|
|
Meetings And Reports - March 2005 |
| BLUEFEATHER HOME | |
|
Report for 2/28/2005 – 3/4/2005 – LCCC – Albany County Campus Prepared by Seth A. Carson Correspondence 3/1/2005 – Email from Bob Cox and response from Seth Carson Hi Seth – Thought I would write to you about a these two items. Building Commissioning I spoke with Bob Berry last Friday regarding the commissioning. He expressed concern to me about the proposed horizontal installation of the ground source system. He felt vertical was the way to go plus he wants to be in the middle of the design. This is clearly a conflict for me. I don’t understand how we can hire this guy if he is operating under a different set of principles. Furthermore, the contractor and architect are working to put a design together that hopefully works. I contacted Scott Kohrs about this problem and he was going to look into it – that is contact Bob Berry and talk to the folks at Poudre Valley about their installations in Fort Collins. Jerry Harris, our purchasing guy, contacted Chris Carvell (Chris Carvell will probably be awarded the architectual contract for our new residence hall and folks in his firm have an extensive LEEDS background) regarding ground source applications and they prefer horizontal. I’ve got to have confidence that I don’t end up with two different ball games going on. So I will wait to hear from Scott but would like your feedback. Solar and Wind Proposal The solar proposal by Ted Hanlon seems promising. Jerry Harris has worked with Ted at Coastal and he told me that he is a good engineer. My concern is whether he is able to get insurance to the level needed and the scope of this project compared to his prior projects, quite a bit smaller. I would like to go local but need some feedback on this. I am also still concerned about the thought of two 75 foot towers sitting on that site. I know you are a councilman but I would hate to spend a load of $dough$ on design and find a problem with the planners or the neighbors. So, please provide some feedback on this. Thanks Bob, It appears to me that at some point Scott and Ralph will need to trust the instincts and professional long-term experience of Bob Berry. I have complete confidence in Bob’s opinion. Keep in mind, Bob has yet to fully review the plans and scope of this project. The trick will be to get good qualified bids for vertical and horizontal that is directly comparable. Chris Carvell might have a better feel for local cost than Berry but I doubt he has the engineering and experience background to have a valid opinion. I don’t have the long-term knowledge either to call this one. That’s why I was pushy with getting Berry on board. As far as Ted Hanlon and the windmill, I stand by my recommendation. Ted is really just tackling the solar part. This array, although very large, is really not brain surgery. The wind mill issue will fall into place when Ted and I find a good company that will sign a service agreement. I reviewed the grant again and it has direct language that may require us to put the wind mill on site or not do it at all. It refers to LCCC ACC as an “energy center” and “incorporating energy efficient technologies.” Also, specific energy production numbers were used that could never be obtained if the pv/wind weren’t building tied. If we grid tied somewhere else, LCCC would be violating it’s agreement with DOE to “incorporate” wind technology into the building. LEED’s credits would also be lost and the project would be compromised from reaching its energy goals as stated in the grant . LCCC ACC would not be utilizing any “energy producing technologies” if the pv/where grid-tied off site. Finally, the statement that “This campus will harness the potentials of the sun, wind, and earth” would be false. Remember, we have the blessing of the DOE and the Governor. Plus, have confidence in me that I will make this a safe and legal reality. As far as the wind mill on site goes, Farm Bureau could be the only hold up, get them on board and it were smooth sailing. There are no homes or business that the windmill would block and views from. Ted is working on using photoshop and site photos to show us from multiple angles what the wind mill would look like on site. Lastly, I spoke with the city and they will need a site map (on of Ted’s tasks) to couple with a letter from the city attorney saying its OK to have these onsite. I am meeting with the attorney when I get back from vacation on the 14th. Best Wishes, Seth Carson Correspondence 3/2/2005 – Email from Tim Laughlin Hi Bob, I hope things are well for all of you at LCCC. The project is moving very swiftly at the moment as our deadline for full permit set approaches. Our goal is to submit for the rest of the building permit next week. A large portion of the coordination between Electrical, Mechanical, Architectural and Structural is happening this week. So in response to that coordination and in response to some other items that are still on our list here, we have a couple questions and some items to share. First, after taking a hard look at the grading Aspen Banner worked out for the detention pond and site drainage we felt that the area north of the building was too small to fit the fire access road, drainage, and detention pond. After many discussions with the Laramie Fire Marshall, the Civil Engineer and Taylor Kohrs, we decided that the amount of space from the building to the intersection with Boulder Drive and our shared driveway needed to be increased. Additionally the slope at the entrance to the LCCC parking lot was becoming extremely steep. So a few items were changed regarding the building and parking. They are as follows: 1. The building was relocated 30' to the Southeast 2. The parking was relocated approxiametly 38' to the Southeast 3. The Fire Access road was relocated as well and we were able to obtain a variance from the Fire Marshall to decrease the required cul-de-sac diameter from 96' to 70' 4. The Finish Floor Elevation of the building was raised 18" to USGS 7303.5. 5. The additional distance that the parking lot moved allowed us to pick up four more parking spaces and increased the turning radius at the west end of the drop off circle. This should allow a bus to turn around without going through the parking lot itself. 6. The transformer was located near the fire access road as the utility company will need access to this equipment. Second, after looking at many locations for the Main Electrical Distribution room we choose one near the faculty break room. There were compromises made back and forth and this location works out best. Please take a look at this area and review the layout. Third, Phil had asked for room numbers because LCCC is in the process of preparing the Spring 2006 class schedule. We have put room numbers on the drawings, but keep in mind LCCC can number the rooms in a manner that works best for the school. These room numbers are necessary for construction, but may not fit your needs, so please number the rooms in a manner that suits your needs. Fourth, There will be two Roof Top Mechanical units on the building. One on each wing. I have yet to get actual sizes from the Mechanical Engineer to determine how tall they are and whether we will need to provide mechanical screens. Fifth, A few weeks back after a design team meeting I was talking with Phil and possibly a couple others about the administrative suite and the student services suite. There were comments as to the location of the reception desks and waiting areas. If I remember correctly it was undecided as to how the staff would like that area to layout and function. We would like to put a soffit and some different lighting above the reception desks. If the staff has decided since then on the layout we just need to know and then we can design the ceiling treatment. If not, can that decision be made by the end of the week? Otherwise we could have the accoustical tile ceiling cover the entire area and locate can lights without any soffits when that decision is made. Attached are PDF files of the site and floor plan. These are 30"x42" PDF's and can be viewed on your computer monitors. They can also be printed on a large format printer if you have access to one. Next week we will need to have a Design Team meeting, and We will bring an updated set of prints to that meeting. Either Scott, Ralph, or I will be in touch to coordinate that meeting. Thanks, Timothy Laughlin Midyette Architects Attached here are the floor plan and site plan. Meeting 3/4/2005 – Seth Carson and Ralph Knox Seth and Ralph discussed information concerning the permits and commissioning. Ralph stated the second DEQ sanitation permit should come at anytime. Ralph and Seth also discussed Bob Berry and the commissioning. Ralph explained his positive and negative concerns towards the commissioning. His negative concern was that Berry could alter and affect the bidding process that was going on. On a positive note, Ralph stated that Taylor-Korhs and LCCC would greatly benefit overall from having Bob on board with the team. Ralph and Seth discussed information sharing methods and Ralph agreed to have everything sent through his office first. Ralph and Seth also discussed the vertical and horizontal geo-exchange loops. Seth voiced his opinion that a vertical loop sounded more reliable than horizontal. From Seth’s opinion, the ground temperature seemed more constant and warmer than 8’ below a paved dry parking lot in Laramie’s cold climate. Ralph agreed. Correspondence 3/4/2005 – Email from Bob Berry Bob emailed Seth back to let him know that contracts had not yet been sign with him and LCCC. Correspondence 3/4/2005 – Email from Bob Cox Thanks Tim Regarding the increased length of the shared driveway, how will that adversely affect the budget? How does the alignment of the entrance to our parking line up with Farm Bureau? If our entrance is not aligned with Farm Bureau's entrance, is that a problem? Also, the tweaking of the building front to the South looks a little awkward now that it is not centered toward the parking. I see that it is a little more functional. Anyone else have thoughts on this? Regarding the mechanical and electrical room, I'll need to get a bigger diagram. I assume it is sized correctly. Also looking for the custodial closets and their proximity to restrooms. Need a bigger picture. Regarding the roof top units, I know I'm talking to the choir here but please be sure the structure will hold the weight of the units. Eileen and Phil -- I hope you can help Tim out with this. See you next Wednesday. Look forward to getting the ground work going on this. Bob Report for 3/7/2005 – 3/11/2005 – LCCC – Albany County Campus Prepared by Seth A. Carson Seth Carson is on Spring Break Vacation This Week. Posted below are the correspondents and the meeting notes for the week. Email Correspondence 3/7/2005 – Email from Phil Neal Good Morning, I just met with Ralph Knox about the Covenant Drawings and what we need to get completed so that the City will give us approval to move ahead. There was some misunderstanding between Ralph and the City about a month ago (and was not discovered until last week) when the City asked him about the Covenant Board meeting. He thought the City was to arrange this meeting, and the City thought Ralph was supposed to arrange this meeting. It is this meeting and associated documents/agreements which is holding up the permit approval process. He gave me a set of drawings used for Covenant review. It includes the site plan, illumination schedule, and landscaping plans, which include drainage. He said they moved the building back 30 feet to accommodate the fire department driveway, and moved the parking lot back 38 feet to accommodate a bus turn around at the entrance of the building. Ralph said we need to have a meeting with Mountain West Farm Bureau and the Rec Center, both of which have been notified by him this morning. We need to get their blessing on our drawings - we three are the Turner Tract Covenant Board and every new project has to have the blessing of the Board. Ralph gave a presentation to the MWFB this morning and they did not have any concerns about our project. He also spoke with Paul Harrison, at the Rec Center, who did not have any concerns. But as owners of the project, we need to formally meet with them. The issues we need to resolve are mainly with MWFB. Those issues are: 1. How we change the driveway lighting fixtures from one head (which is now only spreading light on the side of the inlet road that MWFB uses) to a double head which would cover both sides of the road when we expand it. I asked Ralph if this was covered in our contract and he said he will let us know at Wednesday’s meeting in Cheyenne. We can reuse the poles and Ralph recommended that I get a cost from Don at Fremont Electric so that we understand the scope of this part of the project. In my mind, this should be covered in the contract since everything to do with this road expansion was included in the contract. 2. We need a legal description/agreement of the inlet road outlining that both parties have the right to use the road, once we expand it. According to Ralph, this legal can be handled through Jim Cavelli at Aspen Banner. 3. We can use a “letter of intent” between the two entities until the final legal document is drafted. This will allow the City to grant us permission to start digging. 4. At the meeting should be Paul Harrison (Rec Center), Harvey Ridgeway MWFB), Doug Brimmer (City) and someone from LCCC. I will not be able to attend the meeting in Cheyenne on Wednesday but I will do my best to arrange a meeting with the three parties this week. We need to have this meeting soon so we can move on with things. Seth, I assume that the legal description/agreement is more of your type of work so I will ask that you handle this. Thanks Phil Email Correspondence 3/7/2005 – Email from Seth Carson Phil and Bob, I would like an opportunity to deeply review all the new plans (site, covenant agreements, etc.) before you sign off with the Ralph, Tim, and the city. If you remember, the last plat had an error. Also, the revised plans are becoming more set in stone and I need to site down with the team and really go over the plans and explain and help you interrupt (mech. rooms, etc.). Bob, did we get rolling (contracts signed) with Bob Berry and Ted Hanlon? Thanks for you both keeping me up-to-date on my vacation. After, this one I'm at working straight through to August. Phil, on Monday I need to sit down with you and get up to speed for things I missed this week. Also, I have been informally appointed to be the city council point person for the Turner Tract. Thanks for keeping me in the loop with those issues too. Seth Carson Email Correspondence 3/7/2005 – Email from Eileen Ely Hi Bob, In speaking with Jim Cavelli this morning, he indicated that it would be impossible to get the legal document completed by this Friday, but he would start working on it. Jim also suggested a letter of intent for Friday’s meeting, noting that 1) LCCC would be responsible for building the ingress portion of the driveway, 2) that both entities, LCCC and the Farm Bureau, would be using the egress portion of the driveway, and 3) that a formal legal document will be drafted and signed in the near future—to include all legal descriptions. Bob, will you or the college attorney be drafting the letter of intent? Jim is planning on attending the 10:00 a.m., Friday’s meeting at the Rec Center, but may have to leave early. Eileen Eileen – I don’t know exactly what you are getting at. Are you saying that we need an agreement with Farm Bureau regarding the construction, use and maintenance of the driveway? Or is there more that needs to be included? Does something need to be finalized (legally) prior to the city allowing us to start construction? Is this part of the discussion for our meeting on Friday? Bob Bob, This matter pertains to Phil’s e-mail below, items # 2 and #3. Apparently, we need the legal agreement (Jim Cavelli) or a temporary letter of intent (LCCC) signed by the two parties involved, the Farm Bureau and LCCC, to start the digging process. Supposedly, the three entities make up the Turner Tract Covenant Board, which was news to me. For further clarification, I called Ralph Knox. He indicated that the letter of intent (which will be replaced by the legal letter from Jim Cavelli) should state that we are “agreeing to agree” that we will work out the details pertaining to the driveway—to include maintenance, lighting, shared use and anything else we discuss at Friday’s meeting. In short, we are agreeing to work out the legal details for shared, joint use of the driveway. Regarding further details for the legal agreement, Jim Cavelli should be able to address this matter on Friday. For Friday’s meeting, a letter of intent needs to be drafted by LCCC (per Ralph). In case the verbage is not agreeable to the Farm Bureau, he suggested that, for modification purposes, you bring the document on disk. I hope this helps. Eileen Design Meeting 3/9/2005 – Included the design team in Cheyenne. Changes were made to the plans and the IT plan was given to Michael Walters to review. Meeting 3/11/2005 – Included LCCC Facility, Farm Bureau Rep., Recreation Center Rep. The meeting was held to obtain permission from existing Turner Tract tenants to accept LCCC plans and approve them for the association. The Rec Center and Farm Bureau were given the opportunity to review the plans and and covenants. A letter of acceptance was signed by all parties with the following exceptions that need to be resolved and are pending final submittal from architect: 1. Architectural screen for building transformer. 2. Design lighting and landscape for monument sign. 3. Heights of parking lot light poles. 4. Trees along Boulder Drive. A copy of this letter is in Seth’s office. Report for 3/14/2005 – 3/18/2005 – LCCC – Albany County Campus Prepared by Seth A. Carson Phone Conference 3/14/2005 – Seth Carson and Ralph Knox Seth called Ralph to get an update on the project. Ralph stated the DEQ sanitation permit was finally approved which will allow the city to finalize part of the permitting process. Ralph also spoke to Seth about the meetings from the previous week. He stated that Paul Harrison – (City Recreation Center), LCCC (Eileen Ely), a Farm Bureau Representative met on 3/11/2005 an approved the building plans. This was necessary to meet the Turner Tract covenants. Ralph also said that he was meeting with subcontractors tomorrow concerning the soils and dirt work packages. Ralph pointed at one small problem that needs to be resolved with the site. There is some questions about a storm sewer corrugated pipe that runs through the site under where the proposed building location. Ralph asked Seth to ask the city if they knew anything about the pipe. Seth said he would tomorrow. Phone Conference 3/14/2005 – Seth Carson and Robert Berry Seth called Robert to verify that he was officially on board. Bob stated that he hade verbal confirmation from Bob Cox and Ralph Knox. Bob said that he had received a set of plans from Taylor-Kohrs and had reviewed them. He suggested the following changes and maintenance cost savings listed below. Robert went through his list with Seth and discussed some improvements. Bob said he would formally present them in the very near future. Bob’s major suggestion was to change the location of the heat pumps. He stated that the architect had placed them up between roof joists. He stated the joists were 4’ o.c. and that the “adacine” heat pumps that were initial specified would fit with between the joists. Bob said that this is a “big no-no” with heat pumps. This heat pump location lends it-self to major inconveniences with maintenance of the heat pumps. Installation is also more work and inconvenient for the duct work. He suggested that the heat pumps be placed in 4’x4’ closets with floor drains throughout the building. These closets could be doubled up and would need to have doors where needed. Another option Bob pointed out was the lowering of the ceiling in the rooms to allow the heat pumps and duct work. He suggested moving them down 2’8”. Seth pointed out that this was not an option because of the upper windows and day-lighting method being used in the classrooms. Bob also suggest that we need 3 more heat pumps in the building. Bob stated that he would be sending out the plan that should the location of these heat pumps later this week. Robert also suggested that the 24” x 24” intact ducts be place 6’ away from the heat pump lessen the sound coming in the classrooms. Robert said he had a list of other suggestion that he would forward on later today. Those are posted here. Also suggested was that a vault be used outside the build to access the manifolds for the loop field. Having this out side would free up same space in the building and is a better practice. Correspondence 3/15/2005 – Email from Bob Berry Ralph and Seth, Attached are the quotes I received. I recommend that you accept the 2 quotes from GRTI, one for the testing/loop installation for $7,300, and the other for the heat exchanger (well field) design for $2,000. The proposal from Bergerson Caswell is also competitive, but that firm would also be competing for the installation work. I think it’s best to have the testing and design done by an independent firm. However, I believe Bergerson Caswell will submit a bid for the installation work. GRTI will use Douglas Exploration to install the test loop, and indicated that they would be ready to start next week. I hope this cost doesn’t concern you, because it clearly the safest way to assure that the heat exchanger will perform as required, and will result in the lowest installed cost. Without the testing, no installer wants to be responsible for coming up short on capacity, so they will install more piping than is needed for a safety factor. It is also the only way to properly get competitive bids. As far as bidders are concerned, I would recommend Douglas Exploration, Bergerson Caswell, and Mid-America Drilling (Oakland, IA), and any Colorado firms that we can find. With that level of bidders we should save a large amount over the costs of a horizontal system. Let me know of your decision ASAP before Douglas commits to another job and postpones their commitment to this project. Bob Berry Bob also said that he had proposal on the vertical well conductivity test. They are posted here. Proposal 1, Proposal 2, Proposal 3 Phone Conference 3/14/2005 – Seth Carson and Ted Hanlon Seth contacted Ted to find out his status. Ted said he was in the final phase of working out his contract with Jerry Harris. He said he would begin work as soon as it was completed. Seth and Ted agreed that a group an overlay photos of the site showing with superposed windmill would clear-up any fears and reservations of the windmill being onsite. Correspondence 3/15/2005 – Email from Bob Berry For those of you that I haven’t spoken to yet, I am Bob Berry, the project Commissioning Agent. I look forward to meeting you all when I make my first trip to Laramie. Just a brief background….Prior to starting this firm, I had 15 years of experience with a large A/E firm, and 7 years with an energy company. I have designed many heat pump systems, both geothermal and conventional, many for K-12 schools and a few colleges. I have had lots of feedback from maintenance staffs from these projects over the years. Only once, in my early years, did I design a heat pump or fan coil to be mounted between bar joists. It resulted in the most seething feedback from a maintenance guy that I ever received. I vowed never to do it again! I have also seen large school districts with 25-plus years of heat pump experience in their facilities establish policies mandating closet-mounted heat pumps. If my descriptions of the issues in the review comments aren’t clear enough and you’d like to talk to someone at one of these districts, please let me know. Bob Berry Meeting 3/15/2005 – Seth Carson, Bob Juve, Donnie Duncan (761-1001) Seth met with Bob and Donnie informally to inquire about the storm sewer pipe. Donnie state the Ralph was probably seeing the 2-30” corrugated pipes that run under the future Boulder Drive and come up to the LCCC site west side. Donnie stated that these pipes should terminate at the edge of the site or go to Farm Bureau’s pond. He offered to verify this with Ralph if need be. He also stated that these pipes should be visible 200’ south of where Boulder Drive pavement terminates currently. Seth said he would pass this information on to Ralph later today. Meeting 3/15/2005 – Seth Carson and Ralph Knox Ralph visited with Seth at his office. Seth and Ralph discussed the I.T. and geo-exchange system in detail. Ralph was still questioning the ground loop methods and Bob Berry’s suggestions. It was agreed that the closets and the heat pump relocation was out of the questions at this phase of the project. Ralph and Seth spend some time assessing the cost comparison of the vertical and horizontal. Ralph and Seth used the costs of $2000 dollars per well with 50-60 wells being estimated to create an estimate. These numbers were given by Bob Berry to use in the comparison. The wells would be $120k for the well drilling, casing, grout, and well pipe. This didn’t include the homeruns to the building pump room. Ralph said his numbers on the excavation for the horizontal systems was around $35K. This didn’t include cover-up grading, homeruns, or any ground loop pipe. Ralph and Seth agreed that until we knew the size of the group loop that a direct comparison could not be completed. Ralph stated that he would need to dig deeper to get a better feel for costs. Seth questioned that we needed to make a decision soon to not get behind. Ralph stated that he would rather get a bit behind than rush this decision. Seth reminded Ralph that the DOE was paying for this item and not stress over it to much. Seth and Ralph also discussed the IT. Ralph showed Seth the IT plan that he had presented to the design committee at last Wednesday’s meeting. He said that he, Randi, and Don had estimated that drawing at about $202K. He stated that it had roughly 1100 I.T. drops with power to each of these drops. He then went on to show Seth revisions in red that Michael Walters had made after the design meeting. He said that they had re-totaled the I.T. drops after Michael’s revision and came up with 600 more drops that were added. He stated that these additions could equate to bringing the I.T. costs up to $300K. This was obvious concern by Seth because the I.T. budget in the GMP was only $149,445. Ralph stated that he was comfortable using $50K of the contingency funds, but not $150 to satisfy Michael scope. Seth said he would speak to Michael to help facilitate and find a compromise. Ralph reminded Seth that the electrical needs should try and be reduced too to fit in with the energy conservation ideals. Phone Conferences 3/15/2005 – Seth Carson, Ralph Knox, and Robert Berry Robert, Seth, and Ralph were in correspondence throughout the day the details discussing the ground loop for the geo-exchange in detail. Bob asked Seth if he could find out some well information for the site. He stated that if ground water was present in either the vertical or horizontal loop fields that that present it would significantly help to downsize the loop fields. Seth said he would come up with some information for Bob Berry. Phone Conferences 3/15/2005 – Seth Carson and Peggy Trent (City of Laramie Attorney) Seth met with the city attorney to find out the legality of the photo-voltaic panels and the windmills. She stated that there is a special permit of the solar as governed by Wyoming Statues. She didn’t know about the wind. Seth requested that a letter be completed from the City of Laramie’s legal staff within three weeks that states with or not LCCC can on-site the pv/wind. Her initial reaction was there were no legal problems for LCCC to dwell over. Correspondence 3/16/2005 – Email from Bob Berry I have suggested to Seth Carson and Ralph Knox that it would be in LCCC’s best interest to further investigate a vertical well-based geothermal heat exchanger system in comparison to the horizontal pit-based heat exchanger, as proposed by Major Geothermal. My suspicions were based on the overwhelming predominance of vertical systems being the system of choice in the Midwestern states on large commercial projects. What I have learned from further research and a long conversation with Terry Proffer, with Major, is that the size of this building is not large enough to require more horizontal site area for installation of the heat exchanger than is available. This is the important criterion that usually tips the scale in favor of vertical systems on “large” projects. I also had a concern that locating the horizontal heat exchanger under the parking lot, would deprive the heat exchanger of the benefits of rain water to the heat exchange properties of the soil, and pose an additional solar heat gain to the heat exchanger due to the black asphalt in the summer months. Terry has assured me that his design calculations have taken both of these factors into account, and he has calculated the area and total length of pipe needed to provide the heat transfer needed based on year-round dry soil of low thermal conductivity, as a healthy safety factor. This greater quantity of “safety factor” pipe does not come close to increasing this design’s total cost to a level greater than vertical system costs, due to the relatively low cost of horizontal pit excavation versus vertical well drilling. Based on the fact that the proposed horizontal installation cost, which is now well determined, will be significantly lower than the estimated cost of a vertical system, I would recommend that the horizontal system be installed if the following 2 conditions are met: 1. The College’s long term master plan will not require that the parking lot planned as the location of this heat exchanger be required for any new building construction. 2. Major Geothermal is willing to guarantee that the horizontal heat exchanger will perform within a range of 35 degrees F. to 95 degrees F., and will add additional heat exchanger piping at no cost to the College if this range is exceeded in the first five years of operation. In order to ensure that Major is as competitive as possible in their pricing, other installers should be invited to bid on an equal basis, using Major’s design. Of course, to be fair to Major, they should be compensated for their design cost, at say, 3 to 4 thousand dollars, if they are beat by a substantial amount by a competitor. Bob Berry Phone Conference 3/16/2005 – Seth Carson and Jason Watson (Watson Well 307-742-6311) Seth called Jason to see if he had a good feel for the ground water and soil configurations at the LCCC campus site. Jason stated the he had drilled some wells in the area and was fairly confident that there was ground water within the 200’ mark. He suggested that I get the T.T. well logs from the city. Meeting 3/16/2005 – Seth Carson and Jon High (City of Laramie Water Outreach Coordinator 307-721-5208 Seth met with Jon about the well information at the Turner Tract. He provided a couple of well logs that were close to the site. The well logs both state the presence of ground water after 30’. This would be good for the vertical approach but not the horizontal. Phone Conference 3/16/2005 – Seth Carson and Tom Fuller Seth called Tom Fuller to ask about the anemometer tower status and to obtain some clarification on the grant and geo-exchange system. The email follow-up below email summaries the conversation: Tom,
Here is the email you requested that documents our conversation on 3/15/2005. If it is not accurate please resend your corrections back to me. Below, I have follow up information for you too.
First, LCCC has been awarded an anemometer through the W.B.C. loan program. KB Energy (Keith Broyles) will be used as a contact and possible installer of the tower and equipment. LCCC understands that is their responsibility to pay for the erecting of the tower. At the time that MOU is signed by both parties the PO for the tower will be made. Then, the tower will be available for the installer to pick up from the W.B.C.
Second, LCCC is still in the competitive bid phase for the GEO-EXCHANGE system. A major decision that could affect the economics of the system cost and installation has yet to be decided. As you know, the two methods of ground source heat exchange are vertical wells or a horizontal loop field. To correctly size the vertical system, a 200’+/- test well may be conducted. From the test, thermal conductivity data could then be used to size the well field and costs could be finalized. Then the two methods could be compared correctly. LCCC would request that the grant would pay for the well even if the horizontal method was utilized.
Seth Phone Conference 3/16/2005 – Seth Carson and Keith Broyles (KB Energy 307-378-3480) Seth called Keith with reference to Tom Fuller. Seth asked Keith about his experience with erecting an anemometer tower. Keith listed some work that he had done for Tom Fuller in Douglas, WY. He said he would send Seth a proposal for the labor and equipment expense to erect the tower and install the data collection next week. Seth also asked him about erecting the wind tower. His stated that he had done a lot of work on the towers by Arlington, WY and would feel comfortable signing a service agreement with LCCC to work on the windmills and erect the mill(s) for this project. Correspondence 3/16/2005 – Email from Seth Carson to Tom Fuller Follow-up:
I spoke with Keith from KB Energy. As per my (Bluefeather DBA) contract with LCCC, I will most likely contract with Keith for the anemometer tower installation directly. I already have an arrangement to get compensated from LCCC for the installation. Down the road, I will have Keith arrange to pick up the tower (at the drop point you have used in the past) and erect it later this spring.
FYI, Keith also was very interested on working on the wind mill installation and long term service agreement.
Thanks again for you hard work.
Best Wishes,
Seth A. Carson Meeting 3/16/2005 – Seth Carson and Kevin Nelson (Summit Structures – 307-745-5278) Ralph asked Seth to speak to Kevin Nelson at Summit Structures about the SIPS panels. Seth stopped by Kevin’s office and gave him Ralph’s contact information and asked him about SIPS panels and whether or not he might be interest in installing the SIPS. Kevin said he was very interested and would contact Ralph about the SIPS work and pass along manufactures information. Phone Conference 3/16/2005 – Seth Carson and Tim Macnamera Seth contacted Tim to ask his opinion on the maintenance suggestions that Bob Bebby listed. Tim agreed with most of the suggestions concerning the heat pumps. He agreed that it would mean more difficult maintenance work to place the heat pumps between the roof joists. Although, he said that ACC would be contracting all of their maintenance work and that would affect Cheyenne campus staff very little. He stated that he thought the relocation of the heat pumps was probable to late. Seth confirm this. Also discussed was the I.T. system and ground loop briefly. Correspondence 3/17/2005 – From Michael Walters Nicole -- It was nice to talk with you yesterday and welcome aboard. I will be your contact for all IT matters. The changes that Eileen and Phil specified to Ralph are essential to the environment they are moving towards. I have met with them and approved what they are asking for. The conduit along with the wall and floor boxes must be there. I know budget is a concern, so I'll work with you to specify in each room which boxes need to be wired initially and which we can wire at a later date. Here is the information you asked about and also the layout for the server room that Ralph had asked about earlier. Server Room: As you walk into the room, the back wall and both of the side walls need two data outlets with four cat5e cables in each one. Space the outlets evenly on each wall. On the wall between the door and the wiring closet, there needs to be one data outlet with four cat5e. There should be a 4plex electrical outlet next to each data outlet. The outlets and plugs should all be 30amp. We need four 30amp-120V circuits split up amongst all the walls so we can load balance across the circuits. We need two 30amp-208V circuits on the same wall as the wiring closet door in addition to the 30amp-120V. Wiring closets (each): The outlets and plugs should all be 30amp. We need one 30amp circuit-120V. There should be two 4plex outlets. Art and Science rooms: There should be pull cords for electrical and data in each floor outlet so we can pull this wiring at a later date. All floor outlets throughout the whole building should be flush to the floor and ones that you can safely walk on. With all the changes, I need to review the plans one more time before they are finalized. If you have any questions on this, please let me know. I look forward to working with you. Sincerely, Michael Phone Conference 3/17/2005 – Seth Carson and Michael Walters Seth contacted Michael to discuss the I.T. system. Seth updated Michael on the scope of work as it related to the actual costs given to Seth earlier this week by Ralph. Michael stated that he was unaware of the cost of the system which caused him some concern. Seth stated that he had and outdated spreadsheet of the I.T. drops, etc. Michael said he would send one soon. Michael seemed to want to help the scope of I.T. work to fit closer to the GMP. He stated that he would want as many conduit and in-floor rough-ins as possible. He presented a solution to budget concerns. Walters asked that the building be wired to how it would actual be used when ACC opened. Seth echoed that this would help the budget and was a good solution for all. Correspondence 3/17/2005 – From Eileen Ely Michael, Per Burt’s communication to Phil Neal on 3/16/05: Regarding the Science and Art classrooms, the lab benches will need power strips or many electrical outlets similar to those currently in Room 260. While outlets are usually included in the electrical design, Burt wanted to ensure that this important matter is considered in the classroom design. Thanks for conveying this information to Nycole; I will copy Tim Laughlin. Eileen Correspondence 3/17/2005 – From Michael Walters Seth -- It was good to talk with you today. Attached is the spreadsheet that was given to Scott and Fremont Electric before they did the guaranteed max. This should have been the one they used. The one you referred to was from August and was modified after input from the faculty and staff at the Albany County Campus. I think the best approach is to wire either the floor or walls (or maybe some combination) and that should cut down on their costs. If you have any questions, please let me know. Michael Additional Comments Posted Here! Report for 3/21/2005 – 3/25/2005 – LCCC – Albany County Campus Prepared by Seth A. Carson Meeting 3/21/2005 – Seth Carson and City Code Enforcement Office (Becki) Seth met with Becki to talk about the permits for the building and pv/wind. Becki confirmed that Ralph and Tim submitted the more developed plan set earlier in the day so as to go forward with the full building plan review process. Becki gave a copy City of Laramie’s “shell and core”, covenant, and site engineering plan review comments (dated 3/15/05) to Seth. The copy will be held on file at Seth’s office. Seth also asked Becki about the wind anemometer tower, PV, and wind turbine permits. She confirmed that permits would be needed. Lastly, Becki went into details about building code issue. Apparently, the city engineer and plan reviewer told Taylor-Korhs and Tim Laughlin to design and build the new campus to the newer International Building Code 2002. According to Becki, the new code hasn’t been adopted yet by city council and has yet to reach the table as promised to Ralph by city staff in the past. She stated that this creates a problem with how Jerry Hankin (city plan reviewer and inspector) will review the entire project. In fact, in Jerry’s “shell and core” plan review comments, he states that the Uniform Building Code 1997 code will be used until the IBC is adopted. This creates somewhat major disparities with Tim’s design and approach. If in fact the city makes LCCC go back and met the UBC it will mean a lot of changes for Tim to make. Seth would recommend to Taylor-Kohrs and LCCC to have a MOU be drafted and signed ASAP with the city to get the issue resolved for all parties. Phone Conference 3/21/2005 – Seth Carson and Ted Hanlon Seth called Ted to find out the status of his contract. Ted said he was still wanting for it to be completed by LCCC. Ted said he had set up a meeting on Friday to visit the Medicine Bow Wind Farm, and offered to drive. Phone Conference 3/22/2005 – Seth Carson and Tim Laughlin Seth called Tim to find out more details about the code review. Tim confirmed that a redesign to the UBC is out of the question. He listed some potential construction cost increase that could come out of using the old code. Fire walls, corridors, and the sprinkler system could all be affected according to Tim. Seth mentioned that he could visit with the city manager to come up with an expedited solution for all parties. Seth also mentioned that a MOU might be used so that there is no legal recourse. Seth also spoke with Tim about the plans and reply comments that have yet to be submitted to the city for review. Tim said it was somewhat impossible to resolve and answer all of the city’s plans review comments from last week before submitting yesterday. He stated the ground loop plan, landscape plan, some site issues still need to be worked through with Aspen-Banner. Meeting 3/22/2005 – Seth Carson and City Manager Dick Waggener Seth met with Dick to discuss the code disparities with the LCCC project. Dick was very receptive and agreed that it would be wrongful to make the project architect redesign for the old code. He said he would speak with the city engineer tomorrow and come up with a legal solution to present LCCC with. Meeting 3/22/2005 – Seth Carson and Fire Marshall - Rick Jensen Seth met with Rick to discuss the code problem. Rick stated that he was in no position to review the project for the IBC. However, he stated that he didn’t think that there would be too many problems with the old code and the new code from a fire code perspective. Rick said it is really Jerry Hankin that would have the final say on what was acceptable. Things like fire separation and corridor width disparities would fall into Jerry’s lap and the building code, not the fire code, said Jensen. Rick offered to visit with Tim and Ralph and Jerry and Bob J. to resolve the issue. Meeting 3/22/2005 – Seth Carson and City Attorney – Peggy Trent Seth spoke to Peggy briefly about the code issue. She stated the Bob Juve had sent her an email saying that the new code was ready for legal review. This means that after the legal review is complete the city council can vote on the issue. She explained that see was really busy and probable would get to right away. She stated that if Bob can figure a solution out with LCCC, that an MOU might not be necessary. Seth agreed. Correspondence 3/23/2005 – From Phil Neal HI everyone, I wanted to keep everyone up to date about the decisions which were made as far as changes to the Art and Science room in the new facility. After much discussion with everyone involved, the decision was made not to add the ventilation units behind or above each sink. We are so far into the process that this late addition to the construction is not in the budget. Even to consider this change would involve costly redesign work from the mechanical engineers. Then if we bid it and decide at that point that there is not enough funding for it, we would be faced with paying the mechanical engineers to redesign the system without the ventilation units. The mechanical engineer says that with two hoods in the classroom (the second was a late addition also and has required costly redesign work of the HVAC system) that there will be plenty of air exchange without having ventilation over the sinks. We will not be putting in the suction and pressurized air (per the science faculty) and instead we will be adding extra hot and cold water bayonet outlets on each sink. Thank you for all of you input. Phil Neal Meeting 3/23/2005 – Seth Carson and John Ely Set stopped by the LCCC Construction Technology House to see the resent progress and newly installed radiant heat system. Seth and John discussed the ACC and the progress that had been made. John stated his interest in participating with the pv/wind items as the project progresses. Meeting 3/25/2005 – Seth Carson, Ted Hanlon, and Bill young at the Medicine Bow Wind Farm Seth and Ted traveled to Medicine Bow to speak with Bill Young. He manages the Platte River Power Authority’s wind farm. He was very knowledgably about the farm and windmills. Specifically Ted and Seth were there to review the Nordtank 65 windmill that was on the farm. He said this windmill had been at the farm since the late 1980’s. This is the used windmill brand and specification has been most reviewed by project team to-date. Bill gave Ted and Seth a tour of the windmill and demonstrated to them the controls, etc. He stated that the Platte River Power Authority (Paul Warila 970-229-5604) would probable give the entire windmill and tower to Ted to use for the LCCC project. He said that Ted would have to disassemble the wind tower and transport it to Laramie at his own expense. Bill referenced High Country Fabricators as a resource for the maintenance work on the turbine. He said the windmill is 75’ tall and that each of the three turbine blade are 7.5m long. He confirmed that the tower outputs 480v and 3 phase. He said that one of four main bolts on the main head collar needs to be punched out and replaced. He as said the main gear box needs to have about $6K work done on it. He said any good machine shop could do this type of work. He said that Flinders, Inc. (Herb Sriber) in CA rebuilt the gear box the last time and it ran about 12 years. Bill said the wind mill has 30,000 hours on it. Seth asked how long the windmill would be efficient. Bill thought that it should last at least another 10 years without and another overhaul if we worked of the box when we had the turbine down. Seth asked how much power the windmill produced. Bill said it produces about 72 mw/ year or 6 mw/month. This would equal around $600 a month in production. He said Laramie would be less because the average wind speed is less. Young said maintenance would be required for the low speed shaft and would need to be greased ever 6 months. The windmill would also need to be rewound once a month. These are very simple tasks requiring very little work according to Bill. Bill also showed Seth and Ted the hollow tower and the top of tower work/maintenance basket. Overall the tour was very education. Ted said that he would work out the details with Platte River Power Authority obtain the windmill. Ted asked Bill if he would mind being paid as a consultant to help get the windmill set up and running in Laramie. Bill said he would love to help out as a consultant. Bill Young is a professional engineer by trade. Meeting 3/25/2005 – Seth Carson and Ralph Knox Set met Ralph out at the job site to discuss various project items. Ralph stated that he didn’t want the pv/wind items to slow the building permit process. Seth stated that Ralph should not worry about it since these items are not even in the scope of work of Taylor-Kohrs. Ralph said he would contact Seth on Monday. Phone Conference 3/25/2005 – Seth Carson and Tim Laughlin Seth called Tim to find what he though about the wind/solar being on-site. Tim seemed exciting to try and keep the energy grant items all together. He stated that the he would send Seth a site plan. Seth stated that he need to place the solar/wind on the site plan for the Turner Tract Committee to approve. Meeting 3/25/2005 – Seth Carson and Jerry Hankin Seth stopped by Jerry’s office to discuss the code and wind tower issues. Jerry reassured Seth that the wind/solar stuff would not slow up the building permit in anyway. Jerry said he outline those items on the preliminary plan review to be proactive and to get the T.T. committee thinking about the items. He stated that he really like the idea of having the wind/solar on site for the public to view with the T.T. Seth and Jerry reviewed the covenants for the T.T. and found out that all that needs to happen to allow LCCC to erect the windmill is that T.T. committee would need to sign off. He stated that there is no zoning issues are city regulations that would not allow this to happen. Meeting 3/25/2005 – Seth Carson and Bob Juve Seth stopped by Bob’s office to discuss the code issues. Bob stated that he was most likely going to use his “professional judgment” and allow LCCC to build to the new code. He said that no MOU would be needed and that he would contact Ralph next week to finalize this item. Meeting 3/25/2005 – Seth Carson and City Manager Dick Waggener Seth stopped by Dick’s office to discuss the proper procedure for getting the windmills approved through the city since the city is a member of the T.T. committee. He said he personally liked the idea of having the wind/solar on site. He suggest the Seth draft a resolution to be approved through the Laramie City Council that would allow the on-site wind/solar. Report for 3/28/2005 – 4/1/2005 – LCCC – Albany County Campus Prepared by Seth A. Carson Meeting 3/28/2005 – Seth Carson and Mayor Jodi Guerin Seth met with Jodi to obtain some feedback on the windmill being on-site at the Turner Tract. Some expressed little concern and was excited about the project. Seth had Jodi review the rough draft of the wind/solar resolution. Seth and Jodi also discussed the Turner Tract committee. She confirmed that council had not appointed a staff as “official” city representative. She expressed that urgency to formalize the committee ASAP. Jodi suggested that Seth speak with the city attorney about these matters. Meeting 3/28/2005 – Seth Carson and City Attorney Peggy Trent Seth met with Peggy to discuss LCCC’s role in the Turner Tract committee and by laws of that organization. She confirmed the urgency of the committee formalization. She was concerned with Paul Harrison being an official signing agent for an un-official committee. Seth also had Peggy review the wind/solar resolution. She agreed that the by laws and resolution could be put on next week’s agenda. She stated that only a 2/3 vote would be needed to ok the wind/solar. Peggy stated that if the city passed the resolution it would be a done deal. Meeting 3/28/2005 – Seth Carson and City Manager Dick Waggener Seth briefly met with Dick to have him review the resolution. He stated that resolution looked fine. He thought that the resolution was ready for a vote. Task Completed 3/29/05– March Reports Seth Carson completed the March Reports and posted them on-line. Monthly hours also tabulated. Windmill overlay site photos posted on line here. Overlay photo from Boulder Drive. Overlay photo from Wal-mart parking lot. Correspondence 3/29/2005 – Email from Seth Carson to Design Team.
Hello Team, Correspondence 3/29/2005 – Email from Seth Carson to Dr. Bohlen.
Dr. Bohlen, Meeting 3/30/2005 – Seth Carson and Ralph Knox (On Site) Seth met with Ralph to discuss the project status on site. Ralph and Seth discussed the site survey, grading, and wind/solar issues. Ralph stated that the building site survey would be completed this week so as to allow for grading to begin next week. Ralph also stated that he had three bid contacts with excavation companies, but had not finalized his selection. Seth questioned that Ralph had planned on starting first thing next week but had not finalized his selection. Ralph reassured that there would be no delays. In the future, LCCC my considered requesting that bids are selected at least three weeks before the specific task/work is to begin. This gives LCCC and subs adequate time to review tasks and job site timeliness. Ralph and Seth also reviewed the site plan for the wind/solar items. They identified a location nearest the SW corner of the parking lot. Ralph seemed angry that Seth was forcing the wind/solar issues on him at this time in the project. Seth asked Ralph at which point in the project the wind/solar would have to be incorporate into the project (design and scope). Ralph stated that we could put it of for 8 weeks. Seth disagreed and stated that Ralph needed to do a better job of incorporating and paralleling grant items into the project. Ralph also questioned Seth’s authority in the project. Site Activity: 1. Rebar/Steel Package was delivered and located south of the Taylor-Kohrs Job trailer. 2. Building Site Survey was in progress and it appeared that the rough corners of the building were staked. 3. Electricians were on-site and had recently trench the temporary power from the new on-site power pole to the job trailer. The utility company has to connect the lead line to the transformer at the NW corner before the site will have temporary power. The job site temporary meter and disconnect are also at the NW corner. Meeting 3/30/2005 – Seth Carson and Ted Hanlon Seth met with Ted to review the electrical plans. To there surprises, little detail energy/grant related was in the plans. It appeared to Seth and Ted that there was enough room in the main electrical scheme to allow the sub-panels for the wind/solar to be incorporated. The main service was for a 1600amps. The building was only set to utilize around 900amps leaving room for 40% expansion. Not knowing the details, Seth invited Don Davis from Fremont Electric to come over and explain the electrical schematic. Meeting 3/30/2005 – Seth Carson, Ted Hanlon, and Don Davis Seth, Ted, and Don met to go over the timeframes of the electrical work and incorporating the energy items into the design/build scope. Don confirmed that Taylor-Kohrs had not officially requested the energy items as a scope of there work. Although, Don agreed that they should have to set the projects in parallel. Correspondence 3/30/2005 – Email from Seth Carson to Dr. Bohlen and Dr. Cox
Dr. Bohlen and Dr. Cox, Plan Review 3/30/2005 –Seth Carson plan review of permit set documents Seth reviewed the plans and the report is attached here.
|
|
| current projects | |
| PAST PROJECTS | |
| message board | |
|
|
|
| project contacts | |
| links | |
| meetings and reports | |
| schedule | |
| design and photos | |
|
|
|
Seth Carson
Architectural Engineer, E.I.T., Owner.
|
|
