United States. Daikin unveiled a recent Success Story in which it installed a modular HVAC solution at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Ok. Let's know the details of the project below.
Challenges
Money is the name of the game in the casino business. And to do so, casino owners have to keep people comfortable at the gaming tables or in front of machines. Fast construction is the only way that allows them to expand and renew while maintaining the flow of money.
No one can attest more to the need for speed in construction than Cherokee Nation Entertainment, the operator of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The hospitality and gaming company is in the midst of expanding its Hard Rock property, which is an enriched combination of Cherokee culture and classic rock 'n' roll.
The company was looking for an HVAC solution and partner that could adapt to new expansion and remodeling requirements with fast and economical installation. The project demanded the need for a highly configurable design, rapid implementation and the benefit of single-vendor responsibility. The ideal choice was Daikin's modular central floor plan (MCP), chosen to serve the hotel's newest tower and three areas of the casino.
Hard Rock's modular core plant combines multiple chillers, boilers, cooling towers, condensers, cold water and hot water pipes into one pre-assembled module. "The modular central plant is built and disassembled at the Daikin manufacturing plant, shipped to the site and re-assembled by Daikin field staff which saves construction time and lead times. Cherokee Nation owners appreciate the guarantee of a single line of responsibility," said Chad Smith, vice president of Airetech Corporation, a daikin representative.
Solution
"The ability to modulate plants to meet the growing needs for chilled water and hot water lends itself to the application of the modular central plant. We originally designed the project to bring the coolers in standardized sizes, but tailored to the sizes that best fit the needs of homeowners as they expand the Hard Rock," said Gary Niver, P.E., LEED AP, director of engineering for modular core plants at Daikin Applied. The first phase of the project in 2010 modernized the existing HVAC system in area two of the casino by changing the system from direct expansion equipment to an ice water system (with energy recovery) allowing the operation of a system dedicated to 100% fresh air (DOAS). Two 450-ton Daikin centrifugal chillers were part of the equipment supplied by Daikin at the first modular central plant, in addition to boilers and related equipment.
"The plant is of variable primary flow since the facility handles loads in a high range due to the DOAS design," Smith said. Located outdoors, the modular central floors can be easily expanded to match the growth of the property, while saving on cost-effective hospitality and entertainment space. The second phase of the Hard Rock expansion added a 10-story tower with 100 suites and more than 55,000 square feet of space for entertainment, games and conventions. "In 2012 we added another 800-ton centrifugal cooler to the existing modular core plant to serve the new addition of the casino and hotel tower," Smith said.
Currently, the modular central floors serve approximately 130,000 square feet in two areas of the casino and the hotel's 10-story tower. "The old mechanical plants will continue to be in use," said Robbie Jones, senior project manager at MSA Engineering Consultants, and mechanical engineer in charge of this long-term project.
Since 2010, Jones has handled the Hard Rock project, and mentions the possibility of resizing HVAC equipment for future phases as one of the most critical aspects of the project. Another challenge was the installation of the pipes for the new modular central plant, located approximately 200 feet away from the buildings. "We did a lot of planning in order to route the heavy pipe above the casino premises and hired a structural engineer for an evaluation," Jones said.
Smith estimates that the modular central plant (MCP) solution represents considerable cost savings for Cherokee Nation and about four to eight weeks of construction time during each expansion, with virtually no downtime. "Owners have the opportunity to obtain mechanical equipment directly. The general contractor saves the necessary coordination with traditional HVAC systems between plumbing, electrical and other mechanical trades," Smith said.
"To save time and provide a clear definition of warranty liability, Daikin provided a complete system of central factory machine room controls using the BACnet platform." Smith added, "As a turnkey solution for homeowners, Daikin provided full coordination of installation services within the modular central plant, which included Airetech's partner company, providing all final wiring, assembly and connections."
Result
Since the first modular central plant (MCP) came online in 2010, the HVAC system has been operating 24/7 without any interruption in service. "The temperature inside Hard Rock Tulsa has never risen above 75 degrees Fahrenheit due to the fact that it was designed with multiple coolers to provide redundancy," Smith said.
In 2017 a 1,000-ton chiller module will be added to the existing modular core plant. The addition of another 1,000-ton module in 2019 will complete the plant's master plan for a total of 3,700 tons of cooling capacity, (8) 2 MMBH boilers and seven modules in total that make up the complete modular core plant.
In the long run, the simplicity of modular core plants saved building owners costs, eliminating additional construction to achieve similar results with various HVAC equipment. Additionally, the modular core plants minimized downtime, accelerated operation, and allowed the casino to start generating revenue sooner than any other HVAC solution provider could offer.
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