The 126,000sf, five level expansion project to the existing Denver Museum of Nature and Science is comprised of several museum initiatives: a below grade plinth for Museum Collections; a ground level Collections Preparatory component; second floor Discovery Zone; third level temporary exhibit space; and the Studios. The Youth and Teacher Initiative lab and prep space share a two-story education forum and are separated by operable walls allowing flexibility of the space as a whole. A plaza just east of the ECF expansion serves as an orientation space for students and visitors as they arrive. For this LEED Platinum Project BCER was responsible for sixteen (16) LEED Points and three (3) prerequisites. A majority of the points came from Water Efficiency (WE), Energy and Atmosphere (EA), and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). This highly sustainable and complex expansion project is also being delivered to the City and County of Denver as a Revit Model. In a continuation of a long relationship with the expanding Denver Museum of Nature and Science, BCER Engineering Inc. provided mechanical and plumbing engineering services for the ECF Expansion. BCER Engineering also provided mechanical and electrical engineering services for the addition of a new loading dock to accommodate the general loading requirements for the facility. Construction commenced in September, 2011 with completion slated for 2013. BCER Engineering is currently providing Mechanical, Electrical Design and Life Safety and Code Consulting services for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) including the latest addition; the 126,000 sf. , five level Education and Collections Facility. BCER Engineering has been involved with the evaluation and upgrading of the existing atrium as well as any modifications and additions to the atrium for the past 12 years. Services provided include code consulting, atrium system design, fire modeling and atrium modeling/design, mechanical/electrical design and engineering, fire protection and fire alarm design for atriums and commissioning and testing of atriums.
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The LEED v3.0 Platinum Certified NREL Café provides attractive on-campus dining services for the 1620 full time NREL employees. With the addition of the Café the NREL employees now have access to food options previously only available off campus by car or shuttle. Reducing commuting time and vehicle fuel consumption associated with off-campus dining is only one of many ways the NREL Café offers sustainable dining services to NREL employees. BCER Engineering was tasked with designing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems that supported NREL’s high performance building goals. Many energy conservation measures were included in this building to reduce its overall energy consumption. The building envelope offered good orientation which provided a wealth of natural light allowing automatic lighting controls to drastically reduce the artificial lighting required to light the building during the day. The dining area is cooled by a variable volume indirect/direct evaporative cooler. No additional mechanical cooling is used. Heat to the dining area is provided by the same variable volume unit and utilizes indirect natural gas heat exchangers. In heating, demand responsive controls are used to reduce the ventilation rate and save energy during periods of low occupancy. The kitchen makes use of variable volume commercial kitchen exhaust hoods that save energy when the cooking appliances are at low load. During the peak food preparation times, the exhaust rate is automatically increased in response to the cooking activity. Make-up air for the hoods is provided by a combination of transfer air from the dining area and a dedicated variable air volume make-up air unit. BCER Engineering used energy analysis to optimize the mechanical and electrical system energy use. The result is documented energy consumption of 143 kbtu/sf-yr without the use of onsite renewable energy. This represents a 23% energy reduction relative ASHRAE 90.1, 2007 and 34% relative to the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS).
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BCER developed the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Design Narrative and provided the Construction Documents and Construction Administration for the renovation and expansion of the Main Science Building on the Auraria Higher Education Center campus located in Denver, Colorado. The project consisted of a complete renovation of the existing 152,000 square foot Science Building plus the addition of approximately 198,000 square feet of new classroom, laboratory and office space. The new facility will provide laboratory and classroom space for the Chemistry, Biology, and Physics departments for University of Colorado at Denver, Community College of Denver and Metropolitan State College all located on the Auraria Higher Education Center campus. The mechanical and electrical design included incorporating the New Construction Version 2.2 LEED Application Guide for Laboratories.
Learn MoreAHEC – Science Building
Adams County District 14 High School
Aspen Snowmass Base Village
Aspen Valley Hospital
Boulder Community Hospital
CSU – Morgan Library Renovation
CU – Institute of Behavioral Sciences
CU – Williams Village Phase II Student Housing
CU – Renee Crown Wellness Institute
DMNS – Education Collections Facility
DPS Bond ProjectsDenver Museum of Nature and Science
Jeffco – Rocky Mountain Deaf SchoolNREL – Cafeteria
Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales Library
Sam Gary Branch Library at Stapleton
Trimble Navigation
UNC – West Campus Residence Hall Complex
WCSD RE5J Bond Projects
Wellington E. Webb Office Building
Western State University