Benjamin Franklin High School

OWNER: BALTIMORE COUNTY SCHOOLS
LOCATION: BALTIMORE, MD
MEP ENGINEER: WAI Weigland Associates
HEFFRON PROJECT MANGER: Tom Sullivan, Colin Dunn
COMPLETION DATE: AUGUST 2012
Benjamin Franklin High School
Heffron played a large role in the renovation of Benjamin Franklin High School located in Baltimore city. The urban school structure consists of three (3) wings built at different times- the 1920s, 1940s, and 1950s. With varying HVAC systems in place, we were tasked to retrofit the building with a brand new HVAC system including adding air conditioning and installing a new front end control system.

The original design called for a geothermal system, but this idea was scrapped due to budget and time constraints. Heffron was awarded a contract in Mid-June and the job needed to be complete by August 15th of the same year. So working closely in a design-build role with the architect and engineer, we helped to design an installation of a variable refrigerant system. This resulted in the installation of 26 cassettes A/C units, thousands of feet of cooper tubing and ducts, (6) condensers, and an outside air economizer unit, as well as all new plumbing fixtures for the bathrooms.

We completed this greatly accelerated project on time by running full crews, 6 days a week working 12 hour shifts. Our staff received special manufacturer training on the VRF system. The project had to be closely coordinated with all the vendors to ensure we remained on schedule. Our commissioning team successfully worked all night to charge the system and inspect for leaks.

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