Fault Detection and Diagnostics (FDD)

• Highly custom air handlers

• Standard air handler types

• Chiller plants

• Boiler plants

• Terminal units—single- and dual-duct

• Radiant floor systems

• Zone systems

  • Fan coils

  • Heat pumps

  • Unit ventilators

  • Baseboard heaters

  • In-duct coils

New Construction Commissioning

• Owner’s project requirements (OPR) review

• Basis of design (BOD) review

• Design review

• Submittal review

• Control sequences review

• Point-to-point verification

• Sensor calibration checks

• Airflow balancing verification

• Functional testing of equipment

• Post-occupancy trend data review

Retro-Commissioning

• Energy savings analysis

• Controls review for optimization potential

• Point-to-point verification

• Sensor calibration checks

• Functional testing to verify controls

• Trend data analysis for long-term controls evaluation

Examples of faults include the following:

Controls

• Undesired operator overrides

• Undesired occupant overrides

• Undesired scheduling

• Improperly programmed control sequences

• Unstable process control

Sensors

• Drift

• Failure

Devices

• Actuator slippage or failure

• Valve or damper malfunction

• Equipment short-cycling

Boiler Replacement

• Mechanical construction drawings for a 50 MMBtu/h boiler replacement at a major West Coast airport

  • Operated at 300 psig and produced 270°F hot water

  • Included stack economizers and extensive exhaust gas monitoring

Energy Auditing & Chilled-Water System Modifications

• Energy auditing to identify HVAC and control system upgrades

• Correction of low ΔT syndrome in primary-secondary chilled water system

Commissioning

• Commissioning for new airport terminal HVAC construction

• Retro-commissioning of all existing air handlers

• Verification study of terminal unit calibration

  • Sampling terminal units at each airport terminal to assess if calibration is needed

HVAC & Control System Retrofits

• HVAC design modification for chiller plants, boiler plants, thermal energy storage systems, and air handling systems

  • Work included construction oversight for functional testing and resolution of operational deficiencies and failures

• HVAC design modification and control system retrofits on three California college campuses to correct chilled-water low ΔT issues

  • At one campus, work included re-piping, new controls, and a chiller replacement to optimize use of a one-million-gallon thermal energy storage system

• Central boiler and chiller plant retrofits and controls optimizations

• Resolution of building humidity issues through chilled-water re-piping and controls modifications

Control System Retrofits

• Design documents to retrofit and replace legacy control systems to fully integrated BAS systems using BACnet and assuring non-proprietary future expansions

  • Work included construction oversight and functional testing

Systems Optimization

• Artificial intelligence (AI) optimization of a central chiller plant at a California campus and development of an optimized sequences of operations

• Balancing of chiller plant energy use with pumping energy and need for dehumidification

Thermal Energy Storage

• Design of an ice storage system with a glycol chiller, two 1,200-ton variable-speed centrifugal chillers, and two 1,200-ton, double-effect steam-driven absorption chillers

Commissioning

• Retro-commissioning of building HVAC systems

• New construction commissioning of building HVAC systems

Retrofit Design

• Numerous design modifications and additions to hospital chiller plants, boiler plants, cogeneration systems, and air handling systems

  • Equipment replacements, conversion to variable-flow pumping, and resolution of operational deficiencies

  • Most implemented on weekend nights to limit hospital downtime

• Airside modifications to portions of hospitals for infection isolation using pressurization of patient rooms and adjoining anterooms

  • Implementation of variable air volume control where permitted

• Design documents for modification of medical air systems

Maintenance Management

• Design documents for implementation of maintenance management systems

New Construction Design

• MPF design drawings and construction administration for a large gas turbine installation and heat recovery-driven absorption chiller, with new central plant control system and retrofit of control systems throughout the hospital

• Cryogenic gas management and small data center cooling system for new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems in hospitals in 20 states

New Construction Design

• MPF design for new office buildings with construction services

Retrofit Design & Control System Upgrades

• HVAC modification to chiller plants, boiler plants, energy storage systems, and air handling systems to solve operational deficiencies and failures

• Design documents to replace a 40-year-old pneumatic control system with a fully integrated BAS system throughout a two-million-square-foot office building in San Francisco, among other modifications

  • Conversion to variable-air-volume control

  • Interfacing building fire alarm system for smoke control override and automated floor pressurization to isolate exhaust fire floors while pressurizing floors above and below

  • Construction oversight, commissioning, and permit coordination

  • Monitoring of parking garage emissions and control of garage exhaust fans

Commissioning

• Terminal unit calibration project

  • Re-calibration of all building terminal units, including report of pre- and post-calibration state

• Retro-commissioning of building HVAC systems

• New construction commissioning of building HVAC systems

Thermal Energy Storage

• Design of one-million-gallon thermal storage system, including chiller plant integration design and controls modifications, to serve a campus of municipal buildings

New Construction Design

• MPF design for a new state-of-the-art performance theater complex with three auditoriums and two working stages

  • Work included advanced smoke control systems to ensure audience and performer safety during emergencies and four-hour fire-rated protection at the proscenium openings to meet building code and safety requirements

• MEP design for a new working stage at a high school

• MPF design for multiple high schools and middle schools, including maintenance garage exhaust systems, wood working exhaust systems, and ice and chilled water thermal storage systems

• Construction documents for retrofits of steam boiler plants to implement exhaust gas recirculation for NOx control

Retrofit Design

• Energy studies and a subsequent steam system retrofit for the U.S. Navy

• MEP services for a complete HVAC replacement for a single large auditorium, which included a working stage

• MPF retrofits and controls system replacements for K-12 schools

Commissioning

• Retro-commissioning of a six-story federal building to define scope for replacement of the building’s aging HVAC system

Retrofit Design

• Mechanical system retrofits of existing college laboratory systems to convert to variable-air-volume control based on hood sash position and differential pressure control for hood containment

• MPF services to provide new laboratory systems in high school science rooms

Commissioning

• New construction commissioning for pharmaceutical facilities

• Retro-commissioning

  • Fume hood flow verification

  • Supply and exhaust baffle verification

Energy Analysis

• Energy auditing for a large data center for a major software firm

• Analysis of retrofits of computer room air handlers to variable-speed plug fans for a utility incentive program

Commissioning

• Retro-commissioning for a large government data center and support offices

• New construction commissioning for data centers housed inside office buildings

Demand Management

• Load shifting feasibility studies for wineries

• Analysis of solar PV and energy storage potential

Energy Auditing

• Energy auditing for industries including poultry, aseptic beverages, milk, cheese, chocolate, pet food, and vegetable facilities, among others

• Analysis of productivity improvement opportunities, such as improved humidity control in winery barrel rooms and improved moisture reduction in compressed air used in chocolate product packaging lines

• Analysis of refrigeration, steam, and compressed air system performance and efficiency opportunities

Research

• Utility-sponsored research projects on various energy efficiency measures

Efficiency Retrofits

• Verification of retrofits for utility incentive programs, including energy savings analysis

New Construction Commissioning

• Central DOAS, VRF, and exhaust air systems

New Construction Commissioning

• Heat pump hot water plants