Peter Turek Discusses Good Intentions Gone Bad: VRF Installation

Peter Turek, CxA, EMP, LEED AP O & M, CBRE Discusses Good Intentions Gone Bad: VRF Installation

This story is about good intentions gone bad during a VRF installation for a new 73,890 square for LEED Platinum middle school that opened in the fall of 2017. The construction cost was $30 million, the school was awarded recognition as the first Net Zero school in Illinois as well as numerous additional accolades.

The district was told a VRF system would be very efficient and provide years of reliable service with little maintenance. Unfortunately, the story goes south quickly, and the honeymoon period ended badly. So, what went wrong?

The initial design was a different manufacturer, but the product exceeded the budget and wouldn’t accommodate the schedule, so an alternate was selected. Unfortunately, the drawings were never updated, and the as-built submitted drawings were the schematic design drawings for the original manufacturer. There was commissioning and a design engineer for the project, but this wasn’t caught.