A plant expansion feasibility study performed by O’Connell Robertson was completed in 2023 and determined that expansion of the central plant to add additional chilled water tonnage to the system would be required once the ACC bond project’s new buildings came online in early 2026. Subsequently, ACC hired Encotech Engineers to take the feasibility study and develop plans for a central plant expansion in early 2024. Several options were studied and ACC made a determination that the best path forward was to supplement the two (2) existing 800-ton Trane chillers and 400-ton Trane chiller with a third new 800-ton Trane chiller to expand plant capacity to 2,800 tons total. This approach ensures N+1 redundancy. ACC has procured the chiller equipment from Trane directly under a separate contract. The lead time for manufacturing is significant (long lead), therefore the awarded general contractor will receive the equipment from Trane and install it, but shall not provide the chiller itself as part of this contract. The final design calls for renovations inside the existing central plant (Building 9000), which consists of: 1. Removal of concrete masonry unit (CMU) wall between 400-ton chiller and existing storage room; 2. Installation of a new CMU partition to create a smaller storage room, doubling as an exit corridor from the existing office suite on the north end of the plant, thereby freeing up space in the building for a fourth housekeeping pad to support the new 800-ton Trane chiller and associated pumps and piping connections; 3. Cutting in a new fourth overhead coiling door to match existing overhead doors at the other bays on the eastern exterior wall to create a new fourth bay inside the existing central plant building; 4. Installation of a new 800-ton Trane chiller, pump(s), new piping connections, and a new cooling tower cell on an existing structural steel frame next to existing cooling tower cells, which are sitting outside on the west side of the building; 5. Removing all existing insulation on all existing chilled water lines inside the plant. Replace with new insulation and paint with colored coded system adopted by ACC’s Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Department; 6. Matching the insulation and painting scheme on the newly installed piping; 7. Painting the central plant floor once all the work is completed; 8. Adding some additional monitoring wells on the chilled water lines to support future implementation of Siemens Demand Flow® program; 9. ACC will self-contract Testing and Balancing (TAB) of the chilled water loop. The general contractor will work with the TAB firm to address issues cited in the TAB report; 10. ACC will self-contract full enhanced commissioning (Cx) of the plant. The general contractor will work with the Cx agent to resolve all issues discovered during the Cx effort; and, 11. Ensuring compliance with ACC Design Guidelines and Construction Standards as it pertains to the scope of work for this project.
