MEG provided mechanical, electrical, fire protection, and architectural lighting engineering design and services, along with construction administration, for the 40,000-sf new two-story office building for Bell Labs in Deforest, WI. The headquarters includes the addition of small lab areas with fume hoods, six animal testing rooms which required special environmental conditions, a small cage wash space, and support spaces. The building’s layout provides collaboration and continuity among staff and an exercise space for employee use is included.

Interior utility zoning was developed so that lab areas could be controlled appropriately and so that distribution could be coordinated with architectural elements, specifically the two-story exposed structure entrance and office spaces.. Mechanical equipment locations were coordinated with the architect and owner to provide relatively easy access to components that needed access, while screening them from impeding upon the architectural desires and intents.

The building is served by 5 gas-fired/DX rooftop units zoned to allow control capabilities for all of the different space types. Two high-efficiency 750 MBH gas-fired boilers were provided for the heating plant and equipment selections for fans, pumps, condensing units, etc. were provided to offer enhanced efficiencies of equipment at part-load where they’ll be operating a majority of their run time. Demand control ventilation was provided for the office area controlled by CO2 sensors and heat recovery was provided for rooftop units that met feasible outside air and containment requirements. Occupancy sensors for the interiors spaces limit lighting usage and interior and exterior fixtures were selected to provide reduced lighting power requirements. The exhaust fan control provides safety for the occupants in mind and the critical chemical storage areas provide continuous exhaust while other areas are provided with emergency overrides for accidental chemical spills or leaks.

Savings were calculated per the Wisconsin Focus On Energy program with a baseline of ASHRAE 90.1-2013 Appendix G. The calculated results show an 8% reduction in EUI and 16% Energy Cost Savings over the baseline.