Cator, Ruma & Associates provided mechanical, electrical, and technology engineering consulting services to the renovation of Fleming Tower on CU Boulder’s campus. The upgrades provided occupants with an improved visual space, dedicated office spaces, improvements to tenant comfort, and technology upgrades.
Construction was broken into multiple phases to minimize impacts to the occupied building. Temporary cooling was provided where required for ventilation and occupant comfort during construction.
The systems upgrade included the renovation of the existing HVAC system serving the west tower offices and classrooms, the addition of fire sprinkler branches into the offices from the corridor mains (Floors 3-5), full Direct Digital Control (DDC) system upgrade, and the removal and reinstallation of plumbing fixtures as required for restroom upgrades.
In addition to the tower renovation, the project also included the replacement of HVAC equipment in the central portion of the building, which was beyond its serviceable life. The mechanical design followed the most recent version of the CU Building Design Standards Manual, the 2015 International Building, Plumbing and Mechanical codes and applicable requirements of NFPA.
The technology systems portion of the renovation was designed to provide a set of systems that would be functional to the current and best possible future expansion needs of the planned usage, along with meeting the needs of the project budget and CU OIT standards where possible. This design complies with the most recent version of the CU Boulder OIT standards. In addition, the technology design complies with the latest adopted International Building Codes, the 2014 National Electrical Code and applicable requirements of the NFPA.
The base project met the construction budget. Additional funding was provided to further the architectural upgrades to the first floor of the tower to be occupied by the CU Education department.
The tower upgrades are anticipated to be LEED Silver certified and to exceed CU’s requirements. In addition, we anticipate the replacement basement Air Handling Unit (AHU) will operate much more efficiently due to the addition of fan array technology, premium efficiency motors, and direct digital controls.
