Since it was established in 2005, the Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) campus has seen accelerated growth, expanding to a campus of more than 15 buildings that accommodates a student body of nearly 12,000. With incredible foresight of this growth, in early 2015, GGC and RMF Engineering completed a project to provide a thermal utility master plan that would align with campus expansion. Through this plan, it was determined that GGC should transition from its distributed chilled water generation approach to a centralized chilled water system to best support the college’s future needs.����

The Gateway Project, as the capital project has been dubbed, includes two critical components to preparing GGC for the future: the new central energy plant (in response to the 2015 findings) and the college’s first-ever convocation center, the highly anticipated Gateway Building, which opens late 2024. The Gateway Project is an indication of both GGC’s continued success over recent decades and the exciting future that lies ahead.��

To help GGC see the Gateway Project through, RMF Engineering designed three main facets: the MEP building systems, the new chiller plant and the utility distribution.������

Campuswide Infrastructure Upgrades������

In 2015, RMF partnered with GGC for a study focused on developing a reliable and energy-efficient strategy for cooling the entire campus with its distributed building chillers as it continues to grow. The first phases consisted of chilled water distribution piping, tying buildings together and modifying control strategies to allow import and export of chilled water.����

Over the past decade, the chilled water system centralization has been in progress, beginning with the connection of existing structures, which involved six phases of construction. The first phase was completed in 2017 with the Student Center and the Daniel J. Kaufman Library & Learning Center, followed by an expansion to Building C in 2019. In 2023, the campus infrastructure phase of the project began with the installation of underground piping to connect the Student Center, library and an additional portion of Building C to the system.����

Constructed as a standalone building, the new central energy plant (CEP), also completed in fall 2024, is the campus’ first dedicated energy generation facility and houses the chilled water generation system. In 2025 and 2026, the plan will enter its last phase, including the connection of the Gateway Building and classrooms and labs in Building H. The entire project is scheduled for completion in 2030.����

The campus buildings were designed by different engineers over the years, which has presented challenges during the transition; as each building is integrated to the new system, the mechanical systems are being adapted to work together by updating controls and in some cases, physical piping arrangement in the buildings. Some buildings will still rely on distributed equipment for the next five to ten years until it ages out, gradually moving onto the centralized system.������

RMF designed the CEP and chilled water system with future expansion in mind. As the campus grows and older equipment phases out, the facility is sized to incorporate new equipment with enough capacity to eventually serve the entire campus. A full hydraulic model of the campus distribution piping was developed to ensure the pumping system can handle future demands. The chiller plant is also adaptable as modern technology becomes available. The facility is designed with the flexibility to integrate several types of equipment to generate chilled water, allowing it to stay efficient and up to date. Altogether, as the campus expands and the central plant grows, the system will become much more efficient and economical to operate.����

Most schools of GGC’s size rely on distributed chilled water generation, which presents more maintenance challenges and tends to be more energy-intensive than a centralized system. Without the foresight of GGC’s facilities personnel to make incremental changes over the years, the option to pursue a central energy plant project would not have been viable. This long-term planning has allowed GGC to establish a central utilities system that is comparable to those of larger universities in the southeast, enabling the addition of a facility like the Gateway Building.����

The Gateway Building������

Despite the college’s accelerated growth over the last couple of decades, GGC has never had an assembly building. The Gateway Building, designed by SSOE Group, with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, and Hughes Group Architects (now ) of Sterling, Va., and constructed by Carroll Daniel Construction, based in Gainesville, Ga., presented an opportunity to fill this gap in campus life with a multi-use student community hub. Completed this fall, the three-story, 70,000-square-foot Gateway Building now serves as the new front door to campus, providing a program-rich venue catering to student wellness, recreation, food service and events. ��

In large facilities with vast open spaces, heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilation systems often run constantly or inefficiently, consuming more energy than needed and raising operational costs. This is especially relevant for a facility like the Gateway Building, a multi-purpose facility with a convocation center, a considerable space that will only be used for events such as commencement ceremonies, large student gatherings, and, potentially, future athletic competitions. To align with GGC’s goals for its infrastructure upgrades project, RMF’s approach was to increase the building’s energy efficiency through proper HVAC design and control to ensure systems were only in use when necessary and operating at the right levels.������

By analyzing the various program spaces and associated load demands and occupancy schedules, RMF identified the optimal zoning and types of systems that would serve the facility most efficiently. The team zeroed in on multiple central variable air volume (VAV) systems with hydronic terminal reheat unit — a common system but with the high-performance control this building requires. The result is a combination of equipment and automated controls that enables different parts of the Gateway Building to be in use without needing to energize the full building. For example, the fitness center on the second floor can be closed and its associated HVAC system deenergized or operated at a reduced setting while the convocation center is in use.��

An additional challenge was that the convocation center/arena has a variable occupancy range from zero to 3,500 people, which required equipment capable of ramping up or down in response to the highly variable load. To further improve energy efficiency, RMF examined environmental conditions and integrated central building controls throughout the building to measure indoor air quality and occupancy levels, allowing for demand-controlled ventilation while maintaining thermal comfort. Additional strategies included outside-air-based free cooling (economizer), scheduled equipment shutdowns, space temperature setbacks during vacant and unoccupied hours, optimum start/stop control sequences, hydronic and airflow supply temperature reset, digital energy metering equipment to monitor and trend energy usage, and collaboration with the architectural team to maximize the efficiency of the building envelope.����

The Gateway Building is the first building designed to solely rely on the new central chiller plant, rather than house its own chillers. The building serves as a prime example of how engineering and building control technology are enhancing the arena experience to make large events more efficient and therefore reduce their environmental impact.

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LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.—Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) has officially debuted its newly redesigned welcome center, courtesy of its collaboration with CROFT & Associates.

CROFT and its team of architects and engineers began work on the project in 2018 and shepherded it through construction and completion. Materials used in the redesign were responsibly sourced. Low-e glass used will reduce energy costs while enhancing the natural light of the center. Refurbished wood from GGC’s basketball court accents the reception area, along with salvaged glass from the original entrance that now bears their etched logo. Even the entrance and exit doors have been repurposed from other campus buildings.

The 9,100-square-foot space will now serve as the first point of contact for prospective students, parents and visitors, hosting activities including student orientation, campus tours and college information sessions.

“The center is important for our current and prospective students because it’s a window to the college in terms of technology and personal attention. That’s what we provide at GGC,” said Michael Poll, GGC’s enrollment management vice president.

CROFT worked directly with school administrators to revitalize the space and designed specifically according to their pain points and challenges.

For example, new technology was implemented into the center that included a large video wall where student visitors are recognized by name and high school. While waiting to tour the campus, students are invited to interact with state-of-the art touchscreen monitors, where they can watch videos, explore majors and learn about campus happenings.

“We put a lot of energy into providing potential students a space where they can be proud of this college before they even enroll,” Poll explained.

The center also offers resources for current GGC students. Touted as a “one-stop shop,” the redesigned space provides private consultation areas for students seeking help with their accounts, financial aid, registrar or other campus services.

While COVID didn’t delay the project’s timeline, it did require a reassessment of the space to ensure its layout and design could accommodate a post-pandemic world.�� Several modifications were implemented, including additional glass panel separators at the customer service positions. In addition, automatic sliding doors were incorporated at the main entry to promote ‘hands-free’ access, and more hand sanitization stations were provided.

“GGC gave us the trust and the freedom to explore a solution for their needs that is very exciting and stimulating for the current and future students,” said Michael Gunn, CROFT architect and project manager for the GGC redesign. “They were very open to letting us create fresh, open spaces with fun pops of color and texture throughout.”

“We are really proud of what we were able to accomplish in partnership with GGC,” said Kip Stokes, CROFT senior vice president and business unit director for its higher education market sector. “We understood the significance of the project and wanted to ensure we were able to deliver on time and within budget while also meeting all their needs. With the limitations of their previous center in mind, we were able to collaborate with GGC in envisioning a new welcome center that would help them better serve their students’ needs. Through our design, we were able to capture their vision and create a more open, inspiring and efficient student services center that better represents GGC’s commitment to student success.”

CROFT, founded in 2004, is a full-service architecture and engineering firm headquartered in Kennesaw, Ga., with a second office location in Lawrenceville, Ga.

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