RPVCCA_CC_SR_2014_06_17_K_City_Hall_Air_ConditioningCity of RANCHO PALOS VERDES
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
REVIEWED:
Project Manager:
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
MICHAEL THRONE, PE, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS iZQ
JUNE 17, 2014
CITY HALL AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM {SUPPORTS 2014
CITY COUNCIL GOAL -INFRASTRUCTURE)
CAROLYNN PETRU, ACTING CITY MANAGE~
Siamak Motahari, Senior Engineer 5llJ 1 C1\ ____-
Michael Gibson, Senior Administrative Analyst V<A ~
RECOMMENDATION
Direct staff to solicit bids from a mechanical engineering consulting firm to conduct an
assessment study to develop alternatives and cost estimates for air conditioning systems for the
City Hall.
BACKGROUND
During discussion of the draft FY 2014-15 City budget at its June 3, 2014 meeting, the City
Council inquired about the possibility of installing an air conditioning system for the City Hall.
Building temperatures during warm summer days periodically exceed the federal OSHA
recommended threshold of 86 degrees, which results in reduced staff productivity. Furthermore,
since the second floor of the Administration building and the Community Development building
are directly exposed to heat, the situation can become very severe and for longer periods of
time.
The Council directed staff to include a funding placeholder in the 2014 Capital Improvement Plan
and FY14-15 Budget, and to come back at the June 17, 2014 meeting with a report regarding
some possible options, including cost estimates, for providing air conditioning at City Hall.
DISCUSSION
In order to develop reliable cost estimates for an air conditioning system at City Hall, the first
step would be to engage a mechanical engineering firm to conduct a detailed assessment of the K-1
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facilities and provide some alternatives for the City Council to consider, along with cost estimates
for each alternative.
The aged eleetrical system has a limited capacity and with the anticipated increased power
demand generated by a new air conditioning system, the buildings may also require electrical
and structural modifications to accommodate whichever system is chosen. In addition, since
there are actually more cold days than hot days during the year, it would be prudent, as part of
the study, to obtain alternatives and estimates on providing heating systems for these two
buildings as well. Currently, the Community Development building does not have a cooling or
heating system and the Administration building has baseboard heating which is inefficient and
does not meet current building codes.
Once the alternatives have been developed, City staff would then review them and provide a
report to City Council to consider and direct staff for further action. ·
In order to provide initial preliminary estimates for City Council's information and consideration,
staff has assumed three likely alternatives that can come out of the mechanical engineering
firm's assessment. These alternatives, along with the conceptual construction cost estimates
for the mechanical, electrical, and structural work, are shown below. These estimates are only
for the second floor of the Administration building and the Community Development building.
The estimates do not include the costs for heating systems.
Alternative A-C System Preliminary Cost Notes Estimate
This concept has the highest cost and
provides a complete cooling system for the
Central System (On Ground) $360,000 second floor of the main City Hall building and
the Community Development Department
(COD) building.
This option would involve installing at least
four A-C units on the roof of the COD building
Split System (On Roof) $140,000 and five A-C units on the roof of the main City
Hall building. These units would blow cool air
through the hallways and open areas inside
each building.
A-C units would be installed via openings cut
Wall/Window-Mounted Units (At Each in the block walls or windows of the buildings
Office) $160,000 in order to place one unit at each office. The
power demand would be very high under this
alternative.
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City Council Staff Report -City Hall Air Conditioning System
June 17, 2014
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
2010 Civic Center Facilities Assessment
In November 2010, as part of the Civic Center Master Plan effort, Gonzales Goodale Architects
prepared a facilities assessment of the City Hall buildings in order to understand the costs
associated with bringing the existing facilities up to current building and safety codes. Part of
the analysis included providing a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The
study recommended a variable refrigerant flow zoning (VRFZ) system, consisting of outdoor
condensing units feeding cassette type fan coils above the ceiling for each zone. Small ducts
would be fed from new openings in the exterior walls to each fan coil, providing mechanical
ventilation, similar to the "split system" described in the Discussion section above. If Council
decides to proceed with the project, the 2010 Civic Center Facilities Assessment would be
provided to the selected mechanical engineering consultant for reference.
HVAC Relationship with the City's Energy Audit
Since June 2012, City Staff has been coordinating with GSE Solution, a consultant contracted
with the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) and free to the City, to conduct a
full Energy Audit of all municipal City facilities. The Energy Audit has evolved over time to
address various "future" energy related topics that go beyond the City's existing energy use,
including, but not limited to, the construction, operation and energy costs/impacts of installing
HVAC systems at City Hall.
The Draft Final Energy Audit has be completed and presented to City Staff. A portion of the audit
includes a cost/benefit analysis that addresses implementing a new HVAC system at City Hall,
the potential energy increase caused by installing new HVAC systems, a potential cost-saving
incentive available to the City to install HVAC through Southern California Edison (Savings By
Design program), which will need to be further investigated, and an analysis of installing solar
panels to offset the increased energy use and operating costs of a new HVAC system.
Staff is currently finalizing minor details of the audit with new staff members and anticipates
presenting the Draft Final Energy Audit to the City Council for review in July 2014. A formal
review of the City's Energy Audit will provide the City Council with an analysis that extends
beyond the installation of a new HVAC system and will address additional impacts of energy use
for consideration.
Like the 2010 Civic Center Facilities Assessment, the final Energy Audit will be provided to the
selected mechanical engineer for consideration in the City Hall air conditioning assessment
report.
ADA Requirement
The City's Accessibility Self Evaluation and Transition Plan was adopted by the City Council on
June 4, 2013. While the City has budgeted and is implementing the ADA Transition Plan,
improvements to a facility costing more than $143,303 (2014 threshold) require concurrent ADA
compliance for the entire facility. However, HVAC improvements are exempt from this
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requirement and, therefore, ADA compliance items pertaining to City Hall can be addressed as
scheduled in the City's Transition Plan and will not be impacted by the proposed HVAC project.
FISCAL IMPACT
The conceptual cost estimates provided above are only for air conditioning systems for the
second floor of the Administration building and the Community Development building. These
estimates do not include the costs for heating systems, or an air conditioning system for the
ground floor of the Administration building.
Because detailed cost estimates have not yet been completed and a preferred alternative
decided upon, the $120,000 budgeted amount included in the 2014 Five-Year Capital
Improvement Plan (CIP) and the FY14-15 Budget will serve as a placeholder until more reliable
cost estimates have been obtained and an alternative selected. The 2014 CIP and the FY14-
15 Budget are also on this evening's agenda for adoption.
CONCLUSION
The City Council's approval of the staff recommendation is the project's first step, and will provide
feasible air conditioning system alternatives, along with their cost estimates, for the City
Council's review.
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