Salk Institute
Central Plant Cx
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Location
San Diego, CA
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Construction Value
$23 million
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Size
583,300 SF main research space; 15,869 SF different room spaces
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Market
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Awards
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Helping the world’s top scientists, one building system at a time
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Project Overview
Founded by polio vaccine creator Jonas Salk, the Salk Institute is one of the world’s leading biomedical research institutes. When they required a new, efficient central plant to accommodate its many systems, the institute turned to us to design the new central plant, expand the facility’s electrical infrastructure, and commission the mechanical systems at three main research buildings. We commissioned various systems including chillers, cooling towers, boilers, pumps, air handlers, variable frequency drives and new controls. The project also called for an electrical infrastructure replacement and commissioned the emergency generator and associated equipment.
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Solution
Our team made numerous improvements during the commissioning process, including significant revisions to the sequences of operations, improved systems performance and ease of system management. We recommended new control valves for the North and South Tower cooling coils and verified that systems were operating in accordance with construction documents after functional testing. Our expertise increased capacity and secured efficient central plant and infrastructure performance for years to come.