33 Tower / City Center Ecostruxure Upgrade

ECOSTRUXURE UPGRADE SUPPORTING CLASS A BUILDING’S ENERGY EFFICIENCY

PROJECT:

LOCATION:

Minneapolis, Minn.

BUILDING TYPE:

High Rise, Retail, Multi-Trade Delivery

EGAN EXPERTISE:

Building Technology Integration, Mechanical

PROJECT TEAM:

Ryan Companies, Inc. (building manager)
AECOM

PROJECT FACTS:

Completed within 2020 calendar year // Egan has also been providing ongoing management of the 33 Tower / City Center Intelligent Building Network since 1997.

SPECIALTIES FEATURED WITH THIS PROJECT:

Building Automation Engineering and Software, Building Automation Electrical Installation, Lighting Controls, Access Control, Network/Fiber Installation, Mechanical

In collaboration with the 33 Tower / City Center building’s engineering team, Egan Company upgraded the building automation system (BAS) from I/Net controls to Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure at the 51-story, mixed-use space in Downtown Minneapolis.
In 1993, a small scale installation was started at 33 Tower / City Center; it continued in 2002 as a systematic replacement of the older systems with the Tour-Anderson I/Net controls. Software has since been updated over the years with a 2020 plan for updating hardware, migrating to Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure.
This project included all older BAS HVAC hardware, as well as replacing the existing pneumatic damper and valve actuators on the centralized HVAC equipment with the Belimo Energy Valve. This valve uses ultrasonic flow technology, coupled with multiple temperature sensors to measure heat transfer across the HVAC coil. By optimizing the heat transfer at a specific coil, the valves can best utilize the energy in the system. In this building’s case, the valves maximize the energy of the chilled water and return the water at the optimum system temperature.
Additional scope of work included the installation of floor monitoring, lighting controls, and card access. Egan’s team also installed a fiber backbone for the automation system.
The result of this project was a large-scale retrofit that’s representative of the need for modernization. Projects like this provide a long-term solution to a hardware problem, but also, as in the case of the Energy Valve and controller upgrades, provide a means to improve efficiencies and impact the bottom line.