Kansas Association of School Boards Facilities Improvement Project
KASB Project Exemplifies P1 Service’s Facility Solutions Capabilities
P1 Service has been a prestigious partner with the Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) for the past four years, providing facility master planning and solutions to Kansas K-12 school districts. When the Association was ready to renovate their own Topeka, KS, facility, it only made sense that P1 Service should put those capabilities to work for KASB.
That’s what the Performance Solutions team of Senior Development Engineer Tim Mense, Vice President Rusty Roderick, and Project Development Manager Bill Frede, set out to do in 2016 when they began the planning process, analyzing the overall efficiency of KASB’s unique facility, which is several decades old.
“The systems replaced were mostly original to the building. Applying spot and emergency fixes had become the established mode of operation, and it was clear a whole-systems solution was needed,” Randy Weseman, KASB Assistant Executive Director/Leaderships Services and Operations, said.
“As part of the master plan development, the Performance Solutions Team started with analyzing the systems to develop the project and come up with the scope and budget,” Rusty said.
The $1.3 million proposal was delivered in January, 2019, and the work was completed by August, 2019.
Tim says this process is how P1 Service becomes a true facility solutions partner to customers like KASB and K-12: assessing existing conditions, making recommendations, engineering solutions, and putting P1 Service’s single-source capabilities to work.
“All of these capabilities were rolled into one contract for customer convenience, giving them one contractor to manage instead of multiple subs,” Tim said. “One of our differentiators is providing the professional management of the schedule, phasing, and any subcontractors.”
“On the mechanical side, we upgraded the entire building HVAC system in nine weeks, which included the replacement of: three (3) roof top units (RTUs), seventeen (17) cooling only VAV boxes, the removal/ replacement of the existing hot water boiler, the addition of twenty six (26) hot water reheat VAVs and all associated ductwork,” Project Manager Jason Quattlebaum explained. “This was all while the building was occupied by KASB personnel and various tenants throughout the facility.”
P1 Service also installed new energy-efficient LED lighting, added building access controls to multiple entrances, installed a new DDC (Direct Digital Control) building automation system, and even did a TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin) roof overlay, an economical alternative to replacing the entire roof.
“The choice was simple,” Randy said. “We commissioned P1 to do a complete analysis of building systems because their excellent reputation and quality of work is well-known in the industry.
“I’ve never worked on a project that produced zero change orders, which only serves to underscore the quality and thoroughness of P1 Service’s engineers and installation process.”
The KASB facility improvement project is one of many that illustrates how P1 Service’s facility solutions and single-source capabilities save time and money for our customers while increasing efficiency for many years to come.
CONTROLS BRING COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE
Last month we introduced you to our new Controls division, and the KASB project is a great example of how that team has worked seamlessly with our other capabilities to provide even more value to the customer.
“On the KASB project, the controls are a critical part of maintaining the level of comfort the customer desires,” Controls Group Operations Manager Ronnie Rice said.
“With the complete BMS package like we provided KASB, we are able to break it down into graphic pieces for the customer. The graphics package is the biggest selling point for controls because it provides ease of use, troubleshooting, and accessibility.”
If the operator encounters a problem that is beyond their ability to manipulate, he or she can pick up the phone and call for prompt service from P1.
“We have remote access to the project and are the front line to the customer when there is a problem,” Ronnie said.
“The BMS also sends out alarms via email (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) alerting a P1 technician and the operator that there is a problem that needs to be attended to. The technician can connect remotely via the internet to the project.”
“We now have much more flexibility and control of room-to-room environments,” Randy noted. Monitoring of the system is state of the art, and a remarkable difference to our previous antiquated system.”
Detailed graphics allow the customer to see exactly what’s going on in their building and promptly assess issues.
