Base Wide Fire Protection and Energy Monitoring and Controls System, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Supply Center, Richmond, VA

This project involved a series of complex studies and development of D-B-B documents and a D-B RFP. The project was divided into three main parts:

Task 1 – The team performed two major independent studies which included a Basewide Fire Protection System study of 44 buildings and a Basewide Energy Monitoring and Controls (EMCS) Systems Study of 62 buildings at DSCR. The Fire Protection study included full evaluations of every fire alarm system, sprinkler system, water supply and mass notification system in the buildings. The EMCS Study involved evaluating the HVAC infrastructure and BAS, determining equipment lifespans, and determining if the BAS was in compliance with current UFC requirements. The final report included the development of a DD1391 document (by building) based on the results of the investigations.

Task 2 – The team investigated the fire alarm system at DSCR’s Building 34 to diagnose an existing problem with the system. As the system was regularly giving alarm indications that were false, PACE Collaborative helped to diagnose the problem and developed a corrective action plan to correct it.

Task 3 – The team produced D-B-B drawings and specifications for the repair of Warehouse No. 4’s sprinkler system and its interconnection to the fire alarm system. This involved the provision of new sprinkler risers, the construction of new sprinkler riser rooms to enclose this equipment, and new fire alarm modules to monitor it for of normal conditions. The design met UFC and NFPA requirements.

This project was particularly challenging as it spanned 4.1 million square feet across 62 buildings with varying levels of physical security and complexity and ranged from detailed inventory of systems to full development of design-bid-build documents. To maneuver seamlessly through all the buildings, a detailed schedule was orchestrated by the investigation team for efficiency and to limit the disruption to the occupants. The ability to understand issues related to EMCS systems in multiple buildings served our team well throughout this project. The project was demanding and required a careful methodology to ensure we gathered all of the required information needed to develop the range of products required. The successful outcome of this project relied on the ability of the team to manage these three separate parts, each distinct by themselves, as one overall project..