Customer Profile

Constructed in 1990, Cornell University’s Frank H.T. Rhodes Hall is an eight-story, 183,849 sq. ft. building located in Ithaca, NY. This facility, utilized by the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering, has recently undergone multiple renovations to create a more open, collaborative, and participatory learning environment.

Customer Challenge

The University renovated an existing space within the facility into a laboratory which required a dedicated Air Handling Unit. However, the AHU had space and size restrictions to fit inside the existing mechanical penthouse space.

Stark Solution

Stark Tech’s Equipment team from Kistler provided an Air Enterprises custom air handling unit split into seven separate sections so it could be rigged and installed into the mechanical space. Our team designed a 100% outdoor AHU sized for 3,700 CFM with a filter, heat recovery coil, hot water coil, cooling coil, and fan sections. It had to be designed to fit into an elevator with a 47.5” W x 86” H door opening.

Stark Tech also provided a heat recovery coil in the exhaust air stream of the system that was tied into the AHU heat recovery coil used to pre-heat the outside air.

Results

After close coordination with the engineers and contractor during the submittal phase, the unit was rigged and completely assembled in approximately six hours. It has since successfully been started up and commissioned. Despite having seven separate sections, the unit has a leakage rate of 0.23% or 9 CFM, while the average modular AHU leakage rate is around 6%.

The AHU casing installed will last the University at least 40 years, while the individual components (fans, coils, etc.) will last at least 25 years.

Project Photos

Stark Tech’s Equipment team creates custom HVAC, Critical Power & Boiler Room solutions for commercial, industrial, and mission critical building applications.

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