Building Systems, COVID-19, and Colorado College

Farnsworth Group — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 22:02:04 +0000

Building Systems, COVID-19, and Colorado College Farnsworth Group Sep 18, 2020 / 5:02 pm Insights

Recently, a lead engineer at Colorado College reached out to Farnsworth Group for support. Faced with increasing pressure to maintain a safe environment, re-occupy spaces, and provide peace of mind to decision makers that industry standards were being followed, he needed some additional resources.

This was a great team collaboration! Our team plan utilized work-sharing opportunities among some of our brightest young engineers in the commissioning and MEP departments. At the end of the day everyone worked well together and delivered more than what the client expected.

The technical requirements for any building assessment can be daunting, not to mention one that involves 16 buildings and over 1.3 million square feet of building area. (That’s equivalent to over 27 football fields!) And then there’s the pressure of time: in order to provide results to key stakeholders and shift budgets for capital allocations, the project needed to be completed within six weeks. Furthermore, the complexity was apparent. This was not a run-of-the-mill HVAC study, but needed to answer specific questions like:

What recommendations from the industry (think ASHRAE Position Document on Infectious Aerosols) apply to these buildings?
How can I retrofit existing systems to save cost and improve safety?
What data do I need to collect to run the calculations to increase the outdoor fresh air intake for this facility?
How do we provide specific and efficient recommendations that address the unique needs of each of the 16 buildings into a report that makes sense to a non-technical audience?

A view from the rooftops at Colorado College as our team conducted study research.

Truly, these are the types of projects that Farnsworth Group engineers are perfectly equipped to tackle.

We quickly mobilized a four-person team. Prior to rushing to the site and analyzing the equipment, the team immediately saw this assessment as an opportunity to tackle a few other priorities that the College faced – while still meeting the project schedule and budget. Knowing that the College has a myriad of building vintages and all sorts of shapes and sizes of equipment, the College had also brought a Test and Balance (TAB) contractor and Building Automation System (BAS) controls technician on board to complement our team. Having the ability to fix issues on the spot would ultimately save the College a tremendous amount of time and money. The College was essentially getting a retro-commissioning study along with a COVID risk assessment which offered more value with the same amount of effort.

In the end, the team worked to utilize as much from the existing equipment as possible. Where needed, recommendations for capital purchases were cost-effective and justified - as if the team were paying for these out of their own wallet.

Recommendations included increasing ventilation rates and filtration efficiencies, changing motor sheaves, adjusting outdoor air damper settings, modifying filter racks, and implementing new technologies, like bi-polar ionization, where effective. The client received a list of recommendations, easily understood by a non-technical decision maker, and a better understanding of the limits of their HVAC systems when addressing airborne virus transmission.

Additionally, the College benefitted because all of this happened while correcting over 60 issues during inspections. The report was not another action list, but rather, a summary of items corrected and clear direction regarding how to best focus their limited budget dollars.

Rapid Response Prepares for COVID-19 Care

Farnsworth Group — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 15:42:15 +0000

Rapid Response Prepares for COVID-19 Care Farnsworth Group Jul 24, 2020 / 10:42 am Insights

The magnitude of the COVID-19 healthcare crisis prompted healthcare facilities and state and local governments to quickly develop contingency plans to accept and care for a surge in afflicted patients. Knowing that traditional medical space could quickly be overcome with patients (who might also need specialized isolation arrangements), leaders urgently began looking at various facilities to accommodate an overflow of patients.

The project showcased Farnsworth Group’s ability to deploy a rapid response team to a project site quickly and rely on its full-service capabilities to address the challenges presented by this fast-track project.

The Illinois Capital Development Board (CDB), the agency that oversees State of Illinois-owned buildings, relied on Farnsworth Group to provide rapid response architecture and engineering services that would allow the William W. Fox Development Center in Dwight, IL, to isolate and care for COVID-19 patients if needed. Fox Development is a 200-bed campus of buildings that has been helping patients since 1879, and currently serves individuals with developmental needs.

To prepare for a potential COVID-19 case within the campus, it was critical that resident rooms be held at a negative air pressure relative to the corridor to prevent any possible infectious spread. In this case, air would flow naturally from the corridor to the room thus isolating the resident. With time of the essence, Farnsworth Group immediately deployed a rapid response team of mechanical engineers and commissioning specialists onsite to evaluate.

Upon arrival, our team quickly identified air dampers closed, fans not operating properly, and an underlying design deficiency. Most rooms were at a neutral air pressure relative to the corridor and airflow between adjacent connected buildings increased the risk of contaminant spread. With immediate adjustments to the existing system, and the help of a test and balance company (TAB), the team was quickly able to achieve negative air pressure within a few days of the original notice to proceed. The ability to keep residents safe within days – not weeks - was a crucial goal of the project that was achieved.

To address the underlying design deficiency for the long-term, a new 9000 CFM air handling unit was discussed, specified and designed within days. Our team coordinated closely with the client and presented a schedule that would meet the urgent needs of the pandemic but also avoid the costly need for a temporary generator and fuel, saving an estimated $30,000 in unnecessary costs.

The ability to keep residents safe within days – not weeks - was a crucial goal of the project that was achieved.

Almost simultaneously to the air handling project, CDB expanded the scope of work to include the retrofitting of six existing patient rooms to isolation rooms. As a full-service firm with expertise in the healthcare market – coupled with valued relationships with the Illinois Department of Public Health and a thorough understanding of healthcare regulatory requirements – Farnsworth Group was able to bring in its architecture, mechanical, electrical and plumbing team to design conversion of the rooms to acceptable isolation standards. Construction was recently completed on these six rooms that are now ready to receive residents returning from the hospital that may have been exposed to COVID-19.

The project showcased Farnsworth Group’s ability to deploy a rapid response team to a project site quickly and rely on its full-service capabilities to address the challenges presented by a fast-track project. The project was undertaken – from design orientation meeting to final cleaning and turn-over to the Owner – in less than 5 weeks. During that timeframe, there was continuous, daily coordination among the client and Farnsworth Group, several specialty subcontractors, and all the various construction teams.

Mike Wolf, PE, is a Farnsworth Group Principal and Electrical Engineer who specializes in building assessments, O&M optimization and asset management. Feel free to contact mwolf [at] f-w.com ( Mike)target="_blank" title="Mike" via email.