AlfaTech Big Book: Education – Higher Ed

H I G H E R E D U C AT I O N

EL CAMINO COLLEGE | INDUSTRY & TECHNOLOGY BUILDING

LA TRADE-TECH COLLEGE — LIBERAL ARTS THEATER & ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

RCCD NORCO CAMPUS | OPERATIONS CENTER

Norco, CA

Torrance, CA

Los Angeles, CA

Type: Higher Education Size: 12,000 SF

Type: Higher Education Size: 105,000 SF

Type: Higher Education, Theater Size: 1,200 Seat Auditorium 20,000 SF Addition

This is a new building for the Norco Campus. Originally it consisted of two buildings but was scaled back to a single building due to budget constraints.

The firm provided mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering services for this 105,000 square foot building with two floors above grade and a basement—all of which stands to be completely renovated. Once complete, the building will house the main technology server array in a state-of-the-art data room complete with a dedicated chiller system utilizing hot and cold aisles within the room and new UPS systems and emergency generators for redundant backup. The UPS systems utilize N+1 technology. The firm designed a pre-action wet sprinkler system and dry chemical system, including emergency stop function and a dry chemical evacuation ventilation system. In addition to classrooms and administrative spaces, renovations will include cosmetology, police academy, fashion design, machine tool & engineering technology with an observatory on the roof. The observatory required very careful consideration and analysis of rooftop equipment. The HVAC design includes sophisticated isolation techniques to prevent vibration transmission to the extremely sensitive telescopes present on the roof as part of the observatory.

The firm provided full mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection consulting engineering services for this project. The original building was built in the 1920s. This project includes the renovation of the 1,200-seat auditorium and support areas plus an additional new 20,000 square feet. The project cost is approximately $21 million.

The building consists of administrative areas, warehouse storage, shops, and also the main campus data room. The total project cost is approximately $8M for 12,000 square feet. Hill Partnership was the architect. The firm provided full mechanical, electrical, and plumbing consulting engineering services.

The engineering includes special attention paid to acoustics, energy, and lighting. A heat recovery run around coil is included for enhanced energy efficiency.

RCCD NORCO CAMPUS | BOILER REPLACEMENT Norco, CA

The project achieved LEED Certification.

Type: Higher Education

RCCD ADA ACCESSIBILITY UPGRADES | THREE CAMPUSES Norco, CA

This campus has two central plants which provide hot and chilled water. One central plant consisted of a single hot water boiler which was unable to provide sufficient hot water for campus expansion. The boiler itself was also old and inefficient. The firm was retained to provide a design for two new boilers to accommodate future expansion and improve efficiency. The design was able to fit both new boilers in the allocated space and improve efficiency by over 10%. To accomplish this, a new variable speed pumping system was also designed and installed.

Additional Projects • Campus-Wide Exterior Lighting Upgrade • Cell Phone Coverage Improvement Study • ITS Server Room—HVAC Upgrades

Type: Higher Education

For this project, the firm assisted with ADA upgrades for all three Riverside Community College campuses.

• Shops Building Replacement • Utility Infrastructure Upgrade

Extensive field work was required to ascertain the status of existing fire alarm and site lighting systems and determine what upgrades are required to meet current codes. The firm prepared drawings and specifications to submit to DSA for the necessary upgrades.