Pasco County is the seventh-largest school district in Florida and 80th largest in the country. One of the newest schools in the district, Wesley Chapel Elementary, has 40 classrooms and several specialized rooms for 724 students.

Unique problems to solve:

Pasco County is one of the most energy-efficient school districts in the state. Wesley Chapel Elementary had specific building control criteria that needed to be met to meet demanding energy goals. The county is located in one of the most active lightning strike areas of the country. Power surges or outages are not uncommon.

System solution:

The project consisted of 15 multizone air handlers with electric reheat in each zone, along with multiple recovery units to precondition the outside air. The central plant consists of two air-cooled chillers and two circulation pumps. The Delta Controls system also controls/monitors multiple hot water heaters and exhaust fans. Because lightning is prevalent in the area, all communication wiring between the seven buildings was done in fiber optics. A complete BACnet® system allows the school the freedom to choose any vendor or line of products in the future.

Results:

According to Mike Woodall, Facilities Specialist and Energy Committee Chairman of the District School Board of Pasco County, most building control companies offer a canned solution that schools have to adapt to. By using Delta Controls, ATS Waypoint was able to adapt a system solution to Wesley Chapel’s strict guidelines for temperature and humidity controls, warm-up and cool-down, ventilation, and energy recovery. Said Mr. Woodall, ”We live in what’s said to be the Lightning Capital of the country. Our system has been rock solid. We’ve never had a problem, have never lost any boards or controllers. It’s been extremely reliable.”

Since 2004, ATS Waypoint has installed building automation systems in over 20 facilities throughout the University of Georgia’s campus. ATS provided the University an Alerton building automation system that includes environmental controls for many high-tech facilities on campus, including:

• The Special Collection Library, which has exceptionally tight temperature and humidity tolerances.
• Life Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, Chemistry South, and the Coverdell building ― all of which are specialized laboratory buildings.
• The Lamar Dodd School of Arts building utilizes sophisticated energy recovery units to reduce energy consumption.
• The School of Ceramics has a specialized ventilation system due to the high-temperature kilns.

Gordon State College is a residential college located in Barnesville, GA. GSC’s Hightower Library contains approximately 102,757 books, 27,417 electronic books, 9,637 microfilms, and 4,785 audio‐visual materials, as well as numerous maps, charts, and archival materials. The School of Nursing was constructed in 2010. A renovation to the Aquatics building was performed in 2011.

ATS Waypoint installed a Tridium Niagara AX system to integrate the multiple control manufacturers installed onsite seamlessly.

Constructed in 2009 in Rome, GA, Darlington Middle School features a state‐of‐the‐art wireless library, common area, band and music instruction rooms, and spacious science labs. In addition, the building is highly energy-efficient and LEED-certified. Packaged rooftop units are coupled with energy recovery units to provide energy-efficient heating and cooling to all of the spaces in the building. ATS Waypoint also incorporated lighting controls into the building automation system.

Geier Hall is the newest building at Mount Pisgah’s upper school campus, housing 48,000 sqft of classroom, study, and dining space for 9th through 12th grades. ATS Waypoint installed all the HVAC components for the new building and provided the capability to monitor the security system and control the exterior lighting. ATS provided a complete BACnet building automation system, along with a Niagara AX web interface and graphics for user control at the front end.

photo by Joshuaepperson (CC BY-SA 4.0)

North Atlanta High School underwent a major renovation. The general contractor chose to hire ATS Waypoint as a third-party commissioning agent to verify the operation of the mechanical system. The project had a very short duration since it was completed over the summer break. The commissioning took place as soon as systems were put into operation and verified. The project was completed on time and has had zero callbacks regarding the mechanical and controls systems.