Heartland Community College Agriculture Complex

Title: Heartland Community College Agriculture Complex

Award Category: Commissioning

Project Address/Location

1500 W Raab Rd
#2210
Normal, IL 61761
United States

Submitted By: John Wagner

Company Info

Baumann Consulting

180 N Lasalle Dr.
#2210
CHICAGO, IL 60601
United States

312.270.1406 x 1038

[email protected]

Project Description and Background: Heartland Community College (HCC) recognizes the need for a skilled workforce to address central Illinois’ vital agriculture industry. HCC stepped up to train the agriculture workforce of tomorrow with the new Agriculture Complex designed by Legat Architects for maximum flexibility and collaboration. Social spaces throughout the facility allow for incidental interactions and mentorship. The 29,500-square-foot building integrates technology throughout, from the rooftop photovoltaic (solar) array to the accommodations for precision agriculture — helping educators prepare students for the high-tech agricultural jobs of tomorrow. Within the facility’s labs, students work on everything from drone repair and computer-controlled farming equipment to the study of soil samples. The complex also offers adjacent farming plots and incorporates a teaching greenhouse. The building massing and orientation, optimized for energy efficiency via a 16-option study, provide users with easy access to adjacent farming plots and social spaces throughout. The envelope design incorporates a structural cross-laminated timber roof deck with a corrugated double-lock mechanically seamed standing roof system, reflecting traditional local agricultural architecture motifs. In accordance with HCC’s 2020 Facilities Master Plan, HCC required IFLI Net Zero Energy certification at the Agricultural Complex project outset, and was awarded a $2 million net zero construction grant by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Fund (ICECF) early during design to help achieve this goal. With both certification and final grant disbursement contingent upon 12 months of verified net zero energy operation, HCC reduced the risk of missing the net zero performance target by incorporating a comprehensive commissioning process addressing the building enclosure, HVAC, electrical power and lighting, plumbing, energy submetering, on-site renewable energy, and backup generator systems.

Scope: The building enclosure commissioning process, led by Baumann Consulting (IIBEC member) from project concept through performance verification, was planned in accordance with ASTM E2381-18 Standard Practice for Building Enclosure Commissioning, including commissioning activities from pre-design through design phases, bidding, pre-construction, construction administration, and post-occupancy phases. The Agriculture Center enclosure commissioning process pre-design and design phase processes included owner’s project requirement (OPR) and commissioning plan development, and architectural drawing, narrative, and specification reviews at every issuance. The bidding and pre-construction phases included contractor proposal (especially those pertinent on enclosure testing) and commissioning review integration during the RFI and submittal review and pre-construction processes, and a comprehensive suite of air infiltration, water intrusion, and assembly durability testing during construction, with post-occupancy back-checks and seasonally deferred testing allowing for higher indoor-ambient temperature differences. Construction field verification included pre-installation subcontractor kickoff meetings, bi-weekly commissioning meetings, and regular field inspections. The verification process started with a commissioning-specified, fully enclosed and fully-detailed performance mockup unit (PMU) comprising 4 walls, a foundation, a roof, a window, a door, vertical plumbing rough openings, and horizontal sanitary rough openings. Further commissioning-directed field testing took place at the mockup and three rounds in-situ during construction per ASTM standards and included the following tests: membrane adhesion; air and water intrusion chamber pressurization; spray nozzle; local depressurization with leak detection fluid; horizontal waterproofing flood; and blower door testing with associated infrared thermography and theatrical fog leak diagnostics. The mockup and subsequent three rounds of in-situ enclosure performance testing, including a mid-construction blower door test conducted after air barrier detailing but prior to interior finish completion identified deficiencies, facilitated their easy repair, and prevented them from proliferating, helping the project achieve passive house-level 0.06 CFM/SF50 air tightness level at the final blower door test post-occupancy.

Solution: Designed with high-performance systems including a geothermal heat recovery chiller, hydronic radiant slabs, heat pump water heaters, and a well-insulated, thermally broken, and carefully detailed envelope, the project involved building techniques and technologies unfamiliar to the local construction market. The project also included an on-site teaching greenhouse with planned year-round operation, an energy-intensive building type that the owner had no prior experience operating. Pandemic-caused long-lead item delays, including the main switchgear arriving post-occupancy, posed additional challenges. The design architect sought to mitigate these risks with ample and granular enclosure details spanning 12 pages of the drawings issued for construction. The envelope design incorporates a fluid-applied, triple-coat, vertical air-and-vapor barrier drained behind cladding to the exterior, with self-sealing, thermally-broken cladding attachments, lapped flexible-over-stainless flashing and joints sealed with caulk and backer rod at all openings, penetrations, and the interface with both continuous self-adhered watertight vapor-permeable roof underlayment and high-temperature self-adhered roof membrane. A 15-mil poly underlayment extends up the vertical foundation terminating in a sealed joint at the top of slab to provide uninterrupted air and water infiltration resistance. Designed with a continuously-insulated R-60 (polyiso) roof, R-20 (XPS) sub-slab, and R-40 (mineral wool) exterior wall, the super-insulated enclosure minimized heat loss and balanced annual heating and cooling thermal demand, enabling a high-efficiency geothermal HVAC design. Thermally broken, triple-pane windows with noble gas fill and optical properties were tuned to minimize artificial lighting via daylight controls and balance winter and summertime solar gains. Thermally activated poured concrete slabs circulate cool and warm water within pex tubing embedded in the poured concrete to wick away radiant solar gains from glazing and efficiently target envelope conduction thermal loads by directly conditioning the enclosure rather than only conditioning the air.

Value: The Baumann-led commissioning and measurement and verification processes successfully addressed threats to achieve the project’s net-zero goal with $2 million grant funding on the line, mitigating risks posed by pandemic-delayed equipment lead times, enhanced owner training needs, and low contractor familiarity with specified technology. The combined MEP-enclosure commissioning process served as a bridge among the owner's user and facility groups and the design and construction teams and helped debug complex controls systems, catch utility data-submeter mismatches, identify root enclosure air infiltration causes, minimize the energy performance impact of changing owner operational requirements, adapt functional testing plans to accommodate schedule delays and building occupancy, and develop strategies for integrating equipment controls over the network in a manner acceptable to HCC's security concerns. The project is currently in the performance verification period on track to achieve the net-zero performance goal.

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Additional Info: https://www.flickr.com/photos/123871401@N03/albums/72177720316225495/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/123871401@N03/albums/72177720314347602/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/123871401@N03/albums/72177720314510403/

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