Henry Adams provided the MEP engineering and lighting design for the award-winning Earl S. Richardson Library and Media Center at Morgan State University. The 200,000 SF, 4-story building includes stack space, atrium, government documents center, offices, break rooms, information technology (IT) classrooms, and conference rooms. 

This project was awarded the "Best of the Best" Award in the National Institutional /Higher Ed Category by Engineering News Record (McGraw Hill publisher). 

The mechanical design features a remote ice storage based chilled water plant with water-cooled chillers, glycol-water pumps and ice storage tanks. Domestic water is provided by extension from the existing main and branches to the risers to plumbing fixtures and equipment. A steam-fired generator heats the water for distribution. The fire protection system includes a wet-pipe sprinkler system with standpipe. The alarm is tied into the main campus system. 

Energy conservation measures include automatic control of the central cooling and heating plants, air-economizer and programmable controls for air handling units, and supply air temperature reset with override to maintain humidity control. 

The electrical distribution system was extended from the existing 13.2kV campus loop, using an Owner requested double-ended substation. Distribution is achieved through stacked electrical closets, using both in-floor walker-duct and simple conduit. Emergency power is derived from a diesel engine generator in an outdoor, weather-protected, walk-in enclosure. A cost analysis was prepared to determine whether the generator be placed indoors or outdoors. The system powers life safety, communications and smoke evacuation systems. 

Lighting system was designed using occupancy sensors and automatic controls with multiple inputs for the large public spaces. The main conference room integrates the lighting and audio/visual controls for a single-point control area. The security system is comprised of access control, intrusion detection, and video surveillance and is interconnected with the remote campus central police station.  

As part of the project, Henry Adams provided engineering for the teledata facility to handle the central and southern portions of the campus. The space consists of a total of approximately 990 GSF and contains approximately 12 racks dedicated to voice, data, and system servers. A neighboring room is dedicated to a 60 kW UPS system with both 45 minutes of battery and diesel engine generator backup that serves the equipment in the main room. Each of the rooms is equipped with a dedicated Liebert unit to provide temperature and humidity control.

Additional Information:

Location	Baltimore, MD
Construction Value	$56,000,000
Owner	Morgan State University
Architect	Sasaki & Design Collective JV

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