This 27-story building in the heart of Downtown Bellevue needed an energy retrofit to update its presence. The original air-handling units installed in 1989 were a far cry from the efficiency of the more modern buildings in the vicinity. As a means to attract tenants and keep monthly operating costs down, American Assets Trust tasked ACCO with designing an optimal solution.
Project Requirements
Puget Sound Energy offered a rebate to the building owners if they could reduce energy consumption by as much as 15%. After weighing the options and calculating projected savings, ACCO determined that FanWall Technology with magnetic motors plus full Direct Digital Control upgrades would give the best return on investment.
What ACCO Delivered
Having performed tenant comfort work previously at City Center Bellevue, ACCO was invited back as the prime contractor to retrofit the remaining floors. With the special challenge of tenant-occupied spaces and a constrained 6-month completion schedule, ACCO coordinated several trades in the complete retrofit of mechanical rooms. The existing pneumatic dampers were changed out for digitally-activated, more energy-efficient actuators. Night and weekend work was necessary to keep this project on schedule.
ACCO was able to successfully manage this project within the tight schedule, remain under budget and the building owner was able to see energy efficiency gains instantly. While 15% was the target based on the Puget Sound Energy rebate, initial utility bills post-conversion showed promise. The building’s Chief Engineer shared that these invoices were at a seven-year low for the building operation. All indications are that we will meet or exceed our energy conservation targets.