Alachua County Correctional Facility HVAC and Roof Replacement

In the early 2000s, Alachua County conducted a Facilities Condition Inspection of the Alachua County Jail and noted several buildings and spaces in need of equipment upgrades, replacements, and renovations necessary to improve safety, security, and energy efficiency on the 300,000-square-foot campus. Through detailed collaboration between County Facilities’ staff and user groups, the needs were validated and placed into the County‘s Capital Improvement Program. Goals of this program at the Jail included less energy and water usage, lowering operating costs, reducing maintenance, improving air quality, utilizing innovative design techniques resulting in high-efficiency replacement equipment, and practicing the latest sustainable technologies. A product of this program is the $9,600,000 Alachua Jail HVAC and Roof Replacement Project.

The project consisted of the overhaul of the HVAC systems, replacement of the roof, and energy improvements at the Alachua County Jail campus. The work included the design and installation of 72 roof-mounted high-efficiency chilled water air handling units, a modular chiller plant shipped in 2 pieces and assembled on-site consisting of 754 tons of water-cooled high-efficiency chillers with magnetic frictionless bearings, twin-cell high-efficiency cooling towers, computerized controls to optimize system operations for maximum efficiency, 92 roof-mounted solar panels for hot water heating, 9,000-gallon total tank solar hot water storage capacity, high-efficiency boilers to complement solar hot water heating, and a sprayed-in-place polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation with a solar reflective acrylic elastomeric coating on the existing roof which adds R-12 to the existing roof insulation R-value and reduces heat transfer while acting as UV protection to the insulation. As a result of the project, the County has seen a dramatic decrease in energy costs at the Jail of more than $300,000 annually and qualified for more than $100,000 in rebates from the local utility authority.