Florida Institute of Technology — Fume Hood Modernization

Project Overview

The Olin Physical Science Building at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida houses laboratories and offices. BEED Engineering provided mechanical and electrical engineering design and project administration for a 40,000-square-foot fume hood modernization in that facility.

The existing laboratory exhaust ran as a constant air volume system. That approach can keep hoods safe only by operating at full volume, which uses more energy than necessary and makes it harder to hold laboratory pressurization as hood use changes. The project converted the laboratory ventilation to variable air volume operation, added demand-based supply control, and tied the new sequences into the campus control system.

The Challenge

Laboratory fume hoods have to protect occupants while the building HVAC system remains stable. A constant volume exhaust system cannot easily turn down when sashes are closed, and older single-duct variable air volume boxes are a poor match for laboratory pressure control.

The modernization had to:

• Keep fume hoods operating safely through the conversion from constant to variable exhaust
• Replace supply air terminal units with valves suited to demand-based laboratory ventilation
• Add space pressurization control for the laboratories
• Integrate new controls with Florida Tech’s existing campus-wide building automation system
• Coordinate mechanical equipment with electrical provisions for drives, transformers, and disconnects

Those requirements are typical of education and research laboratories in Melbourne and across Brevard County, where existing campus buildings often need a measured upgrade rather than a full system replacement.

BEED Engineering's Scope

BEED provided mechanical and electrical engineering design services and project administration, including:

• Mechanical engineering design for the laboratory exhaust, supply air, and pressurization systems
• Electrical engineering design for drives, transformers, disconnects, and low-voltage control power
• Project administration through design and construction coordination
• Engineering coordination with the existing campus control system

Engineering Solutions

The design converted the constant air volume exhaust system to variable air volume. Roof-mounted utility fans received variable frequency drives, bypass dampers, and controls so exhaust could track hood demand without losing containment. Fume hood monitors and sensors were included so operators could confirm safe hood operation.

On the supply side, single-duct variable air volume boxes were replaced with venturi supply air valves. Those valves, with the associated controls and sensors, allow ventilation to follow occupancy and hood use instead of a fixed airflow. Laboratory space pressurization systems, low-voltage control wiring, and transformers were added so each lab could hold the intended pressure relationship to adjacent spaces.

The new control system was integrated into the existing campus-wide automation system rather than operating as a standalone panel. Electrical work covered the transformers and disconnects needed to serve the mechanical equipment.

Mechanical and electrical systems in the scope included fume hoods, snorkels, fume hood and general exhaust air valves, supply air valves, fume hood monitors, sensors, variable frequency drives, HVAC controls, transformers, and electrical disconnects.