We present an interesting Success Story about an air conditioning and ventilation project carried out in Costa Rica, at the Sabana Business Center / Hilton Garden Inn Hotel / Commercial premises.
by Duván Chaverra Agudelo
Costa Rica is one of the most important countries in Central America, where the HVAC/R sector has been growing rapidly thanks to the presence of renowned companies that are working on important projects in both the commercial and industrial areas.
One of these important projects is the Sabana Business Center, located in the heart of San José, capital of the country and that this time we will present with all the details of installation in terms of air conditioning and ventilation, which was carried out by the company MultiFrío, whose general director is Salo Ponchner, who told us all the details of the project.
The Sabana Business Center multiproject consists of a vertical mixed-use building, built in one of the most important commercial areas, which offers visitors an excellent location due to its proximity to strategic points. The first level of the building is for commercial use, six levels of offices, eight levels of hotel of the international brand Hilton Garden INN. With the parking floors 24 floors are completed. The construction process of the Hilton Hotel was carried out by architecture professionals, interior designers, draftsmen from Grupo Leumi and by the firm Ghettis, located in Miami.
The executive highlighted what the project consists of and what type of system or equipment was installed: "Being a multipurpose building, in this project in which Multifrio was in charge from the design, engineering plans and installation, various equipment and technologies of various brands had to be used. We not only design and install the air conditioning systems, but also the entire ventilation system including the parking floors, bathroom extraction, kitchens, etc."
Technologies used
For the floors of the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, daikin/McQuay ice water systems were used. Greenheck Jet fans were used in the underground parking lots. Mitsubishi VRF equipment was used on the floors of the office and Lennox direct expansion equipment was used in the commercial premises. They installed a Delta-branded BMS control system, the parking lots have sensors for CO2 and CO (carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide) which automatically activate the air injection system. They installed extractors for bathrooms, restaurants, stair pressurization system, and Addison fresh air injection.
The project
The project that was developed in the years 2014 – 2015 is already recognized as an emblematic construction within the city, not only for its physical and location characteristics, but also for the technologies that were installed. In this regard, Salo Ponchner described some technical aspects:
The most important value contribution for the client was the integration of systems of different technologies for the various uses of the building, the control systems, supporting the architectural plans in the uses and optimization of spaces.
The installed equipment is of high electrical efficiency and ecological refrigerants. In addition, they are low noise equipment since the building is located near surrounding residential areas. All extraction air conditioning equipment was integrated into a centralized BMS system.
Another exceptional and vital contribution for the client was the construction in tight times and the remodeling of the office and the commercial premises that were done in real time during the construction of the building.
The optimization of the spaces to place the external equipment was another very important contribution to this development.
Being able to meet the demanding needs of this client, the design and installation times, the integration of efficient technologies for each type of use, the compliance to all the clients of the building in its different applications are a clear sign of the engineering capacity, design, drawing, supervision, audit, quality and execution of Multifrio, with its more than 60 engineers and specialized technicians.
Our guest also explained how decisions were made from the design of the construction. The company started working about two years earlier on air conditioning and ventilation design: "Electromechanical designs for air conditioners and ventilation systems were made in order to meet the customer's needs at every stage of the project. Issues such as the optimization of spaces in the external slabs, as well as in the mezzanines, electrical efficiency, noise level, were key in the choice of equipment, manufacturers and technologies. The hotel has its own control system and in the office each tenant maintains control of their offices. All systems were integrated into a centralized BMS for the entire building."
As in any project, there are always some difficulties, especially logistics, however, MultiFrío explained that it managed to overcome small mishaps to comply with the installation and deliver it in operation.
"In a 24-story building built at high speed, the arrival of materials and equipment is a challenge in itself. You have to take advantage of the cranes that are in the project to hoist the equipment, especially the ice water chillers and condensers. The key dates were pasted in the offices of all the engineers in charge of the project. None of the equipment used in the hotel and the office center is standard equipment, so that manufacturers do not keep it in stock and their manufacturing time exceeds 20 weeks, in addition to import from Asia in the case of Mitsubishi and from the United States in the case of McQuay / Daikin", explained the director of the company.
He also added that other problems of time constructions is that there is the participation of consultants, electromechanical auditors, other suppliers and the very delays of the construction company in the development of the work, which complicate the logistics and the timely installation and quality of the equipment, pipes, ducts, electricity, control systems, etc.
Spaces covered with the installation
The project has eight hotel floors for a total of 9,000 m2, six floors of office for, a total of 7,500 m², and a commercial floor. The rest are parking floors. The total project is 30,000 m².
Well-known companies such as the Law Firms Batalla and AFC, as well as Facio and Cañas, have been established on the office floors. In addition to transnational companies such as the offices for Costa Rica of the Mexican airline Volaris.
In the commercial area, Juan Valdez (first store in Costa Rica), the restaurants Segundo Muelle (first place in Costa Rica) and Cosi (fifth restaurant in Costa Rica), among others, were established.
Results
Salo Ponchner highlighted the satisfaction of the developer of the project once the installation of the different air conditioning and ventilation equipment was completed: "The developer, which is called Grupo Leumi, is very impressed by the engineering, technology and execution of Multifrío. The results are so good that we have been invited to design and install new projects of the group. We have also received a lot of praise from end customers in the office and in the commercial premises."
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Overview
Installation signature: Multifrio S.A. of Costa Rica
Manufacturers involved: Daikin/McQuay, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Lennox, Greenheck, Addison
Company or place covered with the installation: Sabana Business Center – 21-story building plus three underground parking lots, in the heart of San José, capital of Costa Rica.
Installation dates: during the year 2015
