ASHRAE recently honored a GBA lab project at the Society level, while electrical utility ComEd praised the firm’s work across its Energy Efficiency incentive program.
The Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has received an ASHRAE Society-level Technology Awards program Honorable Mention for renovation design of educational facilities. The project had previously received awards from ASHRAE’s Illinois Chapter and Region VI. The achievement was recognized at the organization’s recent Winter Conference in Las Vegas.
The subject of a larger Energy Performance Contract for selected engineering buildings at UIUC, done in collaboration with Energy Systems Group (ESG), this lab includes cleanrooms, general purpose labs, and a 2,500-square-foot Biosafety Level 2 bio-nanotechnology complex. The project involved a 4,000-square-foot renovation in an existing atrium to create new modular cleanroom space (ISO Class 5, 6, and 7) for student development and manufacturing of silicon wafer integrated circuit boards. It also provided building-wide energy and water conservation measures, including strategies focused on eight existing Class 100 (ISO Class 5) cleanrooms and eight existing Class 1,000 (ISO Class 6) cleanrooms.
The energy-conserving design involved humidity control modifications to mitigate simultaneous heating and cooling; a new demand-controlled ventilation system for the cleanrooms; and cleanroom occupancy sensors. An aquifer below the building, collected in a pit and previously pumped to the sewer, was exploited to feed four scrubbers that clean the building exhaust, eliminating the need to use once-through city water for this purpose. The project at full implementation saved more than 30% a year in utility costs. GBA Associate Tim Jendrycki was the lead mechanical engineer for the effort, under the direction of Principal-in-Charge Chad Luning. Other key GBA staff included Joel Freeman, Bill Wylie, Mike McDermott, Reyad Naser, David Nelson, and Inna Gorelik. ESG team leads were Mario Zotta (now with CTS Group) and Kitty Knauz.
GBA also recently received a Customer Impact Award from ComEd. This award is given to the Service Provider that consistently received positive customer satisfaction feedback in the utility’s Energy Efficiency Program, or that went above and beyond in providing the premier customer experience. Energy Efficiency Service Providers that significantly ramped up their project submissions compared to previous years are also considered for the award.
The ComEd Energy Efficiency Program offers facility assessments, incentives, building optimization services, and energy management tools to help business customers save energy and money. GBA’s projects in the program have included multiple assessments and retro-commissioning projects, as well as many energy-saving design projects involving various incentives that help fund installation of efficient equipment and systems.
