The medical research facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base located just east of Dayton, Ohio was experiencing several issues. One of the main buildings was experiencing hot and cold spots making it almost impossible to maintain consistent temperatures. The facility was also enduring extreme static pressure problems.

This project involved full Operations & Maintenance support of the Air Force Research Laboratories, centrifuge, and other special facilities (512,505 GSF) of the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson. Our approach to the situation was to have the Energy Management Control System (EMCS) commissioned to see what could be done to ameliorate these issues.

After a thorough analysis, it was determined that there were several control issues that needed to be corrected, including:

  •  Multiple Lab Exhaust fans were running 100%
  • All the Non Lab return fans were running at 100%
  • The Hot Water was running 180 degrees
  • All variable air volumes (VAV’s) were working on a dead band +-1.5 deg split=3 degrees
  • The chiller was using all (4) Cooling tower cells and fans

Our team took the following actions to mitigate the issues:

  •  Reset Variable Frequency Drives (VFD’s) reducing the operating speeds from 100% to 80-85% and controls were installed to modulate based on the building static pressure.
  • Added a reset schedule to reduce energy usage
  • Reset dead band to +-2.5 deg. Split=5 degrees
  • Redirected all flow to (2) Cooling Towers per chiller. Set both 1,250 ton chillers on a lead lag to register run times and wear.

Our team implemented the following preventative measures and identifying potential trouble spots:

  • Replaced the non-working Outside Air Flow stations with Ebtron Gold series.
  • Recalibrated every thermostat in the facility
  • Recalibrated all air valves
  • Recalibrated all Air Handling Unit (AHU) Discharge Air Temperature (DAT) sensors
  • Reworked the Cooling tower stream filter to help collect debris from condenser water
  • Reconstructed the plate and frame heat exchange with heavier plates along with a strainer and valves so that the strainer can be cleaned on a monthly PM. This was re-commissioned during this project also and was added to the EMCS.

VWI was responsible for maintaining compliance with applicable codes and standards, providing both preventive and responsive maintenance actions, conducting minor renovations/alterations/reconfigurations, and for continuous validation of CMMS system databases relating to real property assets. After the above issues were addressed with corrective action, the static pressure issues in the building and hot and cold spots were virtually eliminated. Energy savings were immediately realized.