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Business Situation

The Wadsworth Atheneum, the oldest museum in the country, is located in Hartford, Connecticut. The present Atheneum complex of five buildings is the result of several additions to the original building, which was erected in 1842. Nationally ranked one of the best for the importance of its collections, the Museum houses an extensive collection of fine art, ranging from American and European paintings to major holdings of decorative art and furniture to medieval art and Egyptian antiquities.

The Atheneum has been a client of SavageALERT, a PPL company, since 1982, so when it came time to upgrade the HVAC system of the Museum's Morgan Wing, SavageALERT was the first choice. "There is no choice for us other than SavageALERT," says Director of Properties and Information Systems, Alan Barton. "Unless the Wadsworth has received State funding, which dictates a specific procurement process (that was, in fact, the case for this project), we like to start with SavageALERT on a design/build basis. We want SavageALERT to look at the job so we have a benchmark concerning what costs to consider."

The problem with the Morgan Wing, which dates from 1910, centered on its exclusive use of stem radiator heat. The lack of climate controls put the Wadsworth's core holdings of European art at risk due to inappropriate temperature and humidity levels.

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• Work with the design engineer to create the safest, "cleanest" environment for one of the country's most prestigious artwork collections.
• Complete the HVAC and control upgrade with minimal movement of art and without closing galleries to the public.

BUSINESS SOLUTION

SavageALERT - successful in winning the bid to install a complete HVAC system - proceeded to install 36,000 pounds of sheet metal in the building. They also had to convert a basement storage room into a built-up air handler with 11 variable air volume (VAV) zones to meet the design standard of 48,000 cubic feet of air per minute.

"SavageALERT has always been ingenious in solving installation problems within these historic buildings," notes Barton. "They accomplished what we asked of them with minimal disruption. We kept most of the building up the entire time".

One especially sensitive and complex issue was installing duct work through the building without disrupting the galleries. SavageALERTrose to the challenge by utilizing existing open chases where gravity-air vented through the building.

Installing one 4-foot section of duct at a time, SavageALERT pushed the ductwork through the chases until they reached the desired supply locations to meet design specifications.

"I measure success through the climate control," Barton notes. "We don't climate control for people, we do it for the art. We run this new system around the clock to create exactly the climate we need to preserve our collections."

"SavageALERT has the commitment to do the job that needs to be done," concludes Barton. "This is just one of 16 projects they've accomplished for us since 1982. We've always been happy, and see no reason to go anywhere else."

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