The Placer County Office of Education (PCOE) in Auburn, California selected Landmark Construction to retrofit the lighting and heating, air conditioning and ventilation (HVAC) systems, and renovate the server room to increase energy efficiency. The project also included remodeling occupied buildings, replacing roofs, resurfacing the parking lot and making other outdoor improvements.
Dennis Keeler, Superintendent, Landmark Construction, managed the project. “PCOE will be able to reduce its energy use as a result of the lighting upgrade that replaces fluorescent lamps with LED’s,” said Keeler. “Landmark Construction also remodeled the server room and upgraded the electrical panel.”
According to James Anderberg, Chief Operations Officer, Placer County Office of Education, the old data room with raised floor cooling has been completely replaced with a much smaller, more modern and energy efficient data center.
“Landmark’s team did an amazing job.”
“The task was monumental,” said Anderberg. “Landmark Construction had to ‘perform some very complex dance steps’ in order to renovate our data facilities without disruption to the mission critical finance, student and other information system assets. The new data center is one-third the size of the old server room. Over 90 servers had to be moved into much tighter quarters without affecting operations. Landmark’s team did an amazing job.”
One of the challenges of the project was to work in fully occupied buildings, explained Keeler. “In one building, we moved and replaced all the HVAC ducting,” said Keeler. “Landmark employees worked over furniture and workspaces, and all of the work was done through the existing T-bar ceiling.”
To reduce the impact on the client, Landmark Construction worked closely with the PCOE representatives. “We wanted to work around the staff so that they were comfortable and faced the least disruption,” said Keeler. “We managed the project by doing it in phases and collaborating with district staff. Occasionally people had to be displaced briefly to another part of the building but they were good sports about it and we minimized the inconvenience as much as possible. The key to our success was clear and honest communication plus plenty of upfront planning.”
Landmark Construction replaced the roof on three buildings. This will improve insulation and reduce energy use. The exterior of the office complex also benefited from a facelift. In addition to installing a new monument sign, Landmark Construction painted the buildings, remodeled the courtyard, resurfaced the parking lot and updated the accessible path of travel to the administrative office and public meeting space.
“I know that they trust Landmark Construction to get the job done.”
Superintendent Dennis Keeler has been with Landmark Construction for over eight years. He says that what he likes best about his job is working directly with the owners of facilities. “I am the face that the client sees every day,” said Keeler. “I enjoy managing the schedule and collaborating with the facility owners to assure that everything goes smoothly. I know that they trust Landmark Construction to get the job done.”