Meeting Safety Code Requirements

-- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 12/1/2000

Close coordination with the authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ) was required in order for work at the Fox Chase Cancer Center to meet local code requirements. Because creation of the bunker was considered new construction by code, a barrier was required to separate chillers from boilers. However, because the existing 450-ton chillers would still be in use and they were in the same room as the site's natural-gas-fired, hot-water boilers, a barrier was not possible. In keeping with the spirit of the code, the AHJs allowed use of refrigerant sensors around the chillers. Boilers were retrofitted with devices that would shut down the burners in case of a refrigerant leak. And finally, a low-end air-quantity fan with a variable-frequency drive was installed to allow an increase in nominal airflow from 20 percent to 100 percent in case of a leak.