TROX USA has supplied more than 4,000 chilled beams for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) New Campus East building in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The campus, under construction since 2007, will include an eight-story main building of 2.1 million square feet, a technology center, central utility plant, visitor center, and other structures. Both active and passive chilled beams were supplied for the project. For some areas of the building multi-service chilled beams integrating lighting services were specifically designed.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has set the goal of certifying NGA’s New Campus East Facility to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification as required per the design criteria by the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED program rates buildings on several environmental criteria: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

The campus, at Fort Belvoir Engineer Proving Ground, will house the East Coast operations of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a unit of the U.S. Department of Defense. The agency develops imagery, maps, and charts used for national defense, homeland security, and navigation.

One of the key features expected to help the new building qualify for LEED silver is a heating and cooling system using chilled beams. Chilled beams are fairly new to the U.S. market and this represents the first order of this size to be completely manufactured in the new production facility of TROX USA.

The chilled beams, which are installed in the ceiling, will be in various shapes and capacities, according to the heating and cooling load to be handled. The primary air supply is discharged through a series of induction nozzles along the inside length of the chilled beams which induces room air over their integral heat transfer coils. The heat transfer at each chilled beam is served by the chilled water circuit. This results in smaller ductwork and a reduction in the necessary power for the air handling fans, one of the largest consumers of energy in a building.

Agency staff began moving into the Main office building in January, and the move will be complete by September.

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TROX is the leader in the development, manufacture and sale of components and systems for the air-conditioning and ventilation of rooms. With 25 subsidiaries across 22 countries and 14 production plants, TROX is the European market leader for ventilation and air-conditioning systems and enjoys worldwide success. Founded in 1951 and with a staff of about 3000 employees, TROX generated sales around the globe of more than €340 million in 2009. With more than 25 sales offices and over 50 representatives and importers, TROX products and concepts are known all over the globe.