Leaking radiant panel valves had become an expensive maintenance problem for the Five Points Plaza building in Atlanta. Replacing the radiant ceiling system with a variable-air volume (vav) system could solve that problem, but the only available ductwork was the existing conditioned ventilation air system. The ductwork could not be enlarged due to structural constraints, and as a result, the vav terminals had to be low pressure.
When the 17-story, 129,000-sq-ft building was built in 1962, it was a prestigious office building in the heart of downtown Atlanta, and possessed what was then considered a state-of-the-art hvac system. Floors 1 through 17 were served by two centrifugal chillers; two hot water boilers; dual pumps for chilled, hot, and condensed water, a central station air-handling unit (AHU); and a central return air fan - all located in a penthouse equipment room.