Relief for 165-Year-Old Campus
The University of Notre DameFounded in 1842, the University of Notre Dame is an independent, national Catholic university in Notre Dame, Ind., adjacent to the city of South Bend and 90 miles east of Chicago. The University, which has an enrollment of 12,000 students, is organized into four undergraduate colleges, the School of Architecture, the Law School, the Graduate School, the University Library system and 10 major research institutes.With a property replacement value of $2.2 billion, the 1,250-acre campus has a total of 137 buildings, including the renowned Notre Dame football stadium.
Designed to Last
When asked about the life cycle of campus buildings, Anthony Polotto, senior project manager, Office of the University Architect, explained that, “Buildings at Notre Dame are built to stand the tests of time. They are clad with durable materials such as masonry and slate.”
A Perfect Solution for Unique University Needs
Many of the buildings were designed before the arrival of air conditioning and offer minimal auxiliary space for ducting. Options to provide building occupants with a comfortable environment for the 12 weeks out of the year when it is hot and humid in Indiana are extremely limited. This is where Mitsubishi Electric Cooling and Heating Solutions, Suwanee, Ga., was able to offer a solution ideally suited to historical retrofit applications. “Split-ductless systems and Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) zoning systems from Mitsubishi Electric are perfect solutions for our unique needs. Ideally suited for historic structures, the outdoor units have a small footprint, do not intrude on the integrity of the architecture, can be hidden easily with landscaping and perform so quietly you have to touch them to determine if they are operating. The indoor units function with exceptionally low sound levels — ideal for chapels, libraries and study rooms — and require no ductwork. For the split-ductless systems, a three-inch hole in the exterior wall is all that is needed to connect the ductless indoor units to the outdoor units with electrical wires and piping,” Polotto said.
Introducing Mitsubishi Electric Split-ductless Systems
The split-ductless systems were introduced to Notre Dame in 2003 due to the need for air conditioning in the three medical treatment rooms within the football stadium. In addition to covering football games, the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) office is on call 24/7 and monitors over 750 events on campus each year. Only one treatment room was air-conditioned and the EMS team was concerned about the lack of cooling comfort in the emergency treatment rooms during early season home football games.
When covering games, EMS personnel monitor the game from a command post within the broadcast floor of the stadium. In order to hear radio transmissions, the booth must be as sound proof as possible. During the early fall, the booth was very uncomfortable due to the lack of air conditioning. The assistant director for medical outreach mentioned these concerns to the assistant athletic director of facilities and one of the campus HVAC contractors, Ideal Consolidated, Inc., South Bend, Ind.
Three split-ductless systems were installed to provide optimal cooling. Ideal Consolidated installed these systems and the EMS staff reports the comfort and sound levels in the three treatment rooms and broadcast booth are at an ideal level and the Mitsubishi Electric systems have performed flawlessly for more than four years.
Success Triggers Further Stadium Installations
The stadium’s three-level press box is a large steel and glass structure overlooking the football field. The top floor is the VIP donors’ level in which air conditioning had been installed during the recent stadium remodel. The middle level broadcast floor includes the EMS, Broadcast Center, visiting athletic director’s suite, visiting coach’s box and Notre Dame’s head coach’s family suite. The bottom floor houses the stadium’s press box that can accommodate as many as 330 reporters and staff during any game. Both of these levels used Mitsubishi Electric systems for their air-conditioning comfort.
VRF Systems for the Press Box
Temperatures in the press box, an area that was not air-conditioned, often soared over 90 degrees Fahrenheit during games with the gigantic glass curtain wall preventing any way to open windows for outside air. Large fans provided modest relief, but didn’t alleviate poor indoor air quality.
According to Bruce Heberle, Excelsior Manufacturing & Supply Corp., Elkhart, Ind., Mitsubishi Electric distributor, provisions for air-conditioning the press box were included in the 2007 facilities budget. Ideal Consolidated took delivery of the equipment at the end of 2006 and completed installation in early 2007. Although the requirements for the press box were for cooling, the Mitsubishi Electric Y-Series system is a heat pump that offers heating as a bonus. A sudden cold spell in February 2007 dropped temperatures to -9 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the press box was a comfortable temperature.
“I Couldn’t Be Happier… ”
“When we started up the VRF zoning system around 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 21, for the annual spring football game, it was 83 degrees in the press box. After we turned on the systems, when I arrived at 10 a.m., it was 67 degrees. At game time, it was 67 degrees even with a packed room. At the end of each quarter, it was still 67 degrees. All systems performed flawlessly,” said Heberle.
After the game, Mike Danch, Notre Dame’s assistant athletic director of facilities, told Heberle, “I couldn’t be happier. We have over 200 people in the press box and it’s just great. It is so quiet, people can have a conversation, and they can’t figure out where the air is coming from. They love it.”
Mitsubishi Electric Technology for Cushing Hall
Prior to installing Mitsubishi Electric VRF zoning systems in the press box, a serious need for air conditioning surfaced across campus at Cushing Hall, home to the School of Engineering. Heavy duty cooling was needed because of a large computer lab and several research labs filled with computers.
For this installation, Paul Quigley, Excelsior north Indiana territory manager, recommended the resourceful zoning capability of the R2-Series system, which provides simultaneous cooling and heating and can operate up to 32 ducted or ductless indoor units of various designs.
Quigley said, “We first had to convince the Notre Dame engineering professors that a heat pump was the best solution to their problems before they would consider installing Mitsubishi Electric systems. Providing pinpoint accuracy and quiet comfort in a confined space like the computer labs and classrooms would have been impossible without VRF zoning technology.”
The results of the installation were convincing to the engineering professors and paved the way for adding Mitsubishi Electric systems to the university’s growing mix of climate-control solutions.
Other Key Mitsubishi Electric Installations Follow at Notre Dame
Based on the solid success of the Mitsubishi Electric split-ductless and VRF zoning systems installations in the football stadium and Cushing Hall, the Office of Facilities Operations decided to install additional split-ductless systems in an athletic department break room and video room; an art department computer lab and departmental offices; a computer classroom in the psychology department; a student study room in a residence hall; a dishwashing room in a dining hall; a television studio in the School of Arts & Letters; and an office complex in the School of Earth Sciences.
