Project Profile:

Project:		Bright Beginnings Learning Center
Owner:		Middlesex County Educational Services Commission
Project Type:		K-12
Square Footage:		48,000
Completion Date:		January 2004

Project Details:
Located in Piscataway, the Bright Beginnings Learning Center is a special needs public school for disabled children.  Since the opening of the school in Fall 2002, the administration areas of the building had been plagued with persistent operating problems and excessive, recurring temperature/ comfort issues.  Staff complaints were constant and work productivity had been adversely affected.

As the building's operation was simply not acceptable, the Educational Services Commission, construction manager and general contractor and architect agreed to bring in Dome-Tech, as an independent third party, to Retro-Commission the HVAC systems.  As the Service Commission had no previous first hand experience with the commissioning process, Dome-Tech was hired to Retro-cx a representative sample of the air handling units, building automation system and ice storage system.

Retro-cx is a systematic process of reviews, inspections and testing which ensures systems have been designed, installed and operate properly to efficiently meet the needs of the building's occupants.  The scope of the project included rigorous, hands-on inspections and testing of the HVAC equipment and building automation system.

The limited sampling uncovered over 100 fundamental testing, balancing and controls issues that contributed to the HVAC problems.  Correction of these issues was essential for the proper and efficient operation of HVAC systems.

In response to the success of the Retro-cx process, Dome-Tech's scope was expanded to include additional building systems.  Dome-Tech worked with the MCESC to ensure all problems were rectified and that they obtained the modern, efficient school they envisioned during the planning stages of the project.