provide an engineering assessment for optimizing the replacement of AHU-44, which is at the end of its expected service life. We recommended an advantageous solution and provided a design narrative for use in pricing. We provided services throughout the replacement, by evaluating hospital spaces and programs, space conditioning and ventilation requirements, performing submittal reviews, and developing the final sequence of operation. To round out the project, we will conduct site work to review the installation and operation.

Topics: Healthcare retrocommissioning Energy Management Existing Building Controls upgrade problem solving

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center

Cx Associates conducted a retrocommissioning qualification study for the chilled water plant at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. Our review of the facility focused on its chilled water plant, the BAS, as well as pumps and the cooling tower. Our study resulted in four measures we recommended to the owner. These four measures resulted in estimated annual savings of $17,000, which would result in a payback period of just 1.4 years.

Topics: Healthcare retrocommissioning Energy Management Existing Building bas

Northwestern Medical Center Air Handling Unit Retrocommissioning

Cx Associates worked with Efficiency Vermont to complete a retrocommissioning (RCx) process of nine Air Handling Units (AHU) at Northwestern Medical Center (NMC). The nine AHUs analyzed in this RCx study served several areas of the 200,000 square foot medical building including operating rooms, surgical services, ICU, PCU, laboratories, cafeteria, office spaces, and the emergency department. In addition to the original scope, we identified three further items during the implementation phase of the work that would give additional savings of over $9,000 per year. The final RCx report indicates savings of over $33,700 per year.

Topics: Healthcare retrocommissioning Energy Management Existing Building

Fanny Allen Hospital Comprehensive Building Automation System (BAS) Upgrade

We provided design and sequences of operation for an upgrade to Fanny Allen Hospital’s aging Building Automation System (BAS). This upgrade resulted in an increase in the facility’s Energy Star score from 15 to 31. Our team based our design on the not-yet-released ASHRAE Guideline 36 and implemented leading edge efficiency measures in the control of the HVAC systems.

Topics: Healthcare Energy Management Existing Building bas Controls upgrade

Northwestern Medical Center Master Facilities and Chiller Plant Upgrades

Cx Associates provided commissioning services for Construction and Post-Occupancy phases of this multi-building project. The overall project was comprised of three separate projects: the ICU/Medical-Surgical addition, which included twenty new single occupancy patient rooms; the main entrance and lobby renovation, which included the outpatient clinic addition and contained multiple exam rooms; and a new standalone medical office building.

Topics: Healthcare commissioning New Construction Existing Building

Maine Medical Partners Medical Office Building

Cx Associates provided design, construction, and occupancy phase commissioning services for this Compounding Pharmacy and Medical Office Building which houses dedicated dermatology and chemo infusion clinics along with a pharmaceutical lab. Because we were involved since the design review, we were able to work with the owners, designers, and contractors to ensure the compounding pharmacy HVAC system will satisfy the strict code requirements for this type of space.

Topics: Healthcare commissioning New Construction design review compounding pharmacy

Maine Medical Center Bramhall Campus

Cx Associates is commissioning this four-phase construction project, including the Congress Street Clinical Building, East Tower Vertical Expansion, Existing Visitor Garage Vertical Expansion, and Central Utility Plant Chiller. We are providing design, construction, and occupancy phase commissioning services for this project as well as occupancy phase monitoring-based commissioning. In addition, we worked with Maine Medical Center to develop an in-depth facilities Owner’s Project Requirements document that they are now using to inform other projects.

Topics: Healthcare commissioning New Construction LEED design review OPR Facilitation

University of Vermont Medical Center Miller Inpatient Building

Cx Associates led the development of the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR), and then provided commissioning services for Design, Construction, and Post-Occupancy phases of the project. Our design reviews resulted in over $220,000 in first cost savings and we identified and suggested solutions for over 200 issues during construction.

Currently we are providing measurement and verification services in compliance with LEED 2009-NC Version 3.0 – EAC 5 for Measurement and Verification. This work includes commissioning metering devices, building a public-facing web page that charts the Energy Use Intensity of the building, writing and executing a measurement and verification plan, and developing an energy model to measure actual building energy performance in comparison to baseline.

Topics: Healthcare commissioning Energy Management New Construction LEED OPR Facilitation Measurement & Verification

University of Vermont Medical Center McClure AHU Modernization

Cx Associates supported the project by acting as commissioning agents as well as performing project engineering of the control sequences.   Our work also included developing specifications and sequences of operation, verifying performance of the new equipment in the field, and estimating the energy savings for use by the local utility to facilitate a significant rebate for the project. Cx Associates completed a comprehensive and highly successful upgrade to UVMMC’s McClure HVAC system that resulted in energy savings of over $100,000/year for the facility.  This project also increased the effectiveness of the building operations team by giving them the tools they need to efficiently operate this complex system.  In addition, the system will experience significantly less downtime for repairs and maintenance costs in the future.  

Topics: Energy Efficiency Healthcare Existing Building

UVM Dudley H. Davis Center

The University of Vermont (UVM) Davis Center was the first student center to receive LEED Gold certification for new construction from the U.S. Green Building Council. This cutting-edge, 186,000 square-foot building features a 19,000 square-foot green roof, built-in compost storage coolers, waterless urinals, and an energy efficient HVAC system. It diverts more than 60 percent of its waste from the landfill. In 2010, the Davis Center received the Innovative Achievement Award, sponsored by American Campus Communities. The Davis Center represents UVM's commitment to the environment and green building practices.

Topics: Sustainability Green Building commissioning Higher Education Energy Management New Construction education LEED design review

Hypertherm Heater Road

Turning LEED Silver Into LEED Gold

In 2011, Cx Associates began working with Hypertherm, a world leading plasma and laser cutting equipment manufacturer located in New Hampshire. We provided LEED consultation; building envelope, HVAC, and electrical commissioning; and measurement and verification (M&V) planning and implementation services for this $35 million, 160,000 square foot LEED project.

Topics: commissioning Manufacturing New Construction LEED Building M&V

Community College of Vermont

Cx Associates served as both the Commissioning Authority (CxA) and LEED Consultant for the new Academic Facility at the CCV campus in Winooski, VT. The building recently received a Vermont Green Building Network Going Green Award because its energy use is proven to be less than half of the regional average for commercial buildings on an annualized per square foot basis. This 65,000 square foot facility uses only 48,000 BTU/SF/YR while serving over 2,000 students throughout the year.

Topics: Higher Education New Construction LEED

Howard Opera House RCx

Retrocommissioning Your Building for Big Savings

Cx Associates worked with the owner of the Howard Opera House building in Burlington, Vermont, and the Burlington Electric Department (BED), to address issues related to the building's aging HVAC infrastructure. The four-story building in downtown Burlington was built in 1879. Over the years, it has housed a department store, an opera house in the upper floors, and various other commercial and office spaces.

Topics: retrocommissioning Existing Building

M&V Case Study: VFD Installed on a Milk Vacuum Pump

Description of Project: A variable speed drive was installed on an existing constant speed 10 HP milk vacuum pump. Since the maximum capacity of the vacuum pump was not needed for the operation of the milking facilities, the VFD allowed the vacuum pump to run at a fraction of its maximum load thereby saving energy. Demand savings for the measure was claimed during ISO winter performance hours.

Topics: Evaluation Measurement & Verification (EM&

Fletcher Allen Health Care Radiation Oncology Suite

 

Fletcher Allen Health Care dedicated its new Radiation Oncology Suite on August 21, 2010. The $19 million, 23,000-square-foot facility embeds state of the art technology — two new linear accelerators with up to 18 million electron volts of potential — in a soothing, patient-centered environment. It also pursues LEED Silver certification. Built into a hillside to reduce the need for heating and cooling year-round, the Radiation Oncology Suite features a "green" roof with a vegetable garden and plantings to reduce heat build-up and storm water run-off. Natural light filtered through skylights saves on energy costs and provides patients with a sense of connection to the outdoors. The project includes efficient lighting, heating and cooling systems that reduce energy consumption by 20%, as well as water efficient plumbing fixtures.

Topics: Healthcare HVAC New Construction LEED

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