ESD takes home engineering awards

Environmental Systems Design wins three ASHRAE awards for technology innovation.

By Source: ESD June 10, 2009

Environmental Systems Design

(ESD) was the recipient of three Technology Awards from Region VI of ASHRAE as part of the organization’s 2008-2009 awards program.

The ASHRAE Technology Awards

recognize outstanding achievements by members who have successfully applied

innovative building designs that incorporate ASHRAE standards for effective

energy management and indoor air quality. ESD received a First Place Award in

the Health Care Facilities – New category for the Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago. The O’Brien

Residence Hall at Saint Xavier

University in Chicago

received a Second Place Award in the Institutional Buildings – New category. A

fan system renovation at the Chase Tower in Chicago

was the Third Place

winner in the Commercial Buildings – Existing category.

The nearly 1 million sq ft

Prentice Women’s Hospital is an 18-story building designed to handle the

delivery of 13,500 babies a year and house 256 licensed beds. The facility,

which achieved a LEED Silver certification for sustainable design, features

integrated technology systems, redundant infrastructure, full building HEPA

filtering, energy-efficient design, a central UPS system, a robust power

quality design to meet the special needs of sensitive electronic medical

equipment, and a Web-enabled DDC BAS.

The O’Brien Residence Hall

at Saint Xavier

University in Chicago

features a stair tower mixed mode natural ventilation, dual heat recovery

wheels on student room ventilation system, and an oil-free frictionless

variable speed chiller which lands the energy consumption at 52 kBtu/hr/sq ft.

The fan system renovation at

the Chase Tower

in Chicago

involved upgrades to 39 of the 51 fan systems that serve the 2.4 million sq ft

facility. These constant volume dual duct systems were converted to variable

air volume systems. Approximately 7,500 fan motor horsepower was converted to

variable speed drives with a demonstrated energy savings for the building of

approximately 30%.