Price-HVAC Supplier of Preference for Air Distribution

About | Contact | Careers

Search Price-HVAC Website:

Bournedale Elementary School and Early Childhood Learning Center - Bourne, Massachusetts

View PDF

Send to a Friend

Project Summary The Challenge Engineer Profile Price Solution

Project Summary

Project Type: New Facility
Project Cost: $25 Million
MEP Construction Cost: $3.7 Million
Year Completed: 2009
Square Footage: 68,200
Price Products Used:

ACB1 One Way Active Chilled Beams
DF1 Displacement Diffusers

The new Bournedale Elementary School was completed and opened for the 2009-2010 school year. The facility, which combines students from two schools, houses Pre-K to Grade 4 and supports 660 students with a total of 24 classrooms: three Pre-K, five kindergarten, and four classrooms each for grades 1-4. Green features for the school include a white reflective roof, a displacement ventilation system that provides a constant supply of fresh air to classrooms, chilled beams for high capacity cooling, and daylighting sensors to adjust the lighting levels as daylight enters the room.

The Challenge

The Bournedale Elementary design team knew they wanted to create a learning environment that was comfortable, energy efficient, and provided occupants with a high level of indoor air quality. The final design also had to address the high humidity conditions typical in ocean boundary communities and to the owners desire to provide air-conditioning. Maintaining simplicity in maintenance and control, as well as the extremely conservative noise levels recommended by ANSI, presented additional design challenges.

These challenges needed to be addressed at or below the cost of traditional system design. The final construction cost of the HVAC systems was $23.60/sq. ft., representing an approximate 27% reduction when compared to conventional mechanical system design. Preliminary observations of the installation indicate clearly that the design goals were met.

The solution included low wall displacement ventilation that utilizes 100% outside air discharged at an extremely low dew point condition. The low moisture capactiy air resulted in a perception of air-conditioning due to the dryness of the air. The noise levels were below 25 DBA and the distribution equipment requires no maintenance whatsoever. Additional mechanical systems included high-efficiency boilers, energy recovery air handling equipment, chilled beams for direct air-conditioned spaces, and direct digital monitoring control systems.

Engineer Profile - Garcia, Galuska & DeSousa Consulting Engineers, Inc.

Garcia, Galuska & DeSousa was established in 1975 as a Civil, Plumbing and Fire Protection Engineering Firm. Over the past 35 years, the firm has increased in size and services, now offering a full line of engineering services including Civil, Plumbing, Fire Protection, HVAC, Electrical and Technology.

The strength of the firm rests on its commitment to maintaining principal involvement throughout the entire project, from planning through to the completion of construction.

With a 28 person staff they are large enough to complete significant programs on time, but small enough to maintain principal/client involvement. In addition, their talented and experienced engineers, project managers, principals and support staff demonstrate their determination and commitment to excellence.

www.g-g-d.com

Price Solution

The final design of the school represented a dramatic departure from the traditional mechanical and electrical design approach typically represented in elementary school design. During an analysis of the design alternatives, Price conducted a classroom mock-up so the design team could witness displacement ventilation in action under the conditions that would normally be experienced at Bournedale Elementary. The design team was also able to familiarize themselves with the features and performance of the active chilled beams that they selected for the final system design. The level of comfort achieved during the mock-up and demonstrations played an important role in the final selection.

Chilled Beams - One Way Active Chilled Beams (ACB1) were selected for the Bournedale application. Active beams are a hydronic system that provides ventilation in addition to high capacity cooling, utilizing the natural forces of both convection and induction to condition the space without increasing air flow requirements. The use of chilled beams also reduces the mechanical footprint of the building, replacing thick ductwork with piping.

Displacement Ventilation - Maintenance-free DF1 Displacement Diffusers were integrated seamlessly into the classroom cabinetry at Bournedale, providing comfortable cooling and improved indoor air quality at noise levels under 25 DBA. Ideal for school applications, displacement has been shown to reduce the occurrence of asthma up to 80% and minimize the risk of airborne illnesses in the classroom by up to 50%. The higher than normal air temperatures and lower fan speeds required for this low velocity solution can result in improved energy efficiency. Opportunities to take advantage of free cooling and demand based ventilation are also increased.

www.price-hvac.com