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After less than a year of construction, the Energy Air Commercial HVAC team completed the mechanical system installation for the new Global UCF building on the University of Central Florida’s main campus. The mechanical system includes a chilled beam system, which is the first of its kind at UCF and one of only two in central Florida. The team also installed a rooftop solar system supplying dehumidification.
The three-story, 51,000-square-foot building will serve as the new hub for the Global UCF program and is located across from Memory Mall and the Towers Residence Halls.
The chilled beam air conditioning system provides control to competently and quietly cool space-by-space. The new technology is four times more efficient than traditional systems and is anticipated to improve energy costs by 30 percent, according to Dave Norvell, PE, LEED AP, C.E.M., Energy Manager, for UCF’s Sustainability & Energy Management department.
Our team encountered many challenges on this project, including dealing with extreme weather conditions with heavy rains and washouts, limited onsite parking requiring workers to be bussed in from a remote parking area, installation of underground piping and a 35,000 lb vault on an active site, working in confined space requiring special PPE, and limited above-ceiling work that was heavily coordinated with other trades.
The success of the project can be attributed to the preplanning and coordination efforts of the team, led by Energy Air’s Gary Trytten, Senior Project Manager working with Senior Foreman, Mike Amador, and Chilled Water Piping Foreman, Jorge Martinez.
It was an exceptional effort with the GC for the project too, according to Trytten. “The entire crew with Clancy & Theys was great to work with,” he said. “Those guys were part of our team. They helped us out with whatever we needed and were very accommodating.”
The installed mechanical value is approximately $1.8 million.