Central Plants

CAMPUS CENTRAL PLANT
California State University, Long Beach
Long Beach, California

Served as the Structural Engineer of Record for design and construction of a new fully automated 35,000 SF central plant to serve 47 campus buildings.  Facility components included a 9,000 ton chiller plant with 34,000 ton-hours of thermal energy storage, centrifugal chillers, turbo ice harvesters, 180,000 gallon ice storage tank, cooling towers, chilled water auxiliary equipment, hot water boilers and pumps.  Due to its close proximity of an adjacent residential development, it was necessary to minimize the plant's profile.  To accomplish this, over two thirds of the plant was recessed into an existing hillside.  In addition, the plant was designed to take advantage of a dual use application, which involved use of the roof area to support campus gatherings.   Design requirements to accomplish this dual use necessitated extremely rigid construction capable of sustaining the large live loads from gatherings as well as the load demands from the plant equipment and piping.  A poured-in-place reinforced concrete structure was selected for the vertical elements with structural steel for the horizontal elements comprising the roof and campus gathering area. 


CENTRAL PLANT NO. 3
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California

Cash & Associates provided structural and civil engineering to upgrade and expand an existing campus central plant.  Structural work involved preparation of a comprehensive structural/seismic evaluation and analyses of the existing central plant, two major plant additions, and various plant components (i.e., boilers, chillers, pumps, pipe supports) to develop measures to bring the entire facility into compliance with prevailing codes.  An innovative plan was developed to connect the additions and original structure that allowed them to function as a single entity capable of withstanding anticipated seismic loads.  Retrofit measures were designed to increase seismic capacity while retaining the original architectural intent of the plant.  Design was complicated by the necessity to retain existing piping alignments.  Expansion included installation of a new 4,200,000 gallon chilled water, above-grade thermal energy storage reservoir.  Civil design included new distribution piping.




THERMAL STORAGE RESERVOIR
California State University, Sacramento
Sacramento, California

Structural and civil engineering for installation of a new thermal energy storage system including a 1,4000,000 gallon reservoir capable of storing approximately 12,800 ton-hours of thermal energy in the form of chilled water.  Work included design of the caisson-supported reservoir foundation, wing walls, shoring system, pump foundations and pipe supports.  Civil design including grading plans, catch basins and a new lateral to an existing storm drain. 








CENTRAL CHILLER PLANT
The Boeing Company, Long Beach, California

Architectural and structural design for a new 12,500 SF central chiller plant building with 2,400 ton capacity HFC-134A chillers, two-cell poured-in-place cooling tower, thermal energy storage reservoir, pumping systems and controls.  Building was designed to accommodate future addition of two chillers or one gas-fired absorber.  Special engineering studies were performed to determine load capacities and design support for roof-mounted AHUs and chilled water lines located on adjacent building roofs.







HVAC RENOVATION
Peter J. Pitchess Honor Ranch, Castaic, California

Cash & Associates served as the structural/civil consultant for replacement of all roof-mounted packaged air distribution systems and construction of a new chilled water plant with two cooling towers and a 250,000 gallon, above-grade, bolted steel water storage tank.  In addition, a thermal energy storage system was incorporated to store chilled water for on-peak air conditioning needs.   Structural work included design of structural steel raised roof platforms, piping and duct work supports, and various building and equipment foundations.  Work also included preparation of a comprehensive condition survey of the existing roof systems and development of specifications for methods to demolish all "wet" areas and provide temporary patching until existing roofs could be replaced.