Underfloor fan terminals rise to the occasion in huge government office building
The system had to be quiet, reliable, and easily controlled with a wall-mounted thermostat and/or the building's electronic control system. It also had to have the ability to operate in a number of different modes (normal day and nighttime operations, along with a morning warm-up cycle). Many types of perimeter HVAC systems had been tried in the past, but none of the traditional methods seemed able to satisfy the stringent engineering requirements for this project.
"One of the biggest challenges we faced was coming up with a system that would fit within the limited underfloor space requirements," said Mark Vranicar, P.E., senior project manager with Critchfield. "Initially, we tried to get the floor raised to 18 inches, but the exterior of the building couldn't be changed, so we had to work with a 16-inch raised floor."