American University of the Carribean – St. Maarten

BCER provided Mechanical and Electrical Consulting Services for the construction of a new facility for the American University of the Caribbean on the island of St. Maarten.  The site was purchased by DeVry University.  The new facility is a 74,000 square foot teaching facility for the existing medical campus.  The building houses a 280 seat Testing Center, Group Study Rooms, Offices, Simulation/Exam Rooms, Dry Lab, and a 4,800 square foot Gross Anatomy Lab.  The total project cost was approximately $20,000,000 with the MEP cost being $3,500,000.  The building is conditioned with fan coil units served by air cooled chillers and a dedicated outside air unit with heat recovery.  The Gross Anatomy lab has a 100% outside air unit with a heat recovery wheel.  The building has a full coverage fire alarm and fire sprinkler system.  The island is a Dutch territory and the electrical systems had to comply with European (Dutch) codes.  Electrical design included a 250 kW UPS system.  The site is currently self sustaining, generating its own power and water and the design included bringing local utility power and water to the site.  An additional generator was designed to be added to the generator plant and the site domestic water distribution pump was designed to be replaced to accommodate the new water and fire protection flows.