This law school design story moves on from rationales for early decisions to the specific next-phase design challenges. Team effort combines with DOAS, radiant ceiling panels, DCV, and setpoint fine-tuning to maintain this case’s appeal.
Perhaps the U.S.’s largest to-date Dedicated Outdoor Air System (DOAS) coupled with radiant ceiling panel (RCP) cooling and heating mechanical system is currently under construction at the Washington College of Law at American University (Washington). The design’s compelling lifecycle and first-cost story was documented by Cindy Cogil, P.E., of SmithGroupJJR in an article in this magazine last September. This month, additional members of the mechanical engineering team report on some important design topics, lessons learned, and progress-to-date.
While this article focuses on a specific case study, general system design considerations will be reviewed regarding the DOAS system, demand control ventilation, radiant ceiling panel (RCP) system design, RCP heating and cooling water temperatures, and heating and cooling system ΔT’s.