2011 No. 1

Your Energy Crisis:SolvedThere isn’t a day that goes by without energy making the headlines. While it will be some time before we’re reading about how we’ve solved the energy crisis, we’re making great strides. At Burns & McDonnell, we’re proud to be helping our clients solve their company energy crises with energy master planning.

Armed with a solid energy master plan, our clients can make the right decisions for their companies in the face of fluctuating energy costs and ever-stricter emission regulations. A small investment in optimizing and maintaining your utility infrastructure can yield significant savings for years to come.

On pages 9-12, you can read more about why the higher education, aviation, manufacturing and healthcare industries are motivated to plan for a more sustainable future and what Burns & McDonnell is doing to help.

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Two-phase traffic signal— freeflow left turn

HOMESTEADLANE

Traffic crosses overat intersection

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A smart thermostat is one type of home device that allows customers to adjust energy use based on demand and price.

Technical Q&A: Energy Savings Incentives

How It Works Home Area Networks

As demand on the power grid increases and personal budgets are squeezed, utilities are developing methods that empower homeowners to take energy management into their own hands. Through home area networks (HANs), consumers can reduce their electric bills and conserve energy.

Using intelligent, wireless, in-home displays and thermostats, consumers can determine and control the amount of electricity they are consuming at any time of day. They can then translate that usage into price, giving them the opportunity to control costs by managing personal consumption. Through real-time communication with utilities, HANs enable customers to better understand their consumption habits, decide where they want their money to go, and, in effect, reduce their monthly utility bills.

“The devices allow consumers to do a mini audit of their home,” says Matthew Olson, Burns & McDonnell project manager. “They can turn appliances on and off to determine the amount of energy they use and make decisions about reducing their overall consumption based on that data.”

The network extends use of the advanced metering infrastructure that many utilities have implemented through Smart Grid projects. Today, smart thermostats support demand-response programs with real-time feedback. In the future, smart appliances will join the network, allowing customers to alter operating characteristics based on the current system state. The intelligent

monitoring systems allow users and utilities to communicate using the devices.

“These devices bring great operational capabilities to utilities,” Olson says. By controlling peak energy demand, utilities can manage their costs and pass that savings on to their customers.

For more information, contact Matt Olson, 816-349-6608.

Q : What are some energy-saving methods that may qualify my project for utility-sponsored incentives?

A: Reducing energy consumption remains a vital component to sustainability of the power grid. To encourage this practice, many utilities offer financial incentives to companies that build or expand facilities incorporating energy-conserving features.

For example, the energy-saving tactics Burns & McDonnell implemented on a refinery expansion qualified it for incentives through the Act On Energy program sponsored by Ameren Illinois.

In response to a mandate from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce air emissions from oil refineries,

the facility is undergoing renovations. The process uses large compressors and 500-horsepower motors. Variable speed drives were used to control the motor operation. For the majority of the day — 22 to 23 hours — the motors operate at a lower, more energy-efficient horsepower. The use of variable speed drives versus standard starters provides energy savings of nearly 4 million kilowatt hours a year.

This system qualified the client for more than $300,000 in incentives through the Act On Energy program. Utilities in other states offer similar incentives. Burns & McDonnell, along with the client, developed the backup

data calculations of energy consumption and completed the application that qualified the project for the incentives.

For more information, contact Robyn Coan, 314-682-1526.

Robyn Coan is an associate electrical engineer in the Burns & McDonnell St. Louis office.

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In-House News Celebrating 25 Years of Employee Ownership

News in Brief

Commendable Corporate ReportingHighlighting Southwest Airlines’ innovation, Harvard Business Review recently published a case study on Southwest Airlines’ One ReportTM — an integrated, annual corporate report covering financial, social and environmental performance. Burns & McDonnell assisted Southwest Airlines in developing report content, conducting a greenhouse gas inventory, complying with Global Reporting Initiative guidelines and verifying the 2009 Southwest Airlines One Report. Southwest Airlines also selected Burns & McDonnell to assist with its 2010 One Report.

Projects Earn ACEC AccoladesSeveral Burns & McDonnell projects recently earned 2011 engineering excellence awards from American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) chapters across the country:• GRU South Energy Center, Gainesville, Fla. |

Gainesville Regional Utilities | Grand Award in Energy, Florida Institute of Consulting Engineers

• Battery Storage Facility, Presidio, Texas | American Electric Power | Gold Medal

in Energy, Texas Council of Engineering Companies ; see story, page 18

• Cadillac Lake Drainage Improvement District, Wichita, Kan. | City of Wichita | City Public Improvement Award for the 50,000 and above population category, ACEC of Kansas

• Southern Zone 1 Pipeline, Westminster, Colo. | City of Westminster | Merit Award in Water & Stormwater, ACEC of Colorado

Upper Midwest Home to NewestBurns & McDonnell Regional OfficeIn January, the Minneapolis-St. Paul office became Burns & McDonnell’s newest official regional office. Opened in 2007 by returning employee-owner Gene Sieve, the office initially focused on public- and private-sector facilities design service for clients such as the University of Minnesota, the U.S. Air Force and the Minnesota Air and Army National Guards. Environmental, business technology, electrical transmission and the full range of company services are now available to clients in the region. The office also houses companywide expertise in fire protection/life safety design and building commissioning. Contact Sieve in the Minneapolis-St. Paul office, 952-656-6003.

Burns & McDonnell takes great pride in its rich heritage and deep roots in the engineering community. Even the logo proclaims “Since 1898.”

But 2011 marks an anniversary of a different sort. In 1986, Burns & McDonnell became 100 percent employee owned.

“This 25th anniversary recognizes how employee ownership has allowed Burns & McDonnell to attract the best and brightest engineers, architects, scientists, technology specialists and construction

professionals,” says Chairman and CEO Greg Graves. “Our success rests on the talent and dedication of our people. Our growth from 800 employees to more than 3,000 is a direct result of the way we work for each other, with the knowledge that the success of our clients directly

affects our personal success. That’s a factor in why more than 80 percent of our projects are being completed for repeat clients.”

That level of individual commitment extends to the communities where we live and work.

“We support dozens of community outreach efforts, from building orphanages in Haiti to shelters for domestic abuse survivors to empowering urban youth to green jobs,” Graves says. “It’s part of who we are.” The celebrations in 2011 will include the expected and the unexpected.

“Sure, we’ll gather for a traditional party,” Graves says. “But we’ll also look at how we can celebrate our good fortune with community efforts that are meaningful to all our employee-owners. It would not be Burns & Mac without a component that looked beyond our ranks.”

For more information, contact Roger Dick, 816-822-3339.

For more information about Burns & McDonnell, visit www.burnsmcd.com/news.

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FULL-SPEED DESIGNArchitect SONYA JURY Thrives Under the Deadlines and Diversity of Big Projects Around the World

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Whether it’s managing reconstruction of a hurricane-flattened resort, the remodel of a major Las Vegas property or jetting halfway around the world for a massive urban redevelopment project, architect Sonya Jury has just one speed — full speed.

“If my hair isn’t on fire, I’m not having fun,” Jury says, laughing. “I like when things are full speed.”

True to form, when Jury joined Burns & McDonnell’s architecture practice in mid-2009, she hit the ground running, and hasn’t stopped. Immediately upon her arrival, Jury took the role of project architect for the Northwestern University-Qatar New College of Media and Communications building, a Doha, Qatar-based project. The college, slated for a 2013 completion, is in Qatar’s Education City, a 5.4-square-mile campus housing educational and research facilities, and branch campuses of some of the world’s leading universities. Burns & McDonnell served as the executive architect, partnering with renowned design architect Antoine Predock.

The lure of the large-scale project and the opportunity to team with Predock were instrumental in coaxing Jury away from her successful career in Las Vegas, where she worked as a project architect/manager with Gensler of Nevada.

“I worked on getting her here for about six months,” recalls fellow Burns & McDonnell architect Randy Endecott, Jury’s long-time friend and colleague. “I began talking to her because of the caliber of projects we were working on, huge projects with a lot of complexity. Sonya had experience in successfully completing those types of projects.”

In 20 years, Jury has amassed an impressive portfolio of domestic and international large-scale projects. She earned her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kansas and worked for several mid-size firms before an eight-year stint operating her own firm. From there, she joined the MGM Mirage

Design Group in Las Vegas as a design project manager, working on hospitality properties such as the Bellagio, Mirage, and Monte Carlo Resort and Casino. During that time she faced one of her most challenging, yet rewarding professional assignments — the post-Hurricane Katrina rebuild of the Biloxi, Miss.-based Beau Rivage Resort & Casino.

“We took everything down to bare bones,” she says of the hurricane-devastated property. “We spent $1 million a day to rebuild it and put 3,800 people back to work one year after the disaster. What an incredible feeling to have someone thank you for giving them back their life.”

Her formidable professional skills, however, were only part of the reason Endecott and others felt she would add value to the burgeoning architecture practice at Burns & McDonnell.

“Sonya has a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm. It’s not easy maintaining

that when you’re working as many hours as she does and working with crazy deadlines, but she succeeds. She’s a very sincere person, and she shares the work ethic we have here,” Endecott says.

Although a first for Jury, the Northwestern project was not the first in Education City for Burns & McDonnell. The firm also worked on a state-of-the-art student housing facility and a General Electric Technology and Learning Center. Additionally, Burns & McDonnell currently serves as the executive architect for the first of five phases for Qatar’s Musheireb — Heart of Doha project, a dynamic mixed-use district in the city’s historical center. In January, Burns & McDonnell was named executive architect for the next phases of the project.

The ability to secure and successfully complete projects of this scale, as well as a diverse and global portfolio are what Jury feels set Burns & McDonnell apart and what will enable the company to flourish.

“I’m amazed every time I hear about the work of our other divisions, and I love the diversity and the depth of knowledge we have here,” she says. “There is a tremendous amount of talent in this company.”

Contact Sonya Jury at 816-349-6822.

Burns & McDonnell’s work in Doha, Qatar, includes the student housing complex at Education City, which houses the Northwestern University project led by Jury.

“Sonya has a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm.”

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DIVERGINGDIAMOND INTERCHANGE

A Shift in Traffic Flow for Safety and Efficiency

With the planned installation of a new BNSF intermodal facility along Interstate 35 in southern Johnson County, Kan., and steady residential and commercial growth in that area, traffic volumes are expected to increase dramatically. The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) anticipates that in the next 30 years as many as 32,000 daily vehicle trips could pass through the area of Homestead Lane and I-35 as economic development, including the new intermodal facility, continues.

Not only will traffic increase in general, but the size of the vehicles will also increase. The intermodal facility and its ancillary buildings will serve as a hub for product distribution, meaning thousands of heavy trucks will be passing through the new interchange.

“There is a lot of regional growth accelerating the need for the project itself,” says Steve King, KDOT road design leader. “We have developed our plans for a new interchange with anticipation of the BNSF facility and other economic development so the traffic will be able to move efficiently.”

A French Revolution KDOT officials considered several traditional interchange options, including a simple diamond, a diamond with a loop ramp and a diamond with a flyover ramp. Traditional options likely wouldn’t be able to handle the traffic volume efficiently, and bridge

structures such as flyovers can increase the cost of the interchange by as much as $15 million.

“The type of interchange needed is driven by the pattern of traffic,” King says. “There will be a lot of traffic going to and from the intermodal facility and going north on I-35. It will have some really heavy left-turn traffic.”

Burns & McDonnell was hired to evaluate interchange options, provide environmental assessments and final design for the interchange. Steve Schmidt, Burns & McDonnell project manager for the project, was familiar with a new kind of interchange that would work well — a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) that makes left turns easier and travel safer.

Developed in France, the DDI is a relatively new concept to transportation departments in the United States. The interchange is a unique form of diamond interchange in which the two directions of traffic on the non-interstate roadway (Homestead Lane) cross to the opposite side of the road at each ramp intersection. Drivers approaching the first ramp intersection

can either turn right or proceed through by shifting to the opposite side of the road. At the next intersection, drivers are free to make an unopposed left turn, or they can continue through the intersection and cross back to the right side of the road.

Safe Changes Naturally, in a society where driving on the

right side of the road is the right thing to do, shifting the flow to the opposite side

is going to take some adjustments from the traveling public.

However KDOT officials and Burns & McDonnell are

confident the design of the ramp terminal

intersections, which will include guide

signs, pavement markings and

raised islands, will help guide

drivers through the intersection without

any problems.

“It is different and will take some adjustment from drivers,

but it is actually a much easier traffic flow,” Schmidt says.

Not only is the traffic flow better, but one of the most significant benefits this type

of interchange provides is improving safety.

“It is different and will

take some adjustment from

drivers, but it is actually a much easier traffic flow.”

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Two-phase traffic signal— freeflow left turn

HOMESTEADLANE

Traffic crosses overat intersection

I-35 Southwest Johnson County Interchange at Homestead Lane

The DDI allows for a two-phase traffic signal operation at the ramp intersections and significantly improves safety since left turn movements do not conflict with opposing through movements. The configuration allows seamless entry for traffic needing to enter the highway in both directions and only one encounter with a traffic signal for those vehicles making a left turn onto the highway.

“Because of the high volume of left-turn movements, this became a viable option,” Schmidt says. “Other options to reduce safety risks get pretty expensive pretty quick.”

The Missouri Department of Transportation completed the United States’ first DDI in Springfield, Mo., in 2009, and it has met with great success. The DDI planned for the area near the BNSF intermodal facility is expected to open in fall 2013 and will be the first in the state of Kansas.

“It is a new interchange configuration designed to improve traffic flow and safety,” says Joab Ortiz, senior public involvement specialist for Burns & McDonnell. “The use of DDIs is gaining momentum across the country.”

For more information, contact Steve Schmidt, 816-349-6816.

View a multimedia demonstration of traffic flow through the diverging diamond interchange at www.burnsmcd.com/ddi.

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Companies today must consider not only

how to operate their businesses more

efficiently but also how to optimize their

facilities to reduce long-term operating costs.

MASTER PLANNING

FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Rising energy costs, looming greenhouse gas emission regulations and lean budgets contribute to this conundrum. Energy master planning provides the road map that will guide companies in making the right decisions about maintaining their facility infrastructure.

that considers the performance of existing equipment, alternative energy sources, energy and water conservation, demand-side management, and infrastructure optimization to reduce environmental impact and operating costs while maintaining high-quality, safe and reliable energy delivery.

Implementing a solid energy master plan ensures environmental compliance, energy efficiency, adequate capacity for growth, reliability, redundancy, flexibility, sustainable infrastructure and lowest life cycle utility cost. Outlining utility needs over the next 15 to 30 years, an energy master plan involves conducting a cost-benefit analysis

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Through a two-pronged approach, Burns & McDonnell first identifies operational and functional issues within the existing utility infrastructure, taking into account projected load changes and conditions. Burns & McDonnell then develops custom energy models to account for the interdependence of systems and the effect on overall life cycle cost. Through this analysis Burns & McDonnell recommends utility infrastructure upgrades or expansions needed based on priority.

When it comes time to implement the master plan, Burns & McDonnell can execute its recommendations and also assist in project financing. Burns & McDonnell has helped its clients secure $160 million in government incentives since 2000, $50 million of which were American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants in 2009 and 2010. The firm also arranges partnerships to finance renewable energy projects.

HIGHER EDUCATION Colleges and universities recognize the importance of such planning. As of November 2010, more than 675 higher education institution presidents nationwide signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment to develop a climate neutrality action plan, take immediate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and publish periodic sustainability reports to track progress. As a result, more colleges and universities are exploring renewable energy sources and seeking sustainability measures that will reduce energy consumption and environmental impact. The higher education industry’s constituents, college students, also value the green movement and now consider colleges based on their sustainability.

Accomplishing these environmentally friendly goals can be challenging for the many higher education institutions with historic, aging buildings that have become characteristic of university campuses. However, energy master planning can help colleges and universities develop a customized action plan that optimizes energy use across the campus. This plan contributes to an ideally sized and

configured central utility plant (CUP) that is neither too large nor too small to serve a particular campus. An appropriately sized and configured CUP saves operating costs and eliminates unnecessary capital expenditures.

“When you take the steps to prepare an energy master plan and follow through, you’ll end up with more capacity in your existing plant and won’t have to expand,” Karen Stelling, associate vice president in the Burns & McDonnell Aviation & Facilities Group, says. “Reducing demand on equipment helps the central plant operate more efficiently to meet the actual demands of the building or campus. This way we’re not just adding to demand; we’re scaling it back.”

Case Study: University of Missouri-Kansas City Energy master plans often include recommendations of when and how to modify utility systems for maximum efficiency. Recommendations can include energy audits and performance contracts — improvements to existing systems paid for by the resulting energy savings. Burns & McDonnell conducted an investment-grade energy audit of 27 buildings, totaling more than 2 million square feet, on the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) campus to help UMKC realize enough energy savings to cover the capital costs of replacing its chilled water plant.

“The right combination of retrofits and energy savings with quicker payback periods will help you to afford to implement your energy master plan,” says Matt VanDeCreek, energy services project manager at Burns & McDonnell.

Through high-efficiency lighting modifications, pressure-independent valves in the chilled water system, low-flow plumbing fixtures, an improved energy management system, variable air flow units and other energy efficiency measures, Burns & McDonnell is helping UMKC realize a projected $1.6 million in annual energy savings through a 15-year guaranteed energy savings program. With a 20 percent reduction in British thermal units consumed per square foot of the campus, these sustainable upgrades also reduce UMKC’s carbon footprint by nearly 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions — the equivalent of offsetting the emissions of 1,352 single-family homes or removing 1,344 mid-sized sedans from the road. Burns & McDonnell’s energy-saving upgrades also allowed UMKC to eliminate 14 building pumps and the cost of associated operations and maintenance in addition to increasing chilled water capacity in a new CUP.

As part of UMKC’s comprehensive performance contract, VanDeCreek conducts a measurement and verification analysis of UMKC’s utility bills each month and initiates troubleshooting if the data suggests that a utility system isn’t operating as expected.

“Looking for deviations helps us find new opportunities for energy savings,” VanDeCreek says. “If you stay aware of your building utility

Energy-efficiency measures on the UMKC campus will save a projected $1.6 million annually and significantly reduce the university’s carbon footprint.

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systems and keep them operating as designed, the more likely you are to catch any issues and reduce future operating costs.”

Case Study: Texas A&M University It’s important to revisit energy master plans every five years, as projected utility demands may change over time. Texas A&M University selected Burns & McDonnell to validate its existing energy master plan and provide updated recommendations. Texas A&M’s energy master plan contains detailed plans for campus utilities needs over the next five years, with a more flexible outlook for future years. Since its 2005 master plan — which Burns & McDonnell OnSite Energy & Power Group engineers led while at another firm — Texas A&M implemented $175 million in utility infrastructure upgrades to modernize the campus utility systems. Ongoing projects include a $70 million combined heat and power (CHP) plant, which is partially funded by a $10 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant for which Burns & McDonnell helped Texas A&M apply. When completed in mid-2011, the increased energy savings from the CHP plant will result in more than enough monthly savings to recover the monthly financing costs of the project.

The next phase of master planning will optimize Texas A&M’s power generation, steam and chilled water systems for maximum energy efficiency and emissions reductions. The master plan will also include Texas A&M design standards updates to extend these efforts beyond the utility infrastructure and into individual buildings. The resulting energy master plan not only helps the university save operating costs and become more environmentally friendly, but it also aids management in securing funding and approval for necessary utility upgrades over the next two decades.

AVIATION With heightened security measures costing airports most of their capital expenditures since 9/11, many airports are facing aging infrastructure and obsolete equipment that costs increasingly more to operate. Greater operating expenses are passed onto

airlines and eventually the traveling public, motivating airports to become more energy efficient to save operating expenses. Energy master planning helps airports assess how best to optimize their utility systems, delay unnecessary capital costs and plan for future expansions.

Case Study: Denver International Airport As part of the Regional Transportation District’s FasTracks commuter rail program, the Denver International Airport is building a train station to connect the airport with downtown and a 500-room hotel and conference center. In order to prepare for these projects, the airport hired Burns & McDonnell to evaluate whether its existing CUP could handle the planned additional heating and cooling loads associated with the South Terminal Redevelopment Program.

“This study gives us the knowledge we needed about our CUP to make the right budgetary decisions regarding our utilities,” Lee Walinchus, senior engineer at Denver International Airport, says.

Burns & McDonnell analyzed the capacity of the airport’s CUP, equipment performance parameters and plant expansion limitations. The ultimate capacity of the plant was then compared to the existing loads, the anticipated future loads of both the currently planned expansions and the ultimate build-out of the airport. Burns & McDonnell then developed a CUP master plan to identify if the CUP could be expanded, when new equipment would be needed and if additional square footage or a satellite plant would be necessary. Burns & McDonnell determined that due to several site restrictions, the plant footprint

could not be expanded, but with equipment additions the existing CUP could handle the planned South Terminal Redevelopment Program and existing concourse additions. However, the plant would need a satellite addition if a new concourse were added.

Currently, Burns & McDonnell is designing valve and air handling unit modifications it recommended in the airport’s energy study. These modifications allow for the elimination of 125 pumps, resulting in an estimated annual energy savings of more than $400,000 for the airport and better access to the plant’s full chilled water cooling capacity.

“Optimization of our hydronic system to the way we do business leads to substantial energy reduction, which contributes to our ISO 1400-certification status and effort to be a good stewards of our environment,” Walinchus says.

MANUFACTURING Energy master planning for manufacturers, as for most businesses, primarily focuses on the length of project payback. There are always many projects competing for capital investment funds, but it’s important to understand that there’s a cost to doing nothing.

“With internal rates of return (IRR) exceeding 25 percent, in most cases, we see a high

The DOE offers grants for implementing emerging, clean energy technologies like combined heat and power — ideal for mission-critical facilities. An energy master plan helps decide if this technology is the right investment for your company or organization.

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cost of doing nothing,” Scott Clark, leader of the OnSite Energy & Power Group at Burns & McDonnell, says. “We see many manufacturers with rental and inefficient, retrofitted equipment because they can’t compete for capital on an IRR basis. These inefficient systems cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more to operate than optimized utility systems.”

Burns & McDonnell helps manufacturers avoid this problem by creatively looking at interdependencies, capital avoidance, and maintenance and energy savings; replacing inefficient equipment; and developing infrastructure projects that meet IRR requirements.

For manufacturers in the government supply chain, there are additional sustainability mandates, concerning factors such as greenhouse gas emissions, that don’t apply to private industry. These manufacturers need to be forward-looking, so that they can continue work for the government by complying with existing and upcoming sustainability requirements.

HEALTHCARE The healthcare sector has grown increasingly more dependent upon electricity with digital medical records and equipment essential to patient care. With hospitals and research facilities operating 24/7, energy becomes the second largest expense behind staff compensation. Coupled with the requirement for hospitals to keep all utilities running up to 96 hours in an emergency, energy reliability and security drives many healthcare facilities to consider energy master planning.

Case Study: Parkland Hospital For its new 17-story, approximately 2.5 million-square-foot hospital in Dallas,

Parkland Health & Hospital System selected Burns & McDonnell to perform an energy analysis, conceptual design, and final design for its CUP. Early CUP planning allows Burns & McDonnell to coordinate its recommendations, such as optimized controls and utility management software, with the hospital’s design team for maximum CUP efficiency.

Anticipated to reduce energy costs by 25 percent, this CUP will feature 16,500 tons of cooling, 230,000 pounds-per-hour of steam and 20 MW of emergency power to support 2.5 million-square-feet of hospital and medical office buildings.

“We selected Burns & McDonnell because of its energy efficiency strategies and cost-saving techniques,” says Kurt Dierking, vice president of facilities support services at Parkland. “The CUP’s energy efficiency will help us obtain LEED® Silver certification for the new healthcare campus, which optimizes our resources, saving money both for the hospital and taxpayers.”

Energy-efficient measures, such as heat pump chillers, variable-speed pumping and chilled water plant optimization, will conserve energy and provide redundant, reliable and efficient utilities to the new Parkland campus.

For more information, contact Scott Clark, 817-840-1233.

Parkland Health & Hospital System engaged Burns & McDonnell to conduct an energy master plan early in the design of its new 17-story, approximately 2.5 million-square-foot hospital in Dallas to maximize utility system efficiency for LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification.

Read two additional energy master planning case studies at www.burnsmcd.com/emp:

•ThermalEnergyCorp.’s(TECO)masterplanishelpingthedistrictenergyproviderkeepupwiththerapidgrowthattheTexasMedicalCenter,theworld’slargestmedicalcenter.TECOreceiveda$10millionDOEgrantforits45-MW,on-siteCHPplant,whichisexpandableto100MW.

•Theaward-winningGainesvilleRegionalUtilitiesSouthEnergyCenterattheUniversityofFloridaShandsCancerHospitalfeaturesahurricane-resistantdesignthatprotectsitsCHPsystem.

Read More Online

Manufacturers must also consider the cost of not conducting an energy master plan when competing for capital.

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Project: Battlespace Environment LabLocation: Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.Client: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District

Reducing its force structure to better meet military mission needs and operate more efficiently, the U.S. Air Force needed to move all major Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles activity to one location at the Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M. The relocation and consolidation provides greater synergy and increased security, improves cohesiveness of operations, reduces the footprint while updating facilities, and saves costs.

Burns & McDonnell provided design-build services for the new 145,000-square-foot, two-story Battlespace Environment Laboratory (BEL) using building information modeling (BIM) and integrated project delivery. These approaches allowed Burns & McDonnell design engineers and design-assist subcontractors to find the most efficient, well-coordinated solution for the project. “We could perform clash detection between systems to catch interferences before they were fabricated, saving expensive and time-consuming field changes,” says Steve Cline, senior structural engineer for Burns & McDonnell. “The BIM 3-D environment also allowed our team to find innovative solutions to challenging design issues.”

Military Design for the Space Age

The lab and engineering spaces will support necessary science andtechnology for high-vacuum environments, computer modeling,processing space data, space operations, quantum computing andother space-related operations.

“The interior design is dotted with collaboration spaces that encourage people to interact away from the laboratories and cubicles,” says Tom Hawkins, Burns & McDonnell project manager. “The laboratory location and design is strategic to meld execution of the research and collaboration of the Battlespace Environment Lab’s personnel and management.”

The BEL was designed to pursue a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Silver rating with a reduction in heat island effects and light pollution; controlled water usage, including efficient landscaping; energy conservation and recycled materials; and other sustainable features.

For more information, contact Mark Zimmerman, 816-822-3847.

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Project: Briarcliff Development Mine BackfillLocation: Kansas City, Mo.

Client: Briarcliff Development Co. and USC Technologies

Known as the heart of Chicago’s north side, the North Center Community is known for its small-town charm. Established in the late 1800s, it grew to a bustling industrial area and today remains a destination for cultural events and concerts. With thousands of pedestrians taking to the streets during these events, city leaders recognized a need for improvements to the roads and sidewalks to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The solution was a new streetscape featuring sustainable surfaces, enhanced design and added amenities for pedestrians. Burns & McDonnell is leading the design effort for part of a streetscape project along West Irving Park Road. Green space increased by narrowing the width of the sidewalk and adding curb bumpouts with landscaping planters at the intersections. “The bumpouts help slow traffic and provide more space at intersection corners to make pedestrian travel safer and more pleasant,” says Jennifer Morales-Tolentino, Burns & McDonnell project manager. Permeable pavers improve site stormwater runoff, and the aesthetic improvements include benches, landscaped gardens, pedestrian lighting and other features to make the commercial district a desirable place to shop and relax. The project is scheduled to be completed in summer 2011.

For more information, contact Jennifer Morales-Tolentino, 630-724-3281.

An abandoned mine 200 feet beneath a 100-acre site in Kansas City, Mo., made development of the land above it infeasible, as most of the mine roof was unstable. The parcel was a wasteland until Charles Garney, founder of Briarcliff Development Co. and USC Technologies, a residuals management company, teamed with Burns & McDonnell with an idea to use non-commercial grade, chemically inert fly ash from local power plants as a recycled material to backfill the mine. When mixed with water, the flowable ash slurry sets up as a self-cementing solid to fill the mine void, making the surface stable for development, while finding a sustainable use for a product otherwise wasted in landfills. “Although this technology has been attempted in a few mines elsewhere, this successful, creative adaptation to Kansas City mines showed tremendous foresight and persistence,” says Bill Shefchik, project geologist for Burns & McDonnell. “Literally tens of thousands of individual, 25-ton truckloads were required to fill the mine void, layer upon layer, over a span of more than 15 years.” The site is now home to office space, boutique retail shops and high-end housing.

For more information, contact Bill Shefchik, 816-822-3138.

New Life for an Old Charm

Filling the Void with Innovation

Project: Irving Park Road StreetscapeLocation: Chicago

Client: Chicago Department of TransportationPhoto depicts an example Chicago streetscape design (not Irving Park Road).

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Little Blue Parkway Road to Opportunity

Independence, Mo., (just east of Kansas City, Mo.) isn’t waiting for growth and development. The 183-year-old city best known as the hometown of former President Harry S. Truman is literally paving the way.

Phase 4: Completed

Phase 5: Under Construction

Phase 6: Under Construction

37th Terrace

Centerpoint Medical Center

Existing Selsa Road

R.D. Mize Road

Relocated Selsa Road

Railroad

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BackgroundThe history of Independence, Mo., is entwined with trails that were the conduit for the nation’s westward expansion. The Santa Fe Trail, an early trade route for exchange of U.S. goods for Mexican gold and silver, began in Independence. Later, Independence wagon wheel manufacturers and other suppliers outfitted pioneers and prospectors in the thousands who set out from Independence on the Oregon and California trails.

Today, a new trail is helping increase the flow of trade and commerce in Independence.Building on its legacy as a crossroads with the help of stimulus dollars and federal highway funds, Independence is realizing its vision of a path for growth — a four-lane parkway that provides faster, safer, cross-town access and links to state and interstate highway systems. The Little Blue Parkway curves through Independence from south to north along the Little Blue River, and will eventually connect with U.S. Highway 40, Interstate 70, Missouri Highway 78 (23rd Street) and U.S. Highway 24.

Burns & McDonnell provided design for seven miles of parkway in phases four through 10 of the 8.5-mile, 10-phase project. Along with new water infrastructure being installed parallel to road construction and enhancements to an existing walk-bike trail system, the Little Blue Parkway is creating ready-to-go conditions for community expansion and economic development of eastern Independence.

ChallengesLike most linear projects, the Little Blue Parkway presented a series of challenges. Some of the challenges Burns & McDonnell met include fulfilling requirements for Federal Emergency Management Agency-regulated stream crossings, designing a system of wick drainage to facilitate consolidation and settlement for fill in flood-plain areas, delineating and mitigating impacted streams and wetlands and coordinating with utilities during construction.

Independence is realizing its vision ofa path for growth — a four-lane parkway that provides faster, safer, cross-town access and links to state and interstate highway systems.One notable challenge was met in a way that allowed the parkway project to move forward and improve safety of an existing road while preserving local connectivity.

That particular challenge was an at-grade railroad crossing in the path of the planned

parkway. A potential hazard for motorists, the crossing would also disrupt the smooth flow of future parkway traffic, estimated at 50,000 cars per day.

SolutionMoving the railway wasn’t an option. Instead, Burns & McDonnell designed a bridge that would take the parkway over it. Raising the alignment high enough to safely clear the railroad and preserve the existing Selsa Road north required installation of mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls. This solution elevated the new roadway surface more than 30 feet above the existing track and Selsa Road at the crossing.

The $19.4 million project was developed to cross over Selsa Road south, which was realigned to preserve the local road network and accessibility to properties and developments. As a result, the train tracks and traffic each have their own space.

OutcomeIn early 2010 , the Little Blue Parkway was fully opened to traffic from 39th Street to R.D. Mize Road in southeast Independence. The newly opened section provides convenient access to a new hospital, Centerpoint Medical Center of Independence. As work continues on the parkway, it’s already making travel faster and safer for drivers traveling the 21st-century trails in Independence.

For more information, contact Kim Curry, 816-822-3477.

The Little Blue Parkway improves traffic flow in the area of Centerpoint Medical Center in Independence.

The roadway design relocated Selsa Road and included a bridge that elevated the new parkway 30 feet over an existing railway.

2011 No. 1

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Reliability Check:

The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) is taking an aggressive approach to ensure the reliability of transmission lines throughout the United States. While investigating a recent outage on the East Coast, industry officials discovered violations of industry standards for allowable operating temperature and line clearances through the utility’s transmission line route. NERC officials immediately sent a message to utilities across the U.S.: Determine existing violations and fix them. Fast.

Utilities were required to have an action plan in place by Jan. 18, immediately followed by a systemwide assessment of potential violations. Any remediation work will be prioritized and is expected to be completed within one year of the assessment results over a three-year compliance period.

“NERC realized that in some instances, utilities don’t have current information on the field conditions of their transmission facilities as it relates to line capacity,” says Chris Norquist, Burns & McDonnell project manager.

The Right ApproachUtilities have some freedom in developing a strategy that makes sense for their system. Options for completing the assessments can include a combination of patrolling their lines, field spot-checking various portions of the route or using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology. Field verification of the lines through patrolling or ground surveys can take extensive time and manpower to complete, and not many utilities have the maintenance staff to take on the extra work. In many instances, continuous access is not available along the transmission routes, adding difficulty to verification from the ground.

LiDAR technology may be the most comprehensive option. LiDAR is deployed using a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft equipped with a special unit of lasers. The aircraft flies over a transmission route as the lasers connect with the route and objects below, assigning tens of thousands of geo-positioned points on the transmission line, poles, vegetation, buildings and the ground.

The points are typically processed by the LiDAR firm performing the flyover, classified and sent to the engineer who will pull the information into an overheard power line design program, such as PLS-CADD, to create a 3-D model of the line and its surroundings.

“With the model created, the program uses specified weather cases to determine how a transmission line will perform during specific weather events, such as high wind or ice storms,” Norquist says.

With that information, a utility can gain an accurate capacity rating for its transmission assets by knowing if nearby trees and buildings will adversely affect the lines during significant weather events or if there are other existing violations that need to be addressed.

Timing Is EverythingA limited number of LiDAR firms are available to perform the flyovers, which means there could be a long waiting period between hiring a firm and getting the results. With remediation required as quickly as possible but no later than one year from the time of discovery, the ideal solution is to partner with an engineering firm to keep the project moving.

“With NERC’s remediation timeline, there’s really not a lot of time to waste,” Norquist says. “If we’re on a team, even while the assessment is in progress, we can start developing a plan for remediation. As soon as the assessments are complete, we can start developing the most cost-effective engineering solutions.”

Using a well-developed plan and diligent effort, utilities will have a solid understanding of the current state of their transmission systems and can comply with the NERC alert while averting potential costly outages.

For more information, contact Chris Norquist, 816-822-3266.

NERC Alert Puts Pressure on Utilities to Ensure Safe, Reliable Routes

Photo courtesy XP-RS LLC

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dust-collection system featuring cartridge filters that can be automatically cleared with a blast of compressed air. After an initial break-in period, the high-efficiency, self-cleaning filters will require checking no more than semi-annually, and an alarm system will give early warnings of needed maintenance.

Specialized Switching SystemThe battery-storage facility is within a half mile of a middle school, so it was important to control noise pollution. Sound-absorbing acoustic features muffle the power-conversion system’s noisy inverters.

The electrical system designed by Burns & McDonnell allows Presidio to quickly switch between power from the Mexican or the American side of the border — a manual process that used to take hours. It shouldn’t need to do that often. With up to eight hours of stored power available, the battery system protects Presidio from both the annoying flickers and brownouts that disrupted electronics and the excruciating effects of prolonged outages in the summer heat. In an emergency that produces a prolonged outage or during planned upgrades, the system can draw power from the Mexican side without damaging either side’s equipment.

Excellence AwardDespite the challenges, the building and substation were completed on a tight schedule and under budget. The energy-storage project in Presidio was awarded a gold medal for best energy project in the Texas Engineering Council’s 2011 Engineering Excellence Awards competition.

“I was truly impressed by the teamwork across our companies that realized this success,” wrote Calvin Crowder, president, ETT. “Each of you can take a moment ... to pat yourselves on the back.”

For more information, contact Hugo Bonjour, 832-214-2820.

prevent dust infiltration, the decision was made to build a site-cast, precast concrete structure. Because of the remote location, access to materials and skilled labor was limited. Burns & McDonnell project managers held repeated bid calls to find qualified subcontractors and made adjustments, such as specifying a special additive for the concrete to slow the chemical reaction in mixing trucks traveling long distances to the site.

But the structure was just one of the project’s challenges. Early calculations showed that if a traditional heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system sufficient to keep the building temperature below 100 degrees were implemented, the facility itself would consume a large portion of the stored power — an amount equal to a quarter of Presidio’s total consumption. This called for some creative problem solving.

Innovative HVAC Reduces Power DrainBurns & McDonnell identified the temperature requirements of each segment of the battery system and designed a sophisticated ventilation system to control internal heat. Certain equipment was placed in cabinets, with temperature-sensitive sensors activating air-conditioning vents directed at critical components. The customized HVAC and other efficiency measures trimmed the facility’s energy consumption to an acceptable level. The HVAC system also maintains positive pressure to help keep dust and sand from infiltrating the building. Incoming air used for ventilation is filtered by a specially designed

When the sun beats down on Presidio, Texas, the temperature can hit 120 degrees. Hot winds drive gritty dust, and electrical storms send lightning cracking across the open sky. For years, residents suffered frequent power outages and fluctuations. The lone transmission line serving Presidio, just across the Rio Grande from Mexico, is a weak 69-kV line, 60 miles long, at the tail end of the U.S. electrical power grid and more than 50 years old.

Extreme Conditions Present ChallengeElectric Transmission Texas, LLC (ETT), a joint venture between subsidiaries of American Electric Power and MidAmerican Energy Holding Co., wanted to install an innovative energy storage system that would relieve the power problems in Presidio, in advance of a planned new transmission line and in the future.

The 4-megawatt sodium-sulfur battery system ETT planned to install is one of only a few of its kind in the U.S . and the largest to date — 80 modules weighing 8,000 pounds each. The system isn’t designed to operate at temperatures higher than 100 degrees. Because it also produces heat, it’s usually operated outside.

That just wouldn’t work in Presidio’s summer heat and wind-blown dust.

So ETT and Burns & McDonnell set out to do something that had never been done — build a warehouse-sized building to protect the battery system and its sensitive controls, connected to a unique substation that could provide transmission backup power and switch between power from the 69-kV U.S. grid and the 12-kV power supplied by Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electicidad (CFE).

Making it WorkAs engineer-procure-construct contractor, Burns & McDonnell was tasked with creating a building that would require minimum maintenance. For greater durability and to

Power for the People Giant Battery System, Ingenuity Create Reliable Power in Remote Locale