Project Brief

The City of Mount Vernon commissioned conditions assessment reports on five of its buildings to document deterioration and code deficiencies, rank the needed work as emergency, priority, remedial or maintenance, and price it. KeRi was the MEP engineer on the team led by Environetics, surveying the Armory Senior Center, Doles Recreation Center, DPW Canal Street Garage, Fire Station 3 and Firehouse #4 on Oak Street, and assessing the HVAC, exhaust, controls, electrical and plumbing systems at each.

The buildings ranged from a nineteenth-century armory to a pre-war vehicle garage, and the findings were just as varied. Firehouse #4, closed because of its condition, had a flood-damaged steam boiler, corroded piping and rooftop units more than 35 years old. The DPW garage had roof leaks corroding its unit heaters, three vehicle exhaust systems out of service and mercury vapor lighting. Fire Station 3 still ran an oil-fired boiler, the Doles Center's steam boiler was left oversized once two of its three rooftop units were converted to gas, and the Armory's kitchen hood had no make-up air.

The recommendations followed a common thread: replace steam and oil heating with high efficiency gas-fired boilers and packaged units, correct exhaust and make-up air code violations, convert lighting to LED with code-compliant controls, and add a building management system at each site tied back to the city's network for remote troubleshooting.

MEP Engineering Scope

What We Engineered

MEP conditions assessments at five city buildings:

• Firehouse #4, Oak Street
• Fire Station 3, West 3rd Street
• Armory Senior Center
• Doles Recreation Center
• DPW Canal Street Garage

The Challenge

Five very different city buildings, one of them already closed, had aging steam and oil heating, failed exhaust systems and code violations, and the city needed to know what to fix first.

Our Solution

KeRi surveyed the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems at every site and set out prioritized recommendations, from boiler and rooftop unit replacements to LED lighting and a building management system tied to the city's network.