Prime Consultant FSi Engineers
Owner City of Spokane
Size 8,000 sf
The City of Spokane is home to a historic powerhouse on the Upriver Dam. Built in 1921, the masonry building did not have adequate heat in the winter, and relied on operable windows for cooling in the hot Eastern Washington summers. The city hired FSi as prime consultant and mechanical engineer for a conditions assessment and subsequent design project.
The team performed an on-site inspection and discovered a multitude of concerns that further complicated the inadequate heating and ventilation. They found that particulate matter from the nearby road was coming through the windows and damaging the power generation equipment. Though the facility generates power from the dam, they also found a lack of usable power, as the generated power was almost entirely high voltage, which would not work for the necessary upgrades. As a result, the eventual design was built around a limited amount of single-phase power. The team was able to take advantage of the dry climate and plentiful water to take advantage of evaporative cooling. The final touch was to recommend filters to solve the particulate damage to the generators.
Do you feel the power? Check out the energy savings we achieved for the new Mukilteo Ferry Terminal.