Denver Public Schools Fallis Elementary, known as the Denver Green School, is a 53,000-square-foot single-story school built in 1960 with an addition completed in the early 1990s. This project’s scope was to provide improved ventilation and the addition of air conditioning to the building. The mechanical system consisted of six (6) air handling units located in hard-to-access mezzanines for the gymnasium, kitchen, administration area, and all-purpose room. Floor-mounted unit ventilators with heating water coils were in the original 1960 classrooms, while above-ceiling air terminal boxes were in the 1990s addition.
360 Engineering, along with our design team members, observed the existing conditions and, while working with the DPS team, determined that removing the air handling units and installing new rooftop units was the preferred direction. There were multiple reasons for this change, but the two leading were the ability to utilize energy-efficient packaged heat pump rooftop units and improve maintenance accessibility.
During the Design Development process, DPS worked concurrently with Group 14 to finalize the DPS Electrification Assessment Report. Our team assisted in gathering pricing information for multiple rooftop unit solutions, working with a DPS-preferred vendor, and, ultimately, landing on a packaged heat pump with energy recovery and gas backup. This option provided energy recovery and aligned with the DPS Electrification assessment of gas backup for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This investment in energy recovery would be realized over the life of the equipment with energy cost savings.
The design team also considered the location of the rooftop units to reduce structural impacts and keep structural costs down. In addition, the electrical engineering team worked with DPS, Xcel Energy, and the CMGC to replace the switchgear and find the shortest lead time for available equipment.
