Other Higher Education Projects

Details about a few other projects.

• Western Washington University Looped Steam and Condensate System FSi was hired to help resolve problems with the recently-installed high pressure steam and condensate in Western Washington University’s underground tunnel system. The installed portion of the system was to complete a “looped” system that could feed all buildings on campus from either direction. The steam lines were making very loud noises and one expansion joint failed. FSi made several recommendations including installation of condensate lift stations to eliminate “sparging” of high pressure condensate back into stagnant condensate lines. FSi also participated and made suggestions in the startup procedure for improved system performance.

• University of Puget Sound Fraternity/Sorority Renovation Eight sorority and fraternity houses at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma Washington were renovated in this project. The scope included new plumbing throughout, and upgrades to meet ADA standards. Also, ventilation was added to all public areas using a pad mounted heat and vent unit with underground ducting for each house. The heating and ventilating units were added to prevent odors and stagnant air conditions throughout the house since there were no ventilating systems beyond the existing bathroom exhaust and operable windows. FSi designed these new H&V systems with many constraints, such as trying to preserve the character of the houses while adding new ductwork throughout the public spaces. Close coordination with the architect helped decide the best routing to provide the least amount of impact to the space. The owner was also concerned with minimizing the visual impact of these new outdoor mounted units.

• University of Washington Fire/Life Safety and Chiller Upgrade, Mechanical Engineering Building FSi provided the fire protection design to extend the existing automatic sprinkler system serving the Mechanical Engineering Building (MEB) at the University of Washington in Seattle. At the time the sprinkler system only served 3500 square feet in the basement of the MEB. The completed design provided coverage for the entire 35,000 square feet of both the basement and ground floors, and in addition extended existing sprinkler coverage in the adjacent Engineering Annex Building to cover the entire Annex. After FSi evaluated the adequacy of existing firewater service to the building, the design also included a new underground fire service and the conversion of an existing dry standpipe to a wet combination standpipe system with provisions to provide sprinkler protection to other floors in the future. The project also included the design of the replacement of a water-cooled chiller in the basement of the MEB with a rooftop air-cooled chiller, which resulted in rebates from the Seattle Public Utilities Water Smart Technology Program for water savings. New chilled water risers were provided which connected to the existing chilled water coils. Provisions were also included in the design for an additional roof top chiller and floor control valves for future chilled water usage.

• Edmonds Community College Grease Interceptor and Plumbing Revisions FSi was hired by the State of Washington to provide a plumbing design to correct a code violation. The plumbing design involved rerouting the piping drain through a grease interceptor to allow drainage to standard waste piping.

• University of Washington FM-200 Fire Protection System FSi, as prime consultant, provided the fire protection design for the installation of an FM-200 fire suppression system in the University of Washington’s Academic Computer Center. This system design replaced a manual carbon dioxide system and tie into the existing building fire alarm panel. Due to funding limitations, the installation of the system has been put on hold.

• Everett Community College Heating Upgrades Through continued work with the Washington State General Administration, FSi provided the mechanical design to renovate the domestic hot water and condensate return system at the Physical Education (PE) building and a new separate pumped condensate return line for the Parks building to the main campus boilers. At the PE building, the existing in-foundation condensate piping had deteriorated and the existing boiler feed set was inadequately sized due to system expansion. Several condensate receiver and pump units were installed in conjunction with a new Cleaver Brooks boiler feed package were installed to solve the additional problem of slugs of condensate going to drain during high condensate return periods. At the Parks building, a single pipe inadequately returns condensate for two buildings while the main campus the existing boiler feedwater sets did not have enough capacity due to system expansion. To solve these problems, a rectangular tank was used to expand the capacity of the existing boiler feed tank and a new dedicated pumped condensate line for the Parks Building were installed.