UT Austin - NHB Phoenix Controls Upgrades

Gonzalez Shah Smith and Shah Smith & Associates, Inc. designed modifications to the existing laboratory fume hood controls systems in the existing Norman Hackerman Building at the University of Texas at Austin campus. The fume hoods in question were previously found to be exhausting air at a different rate than was indicated on their fume hood monitors.

Additionally, Gonzalez Shah Smith and Shah Smith & Associates designed a correction to an existing exhaust duct fitting that was causing excessive pressure drop through a substantial portion of the exhaust system.

The upgrades will involve reconfiguring the existing laboratory hood controller network topology, replacing the existing laboratory fume hood controllers with new controllers, replacing the existing fume hood monitors with new monitors, and providing pressure sensors to directly measure the airflow through the laboratory fume hoods and display this actual airflow on the local fume hood monitors. 

Because this work will be performed in an operating building, the project is designed to be executed with minimal downtime to the impacted laboratories.