2022-12-29_R2 - CO_PKSI - BCWC_MEP Summary.pdf

Buffalo Creek Work Center MEP Survey

Date: 22 November, 2022

Project: Buffalo Creek Work Center Improvements

Location: Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands, South Platte Ranger District

Notes: Andrew McPherson (R2 CDI), Phil Krieble (PSICC), and Cait Woods (PSICC) surveyed the Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing systems at the work center in support of the upcoming CIM improvement project and to enable R5’s

Mechanical Engineer, John McLaughlin, and Electrical Engineer, Chris Corpus, to evaluate and advise on the systems.

For convenience, top-level Box access for the project folder is available here:

https://usfs.box.com/s/y57ajtresls5lzwg4z5qo0n2vu5x6wlp

The work center is forecast to receive $4M in CIM funding for deferred maintenance site development. The project team developed 4 different alternatives, which are currently under development:

https://usfs.box.com/s/i3h0j65hxu6auizhsr1zkg39odfzzfv3

Files: Photos for the MEP survey are available here:

https://usfs.box.com/s/17l93ia2h1brl4twai6pkwdqgrt3od5y

Additional project photos here may also be helpful:

https://usfs.box.com/s/ej3ohbn3r7klko22eqxgfc7f9hb53atl

As-builts and site plans for the site are available here:

https://usfs.box.com/s/tkofz25g63zzc6jcr2orld0untszb7nn https://usfs.box.com/s/ginnawtz5o9nu04ha68gd0d9wb19lkzbc https://usfs.box.com/s/40vrbiylgyvgf63du0pru88cti3kaeqm

Site

Electrical: The site is fed from two separate single phase, three wire services serving

4 individual 200A metered services. Core Electric provides service from the overhead lines that run through the site. The north pole has a 37.5 kVA transformer that feeds the Engine Garage, Residence, and

Dormitory, each with their own meter and service. The 15 kVA transformer feeds the Old Garage, which in turn feeds the office.

Transformer sizing is based on a call to Core Electric and was confirmed on-site based on the sizes painted on each transformer. The 15kVA transformer also feeds a private residence across the road to the east of the pole.

It is likely that upgrades to the new office, if undertaken, will require upsizing of the south transformer. Core Electric said they do charge full, up front development costs to the customer (vs spreading it into the utility fee or cost sharing).

Telecomm service is understood to run on the phone line and be

<10Mbps. The main switch is in the Office basement and other buildings on site are served by fiberoptic running out to them.

Water: The site is fed from a 4” waterline that traverses the site NW to SE along the NE edge of the Engine Garage to the NE edge of the hazmat storage locker. PSICC Engineering is currently undertaking a water utility study and location of all water lines. An isolation valve is present at the E corner of the hazmat storage, near the onsite hydrant. Water to the site is provided by the Buffalo Creek Public Service District. Average use according to 2021 summer utility data is 10,000 gal/month.

Septic: The septic system is outlined in a recent contracted engineering report available here:

https://usfs.box.com/s/ks3mi24c5nfkd7nlgfz1yx1nqij3r9o0

In addition to the report, it is worth noting:

- What looks like an earlier version the site plan from 2000 suggests there may be an existing 4” line from the office to the Residence septic system. The 1938 site map suggests the same.

- From our MetTel utility billing, there is some water use data for 2021 for the five meters on site.

- NRM lists the OWTS A & B capacities as 3250 and 2250 gpd, though the source of these ratings in unknown.

Dormitory

Current Use: Two-person per room bunkhouse, co-ed, 5 bedrooms. Total 2,296 sq. ft.

Proposed Use:

- 900 Sq. Ft. addition to the north side to add an additional 6 occupants.

Notes: 2001 plans available. Dormitory includes 5 private bathrooms with representative photos available. One laundry room. One living room.

Separate entry mechanical room. Double kitchen with two sets of appliances, one set on each side, each including a microwave, dishwasher, and electric stove. One side has a standard fridge, the other has separate commercial fridge and freezer. Integrated horn and strobe fire alarm system. Integrated smoke detectors. Two sets of washer and driers, driers are electric. Bathrooms each have a toilet, sink, and shower. Standard, dumb programmable thermostat in hallway.

Electrical: A 200A single-phase, three wire main disconnect is unistrut mounted adjacent to the north pole, coming off the 37.5kVA transformer. Main panel has 40 spaces, with 35 used. A separate 35 amp disconnect feeds the septic effluent pumps, controller, and alarm. The panel schedule from the original design is available.

The dormitory does have an interconnected smoke alarm system. Only a standalone, battery powered carbon monoxide alarm was noted at the walkthrough and it is recommended to convert all the interconnected alarms to combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

Consideration should be given to if adequate carbon monoxide and smoke alarms are present at the correct locations, and whether exit signage and lighting are needed.

HVAC: A single forced air regular efficiency furnace. Bryant 383KAV060111 model manufactured in 2001. 89,000 BTU/HR rating. Running on propane. 20 x 30 cabinet / filter size. 80% AFUE.

Hot Water: Hot water from (2) Rheem Professional 100, 100 gallon, propane water heaters. Model numbes RHGPRO100-69P. Manufactured in 2001.

Water: Two services in the mechanical room (didn’t go into the crawlspace to see main service size or if independently metered). 1.25” copper lines transition to pex at branches and are valved for seasonal blowout.

Septic: Three septic tanks (A, B, C) with duplex effluent lift station to two-zone mound leach field west of residence. The building plans show three tanks, though the site plans show a 2,000 gal “A” septic tank, 1,200 gal

“B” septic tank, and a 1,200 gal effluent lift station. It may be that the

1,000 gal “C” septic tank belongs to the Engine Garage building as it is noted west of the Engine Garage on the site plan.

Office

Current Use: Sole office space for the compound, 5 desks + gym in the old garage and bathroom with shower in the basement. The Office is approximately 630

Sq. Ft. and the attached garage is approximately 506 Sq. Ft.

Proposed Use:

- Site Alternatives A.1 & A.2: New 4,698 Sq. Ft. building constructed over the footprint of the existing office.

- Site Alternatives B.1 & B.2: New 2,300 SF office adjacent to the footprint of the existing office, demo existing.

- Site Alternative C: Renovate the existing building for office space and add a 1,400 SF addition.

- Site Alternative D: Demo existing building and build elsewhere on the site.

Notes: The office is antiquated and multi-level. 4 of the desks are on the upper floor, and one is in the basement. The Office utilities and telecom switch are in the basement. The two-car garage was converted into a gym. The bathroom has a toilet, shower, and sink.

Electrical: The office is fed underground off the 200A service on the Old Garage. It appears that the Office is fed off the two-pole, 100A breaker in panel positions 23 & 25. Feeders may be 1 AWG (IMG_1206). Though the welder plug in positions 16 & 18 is still present next to the panel, it is not currently used since the transition to a gym space. Likewise an electric range is no longer present. The main panel is a QO Load Center QOBW

20125-2. It’s unclear if the horn and strobe system is functional; no fire alarm panel was noted on site. One run of fabric insulated wire is present, but appears abandoned within the panel with a red wire nut.

Grounding is present but accomplished with a wire nut rather than a dedicated bus bar.

HVAC: The office is heated from a 1” copper hot water loop coming from the

Residence to the NW. Underground material and insulation is unknown, but is copper on both sides at the building interior. Zone 4, Office heat;

Zone 5, Workout Heat; and Zone 6, Office Hot Water Heater. The hot water loop heat supplies a forced air furnace, Amana model

ERWC3612M-A. Age could not be determined based on serial number.

Hot Water: Hot water is provided by a Crown Boiler Co. 39 gallon tank, indirect water heater. This water heater is run off the hot water loop. Year of manufacture is 2009 based on the serial number.

Water: Lead testing is above the threshold and warnings are posted not to drink the water. It is unknown if this is a lead service pipe, lead solder, or another issue. Incoming waterline size was not noted.

Septic: Wastewater flows collect to the NW / downhill in with the residence flows.

Old Garage

Current Use: Vehicle garage, workshop, and fire cache upstairs. 1,196 Sq. Ft. on the main level and approximately 700 Sq. Ft in the attic.

Future Use:

- The same use is expected into the future.

Notes: The garage has three garage doors and one man door on the SW face.

The upstairs is used as a fire cache and has limited lighting. Typically one vehicle, a pickup, is parked in the Old Garage. UTVs and supplies are also stored in the garage seasonally. Lighting downstairs appears to be newer

LED fixtures.

Electrical: The Old Garage is served by its own single phase, three wire, 200A service from the 15 kVA transformer on the south side of the site. The exterior

200A panel feeds the interior panel, as well as the Office, diesel fuel storage tank, yard light, and presumably the hazmat storage locker. The breaker for the feed to the interior panel is 100A. The interior panel has an uncoordinated 125A main breaker. The interior panel has a 20 position Square D load center, type QOC20MW225. Feeding wires to the internal panel may be 2 AWG, which might be undersized for the 125A overcurrent protection in the panel. On the workbench, there is an 18 amp draw industrial oven without a dedicated circuit. The District reports that this is fed on its own circuit and that the panel labeling that suggests the entire workbench is on one circuit is incorrect.

HVAC: Heating is provided by a 100,000 Btu/hr input/80,000 Btu/hr output

Peerless unit heater, model LUH 100A, vented to the historic brick chimney. The unit heater runs on propane and is controlled by a dumb

Honeywell mercury thermostat. The unit serial number suggests it is pre-

1984 vintage.

Hot Water: None.

Water: None.

Septic: None.

Engine Garage

Current Use: 3 Engine Garage, workshop and storage space, single occupancy bathroom, small entryway/informal office space. Total 1,856 Sq. Ft.

Proposed Use:

- Site Alternatives A.1, A.2, C, & D: Add an additional 500 Sq. Ft. bay on the north side of the building.

- Site Alternatives B.1 & B.2: Convert the south quarter of the Engine

Garage to an additional vehicle bay for the suppression pickup truck. Add a 2,400 Sq. Ft. addition for exercise, showers, locker room, and storage at the north side of the building. Conversion of the south quarter would require relocation of the electrical panel, fire alarm panel, and water heater.

Notes: 2001 plans available. This garage has room for three large fire engines, each with a dedicated roll up door. Assistance is needed in understanding the current garage door control scheme and possible need for UPS or a backup generator. When the power goes out, the garage doors reportedly open part way. A few years ago this happened after hours in the winter and led to frozen pipes and flooding in the Engine

Garage.

Electrical: The Engine Garage is served by its own single phase, three wire, 200A service off the north pole fed from the 37.5 kVA transformer. Its panel is a Square D QOC30UF load center with 30 positions. Of note, loads include an electric hot water heater, air compressor, and office AC/gas heater. There is a central fire alarm control panel, Fire Lite Alarms MS-

4424B. A telecom switch for fiber to CAT5E is located in the west corner.

The engine storage electrical sheet E1 notes lighting as fluorescent T-8.

Feeder is noted as (3) #3/0 copper wires in 3” Sched 80 PVC.

HVAC: Most of the garage is heated with infrared tube heaters fired on propane.

2001 drawings note these as 40 MBTUH Re-Verber-Ray models, (3) total.

The office space also has a through-wall, combination AC & propane fueled heater, Suburban model DLII-1220 ETA.

Hot Water: Hot water is provided by an electric hot water heater, approximately 30 gallons. Due to its high mounting location, it was not accessible without a ladder.

Water: Fixtures include a bathroom with shower, toilet, and sink; washer and drier; utility sink; ice maker; and water fountain/bottle fill station. The

Engine Garage has its own metered water service, approximately 1”.

Septic: The site plan notes a two-lid, 1,000 gal “C” septic tank serving the Engine

Garage. It’s effluent flows by gravity to the common effluent lift station

NW of the Residence.

Residence

Current Use: Single family Quarters residence. Sometimes used for multiple unrelated occupants, the Rent Class remains House and rent is just divided by occupants. Total 2,612 Sq. Ft.

Proposed Use:

- Option 1: Use for 5 occupants under the IRC, (2) occupants each in two main floor bedrooms, (1) occupant in the upstairs bedroom.

Renovate for accessibility since this is the only single-family home at this location.

- Option 2: Use for 5 occupants under the IBC, R-3 occupancy with unrelated occupants, same occupant count per floor as above.

Sprinklering required by NFPA 101, 43.7.2.1 given the change in occupancy.

- Option 3: Use for 8 occupants under the IBC, R-3 occupancy with unrelated occupants, (4) occupants in the basement with the addition of egress windows and (4) occupants on the main floor.

Sprinklering required by NFPA 101, 43.7.2.1 given the change in occupancy.

- Option 4: Use for 10 occupants under the IBC, R-3 occupancy with unrelated occupants, (5) occupants in the basement with the addition of egress windows, (4) occupants on the main floor, and (1) occupant in the upstairs bedroom. Sprinklering required by NFPA

101, 43.7.2.1 given the change in occupancy.

Notes: The residence has a split level entry and features a bathroom, living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms on the main floor. The upstairs has an attic area and small bedroom with two beds in it. The basement has several individual rooms but the windows are too high and too small to serve as bedroom means of egress as currently constructed. Kody Nathe, our R2 Architect, has created floorplans and a code analysis that is available for review.

Electrical: The Residence is served by its own single phase, three wire, 200A service from the utility. The main panel is outside on the SE side of the building and serves a subpanel in the attic. The attic subpanel in turn serves a smaller subpanel at the front entryway. In addition, the main panel directly serves the exterior service receptacle, boiler, water heater, and septic effluent lift station. As the water heater is now heated by the hot water loop boiler system, it’s unclear where the two-pole, 30A circuit for the water heater in the main panel is running to.

The neutral to the attic subpanel is wired with fabric insulated wire

(possibly Paranite or Paraflex based on the labeling) that appears to be aluminum. Several types of fabric insulated wire and aluminum wire are in use throughout the house, including at lighting circuits, the entryway subpanel, and the attic subpanel.

The attic subpanel is a Federal Pacific Stab-lok model. These models are known to be fire hazards (https://blog.societyinsurance.com/why-you-should-replace-federal-pacific-stab-lok-panels/). The load noted as water heater in positions 2 and 4 has a tie between the breakers, even though it is serving only a single pole now. The 30 amp breakers in positions 13-19 are unlabeled in the subpanel. Separation of grounding and neutral systems in the subpanel is uncertain; bonding may be present within the subpanel. A ground serving the subpanel from the main panel is not evident.

An electric resistance radiant heat unit is located in the SE unfinished two thirds of the attic with zero clearance from the insulation and surrounding wood structure and should be evaluated for fire safety.

The Residence was retrofitted with interconnected surface mount carbon monoxide and smoke alarms.

The entryway subpanel shows no grounding system. Branch circuits appear to be a mix of aluminum and copper. There is no neutral bus bar and the neutrals are tied in a bundle; it’s unclear if a split bolt or other splicing device is present.

The subpanel is a Square D Cat. No. 71061 F rated for a maximum of 70A.

The furnace has a 15A fused overcurrent protection at the cabinet. It appears to be powered off the lighting circuit via a MC cable whip.

HVAC: The residence has a forced air system running on the hot water loop for heat. The air handler is an ADP BCRMB4236S3P3. The furnace is an ADP

065608008. Despite the air handler tag, no AC unit was noted on site.

Date of manufacture based on the serial numbers is 2002. A humidifier unit is attached but is unplugged. The central air system is controlled by a dumb programmable thermostat in the main floor hallway.

The forced air system is supplemented by two electric radiant heat units in the upstairs, one in the bedroom and one in the unfinished attic.

The main floor living room also has a Sierra brand wood stove, likely a

Sierra Hearthstove Classic Turbo-Burn Model 2000T produced in the early

‘80s. Date of last chimney sweep and inspection is unknown.

The bathroom appears to have an exhaust fan, though it appears to be installed from the attic with a rough opening through the floorboards and plaster. Vent piping to the exterior was not noted in the attic.

The Residence and Office are heated from a propane fired boiler located in an exterior-entry utility closet on the NE side of the Residence. The model is a Dunkirk Quantum 90. According to product literature, the unit is 90% AFUE; the vent is PVC. Notes written on the boiler state, “No

Glycol as of 3/25/19 – CPH&DC.” A crossed out note suggests propylene glycol had been added for freeze protection. Users state that freezing of the line to the Office occurred in the last few years and a recirculation pump and glycol were added to prevent this. The circulation pump is a

Taco model 0015-MSF2-IFC multi-speed circulator. An invoice and notes from the Forest show that 4 gallons of glycol were added to the water heating loop for freeze protection down to -30 F; there are no reports of freezing since. Four partially filled jugs of propylene glycol were on-site in the closet. Boiler product literature notes, “Only Intercool NFP-50 is approved for use.” Although the boiler has exhaust and combustion air through the roof, please advise on the possible need for fresh air to the mechanical space. Because the boiler runs year round for hot water demand, in the summer the boiler room gets very hot and this may shorten the equipment life.

A Watts model ETX-30 hot water expansion tank is present on the boiler system.

A Taco ZVC406 controller controls 6 zones of hot water heating between the Residence and Office (see IMG_1019 for zone assignments). Analog gauges show hot water leaving the boiler at 142 degrees F and returning at 118. Copper pipe sizing is 1 ¼” at supply and return, reducing to ¾” on individual Residence zones and 1” heading to the Office. The office has enough control wire for control of 4 zones.

Hot Water: Hot water is provided by a Crown Boiler Co. Mega-Stor 39 gallon tank, model MS-40. Date of manufacture is 2009 based on the serial number.

Water: The residence has its own metered water service. It appears to be polyethylene, transitioning to copper for the meter and pressure reducer, then on to ¾” PEX 5006. Sizing at the copper portion is 1”.

Septic: There are three waste pipes leaving the Residence, a 1.8” OD black steel line, a

2.4” OD PVC line, and a PVC-to-steel line labeled as 3”. A run of black steel vent is present in the attic. The bathroom has a sink, bathtub/shower combo, and toilet.

CAD site plans show the Residence sharing a 1,250 precast concrete septic tank with the office, with effluent running by gravity to the effluent lift station adjacent to it. The access cover is also labeled as “1250.” A controller for the final site effluent lift station is located on the SE side of the Residence, north of the main electrical service.