Projects

Shah Smith & Associates, Inc. provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design services for the new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Building at the University of Houston Clear Lake.  The project included a new 91,000 SF foot building and a 1,600-ton expansion to the cooling central plant with room for adding an additional 800-ton chiller.

The new building offers state of the art teaching and research setting for the following:

• Teaching Organic laboratory for 24 students using 12 chemical fume hoods.
• Teaching Inorganic, analytical, general chemistry laboratories.
• Teaching Physics, Geology and Industrial Hygiene laboratories.
• Welding and wood working shops
• 3D printing and drafting laboratories
• Modular chemistry research laboratories.
• 100 student lecture classroom
• Faculty offices.

The HVAC system consist of six manifolded air handling units to service the laboratories and one air handling unit to serve the offices and large classroom. The manifolded units allow for building flexibility to match the building cooling and ventilation demands. The laboratories are exhausted via four lab exhaust fans. Airflow measuring stations on the exhaust air ducts are used to measure the amount of exhaust for the building and determine the amount of outside needed at the air handling units. The building is also equipped with perchloric acid exhaust fan system. The building lobbies utilized electrochromic glass to increase and decrease the glass shading coefficient based on exterior conditions. 

The laboratories were designed with overhead service carriers. The carriers were equipped with compressed air, vacuum, hot and cold domestic water, and RO water. The diversity in types of lab spaces in the building required multiple compressed air systems.

The existing central plant was expanded by 1,600 tons to bring the new total capacity of the central plant to 3,600 tons. Three new cells each sized for 800 tons of heat rejection capacity were added to the central plant. The central plant control system was upgraded to the latest generation of controls.

As part of the project the start of a new thermal distribution loop was installed. The central chilled water plant will serve the new recreation center, the STEM building, and the existing classroom building.