Higher Education Existing Buildings
Photo: Petersen Consulting, Owners Rep
Building Resiliency into 21st Century Higher Education
How can campus facilities managers be confident that their HVAC and electrical systems are operating effectively and are prepared for major storms or other disruptions? By systematically upgrading equipment before it reaches critical failure stage and planning for continual renewal of the control systems that provide the brains for your operations. These systems are essential for the comfort and well-being of students, faculty, and staff. As your institution increases focus on campus sustainability initiatives, you need a reliable resource that can give you an independent assessment of system performance. Cx Associates’ capabilities can help you solve problems, identify and plan for improvements, deliver increased HVAC system performance, and ensure resiliency in the event of infrastructure disruptions.
Upgrading Controls for the 21st Century
Your Building Automation System (BAS) is the brains of your HVAC system and like any computer system, needs to be updated regularly. Outdated control systems cannot provide the functionality you need to effectively monitor, manage and report on campus operations. Your peace of mind relies on knowing that building systems are meeting the needs of your institution; modern control systems provide this by alerting you when they go out of spec and by providing reports on temperature, relative humidity, and space pressurization at the tip of your fingers. Cx Associates’ experience developing and commissioning BAS upgrades and our independence provides you with a resource you can trust to get the job done right. Correctly planned and implemented upgrades can help you participate in utility demand response programs, ensure comfort and IAQ, minimize operating costs, and provide you with readily accessible monitoring and reporting. We know the hardware, software, and leading edge sequences of operation required to maintain compliance, reign in energy use and carry your campus into the future so you can effectively interact with the smart grid.
Solving Problems to Improve Operations and Satisfaction
Persistent problems with HVAC systems can result in low satisfaction from faculty and student and they can distract your staff from longer term projects. HVAC problems lead to occupant complaints and increased operating costs while unnecessarily overburdening facilities staff. Cx Associates can help you diagnose and solve problems so that the systems on your campus consistently perform at peak levels, satisfying all of your customers. HVAC systems are intertwined webs of equipment from the central plant down to the room thermostat. Our diagnostic skills and tools coupled with our hands on approach (we look above the ceiling tiles) allow us to efficiently asses a system to find the root of the problem. By listening to the concerns, experiences, and needs of you and your staff we develop the practical, customer oriented, energy conscious solutions required to best resolve your issues for the long term.
Resiliency
When disaster strikes, the survival and functionality of campus infrastructure is critical to meeting community needs and providing student safety. Your students, faculty, and staff rely on you to deliver power in the event of a long term outage and to maintain services when disaster strikes. Resiliency is fundamental to Cx Associates’ project development process allowing us to help assess the capability of your campus’ electrical and mechanical systems to operate and provide services in the event of a catastrophe.
Retrofits that Deliver Persistent Benefits
Your campus is likely an amalgamation of buildings and systems that have evolved over time and require a schedule of almost continuous system assessment and replacement. When you replace equipment you have the opportunity to ensure the new equipment and systems are well aligned with the current needs of affected end users. Focusing on current needs leads to the optimum retrofit solution where replacing in kind often prolongs undetected underlying issues. When planned well, system retrofits represent a major opportunity to wring out energy use reductions and increase end user satisfaction with little or no added project cost. Because Cx Associates has experience in design, commissioning, and energy reduction verification, we are uniquely qualified to help you develop a retrofit project that will meet your needs and exceed your expectations. By understanding how to take advantage of the opportunities retrofits present, Cx Associates delivers upgrades that meet the current facility requirement and allow for future flexibility while saving energy, reducing maintenance and operations cost, and getting you the maximum available energy efficiency rebates.
