Wiegmann Associates Meets Comfort and Security Needs at Emergency Ops Center

The center is located in O’Fallon, and is home to County emergency functions that previously were in different areas of the county, including the Department of Emergency Communications, Division of Emergency Management and the Information Systems Data Center. It is here that planning and coordination of disaster preparedness, response and recovery takes place, and data technology is secured.

The regional 9-1-1 emergency phone response is based in this facility. A 24-hour staff answers and processes hundreds of 9-1-1 calls each week.

By bringing these services together in one building, Center staffers will be better empowered to launch a more coordinated and efficient response during an emergency.

The comfort systems and data center protection for this 30,000 sq.ft. facility were designed and installed by Wiegmann Associates, also based in St. Charles. Wiegmann Associates has focused on innovative,
energy saving, and cost-effective HVAC solutions since 1995. Wiegmann Associates is one of the industry’s premiere national Design/Build mechanical contractors, and it serves as experts in value engineering.

Brinkmann Constructors was the general contractor for the EOC project.

The EOC is strategically located adjacent to the St. Charles County Police Department. Because the facility must continue to operate during natural disasters and terrorist threats, it was built to comply with ICC500, the design and construction standard for storm shelters.

Wiegmann’s Design/Build plan included 100% redundancy in the HVAC systems and data center, to ensure uninterrupted operation under any conditions.

Building Automation System
A Building Automation System (BAS) prioritizes cooling for critical areas. If building temperatures rise above a set point due to multiple equipment failures, the BAS system will start to cut off airflow to non-critical areas, to allow the critical areas to remain conditioned.

The new HVAC system installed by Wiegmann Associates provides tight humidity control, to protect evidence housed in a 6,200-sq.ft. addition to the St. Charles County Police Department.

Energy Efficiency
St. Charles County needed a cost-effective HVAC system that was reliable, efficient and would meet the stringent standards required for this type of facility. Wiegmann’s HVAC solution delivers lower first costs and operating costs, is simpler to operate than other considered options and will accommodate future expansion.

Additional information, including a video presentation, can be found online at: bit.ly/StCharlesEOC.

PROJECT AT-A-GLANCE
St. Charles County Emergency Operations Center
Location: O’Fallon, Mo.
Size: 30,000 sq.ft.
Cost to build $24 million ($500,000 under budget)
Features:
• Building can remain fully operational without electricity, water or sewer for three days.
• 33 cameras monitor the building and site
• County Emergency Management has an average of 21 yearly activations, 18 yearly Mobile Command Post deployments and had 14 disasters and emergencies from 2000-2016.
• Emergency Communications answers more than 150 9-1-1 calls per day and supports over 190 police-related incidents and over 140 fire/EMS-related incidents per day.
• PRODUCTS: Trane air handlers, Trane chillers, and Trane DDC controls. Trane was the County government’s preferred vendor.
• Data center cooling by Vertiv.