Valdez Fire Station 1 Replacement

Valdez, Alaska

City of Valdez

RSA acted as a subconsultant to Wolf Architecture for the new Valdez Fire Station design. RSA’s services included mechanical and electrical engineering service as well as Construction Administration. The previous fire station had operational and structural constraints, prompting the need for a new station. The new station includes offices, dormitories, a kitchen, dayroom, dining room, laundry room, workout and training spaces, restrooms, a lobby, equipment/supply storage, and a gear decontamination area. Other site features include a parking lot and a four-story training tower.

RSA’s mechanical design included plumbing, heating, ventilation, cooling, and vehicle exhaust systems. The building heating system uses boilers for in-floor radiant heating in the Apparatus Bay. The administrative and dormitory areas use fintube heating. The digital control system is designed to be open and interoperable with current City of Valdez control systems. Heat recovery ventilation units provide ventilation for the Apparatus Bay and Crew Rooms. An air-handling unit with variable air volume terminal units provides ventilation in the administrative areas. The onsite fuel system includes a propane tank and piping for the kitchen and BBQ equipment. A 2,500-gallon fuel oil tank and piping service the boilers and standby diesel generator.

Electrical design includes site and interior lighting, power distribution, telecommunications, fire detection and alarm, fire alerting, and access control systems. All lighting uses energy efficient LED fixtures. Photocell controls were specified for the exterior building and pole-mounted area lighting. The interior lighting controls use a combination of occupancy sensors and networked occupancy sensors for automatic operation throughout. A 150kW standby diesel generator, with load bank, provides backup power. The telecommunication; fire detection, alarm, and alerting; and access control systems were all specified in close coordination with the Valdez Fire Department to ensure all code and Owner specific requirements were specified.

• Categories: Public Service
• Client: Wolf Architecture