Project Overview:
Location: Norfolk, VA
Industry: Medical
General Contractor: Warwick Mechanical Group
Contract Amount: $1,000,000

Project Description: In December of 2014, a long underutilized, 300,000 SF Class A office building, was brought under contract for reoccupation. Several large mechanical contractors were contacted when the new tenant determined that the 25+ year old mechanical chilled water infrastructure was insufficient for their triple net 20-year lease.

Project Details:  Serving as the general contractor; Warwick began demolition, remediation, and construction in parallel with design efforts.  Future tie-in points were identified immediately and chiller plant shutdowns were executed straightaway to minimize disruption during peak cooling season. From there, Warwick and Pace designed a thermal storage system capable of offsetting over 400-tons chilled water capacity.  The system utilized fifteen Calmac ice storage tanks and a Trane ice building chiller, capable of dual mode operation.  Warwick took the lead over a team that included six professional engineers and fourteen contractors.

The construction effort took an estimated 15,000 tradesman hours from concept, contract, to commissioning in 5 months. During commissioning, the thermal storage system proved a peak discharge exceeding 600-tons of cooling; guaranteeing the ability to reduce annual electric expenses by $80,000. When compared to traditional chiller plant options.  With the commissioning of this project, Warwick’s portfolio of thermal storage installations remains superior in our region.