Wanting to take part in the Smart Grid system offered by the Department of Energy, CSUS received funding from SMUD/DOE to implement an Automatic Demand Response (ADR) system as part of the energy reduction program.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

• 6 buildings and central plant were targeted for upgrades of obsolete pneumatic or early DDC controls
• Implement and test ADR strategies with updated controls
• Install new thermal well temperature sensors for the central plant Thermal Energy Storage
• Existing controls in 2 buildings updated with wireless pneumatic DDC controllers to allow space temperature setpoint reset as the first stage of ADR response.

 WHAT SUNBELT CONTROLS DELIVERED

The scope of work presented a number of challenges including a compressed schedule, limited access to classrooms, poor documentation of existing controls and working in a campus environment with multiple decision makers. The tight schedule was addressed with two independent teams working two parallel construction tracks of three buildings each. Weekly owner meetings with schedule updates kept everyone on track. 

Sunbelt was able to coordinate work with CSUS around classroom schedules and semester/summer breaks to eliminate disruption of the teaching environment. 

A dedicated Field Engineer who was for several years a CSU Hayward employee was responsible for daily on site trade coordination and supervision. 

Sunbelt Controls’ Sacramento team leveraged its accumulated experience of over 50 years in higher education and unique Sales/Project Management approach to raise the bar for the System Integrators that were to follow in the next phase of the Smart Grid project. 

Project Details

Owner: The Trustees of California State University

Customer Segment: Education

General Contractor: Sunbelt Controls

Mechanical Engineer: SAIC Energy, Environment & Infrastructure

Mechanical Contractor: ACCO Engineered Syststems

Controls Contractor: Sunbelt Controls