Park 1

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General Building Information

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The Penn State Lehigh Valley Campus was purchased by Penn State in 2009. The building was originally constructed in 2002, and was previously the Lehigh Valley College. The cost of the property, including furnishing, fixtures and equipment was $12 million dollars. The office of Physical Plant did not handle any of the design or construction. It is important to Note that the owner of the building is Penn State, while The Office of Physical Plant handles Penn State’s facilities as a construction management and facilities management.

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• Building name: Penn State Lehigh Valley Campus

• Location and site: Center Valley, PA.

• Building Occupant Name: Penn State

• Occupancy or function types (type of building): Education

• Size (total square feet): 96,274 SQ FT.

• Number of stories above grade and total levels: 3 Floors Total/above ground.

• Project Team: 

  • Owner: Penn State

  • Architect:​ Architectural Alliance

  • CM: Mortenson Construction

  • Structural Engineer: Palanisami and Associates, Inc.

  • Civil Engineer: Liberty Engineering

  • Soil Foundation Engineer: Geostructures, Inc.

  • Electrical Design Builder: Parsons Electric Company

  • Mechanical Engineer: Beitmen and Huyett, Inc.

  • Fire Protection:​ Majek Fire Protection Inc.

• Start Date Of Construction: April 19, 2002​

• Finish Date Of Construction: July 2003

• Penn State Purchased in 2009: $12 Million

 

Codes and Standards​​

• BOCA CODE DATA:

  • 1999 BOCA National building Code

  • 1993 BOCA Plumbing and Mechanical Chapter

  • 1999 National Electrical Code

  • Chapter II, Accessibility Requirements of 1999 BOCA

  • 1991 American with Disabilities Act (ADA)

• Zoning:

  • B:Business –Primary Occupancy

  • A-3: Assembly –Student Commons, Divisible Multipurpose classroom, Administration Reception

  • M:Mercantile--Bookstore

• Historical requirements of building or historical district where built (if applicable): N/A

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Architectural

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The architectural design of the building is designed for higher education use maximizing the perimeter of the building for classrooms and lectures. The middle of the building, also the main lobby is two story atrium. The main lobby is primarily used as a common space and the center of the building. The design for the building has to accommodate for the northeast climate, therefore considering heavy snowfall and cold conditions primarily during the school year where the highest occupancy is expected. To accommodate those conditions, the facade of the building maximizes the amount of glass obtainable to allow as much sunlight. The window openings stretch across the entire facade of the building, with spandral glass in between where classrooms, lecture halls, and offices are located. An architectural feature that stands out is the clock tower, suitable for an educational use for the building. 

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Building Enclosure

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The building enclosure consist of primary curtain wall glass and insulated metal panels. In general, designing for the northeast climate requires maximizing the most out the sunlight during the heating season. For classrooms, the windows allows as much of daylighting as possible. A lot of the building enclosure are insulated and designed for the northeast cold climate, as the roof is rated for a R-25 minimum insulation value. 

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Sustainability

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The sustainability design for this building does not include a heavy amount of consideration. This building does not meet any LEED requirements. Although the mechanical system specifies in the sequence of operations to start up and shut off based on occupied modes. During occupied time periods, the mechanical system will start up prior to expected occupied periods to satisfy zone set points. In unoccupied modes, the mechanical system shuts off, satisfying the unoccupied set point by recirculated air. 

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Part 2

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Construction

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The construction of the Penn State Lehigh Valley Building began in April 19, 2002 and was completed in July 2003. The site in total includes 30 acres. Several civil engineering teams have contributed to the planning and design of the landscape, 

soil research, erosion planning and utility connections. While a large amount of civil planning included extending utility lines to the building. Included in the landscape planning is the addition of trees to surround the site and between the parking lots. The general construction of this building consist of structural steel framing and concrete foundation. 

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Mechanical

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The Penn State Lehigh Valley Building mechanical system serves a 97,000 SQ FT educational use building. The building is served by three roof top units, all together supplying a total airflow of 94,000 CFM throughout the entire building. Each rooftop unit supplies airflow to VAVs with reheat that modulates airflow to individual zones. The mechanical system includes an economizer to help reduce energy consumption. Due to the climate of the northeast, the mechanical system is designed with a significantly higher heating demand for the heating season and to accommodate domestic hot water. 

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Lighting/Electrical

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The building is equipped with a single electrical utility line that goes through a utility transformer prior to the building main switch board. The lighting plan is distributed into the parking lot from the main utility transformer in the south and west end of the building. The north and east lot is served from a electrical line coming from the building. 

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Structural

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The Penn State Lehigh Valley building does not have a basement, therefore the foundation lies beneath the ground floor. The structural framing of this building consist of structural steel, and the roof framing is a flat roof that supports three roof top units. The concrete pier design spans 30' between each columns. The foundation walls are constructed at 8" thick with #4 at every 12" O.C. spacing, horizontal and vertical rebars. The facade of the building consists of curtain wall construction that is supported by #3 bent rebar, at every 12" O.C. spacing where the slab edge of deck, 12" from grid. Overall, beyond the ground floor consist of structural steel beams, columns, and column plates designed for ASTM A572, Fy=50ksi, miscellaneous channels, angles and plates are ASTM A36, Fy=36 ksi. Foundation piers, walls , interior slab-on-grade, and all other poured-in-place structural concrete are rated at 4000 psi. Footings are rated at 3000 psi, which are all designed strengths after 28-days. 

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Fire Protection

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All fire protection was construction per requirements to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The structural construction of this building include noncombustible members such as exterior walls, floor & roof panels, interior non-load/load bearing partitions, columns and structural steel beams. Structural steel is constructed to receive sprayed on fireproofing. The fire protection system meets with NFPA sprinklered system requirements. This building is also designed to meet NFPA requirements for means of egress. 

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Transportation

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The Penn state Lehigh Valley building is equipped with two elevators. The elevators are to accommodate students among the three floors. The location of the elevators are close to the front entrance doors and share the main lobby/atrium on the ground floor. These elevators are not designed for heavy mechanical equipment. Access to the roof is only available through the staircase. 

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Telecommunication

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The Penn State Lehigh valley building is equipped to communication and data connections through all offices and classrooms. 

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