Retrofit of a 50,000-Seat Convention Center Using Design-Build Project Delivery

Project Delivery Method: Design-Build (D-B) Owner Team:

Convention Center Corporation Inc.
Building Program Committee:
- Corporate Owner Representative
- Owner Representative (consultant)
- Facility Manager (outsource staff)
- Committee Chairperson
- Committee Secretary

Project Delivery Team:

D-B Project Manager
Job Superintendent
Mechanical-Electrical D-B Coordinator
HVAC Consulting Engineer and Plumbing, Electrical, Structural, Fire Protection, and Security Consultants

HVAC Project Team:

HVAC Supervisor (outsource staff)
Automatic Temperature Control (ATC) Technician (outsource staff)
Building Automation System (BAS) Technician (outsource staff)
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Technician (outsource staff)
Third-Party Commissioning Consultant (CxC)
Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing (TAB) Technician
Energy Engineering Consultant (EEC) Professional
Sheet Metal Foreman
Piping Foreman

OWNER’S BUILDING PROGRAM

Application:

2019 ASHRAE Handbook – HVAC Applications, “Places of Assembly,” Chapter 5

Project Type:

Renovation
Retrofit of the office and conference rooms HVAC systems with more energy-efficient equipment

References:

2020 ASHRAE Handbook – HVAC Systems and Equipment
2019 ASHRAE Handbook – HVAC Applications
Refer to the “Codes and Standards” portion in the back of each ASHRAE Handbook for additional reference

Other References:

ASHRAE GreenGuide: Design, Construction, and Operation of Sustainable Buildings
ASHRAE Humidity Control Design Guide for Commercial & Institutional Buildings
ASHRAE Indoor Air Quality Guide: Best Practice for Design, Construction, and Commissioning
ASHRAE Design Guide for Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems (DOAS)
ASHRAE Practical Guide to Seismic Restraints
ASHRAE Standards 15 and 34 (Refrigeration)
ASHRAE Standard 55 (Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy)
ASHRAE Standard 62.1 (IAQ)
ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (Minimum Energy Standards)
ASHRAE Standard 202 (Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems)
ASHRAE Guideline 0 (Commissioning Process)
Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA)

DESIGN INTENT DOCUMENT

The HVAC system selection and design intent is based on the processed outlined in ASHRAE Handbook 2020, Chapter 1, “HVAC System Analysis and Selection” and includes the following:
- Owner Building Program Goals and Additional Goals.
- System constraints and constructability constraints.
- The final system selection shall be decentralized HVAC air systems and terminal units with a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system for individual room fan coil units (FCU) providing air conditioning and heating.
- A DOAS rooftop unit with an energy recovery wheel to provide outdoor air ventilation to the new VRF FCUs.
Automatic controls shall include temperature controls, equipment furnished controls, a BACnet interface, and existing BAS.
Program and Project Goals:
- Functional Goals: (refer to Chapter 1, 2020 Handbook).
- Budget Goals: reduced operating cost based on energy conservation.
- Timeline Goal(s): occupancy due date and the pre-purchased equipment delivery date.
- Management Goals: Outsource mechanical and electrical services and mechanical, electrical operation, property, and maintenance management.
- Available utilities include electricity for electrical and emergency power.
Existing Conditions - Heating & Cooling:
- A 20,000-square-foot arena with 30,000 square feet of renovated offices and conference rooms.
- Two 20,000-cfm rooftop electric variable air volume (VAV) units with electric heat and direct expansion (DX) cooling.
Existing Central Air Systems:
- A new variable frequency drive (VFD) for the fan system and a single duct with multiple zone floor-mounted air terminal units hung from above.
- Return air systems: new VFD, variable volume, air-side economizer, and ducted return.
Existing Terminal Units:
- Existing VAV terminals; fan-powered terminals with electric heating coils; electric baseboard radiation; and registers, grilles, and diffusers (floor, wall, and ceiling).
Existing Sheet Metal:
- Galvanized low-velocity sheet metal with up to 1,500 feet per minute (FPM) sheet metal central air supply and return air systems.
- Volume dampers, automatic dampers, and fire dampers.

DESIGN CRITERIA DOCUMENT

The HVAC design criteria shall be in sync with the project delivery method and the owner’s project requirements.
The design criteria shall be based on ASHRAE 90.1 and state energy code compliance for outdoor air temperature compliance.
Existing HVAC systems serving the renovated offices and conference rooms shall be removed, and a new VRF heating and air conditioning system shall be installed.
Two new 30-ton compressor and condenser VRF units each to serve 25 VRF FCUs.
Fifty heat recovery VRF FCUs with occupied-unoccupied ATC packaged controls.
Air filters shall be prefilter MERV 7 and final filter MERV 15, serving the new DOAS unit and MERV-14 FCU filters.
A new 25-ton DOAS unit with energy recovery wheel will provide outdoor air ventilation to each VRF FCU.
The new automatic controls shall be interfaced with the existing BAS
The new retrofitted central plant hot water system shall be primary pump per boiler and secondary pump and standby pump each with VFD.
Each office and conference room shall have its own programmable thermostat set at 68°F heating and 76° cooling in the occupied cycle and 60° heating and 76° unoccupied set points.
Conceptual/Schematic Phase General Notes:
- A DB HVAC design engineer shall provide system flow diagrams with each HVAC system along with ATC sequences of operation
- The design engineer shall include an electrical data sheet to coordinate with the electrical design engineer, plumbing data sheet to coordinate with plumbing design engineer, and equipment and distribution weights to coordinate with structural design engineer