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East Los Angeles College Math & Science Complex

Project Description:

The Science Career and Mathematics building houses the Departments of Chemistry, Anthropology, Geography and Geology, Life Sciences, Mathematics and Physics as well as the Math Lab. The new buildings increases the number of instructional spaces by 15, including five large lecture halls and three computer classrooms, capable of accommodating 200 sections when the college plans its phased growth

Scope of Work:

This project includes a Whole Building Commissioning (WBCx) scope of work. The project includes 3 buildings and that were constructed in 2 phases. Phase 1 includes the Math & Science Laboratory/Classroom Building and Lecture Hall (Bldgs G5 & G7). Phase 2 (Bldg G8) houses the Physics department. Our involvement in the project began with the development of the Owner’s Project Requirements and continued through design and construction.

Project Snapshot:

Owner: LACCD
Project Size: 124,900 sq. ft.
Construction Cost: $57M
GC: Harper Construction
Year of Completion: 2017

Systems:

Mechanical HVAC
Electrical distribution system (normal and emergency)
Domestic hot water
Lighting
Building envelope
security
Telecom systems.

Challenges & Successes:

Issue: An air handling unit was found running at an excessively high static pressure while the fan for the system was running at 48%. It was found that the supply fan high static sensor was tripped but the fans were still running and should have tripped off under this scenario.
Resolution: This was corrected by the controls contractor. Otherwise, the duct work could have been over pressurized and potentially blown out.
Issue: During pre-functional commissioning meetings, TMCx identified a potential issue that could have delayed the opening of the building. The sequences of operation did not require the lab exhaust system to stay online during a fire alarm shutdown event, or come back online during an emergency power event.
Resolution: TThis was resolved before the systems were being installed. In addition, the AHU serving the lab exhaust area was scheduled to shut down. With the supply shut down, there was a high potential for the exhaust system to pull the lab classrooms extremely negative and prevent exiting from the space. This was also discussed and the VFD’s serving the lab exhaust system were scheduled to index to a minimum speed any time the AHU serving the space was off.

East Los Angeles College Math & Science Complex