Coppin State University, Central Utility Plant Replacement

Coppin State University is an urban, residential liberal arts university located in the northwest section of the City of Baltimore that provides academic programs in the arts and sciences, teacher education, nursing, graduate studies, and continuing education. An HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), Coppin has a culturally rich history as an institution providing quality educational programs and community outreach services. Coppin offers 53 majors and nine graduate-degree programs. Coppin was founded in 1900 at what was then called Colored High School (later named Douglass High School) on Pennsylvania Avenue by the Baltimore City School Board who initiated a one-year training course for the preparation of African-American elementary school teachers. By 1902, the training program was expanded to a two-year Normal Department within the high school, and seven years later it was separated from the high school and given its own principal.

Coppin, which was officially renamed Coppin State University on April 13, 2004, is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. In addition, the undergraduate and graduate academic programs are accredited by a number of specialized agencies. Teacher education programs are accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and are approved by the Maryland State Department of Education.

The student population is comprised of nearly 4,000 students who are enrolled in day, evening and weekend undergraduate/graduate courses. Many are Baltimore residents from very diverse ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. Coppin has graduated thousands of alumni who are making a tremendous impact in the State of Maryland in various fields, particularly Human Services.

To support their growing campus, Coppin upgraded their Central Untility Plant located in the basement annex of the Grace Hill Jacobs building. The existing one story space was expanded to two stories with the lower level designated as the boiler plant and the upper level as the chiller plant.

The existing facility remained in service during the renovations and replacements. The schedule was sequenced to take advantage of the seasonal changes in plant demand.

One existing 1000 ton chiller was relocated from the lower level and one new 1000 ton chiller was added. The existing boilers were removed and 3 new oil fired boilers were installed. The existing cooling tower on the top of the 12 story classroom tower was relocated on the roof and a new tower was added to supplement the system.

A new 15kv electrical service was installed that replaced the old distribution and now serves both the heating and cooling plants. This service is fed from the campus loop and has the ability to alternate between the 2 feeders serving the campus. A new distribution switchboard and MCC were installed dedicated to the mechanical plants.

Many of the pumps and fans were supplied by variable speed drives to achieve high levels of energy efficiency. The induced draft fans for the boilers where located remotely on the roof and required extremely high temperature materials and methods. New roof mounted equipment was fed from the new service in the lower mechanical level.

The project also included additions and upgrades to the fire alarm, lightning protection, lighting, security and controls.

A substantial amount of scheduling and coordination was required with the mechanical work to allow for the existing plant to remain operational and also to accomplish the needed system additions and revisions.

The General/Mechanical Contractor was Green Contracting Inc, Roger Kouhi, Project Manager (410-780­0500). The owner is the Universities of Maryland System, Terry Hollon, Project Manager. Michael T. Oles was the project manager for Native Sons.