University of British Columbia – Learning Commons Building – Archives Vault

The Facilities Management Group at UBC Okanagan required CURA’s assistance with upgrading the HVAC and dehumidification / climate control systems for the newly constructed Archives Vault located in The Learning Commons Building.  The Archives Vault houses a unique collection of irreplaceable artifacts that are located within a climate-controlled vault.

UBCO’s Facilities Management group had been provided with an outline design of a packaged desiccant dehumidifying system, however the suggested system was far too bulky to be integrated within the existing main Mechanical Room’s available space, and would have required excessive heating energy for regeneration of the desiccant wheel.

CURA provided an integrated team of Mechanical, Electrical Architectural & Structural consulting services, and we provided an alternative and innovative retrofit approach using ultra-chilled glycol for dehumidification, to minimize space requirements and energy/operating costs for the new climate control system versus the suggested system consisting of a packaged desiccant dehumidifier.

We designed the ventilation and dehumidification, humidification and climate control upgrades for the Vault according to the latest available guidelines and temperature/humidity standards to ensure a useable lifespan for the stored artifacts of 1,000 years.