U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s South Building Headquarters
required a major utility infrastructure upgrade to provide an attractive,
efficient, safe workplace for the employees to carry on their work
to meet the agency’s mission. Syska Hennessy Group developed
MEPT solutions that preserved the historic fabric of the building
while providing a work environment meeting current requirements
for life safety, lighting levels, energy efficiency and indoor
air quality. Each engineering system is designed to flexibly accommodate
a phased full renovation plan while maintaining continued occupancy
of the building.
USDA’s South Building was built in the 1920's and spans two
city blocks with 2.25 million GSF. Six floors and an attic are
located above grade and two levels below grade, with a head house
and tail house connected by seven "wings".
Master Planning
Syska Hennessy Group, in joint venture with Shalom Baranes, prepared
a master plan for the phased renovation of the entire building.
Syska was responsible for the replacement and upgrade of the mechanical,
electrical, plumbing, life safety (fire suppression and fire alarm),
telecommunications, security and vertical transportation system
infrastructure. The Master Plan was developed to permit the construction
of the individual phases to be within the Government’s yearly
allocation of Congressional funding.
The challenge for designing and installing the new MEPT systems
was to integrate these systems within the existing structure to
provide a flexible, efficient, and safe workplace environment while
preserving the historic fabric of the building. The master plan
allowed for phased renovation to occur while maintaining building
occupancy. Integrating current engineering systems into an existing,
historically significant building in a phased program presents
challenges, complications and competing demands. Locating and placing
equipment in spaces that were not originally intended to house
equipment; dealing with an existing structural system that was
not originally intended to support vertical openings for duct distribution;
preserving the historic fabric of the building that was not intended
to support current technology cable distribution or automatic sprinkler
piping and heads are examples of the complexities faced by the
design team.
Allowing the USDA the flexibility to implement varying space plans
and to alter these space plans over time without disruption to
the basic engineering systems required close coordination among
the design team so that the competing demands of space, architecture,
structural engineering, equipment and distribution were properly
prioritized and the solution was an integrated design of all of
these elements.
U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.Phased Renovation
The MEPT design has now been implemented in the completed construction
of Phases 1 and 2. The concepts of integrated design have proven
to be successful in the construction process. The vertical and
horizontal ductwork distribution, the placement of VAV terminal
units within structural bays, the coordinated placement of telecommunications
and electrical closets and distribution of power and communication
cabling, the use of task lighting in conjunction with overhead
indirect lighting and the installation of an automatic sprinkler
system all were completed in Phase 1 and Phase 2. Lessons learned
during the construction of Phase 1 were implemented in the design
and construction of Phase 2; this process will continue through
the remaining phases.
The engineering team identified a number of integrated design criteria
that would serve the client by reducing operations and maintenance
costs while helping to conserve energy and resources. In order
to do so, the team utilized the building life cycle cost method
for the selection of major engineering systems. This method included
operations and maintenance cost projections as well as energy costs
calculated by computer simulation. This analysis allowed the team
to explore system options that provide the best return on investment
rather than focusing solely on capital costs.
Energy Efficiency
Since the renovation provided an opportunity to replace the existing
engineering systems with new high efficiency equipment, energy
cost reductions of 20 to 25% are anticipated. The substantial reduction
in energy costs can primarily be attributed to the installation
of new perimeter storm windows behind the historic façade
windows, modern heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems
and high efficiency lighting systems. Additionally, the team worked
within the structural confines of the building to provide the most
flexible temperature and lighting control zones thereby offering
enhanced indoor environmental comfort. These integrated design
criteria continue to evolve with each design phase and are being
incorporated in an effort to obtain the U.S. Green Building Council’s
LEED® certification for past and future phases of the project.
The true measure of success rests with the facilities operations
and the employees working within the renovated spaces. The engineering
systems in the renovated wings are operating efficiently and the
reaction of the employees in the renovated spaces has been exceedingly
positive. As the modernization program continues, the historic
nature of the building remains intact as the internal workplace
environment takes on a completely new appearance, supported by
a modern and adaptable MEPT infrastructure.
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