Piping, Plumbing & HVAC for 4.6MW CHP Plant

Baystate Medical Center

Springfield, MA

Contract Value:

>$2M

Total Man Hours:

10,689

Recordable Injuries:

Completion Date:

2018

Project Overview

In November of 2016 Baystate Health broke ground on a 4.6 megawatt turbine combined heat and power plant in Springfield, MA. Notch Mechanical Constructors was brought on to supply and install the piping, plumbing, and HVAC for the entire project. The completion of this project allows Baystate to continue to serve as a pillar for the entire region during an emergency. This project lasted a full year, with completion in December 2017. The new power plant will save Baystate Health an estimated $2.7 million in energy costs annually. It will also increase Baystate’s energy efficiency by roughly 25%, while reducing greenhouse gases by the equivalent of 4,000 vehicles per year. The western Massachusetts region can sleep a little tighter at night with the completion of this project, and knowing it was done right.

Highlights & Challenges

As a former house lot approximately 8,000 square feet, the site of the new power plant was extremely tight with several contractors working simultaneously. There was also very little parking for contractor vehicles. The Notch crew parked in a parking garage a mile away and carpooled to the site each day.
Notch had to be strategic on planning the rigging of all the piping, including rigging 24″ pipe through a window into the basement. Pipe installations also included rigging 10″ pipe up to 30 foot high ceiling in the boiler room, but there was nothing to rig off of. The only way to get a scissor lift in there was by going through a 36” door. A hole was cut in the roof with a beam across to rig up the pipe.

Scope Summary

The scope of this project included:

Cogeneration Piping Systems
- Chilled Water, Tower Water, High Pressure Natural Gas, Steam, Feedwater, Condensate, Lube Oil, Plant Water, Compressed Air and Chemical Feed
Building Plumbing
- Roof drains, floor drains, oil separator, venting and associated cast iron piping
- Hot and cold potable water including a tempered water safety shower system
Fire Protection
- Complete water based wet fire sprinkler system for the two story power plant
- CO2 suppression system piping for the CTG (Combustion Turbine Generator) enclosure
CTG (Combustion Turbine Generator) Combustion Air and Ventilation
- Combustion Turbine filtered outside air intake plenum
- Combustion Turbine high temperature exhaust to the HRSG (Heat Recovery Steam Generator)
HVAC
- Power plant ventilation and MCC area packaged rooftop A/C system
- Control Room split system A/C unit installation

Project Accolades

Winner of three construction industry mechanical awards from Associated Builders and Contractors:

Excellence Award from the Connecticut Chapter
Excellence Award from the Rhode Island Chapter
Excellence Award from the Massachusetts Chapter