Critchfield Mechanical, Inc. an HVAC engineering firm in Menlo Park, CA needed a cost-effective and energy-efficient perimeter zone ventilation solution. The solution had to accommodate changing heating and cooling demands of the perimeter zone in the UFAD system of the Capitol Area East End Complex, a new 460,000-sq-ft office building commissioned for the State of California, Department of General Services.
Raised-floor construction and UFAD technology have been gaining popularity in the United States as developers strive to provide office space that can be quickly upgraded with new data transmission cables and that can easily be reconfigured into comfortable working space as occupants’ needs change. The perimeter heating and cooling system for this project had to be quiet, reliable, and easily controlled with a wall-mounted thermostat and/or the building’s electronic control system. The system 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).