U.S. Steel Tower (USX)
Opened in 1971, the U.S. Steel Tower, also known as USX Tower, is a 64-story skyscraper. The interior has 2,300,000 sq ft of leasable space. Standing 841 ft tall, it is the tallest building in Pittsburgh, the fifth tallest in PA, and the 200th-tallest in the world. A mechanical problem arose with one of the building's primary fans, a large double inlet centrifugal fan serving 14 floors. The repair of the fan would cause major disruption and require to cut an access hole on the side of the building.
Repairs of existing double inlet centrifugal fan were estimated to take up to two weeks of down time, which would cause major disruption for the 8,000 –10,000 people that are in the tower on an average day. The fans were installed during the building's construction in 1967. Access for repair of the 12 ft. x 10 ft., 6,000 lbs. fan, would require a hole cut on the side of the building and numerous cranes. In addition, the original AHU required a solution that could fit through a 30in wide door. The building is one of the largest LEED certified in the world. Filtration and fresh air exchanges are a requirement to sustain the building's LEED certifications.
Space Optimization
Reduced footprint of previous older fan unit.
Minimal Equipment Downtime
Business shut down on Friday evening; new system installed before workers returned on Monday.
Reduced Maintenance Costs
Less parts to potentially fail means reduced maintenance costs.
Thermaltech’s manufacturing partner, Q-PAC, provided Fan Integration Technology and modularity to save USX, the 16th largest building in North America, from two weeks of downtime, structural disruptions, and future maintenance.
The Q-PAC applications engineering team worked closely with Thermaltech to select and design a 24 fan solution to meet exact cfm capacity of the previous 1967 fan; and provide a pre-engineered fan system with power and control wiring completed for ease of installation. Q-PAC provided on-site field installation and fan system start- up support to assist the mechanical contractor, K&I Sheet Metal. The building owner was impressed with the speed and ease of installation.
Installation of a a Q-PAC fan system started on Friday evening and completed ahead of schedule on Sunday morning, allowing the building to be fully operational on Monday. The Q-PAC system provides a maintenance-free solution leading to major savings on labor-hours. With the additional requirements of a LEED building, the Q-PAC fan system is able to handle the extra static pressure needed to deliver the air to the space. Q-PAC brought the building’s AHU up to date with “a state of the art, cutting edge, and classic” technology.
