Exploration Place
Award:
AGC Award of Excellence
Location:
Wichita, KS
Service:
HVAC Equipment, Controls Bacnet Integration
Partners:
Mechanical Contractor: Central Air Conditioning Co.
Mechanical Engineer: Midwest Engineering, Inc.
General Contractor: Dondlinger Construction
Architect: SJCF Architecture
Problem:
After replacing outdated technology, Exploration Place developed a plan to transform the vacant space into classrooms to accommodate its Student Program growth. Maintenance and HVAC issues related to the designated space arose. The old HVAC units were out of date and no longer functioned adequately. The unique shape of the infamous Exploration Place building, the limitations of the classroom space, and lack of funding made this job challenging.
Solution:
In conjunction with LG, BCS donated time and equipment to complete the necessary building renovations.
BCS provided a LG VRF Heat Recovery System in which separate zones can be independently heated and cooled to control space temperature. VRF systems feed multiple evaporator coils from one condensing unit, allowing multiple units to independently control the climate in separate classrooms. Because of the unique characteristics of the space, 235 feet of refrigerant piping had to be pulled through an existing service tunnel and a span of duct work to avoid damaging an infrastructural glass wall. The project included one outdoor air conditioning unit, four indoor units, and a Bacnet Gateway for BMS integration.
"The two new classrooms completed in this project are beautiful and are being used daily. The in-kind contribution saved Exploration Place a substantial amount of money, allowing us to use those funds in other needed areas. We can’t thank BCS enough for its generous contribution of equipment and its great work on creating our two new classrooms."
Diana Gordon
Director of Development
