.webp)
CU Anschutz Sought to Save Money on a 319-Valve Upgrade by Pre-Configuring Controls and Shifting Startup to Its Mechanical Contractor
CU Anschutz required its mechanical contractor to start up and commission new vivarium air valves without the controls contractor, narrowing the controls scope to wiring and integration on a high-risk retrofit inside an active research environment. Joe Kimitch, the owner's representative for CU Anschutz, said that move was central to keeping the project moving.
CU Anschutz selected the air-valve product itself, supplied by Accutrol, and had Accutrol train MTech Mechanical on configuration and installation. The startup checklist "pre-plan[ned] the BACnet instances and MAC addresses into the project schedules," Kimitch said. The Accutrol control software was user-friendly enough for MTech to perform startup like the controls contractor.
In this instance, user-friendly, pre-configured controls enabled a capable mechanical contractor to absorb some startup work that would otherwise sit with the controls trade, provided the owner standardizes the sequence, the product, and the network plan before field work starts. Kimitch said MTech was able to start up the equipment immediately after installation, and that limited the controls' scope to wiring and integration.
The project also exposed obstacles that can occur with this much pre-configuration. During the commissioning of one valve, a BACnet network issue blocked remote testing because three old demo devices had been left in place with the same addresses as project devices. Removing the demo devices resolved the issue, but it took some coordination and root-cause analysis to determine who was responsible.
Reducing the scope of controls can save money, but only when the replacement work is tightly structured in advance. Pre-configured devices, startup checklists, and clear BACnet network ownership are what keep a lower-budget startup from turning into a delayed turnover.
Register for the next Nexus Labs event.
Sign up for the newsletter to get 5 stories like this per week:
CU Anschutz required its mechanical contractor to start up and commission new vivarium air valves without the controls contractor, narrowing the controls scope to wiring and integration on a high-risk retrofit inside an active research environment. Joe Kimitch, the owner's representative for CU Anschutz, said that move was central to keeping the project moving.
CU Anschutz selected the air-valve product itself, supplied by Accutrol, and had Accutrol train MTech Mechanical on configuration and installation. The startup checklist "pre-plan[ned] the BACnet instances and MAC addresses into the project schedules," Kimitch said. The Accutrol control software was user-friendly enough for MTech to perform startup like the controls contractor.
In this instance, user-friendly, pre-configured controls enabled a capable mechanical contractor to absorb some startup work that would otherwise sit with the controls trade, provided the owner standardizes the sequence, the product, and the network plan before field work starts. Kimitch said MTech was able to start up the equipment immediately after installation, and that limited the controls' scope to wiring and integration.
The project also exposed obstacles that can occur with this much pre-configuration. During the commissioning of one valve, a BACnet network issue blocked remote testing because three old demo devices had been left in place with the same addresses as project devices. Removing the demo devices resolved the issue, but it took some coordination and root-cause analysis to determine who was responsible.
Reducing the scope of controls can save money, but only when the replacement work is tightly structured in advance. Pre-configured devices, startup checklists, and clear BACnet network ownership are what keep a lower-budget startup from turning into a delayed turnover.
Register for the next Nexus Labs event.
Sign up for the newsletter to get 5 stories like this per week:
This is a great piece!
I agree.