The International Mechanical Code approved a code change proposal from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute’s Chilled Beam Product Section.
Managing solar loads and incorporating radiant ceilings were just part of the plan for this five-level mixed-use building. Chilled beams and chiller plant decisions joined ventilation strategy to serve both occupants and LEED ambitions.
With a wide spectrum of specialized spaces and particular outside air requirements, a hospital’s en-ergy-efficiency efforts start when arranging which areas go where. From there, the author leaves no technology unturned — chilled beams, geothermal, DOAS, VRF, etc. — in evaluating which ap-proaches might best contribute proper ventilation and humidity in which environments, with an eye on minimizing facility energy consumption.
Achieving deep energy savings is especially challenging when you’re faced with an existing structure with poor orientation, historic preservation requirements, and little space for renewables. The Byron Rogers Federal Office Building’s retrofit is scheduled to be completed in 2013; the post-renovation building is projected to consume less than half the energy it did before.
Energy efficiency and historic preservation are rarely synonymous. More often than not, one must be compromised for the sake of the other. Fortunately, the University of Arkansas found a way around such compromises when it came to the restoration and mechanical renovation of the school’s beloved Peabody Hall.
The largest craft brewer in North Carolina, Highland Brewing Company has grown considerably since it began operation in Asheville as a basement start-up using retrofitted dairy equipment in 1994.