Large Seattle Biotech Building E Central Plant, Seattle, WA

building total area

85,000 SF

completion date

2003

total construction cost

$120,000,000

owner

Large Seattle Biotech Firm

a/e team

Flad Architects

AEI Mechanical Engineers

AEI Electrical Engineers

construction team

Skanska General Contractor

Shinn Mechanical Contractors

Holmes Electrical Contractors

Siemens Controls Contractor

project description

This project is the new home of a large, national biotechnology corporation. The project consists of a campus of new buildings located at pier 88 on the Seattle, WA waterfront. Building E is the central utility plant, housing the central steam boilers, water chillers, compressed air, CO2, normal power electrical service, and emergency electrical generators that serve the entire campus. These services are distributed to the other buildings through an underground utilidor. The building also housed a fitness center, a shops area, and an EH&S laboratory.

services provided

WJCx (under AEI Engineers) was subcontracted to provide Commissioning Authority services for this building. WJCx’s responsibilities included representing the mechanical engineer during the commissioning process, trouble-shooting problems that arose during the commissioning process, writing the functional performance tests, and witnessing the execution of the functional performance tests by the general contractor’s test engineer and subcontractors.

systems tested

DDC control system, 3 800 bhp water-tube steam boilers, 2 deaerator systems, 1 surge tank system, 1 blowdown system, 1 continuous blowdown heat recovery system, 1 condensate receiver/pump, 1 boiler chemical treatment system, 1 emergency gas shut-off valve, 2 800 ton centrifugal chillers, 2 1750 ton centrifugal chillers, 3 primary chilled water pumps, 3 condenser water pumps, 2 secondary chilled water distribution pumps, 1 closed-loop chilled water chemical treatment system, 8 cross-flow cooling towers, 1 cooling tower ozone treatment system, 1 process fluid cooler system with city water back-up, 1 boiler power combustion air system, 1 boiler gravity combustion air system, 1 chiller room supply air handling units, 1 chiller room fan system, 1 chiller room refrigerant monitoring system, 4 fan-coil systems, 2 steam to hot water convertors, 1 lab supply air handling unit, 1 general exhaust system, 1 compactor exhaust fan, 2 snorkel exhaust fans, 3 fume hood exhaust fans, 2 H-occupancy exhaust systems, 1 laboratory heat recovery system, 15 laboratory room airflow tracking controls systems, 1 shops air handling units, 1 shops general exhaust fan, 1 shops welding hood exhaust system, 1 shops paint booth exhaust fan, 5 miscellaneous exhaust fans, 1 fitness center supply air handling unit system, 1 locker room supply air handling unit system, 1 electrical room air handling unit system, 1 battery room air handling system, 30 fan-powered air terminal units, 15 single duct air terminal units.