Media Release

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL – Alachua County Facilities Management was recently named the winner of the Facility Maintenance Decisions Magazine Achievement Award for its recent Alachua County Family and Civil Courthouse HVAC Renovation Project.  The award is for the Retrofits and Renovations Category.

View the project details

The courthouse is a 101,000 square foot facility constructed in 1978. It houses the Alachua County Eight Judicial Circuit for Florida and the Clerk of the Circuit Courts.  Occupants and users include citizens, judges, magistrates, attorneys, hearing officers and a host of administrative and support staff.  

The year-long project was completed in April of 2014.  HVAC renovations included replacement of the boiler, air handling units, variable frequency drives, motors, exhaust fans, the distribution system throughout the building, variable air volume air terminal devices, thermostats, and ceiling diffusers. The renovations also included duct cleaning, reconfiguring of the heating hot water system; and building automation system upgrades.  

In addition to the normal challenges of a renovation of this type, this project was in a fully occupied facility.  The work was performed between the hours of 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. in four phases with as many as 100 workers at a time. Security was maintained during the entire project by the Alachua County Sheriff’s office.

Alachua County Facilities Manager, Charlie Jackson said “Our main objective is to complete every project within budget and on time. This project was very sensitive due to the nature of this facility.  We had to keep the facility fully operational and secure for the duration of the project. Thank you to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office for their outstanding security efforts, and kudos to the entire project team.”

The project team included:

·         Charlie Jackson, Facilities Manager

·         Regina Bradley, Project Coordinator

·         Charlie Balanis, Energy Management Supervisor

·         BBI Construction Management, Inc., Construction Manager

·         Affiliated Engineers, Inc., Mechanical Engineers

·         Moses and Associates, Commissioning Agent