Everything is bigger in the great state of Texas and its university conference centers are no exception. When HTS Texas was tapped by engineering team Blum Consulting, general contractor Austin Commercial, and Porter Mechanical to provide quiet, energy-efficient HVAC equipment to the AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center, they were up to the massive challenge.
Located on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin, this new facility now houses 40,000 square feet of conference space, 276 hotel rooms, 21 suites, and offices for 60 faculty members from the McCombs School of Business.
Armed with the goal of incorporating a green system that would save the university significant money over the long term, HTS Texas selected two McQuay 375-ton centrifugal chillers to provide chilled water for the conference center, hotel rooms, and restaurant. Additionally, the HTS team provided nine McQuay Vision indoor air-handling units, four McQuay Skyline roof-mounted, air-handling units, and more than 100 ETI fan-powered and single-duct, variable air volume boxes. The project design team opted for approximately 350 ETI vertical-stacking, high-rise fan coil units, and nearly 30 ETI horizontal fan coil units for the hotel’s rooms and corridors. This overall system provided optimum comfort in all areas of the center, required by the many uses and needs of the facility’s guests and clientele.
The AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center stands as a hallmark of environmentally friendly construction. In addition to the state-of-the-art air handling units provided by HTS Texas, all aspects of the center – from the concrete that formed its structure to the biodegradable cleaning products used throughout the facility – echo the company’s environmental conscience.
As a result, this LEED Silver-rated center ranks as Downtown Austin’s only residentially-accredited IACC conference facility and lives up to its Texas-sized expectations.
