Situated near Colorado’s picturesque Rockies, Buckley Air Force Base serves more than 92,000 active duty, National Guard, Reserved and retired U.S. Military personnel. When the base’s medical facility and dental clinic began experiencing operational issues with their heating and chilled water systems, Doyon Government Group called on Gresham Smith to investigate the mechanical systems and correct any problems. Over the course of a week, our team of commissioning agents tested the equipment, identified the issues and got the systems up and running properly, improving operations and enhancing the patient experience for America’s servicemembers and veterans.

Client

Doyon Government Group / United States Army Corps of Engineers

Location

Aurora, CO

Project Type

Healthcare

60k

square feet

2

chillers

3.2

boilers

Finding the Root of the Problem

Finding the Root of the Problem

Our team ran a variety of tests on the building’s heating water system and chilled water system, ultimately discovering that the systems had not been programmed properly. Therefore, small changes in load or occupancy meant big changes in water temperature and water flow. We also discovered that a few tanks were installed incorrectly, which contributed to the operational issues.
Getting Up to Par

Getting Up to Par

Once we identified the mechanical issues we made the necessary changes to the systems. By changing the setpoints on the chilled water system and hot water system, we corrected the shutoff issues. We also updated the building automation and controls system to make sure the systems were communicating properly.
Elevating the Patient Experience

Elevating the Patient Experience

The improvements to the medical clinic’s mechanical system improved the building’s operational efficiency, creating a comfortable space and improving air quality for patients, visitors and staff.

Project Contact

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Johnathan Woodside, P.E., C.E.M., LEED AP (O+M)
Johnathan Woodside, P.E., C.E.M., LEED AP (O+M)
Senior Mechanical Engineer