NIST Wind Tunnel Project Study

Founded in 1901, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a measurement standards laboratory and non-regulatory agency of the United States Chamber of Commerce.

Photo copyright: Nagy Melinda

As one of the nation’s oldest physical science laboratories, the agency’s mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.

According to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2012 there were a total of 557 coal-fired power plants in the U.S. The typical coal-fired power plant is only able to determine figures that are 10 to 20 percent accurate regarding the amount of carbon dioxide that is emitting from their smokestacks, which leaves the actual emissions totals unknown. As a result of this uncertainty, NIST decided to construct a 50 meter horizontal Smokestack Simulator (Wind Tunnel Simulator) to give researchers the ability to accurately test industrial stacks for emission controls in an environmentally-friendly manner with a 1 percent uncertainty, at a reasonable cost. Comparable to emissions controls testing on vehicles, industrial smoke stacks in the U.S. are responsible for complying with strict Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) compliance regulations, mainly in regards to greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants. The construction of this Smokestack Simulator would give researchers the ability to better understand and monitor gas flow. In 2013, NIST put this work out to bid and by September of that year, Patriot Construction had been awarded the project with RM Thornton Mechanical on board as the mechanical subcontractor.

RM Thornton began its critical work on the project during mid-to late-October. The company’s main role was to supply and fabricate 32,000 cubic feet per minute of insulated piping for the smokestack’s wind tunnel component. The wind tunnel is comprised of two fans that simulate air flow and force the air up the stack. Air is drawn into the stack at a controlled speed by these two fans and then is passed through two connected pipes that are set at right angles to one another. By setting the pipes at an angle, NIST is able to accurately mimic the path that gases travel up smokestacks at commercial plants.

RM Thornton specializes in highly difficult and convoluted mechanical projects—the type of contracts that require a specific expertise and certain level of confidentiality. It is this expertise that made the company the ideal subcontractor for this important project. Since the Smokestack Simulator became operational in 2014, dignitaries from South Korea, China, India, and Europe have visited the NIST facility and expressed interest in utilizing similar technologies.

Building the Ebola Containment Unit and Autoclave at the National Institutes of Health

The September 2014 Ebola outbreak in the United States was a huge wake-up call. We realized, seemingly overnight, how little we knew about this deadly virus and how ill-equipped we were to handle something of this magnitude.

According to an article by NBC News, health experts stated that the U.S. must immediately start working to establish a network of Ebola-ready hospitals. “Ebola has told us that we really need high-containment facilities…we need to be prepared not just for today but for the next decade, and for the next century,” said Dr. Nicole Lurie, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

When RM Thornton Mechanical and our Senior Project Manager, Matt Mehlman, were initially contacted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there were only three hospitals in the country that were equipped with biocontainment units setup to effectively handle diseases such as Ebola—Nebraska Medical Center, Emory University Hospital, and Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana.

Thanks to the expert knowledge and swift work of our team, NIH’s Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md. is now the fourth, much-needed location.

The project at NIH had two parts—a containment room to contain the virus and an autoclave to prevent it from spreading. An autoclave is a pressure chamber that is used to sterilize equipment and supplies by putting them through extremely high pressure-saturated steam. In other words, it is an industrial-sized dishwasher designed to kill any living and potentially deadly organisms. While the Ebola containment unit was in use, staff at NIH would run any used linens through the autoclave twice before completely incinerating them. This was a crucial step to preventing any spread of the Ebola virus.

While the importance of training NIH’s medical staff on how to properly handle Ebola patients infected was obvious, equally critical was the physical construction of the unit itself. Mechanical systems such as negative pressure air, HEPA-filtered ventilation, single-pass air flow, and constant 24-hour mechanical monitoring were also essential for keeping harmful contaminates inside patient rooms. Each component of these specialized mechanical systems plays an extremely important role in improving the air quality and protecting the health of the patients and staff occupying these areas. These specialized mechanical systems are something that our team of experts has extensive experience installing and the reason why NIH called upon RM Thornton to handle this work.

For a project of this magnitude, special materials and product installations must adhere to a very strict set of standards. Mechanical systems, in particular, must follow stringent industry regulations set forth by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). These types of projects are often very unique. When constructing or retrofitting an isolation or bio-contamination unit, contractors may need to work with materials that differ from what they are normally accustomed to using. This can be a brave new world to even the most skilled workers. During our work at NIH, we needed to make sure that all our team members were trained on how to properly install, weld, cut, and secure particular products. If not considered early in the process, these type of issues can become major obstacles down the line and cause detrimental delays. Attention to detail, regular communication, and often—around-the clock-schedules—are required when managing this project.

For our team and the folks at NIH, there was a lot on the line and the clock was ticking very fast. RM Thornton’s specialists were quickly divided up into two 12-person teams who were broken into two grueling 12-hour shifts. Throughout the project, our experts kept in close communication with engineers, subcontractors, equipment suppliers, and all decision-makers. The concern over the Ebola outbreak was incredibly high at the time and due to the intensity of the project, none of our team-members were even told what they were building until the project was almost completed.

Our team’s hard work and diligence paid off and both the containment unit and the autoclave were ready when the Ebola patient arrived at NIH on September 28, 2014.

Preparing the National Institutes of Health for the Ebola Virus

Performing mechanical work at medical facilities, namely hospitals and laboratories, can be a daunting and strategically challenging task. At RM Thornton, we have worked very closely with the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—along with a number of other medical facilities—to install and maintain specialized mechanical systems in a number of buildings. Over the years, we have gained a vast amount of experience in this particular area.

“NIHclincenter” by NIH, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

That experience was put to the test when RM Thornton and Senior Project Manager, Matt Mehlman, were asked to assist in expanding the NIH Clinical Center, a unit intended to contain and study a number of highly infectious diseases. With the deadly Ebola virus now appearing in the U.S., additional mechanical work needed to be performed to ensure this unit was fully prepared to handle patients infected with the disease.

Since the nature of this project was highly time sensitive, everyone on our team was up to the task and excited to dive in and begin work. As the project quickly progressed, attention to detail, an around-the-clock schedule, and regular communication with international vendors quickly became the norm. We knew that we could not fail to do what was required from the very start, each and every time. Any failures could result in delays, and this simply was not an option.

During the early stages of this project, one of the biggest challenges our team encountered was having to work very close to heavily occupied areas and gaining access to equipment that served areas surrounding the construction zone. Simply shutting down any existing systems at NIH in order to cut in the new system was impossible. In addition, our experts were tasked with ordering and working with special materials that we were entirely unfamiliar with. Essentially, we were designing a brand new system that had never been designed before. Due to the sensitive nature of the project, in some cases our contractors needed to obtain specific certifications before they could actually start performing the work.

As with any project, safety of our employees and clients is our biggest concern. But the word ‘safety’ takes on a whole new meaning when highly infectious diseases come into play. Particularly when working directly in a lab that will be or is currently being occupied by an Ebola patient, we needed to take extra safety precautions.

Are you curious about the specifics of the challenges we faced? Check out our next blog post that further details our work at NIH and how our team helped prepare the Clinical Center to treat incoming Ebola patients. You can also click here to learn more about RM Thornton’s other projects at NIH and medical facilities.

Making Your Old Building a Greener and More Sustainable Place

“The greenest building is…one that is already built.” – Carl Elefante

Most of us spend the majority of our lives in some type of building—we may work inside a building and we may come home to another one. According to the United States Energy Information Administration’s Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, existing buildings 20 years or older make up nearly 72 percent of the total square footage in the United States.

However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that approximately 1 billion square feet of preexisting buildings are demolished annually to make way for new construction.

If you currently manage or own an existing building, it is essential for you to understand the importance of retrofitting and restoring your structure and how doing so can make it inherently sustainable. In fact, working to make existing buildings sustainable may be more beneficial to the environment (and more economical) than any type of new construction project. According to the National Institute of Building Sciences, “With some exception, comparing similar uses, types and locations, the existing buildings reduce climate impact over the newly built. Additionally, the findings suggest that even sustainably-constructed new built structures do not recoup energy outlays for approximately 30 years when measured against a renovated existing building.”

In a nutshell, since preservation takes advantage of existing materials and infrastructure and lessens would-be waste created during the construction process, reusing older buildings and creating energy efficient operations can result in instant and long-lasting environmental benefits. In particular, maintaining and retrofitting an older building’s mechanical systems (HVAC, plumbing, and piping) can greatly reduce energy costs and lessen a building’s environmental footprint.

Commercial buildings have a big impact on our quality of life, comfort, security, and overall health but they also have the potential to consume much of our nonrenewable resources and create large extents of waste.

According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), buildings in the U.S. account for:

• 38 percent of all CO2 emissions, and
• 73 percent of electricity consumption

As would be assumed, green buildings consume much less energy than the average commercial building. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a set of ratings that are intended to help building owners and managers be environmentally responsible and utilize resources as efficiently as possible. According to a white paper on Green Building Performance by the General Services Administration (GSA), after evaluating 22 green GSA Buildings, it was determined that sustainable buildings generally:

• Consume 25 percent less energy and 11 percent less water
• Have 19 percent lower maintenance costs
• Have a 27 percent higher occupant satisfaction
• Emit 34 percent lower greenhouse gases

The Green Building Market and Impact Report states that LEED buildings avoided 0.35 percent of total U.S. CO2 emissions in 2011 and that the percentage of CO2 avoidance attributed to LEED buildings is estimated to rise to 4.92 percent by 2030. Those are large percentages and they clearly show the impact that sustainable efforts can and will make.

Sustainable development is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, both now and for generations to come. But it does require some effort on our parts.

To help ensure that your existing building’s mechanical systems are operating in an environmentally-conscious and sustainable manner, give us a call today at 301-350-5000 or click here for more information on how we can help.

In Focus: Enhancing the Sustainability of Existing Buildings

Dan Aghdam, President, RM Thornton Mechanical was recently published on Area Development Online discussing ways to enhance sustainability in existing buildings. 

Today, green building and environmental sustainability is one of the top priorities of anyone in charge of managing commercial properties. However, much of this buzz continues to center on new construction projects. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, existing buildings 20 years or older make up nearly 72 percent of the total square footage in the United States. Yet, the majority of these buildings were constructed at a time when energy consumption and environmental impact were not even considered during the planning phase. With such a high percentage of existing infrastructure, there is a far greater opportunity for achieving environmental benefits and reducing energy consumption by promoting more sustainable operations among existing commercial buildings.

Dan Aghdam | President | RM Thornton Mechanical

Buildings are continuously evolving. As new tenants arrive and interior renovations take place, commercial spaces are being utilized in a variety of ways. It is increasingly important for building managers to be acutely aware of their building’s operational needs and take the appropriate steps to optimize the functionality of mechanical systems.

Recommissioning Facilities
A fundamental step to improving sustainability is the recommissioning of an existing building. The process of recommissioning involves careful examination and hands-on testing of mechanical equipment and is essential to ensuring a building’s HVAC, plumbing, and controls systems are working properly and operating efficiently. The results produced by this careful testing are then used to create a plan of action that outlines ways to fix underlying problems and provides strategic recommendations for performing energy-saving upgrades. Like a tune-up for your vehicle, recommissioning is an important part of a preventative maintenance plan and is vital to increasing sustainability and reducing energy consumption.

As part of the recommissioning process, building managers should perform rigorous indoor air quality (IAQ) tests in accordance with American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ (ASHRAE) standards. IAQ testing can improve ventilation, reduce indoor air pollutants, and create a healthier, more productive environment for building occupants. While IAQ testing may not deliver immediate cost savings, research has shown it does provide a return on investment and long-term financial benefits. A study completed by William Fisk from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California found that IAQ has a significant impact on the productivity and overall health of employees. By improving IAQ and ensuring proper ventilation, building managers can greatly improve the comfort of their tenants and reduce symptoms of illnesses associated with sick building syndrome (SBS), asthma, and other respiratory conditions.

Using Economizers
The use of economizers — often referred to as “free cooling” — is another simple yet effective way of improving a building’s IAQ and energy efficiency. Depending on the climate, economizers use the outside air produced by colder evening and winter temperatures to cool commercial facilities. By harnessing natural air, economizers can provide building managers with an inexpensive way to improve IAQ, reduce harmful contaminates, and stabilize energy consumption.

Existing buildings provide many cost-effective opportunities for increasing sustainability without forcing building managers to make expensive replacements and perform costly repairs. By creating a customized preventative maintenance plan and strategically making economical upgrades to existing mechanical systems, building managers can greatly lessen their buildings environmental footprint and gain measurable results.

For more information about RM Thornton Mechanical, please click here.

Food & Coat Drive: Help Us Give Back to Those in Need!

Are your cupboards full of non-perishable canned goods that you’ve been meaning to clear out? Do you have an extra coat in your closet that you no longer wear?

RM Thornton is hosting a food drive for the Southern Maryland Food Bank and collecting clean, used coats for the Central Union Church Mission to benefit the One Warm Coat® initiative. Please click here for further details on how you can help us donate to those in need from now until October 24th!

To learn more about RM Thornton, please click here.

Don’t Get Caught in the Cold: Tips for Winterizing Your HVAC System

Summer has officially come to a close and autumn has now begun. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, and temperatures are moderate and comfortable. However, while the mere thought may send shivers down your spine, the icy chill and harsh temperatures of winter are just around the corner. For us here in the mid-Atlantic region, experts are already predicting another brutal season of ice and snow. With autumn in full swing, now is the time to start preparing your commercial property and winterizing your HVAC system.

Cold temperatures and icy conditions can create major problems for HVAC systems and skyrocket your energy costs. But, these problems can be avoided by taking some easy preventative measures now.

Here are some proactive steps you can take to ensure old man winter doesn’t wreak havoc on your building’s mechanical systems:

•  Correctly shut down cooling equipment and properly prepare your building’s heating systems. Transitioning a commercial building from cooling to heating is not as simple as flipping a switch. This transition needs to be handled with care otherwise, equipment can malfunction and valuable energy sources can be wasted.

• Clean your HVAC systems during the shutdown and startup process to remove dirt and debris from ducts, boilers, chillers, etc. A thorough cleaning will ensure all components of your mechanical systems are operating at maximum capacity and improve indoor air quality.

• Repair any leaks or malfunctions prior to the winter months. Many building managers tend to overlook leaks in ductwork or fail to notice poorly functioning equipment, which can lead to an increase in energy consumption and higher costs.

• Avoid constant fluctuation of thermostat settings. Establish temperature set points for occupied and unoccupied times during the winter months. This will help you to avoid overheating your building and can stabilize your energy consumption.

• Hire a qualified technician to carefully inspect your HVAC systems before the temperature dips below 55 degrees Fahrenheit. All of the issues outlined above can easily be avoided by working with your mechanical contractor to create an effective preventative maintenance plan.

The key to preventing mechanical issues and keeping your tenants happy is to be proactive—not reactive. Ensuring that your HVAC systems are operating efficiently now will minimize the chance of costly problems during the winter season.  To learn more about how RM Thornton can help you winterize your HVAC system, please click here.

RM Thornton Nears Completion of Historic Church’s HVAC Upgrade

RM Thornton is nearing completion of its work to design and install a new, comprehensive HVAC system at Christ Church Episcopal in Alexandria, Va. Built between 1767 and 1773, the church was a place of worship for many prominent historical American figures, including George Washington, Robert E. Lee, George Mason, and many U.S. presi­dents. In 1970, Christ Church was designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark, and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The church, which has more than 2,500 members and is comprised of three buildings, draws thousands of visitors each year who take walking tours that feature the church’s interesting architectural features and unique history. To read a detailed project summary, click here. To learn more about RM Thornton, click here.

Happy Labor Day!

RM Thornton wishes everyone a Happy Labor Day.!

As we celebrate a well deserved day off work and the unofficial end of Summer, don’t forget to think about ways you might be able to conserve energy costs and reduce emissions. Our Energy Audit program is a line of service that evaluates energy costs of commercial buildings in order to assist building managers and owners lower their energy costs.  For more information, call us at 301-350-5000.