Built in 1978, the HWSSC is the home for the Social Security Administration’s regional office. The GSA has retained GBA to conduct several analytical projects in this high-rise, including a motor control replacement study, a submetering study, a chilled water and hot water hydronic flow study, and a building automation system (BAS) upgrade study.
The scope of the BAS study was to review options and costs for an upgrade; it was done in conjunction with an in-progress central plant upgrade (by another firm). Affected equipment included air-handling units, heating/ventilating units, the central cooling plant and heating plant, and VAV terminal units.
The study process included user group meetings, extensive document review, and a field survey. Two options were presented and priced: to stay with the current BAS provider and upgrade to the latest software and hardware versions, or to migrate to a different system. Specific GSA and SSA requirements, information technology, smoke control system, interlocks with air-side systems, and other factors were weighed as part of the analysis.
GBA then designed the upgrade, based on the client’s preferences. Existing BACnet controllers were retained as much as possible, and point and sequence of operation information collected from those controllers was reused without modification as much as possible. Legacy N2 controllers (N2, DX, UNT, MIG, and VND controllers) were replaced with new BACnet controllers. As part of the design, GBA created new sequences of operations for replaced controllers.
The design effort included an extensive pre-construction survey to check existing system controls configurations, determine points lists and sequences of operations, and identify components and equipment in need of significant modification or outright replacement. Existing information, such as BAS equipment cut-sheets and as-built drawings, was also analyzed.
GBA’s scope included preparation of documents for review and for bidding, and post-construction contract services to facilitate installation and commissioning of the new BAS.
