Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

HVAC Technology Transforms Space

  • 04/01/17
HVAC

Randolph Community College transformed a neighboring outdated factory into a high-efficiency, LEED Gold facility with help from innovative SEMCO products.

Randolph Community College (RCC) in Asheville, NC, recycled a neighboring industrial factory into a LEED Gold showcase using the HVAC industry’s most innovative equipment.

Transforming the former 46,000-squarefoot, $850,000 Klaussner Furniture Plant’s un-insulated brick shell into a high-efficiency educational facility proved challenging for two Raleigh-based firms, consulting engineering firm Progressive Design Collaborative (PDC) and architecture firm Smith Sinnett Architecture.

With the encouragement of RCC’s Director of Facilities Cindi Goodwin, PDC thought well beyond convention and designed one of the nation’s first combinations of active chilled beams with an offpeak hours ice storage/chilled water loop.

The foundation of the Continuing Education and Industrial Center’s (CEIC) cooling system is 184 IQHC active chilled beams and two Pinnacle dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS) — both products manufactured by SEMCO, Columbia, MO. The combination of chilled beams and DOAS provide air movement, noise abatement, energy efficiency and a tight tolerance of indoor air quality in terms of temperature and relative humidity. The environmental conditions provide an unprecedented learning environment of quiet, indoor air comfort for RCC students.

The ceiling-mounted two-pipe chilled beams, which range from two to 10-feet in length, supply all of the $7.6-million facility’s cooling. Air cooled by the chilled beams descends to the occupied space and pushes warmer air up to be chilled again in a perpetual air displacement strategy. A 130-ton air-cooled chiller with scroll technology and an ice storage system supplies the chilled beams’ water loop.

In addition to perfect indoor environmental conditions, the CEIC’s comprehensive energy savings result provides a quick six-year payback of HVAC equipment costs.

www.semcohvac.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • California District Debuts New High-School CTE Center

    The West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) in Sebastopol, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new CTE Center at Analy High School, according to a news release. The district partnered with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) for the facility’s design and GCCI for its construction, and funding came from local Measure A bond funds.

  • Western Kentucky University Breaks Ground on First Phase of $350M Student Housing Project

    Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Bowling Green, Ky., recently broke ground on the first phase of a $350-million student housing initiative, according to a news release. The university is partnering with Gilbane Development through a public-private partnership (P3) to replace aging residence halls and modernize on-campus living accommodations.

  • UPenn Announces Completion of New Veterinary Education Facility

    The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Penn., recently finished construction on an 11,800-square-foot veterinary education building, according to a news release. The Gail P. Riepe Center for Advanced Veterinary Education is the first dedicated classroom facility at the New Bolton Center, a large-animal hospital and campus about 35 miles west of the campus proper.

  • DLR Group Announces New Mid-Atlantic Higher Education Leader

    Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that it has promoted Principal Shawn Gaither, AIA, LEED AP, to the role of higher education leader in the Mid-Atlantic, according to a news release. Gaither has served with the firm for more than 20 years, most recently as the national higher education business development leader.