Florida Department of Management Services Turlington Building Cx

Project Summary

In the capital city of Tallahassee, the Turlington Building has a notable presence in the city’s skyline.  Primarily office space with a ground floor cafeteria and conference rooms on the 17th floor, the building is home to the Florida Department of Education.  Originally constructed and opened in 1988, the building is a 17-story, 420,000-square-foot structure with two additional basement levels. 

In the process of updating the building’s heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, the Florida Department of Management Services selected Hanson to provide commissioning services for the modernized and renovated mechanical systems.

This commissioning project focused on an upgrade to the central energy plant, as the chillers, chilled water pumps and associated controls were replaced.  Integrated systems testing also included the cooling towers and condenser water system which had previously been upgraded.  Other building system modifications requiring commissioning included revisions to HVAC airside systems, including: ventilation, various exhaust systems and the smoke control system.

The commissioning services included review of the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) and development of the Commissioning Plan (Cx Plan) and Cx specifications, construction observation (equipment installation and start-up), functional performance testing of HVAC systems, and oversight review of operations and maintenance (O&M) training and documentation.

A unique challenge of this project was that the building remained in operation during the majority of construction and commissioning activities for the upgraded systems.  This required close coordination between the Owner’s representative, Hanson, and the contractor’s construction schedule.