After receiving $5 million in funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Lake County, Ohio contracted B&N to analyze and replace outdated and inefficient HVAC systems in the existing Juvenile Justice Facility, which houses the county’s juvenile court and serves as a secure holding center for youth in county custody.
Heating and Cooling Enhancements
B&N's design focused on enhancing the cooling system through a comprehensive retrofit of existing air handling units. By replacing the direct expansion coils with new chilled water coils, the cooling system was centralized, resulting in more efficient operation and maintenance. The new central ice-storage chilled water plant was designed to efficiently produce cooling capacity during off-peak hours, when electric demand rates are lower, and store that capacity for use during on-peak hours. By transitioning to an ice-storage chilled water plant, the system is positioned to achieve higher levels of energy efficiency, long-term cost savings and sustainability objectives for the county.
B&N also implemented significant upgrades to improve the efficiency and resilience of the building’s heating system. By replacing existing non-condensing boiler plant with new cast iron condensing boilers, the design optimizes energy usage and minimizes environmental impact. Additionally, the design incorporated a +1-redundancy feature, ensuring uninterrupted heating service, even in the event of equipment failure or required maintenance. This redundancy enhances the reliability of the heating system and reinforces the building infrastructure's overall resilience. The heating system upgrades enhance operational efficiency, reduce the carbon footprint and ensure the comfort and safety of building occupants.
In conjunction with these hardware improvements, B&N implemented a new Direct Digital Control system to oversee and optimize the operation of both new and existing HVAC equipment. This comprehensive control system enhanced the efficiency and reliability of the cooling system and reduced the need for manual intervention and ongoing maintenance. These advanced automation and monitoring capabilities allow for optimal performance while minimizing operational costs and environmental impact.
Custom Electrical Solution
Because the facility is in continuous operation and holds juveniles overnight, the building systems could not be taken offline for repairs. B&N worked with TRANE to develop a custom solution to separate a single-point electrical connection at the new air-cooled chiller into multiple electrical connections. This prevented the need to develop a custom retrofit solution for the existing, discontinued switch gear, which would have resulted in a power outage.