Summer Consultants designed mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems as part of the renovation and expansion of Ames Hall at GWU. The newly expanded academic building contains classrooms, study centers, offices, and conference rooms, providing a central point for campus student learning and administration.
To conserve energy, waterside improvements included variable primary pumping for both chilled and heating hot water and efficient condensing boilers. Airside improvements included a dedicated outside air system which incorporated a total energy wheel, recovering energy from the exhaust air and transferring it to the outside air stream. Summer Consultants modeled several envelope options to assist the design team with selecting an energy saving envelope. The documents were created using a Building Information Model (BIM) for cross discipline coordination.
The project achieved LEED® Gold rating for new construction, exceeding the client’s expectation of Silver certification. The mechanical, electrical and plumbing design portions earned 18 of the project’s 66 total certification points, including 9 points for Optimize Energy Performance, EAc1.