Replace Chilled Water Pumps – Building 4 (Task Order 24)
Construction Cost: $857,000
Type of Project: Design-Build Task Order
Project Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Project Owner: National Institute of Health
Recent building renovations added cooling load which created a need to restore the main chilled water pump operation. Both main chilled water pumps were “locked-up” from being secured. Recently, RPMO was able to “free-up” only 1 of the 2 pumps to meet the newly added cooling load. ARGO completed the repair and replacement of the chilled water pumps to support the building’s current use while also incorporating energy-saving features such as variable frequency drives decoupling bridge and return chilled water temperature control. Additionally, with the buildings’ use as laboratory and animal space, this project accommodates the redundancy pump requirement that was not met previously.
The spaces in Building 4 are designated and constructed in strict accordance with the 5th edition of the Bio-safety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), and the latest edition of the NIH Design Requirements Manual sections with emphasis on the sections that relate specifically to biocontainment design requirements. Such spaces are considered both high containment and maximum containment facilities and require sophisticated and specialized practices, procedures, safety equipment, security, and facility requirements not unlike those defined by UFC 4-510-01.
Certification includes a comprehensive evaluation of room integrity, clearly demonstrating its ability to hold pressure within the stated standard. Certification also validates that air handling systems can meet NSF/ANSI standards and that laboratory equipment services provide safe and effective support to the facility. Certification of such facilities is conducted by the NIH Department of Occupational Health and Safety in conjunction with the NIH Division of Policy and Program Assessment.
NATIONAL INSTITUTES
OF HEALTH
ARGO was awarded a $50M Multiple Award – Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Construction Contract to renovate various buildings at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bethesda Campus and other satellite locations. To date, the 40 task orders ARGO has been awarded have included a variety of design-build and design-bid-build tasks including renovation of the medical clinic, administrative, public and all associated support areas, replacement, repair and relocation of interior and exterior utility systems, along with renovation and retrofitting of BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratory and animal spaces, among others. ARGO’s services also included the repair, renovation, replacement, and testing of medical gas systems throughout buildings 5, 10, 35, and 49. These systems were vital to supplying oxygen, nitrous oxide, nitrogen/surgical air to various procedure rooms within these buildings.