DISTRICT 10 NORTHEAST SENIOR CENTER
San Antonio, TX | 28,000 Sq. Ft. | $10,000,000 | New Construction
LCCx worked directly for Transportation and Capital Improvements (TCI) Department on this task order for City of San Antonio’s On-Call Building Commissioning and LEED Monitoring Services contract. LCCx provided Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) as well as LEED Fundamental and Enhanced Commissioning (Cx) and Measurement and Verification (M&V). LCCx developed the City’s first standard for Air Barrier Performance to be used on this and future projects.
LCCx performed the full range of Building Enclosure Services. We reviewed the Owner’s OPR and BOD (Basis of Design) for the project. We commented extensively during the design and submittal review processes and we wrote the enclosure specification. Metal panels were installed directly over the backer board to which an air barrier membrane had been applied. We were particularly successful during construction observation phase at identifying potential air barrier leaks and working with the design and construction teams to achieve solutions. We worked very closely with the air barrier membrane manufacturer and the water-proofing/damp-proofing contractors. We worked closely with the roofer to assure that roofing details were consistent with maintaining the integrity of the air barrier. We made several recommendations which were incorporated.
The success of the BECx was evident in the results of the Functional Performance Test (FPT) of the ASTM E779 (Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization). The enclosure passed on the first test by being 40 % more efficient than the adopted standard.
This project was challenging from a design perspective. All the mechanical equipment was located inside an open air mechanical penthouse in the roof. This was complicated by the fact that the building had a 30-something foot high roof line in the main activity areas. The mechanical penthouse was in-set within this high bay space. This provided challenges for future maintenance and access.
LCCx provided design input to make the mechanical equipment as access friendly as possible. This project was one of the first for the City to use the VRV HVAC technology. This is a perfect application for the individual offices along the perimeter to be served by VRF units while the high bay activity areas were served by separate rooftop units. The client had special requirements for a very user friendly HVAC control system for operation by the non-technical daily operating staff.