State Rehabilitation Center|New Jersey
Elizabeth Krauss|Mechanical
Thesis Research
Presentation
Reflection

 

 

Thesis Proposal
M e c h a n i c a l D e p t h

Central Plant Integration
The existing sub-level mechanical equipment room houses both a steam absorption chiller and two oil-fueled steam boilers. In order to connect the facility addition with the existing plant, each of these machines will require size upgrades.
In order to maximize the efficiency of the facility operations as a whole for the owner and, additionally, to keep the operations of the existing structure up to code, the replacement of the existing boilers coincides well with a size upgrade.
The steam absorption chiller may also require size upgrades. Though newer than the boilers by approximately 18 years, having been installed in the late 1980’s, it also may represent life-cycle cost savings to the building owner by replacing it now with a larger chiller.


Heat Recovery
Between the existing building and the addition, the State Institute of Rehabilitation is a 152 in-patient facility, with twice as many out-patients. Combined, this represents a high volume of sewage compared to the size of the facility. Though not exactly glamorous, heat recovery from sewage piping may represent a significant heat source for the building and may reduce the necessary size of the boilers.


RTU Replacement
It may be prudent, alongside the above mentioned upgrades, to replace the existing nine RTU’s with two larger basement air handling units. Because the sub-level of the existing facility has direct access to the outdoors, as well as a significant amount of unutilized space, the relocation of air side mechanical systems may open the roof to the possibility of heat and cooling load mitigation by ‘green roof’ installation.

A more detailed examination of the mechanical redesign and the associated disciplines can be found below in the Redesign Proposal document.

 
A c o u s t i c B r e a d t h

The size upgrades to the existing mechanical equipment may present structure-borne noise contributions. Vibration and impact isolation investigations will necessarily need to be evaluated and, if a problem arises, mitigated.
Additionally, the relocation and size upgrade of the air handling units to the basement will require a reroute of ductwork previously originating in the roof. An acoustical analysis will investigate the impact on background noise level (BNL) and noise criteria for critical and non-critical spaces.

 

C o n s t r u c t i o n B r e a d t h

Because the reroute of ductwork will affect the existing ceiling cavities above occupied spaces, a coordination of lights, structure, ductwork, and piping will need to be completed. Additional costs arising from increase in materials due to routing and layout will be analyzed.

   

 

News Feed
05/05/2014 CPEP Reflection, Posted
05/05/2014 ABET Assesment, posted
05/05/2014 Final Presentation posted
05/05/2014 Final Presentation posted
12/13/2013 Thesis Proposal
12/13/2013 Technical Report, Part Three
10/05/2013 Technical Report, Part Two
10/23/2013 Building Statistics, Part Two
09/27/2013 Thesis Abstract
09/19/2013 Technical Report, Part One
09/06/2013 CPEP Site Published
08/30/2013 Building Statistics, Part One
07/30/2013 Owner Permission Obtained

hallway

 

 

 

 

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Note: While great efforts have been taken to provide accurate and complete information on the pages of CPEP, please be aware that the information contained herewith is considered a work‐in‐progress for this thesis project. Modifications and changes related to the original building designs and construction methodologies for this senior thesis project are solely the interpretation of Elizabeth Krauss. Changes and discrepancies in no way imply that the original design contained errors or was flawed. Differing assumptions, code references, requirements, and methodologies have been incorporated into this thesis project; therefore, investigation results may vary from the original design