GBA’s Kent Dyck Receives Certified Energy Manager® Designation

Senior Engineer Kent Dyck has achieved the Certified Energy Manager, CEM®, designation, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated high levels of experience, competence, proficiency, and ethical standards in the energy management profession.

Awarded through the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), the certification signifies compliance with a board-approved set of requirements including pre-qualifications of field experience, prior educational achievements, and a passing score on the certification exam. The CEM® certification is an industry-wide accepted standard and is recognized as by the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE), the Office of Federal Energy Management Programs (FEMP), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (US AID), as well as by numerous state energy offices, municipal entities, major utilities, and corporations.

Kent, who holds a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University, has more than 20 years of experience in the study, planning, and design of mechanical systems for a wide range of building types. As a key member of GBA's Energy Studio, he heads up the team that focuses on energy studies and audits as well as the design and implementation of recommended energy saving alternatives.   

The CEM® program was established in 1981 to meet the growing needs of individuals and organizations in the field of energy management/energy efficiency.

Congratulations to Kent!  

In the Spirit of the Season, GBA Staffers Provide Meals to Families at Ronald McDonald House

GBA staffers enjoyed an opportunity to provide an evening meal to families at Longfellow House, one of the two Ronald McDonald Houses in the Kansas City area. The families, whose children are in town to receive medical treatment, find a “home away from home” at the Ronald McDonald Houses, which provide temporary lodging to as many as 60 families each night. 

Both the Longfellow and Cherry Street houses offer a warm and welcoming place to sleep as well as full kitchen facilities, laundry facilities, living rooms, and recreation areas to provide a
comfortable environment where families may relax away from the stresses of the hospital and meet other families experiencing similar crises. Annually, the Ronald McDonald Houses and Family Room provide lodging to nearly 6,000 families and support over 41,000 visits from family and friends of in-patients at Children's Mercy Hospital.

We had an opportunity to help these families through the Meal Program, which involves preparing dinner for guest families. Much of the cooking is done on-site, although some menu items such as baked goods and casseroles can be prepared ahead of time. If you’re interested in helping with meals or providing other support, here’s what you can do:

1. Help pay for a family's stay at the Ronald McDonald House.

2. Drop your spare change in a McDonald's® drive-thru donation canister.

3. Fundraise for us.

4. Shop for items that families need the most.

5. Get a group together and make a meal.

For more information, click here to go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities website.

7x24 Exchange’s ‘Newslink’ Features GBA’s Alan Lehman on “Commissioning UPS Lead-Acid Battery Systems”

Alan Lehman discusses the importance of and steps involved in commissioning UPS Lead-Acid Battery Systems in an article that appears in the Fall issue of Newslink. The publication is produced quarterly by 7x24 Exchange, the leading knowledge exchange for those who design, build, use, and maintain mission-critical enterprise information infrastructures. The goal of 7x24 Exchange is to improve end-to-end reliability by promoting dialogue among these groups.

According to Alan, “For powering critical systems, an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is frequently the last line of defense against power disruptions. When the normal source of power fails, the UPS begins pulling power from its energy storage system to serve the critical loads. While there are several types of energy storage in use for UPSs, lead-acid batteries remain the most common.”

Alan goes on to say that battery systems in these applications sit unused and untested most of their lives. When the normal power source fails, the batteries must immediately begin supplying energy for the loads. UPS batteries are commonly sized to last only a few minutes, so power output during discharge can be extreme relative to their capacity.

Considering the critical nature of the loads they support, this is a very demanding application for batteries. Proper installation, startup, and commissioning of UPS battery systems can greatly improve the probability that they will perform when called upon.  Alan goes on to talk in detail about design review, safety, installation verification, startup, UPS configuration, battery system testing, and documention.

He concludes by saying that batteries are one of the most common points of UPS failures. “Clearly, commissioning can be an involved and costly process. If the load is important enough to warrant a UPS, careful consideration needs to be given to the need for commissioning the batteries. Proper commissioning will improve the probability of the UPS performing when called upon and provide a baseline for troubleshooting and future performance evaluation.”

Groundbreaking at Riley County Public Works Lays the Foundation for 'Resourceful Kansas'

“Resourceful Kansas” generated lots of energy on November 4th, when dignitaries broke ground for four wind turbines to be built at the Riley County Public Works (RCPW) facility near Manhattan. GBA’s Jennifer Gunby, Kim Pearse, and Roman Bachamp were on hand for the ceremony, which marks the beginning of construction of several new renewable energy technologies at the RCPW complex. Riley County partnered with GBA, GBA Builders, LLC, and Kansas State University, to receive a $3 million grant awarded by the U.S. DOE earlier this year to implement the “Resourceful Kansas” program. The program is designed to engage communities throughout the state in making a fundamental shift toward a less energy-intensive, more efficient economy.

The first step involves adding renewable energy features to the recently completed RCPW complex, which is an award-winning model for sustainable design. GBA Builders is providing turnkey services for the installation of these additional technologies, including four wind turbines of 100 kW, 40kW, 20kW, and 2.5kW; solar-powered street lights; a used-oil heater; a thin-film PV system; and a solar under-floor heating system.

When the work is completed, representatives of selected Kansas cities, counties, state agencies, colleges and universities, agribusinesses, and other entities will have an opportunity to participate in seminars hosted at the RCPW facility. They’ll learn about available energy-saving technologies and strategies, tour real-world examples, and learn about public and private sources of capital available. Following those seminars, which will be led by Kansas State, GBA will conduct site energy assessments for selected participants. GBA’s retro-commissioning team will then provide guidance and professional support to facility owners. 

Participants will be selected from applications submitted online at ResourcefulKansas.org. Initial plans call for a total of eight one-day seminars, each involving up to 20 different entities to engage a total of at least 120 communities across Kansas. Apply today!

GBA’s Pat Prendergast Makes the Case for Commissioning When AIA KC Members Meet for ‘Chow & Tell’

How does an architect improve his or her client’s satisfaction? Provide a facility that meets or exceeds that client’s/owner’s needs and expectations. Provide a facility that works. Sounds simple enough, but that was the upshot of a lively and informative presentation made by our own Pat Prendergast before some 50 members of AIA Kansas City at the organization’s October 28 “Chow & Tell,” held at the AIA office at 18th and McGee in downtown KC.

 

According to Pat, architects are the team leaders and the owners’ confidants and, as such, are in a position to bring in a commissioning agent to ensure that the building and building systems work as intended. Obviously not all buildings need the same level of commissioning. Pat used the analogy of a lawn maintenance service. The lawn care needs of a warehouse in an industrial district differ dramatically from the needs of a commercial bank in the city’s financial district. The same is true for commissioning. Consequently, one of the first steps in the commissioning process is to determine the “depth and rigor” with which the commissioning activities should be performed to provide the level of assurance necessary.

Pat went on to talk about LEED, saying that it’s great – as long as the buildings are properly commissioned to work per the operational intent and energy model. He cited an analysis of measured energy use data from 100 LEED certified buildings that found that, while LEED buildings on average use 18-39% less energy per floor area than their conventional counterparts, 28-35% of LEED buildings use more energy than their conventional counterparts. Green buildings must be commissioned to ensure that they work as intended.

These are just a few of the highlights from Pat’s presentation. To learn more, contact Pat directly at 816.842-9225 or email at pprendergast@gbateam.com.

Unique Project Solutions Recognized with 'Excellence in Concrete' Awards

Two unique projects, one in the City of Olathe, Kansas, and the other in the City of Prairie Village, Kansas, have been recognized by the Concrete Promotional Group (CPG) with Excellence in Concrete awards. The awards are presented each year to recognize outstanding work in concrete construction!

Old 56 Highway Bridge over Cedar Creek, Olathe, Kansas – Concrete Restoration

The rehabilitation of the Old 56 Highway Bridge over Cedar Creek in Olathe received the award in the “Concrete Restoration” category. For those of you who are technically inclined - and that's many of our followers - poor drainage was causing significant deterioration along the edges of the bridge deck, while the rest of the bridge was in good condition. The best and most cost-effective solution involved removing and replacing the deteriorated areas of the bridge, allowing the City to upgrade the safety barriers on the bridge while maintaining the basic structure. The new portions of the bridge deck and the improved safety barriers were constructed using KCMMB concrete. Bridge deck drainage was improved by using variable depth milling to increase the cross slope on the existing structure. The completed bridge deck was then covered with a multi-layer polymer concrete overlay. This project provided the City with a cost-effective means of extending the life of the existing concrete bridge.

Mission Lane Bridge Replacement, Prairie Village, Kansas – Concrete Bridges

This new concrete bridge, which is located in a high-traffic area of the busy Prairie Village Shopping Center, replaced a bridge originally built in the 1940s that was structurally deficient due to high levels of corrosive de-icing salt. If you can't make out the bridge in this picture, it's because the J.C. Nichols Company, which originally developed the area, enclosed the creek in a culvert in the 1960s to create additional parking. 

KCMMB concrete was used on the abutments and deck for this bridge replacement. Precast prestressed double-tee beams were used to form a single-span bridge over Brush Creek, improving the hydraulic aspects of the creek. Complicating construction were the existing culvert structure and masonry channel walls, which had to remain in place. Shoring was used to support the walls during construction, while special tiebacks permanently anchor the walls to the newly constructed abutments. To conserve materials used, the new concrete bridge approach slabs were set on the existing footings; to provide long-term resistance to heavy salts applied during the winter, epoxy coated reinforcing steel was used exclusively and a multi-layer polymer concrete overlay was applied to create the final driving surface.

Congratulations to all involved in these interesting projects!

NASCAR Weekend: GBA Traffic Team Gets a Front Row Seat at the Kansas Speedway but the Cars They’re Watching Aren’t on the Track

On the weekend of October 2nd and 3rd, with the sun shining brightly and plenty of fuel, Greg Biffle took his second trip to Victory Lane at the Kansas Speedway. It takes every member of a race team to get to Victory Lane, and teamwork is the key to a successful race day.

If teamwork is critical on the track, it’s just as important off the track as hundreds of thousands of race fans converge, creating the potential for monster traffic tie-ups. This NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event went like clockwork off the track as well as on, thanks in great part to the team of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/KCKS, the KCK Police Department, Bob Budd of Budd Industries, and GBA’s traffic engineers, who worked from the roof of the press box to coordinate signals and facilitate traffic movement before, during, and after the event.

Members of the team used computers, cameras, and fiber optic networks to monitor traffic and change signal timing and function as needed to keep traffic flowing. The upshot: following Sunday’s race, with more than 100,000 fans in attendance, the entire parking lot was cleared in just two hours! Now that’s a race!