John Deere Credit’s new corporate office building accommodates its worldwide operations. The building features two wings connected by a central atrium. An open floor concept provides flexibility for reconfiguring office layout. A conference center with specialized media systems provides ample training and communications space and features a full kitchen and cafeteria. KJWW designed all HVAC, plumbing, fire protection, and electrical systems.
Two custom-built 120,000 cfm AHUs serve the office area while a separate AHU supports the cafeteria/kitchen area. The AHUs were designed to supply 50°F discharge air instead of typical 55°F air to reduce ductwork and AHU sizes, resulting in lower construction costs. Due to the architectural design of the building, the main supply and return air ducts served from the AHUs were routed underground. The design of an underground ductwork system reduced the overall building height by approximately two feet also reducing construction costs.
Electrical designs included power distribution, lighting, and an under-floor raceway system to allow flexibility in restructuring modular office furniture layouts.
The building features a central computing center protected by a fire suppression system utilizing FM200 agent along with a pre-action, dry-pipe, sprinkler system.
Cooling for the computer center is provided by two computer room air conditioning units sized for 60% redundancy and connected to emergency power.
The main computer equipment is powered through a 50 KVA, 480 volt, UPS system. The system is supplied with both static and maintenance bypass switches. Batteries provide up to 90 minutes of backup power ensuring an orderly system shutdown in the event of loss of power and generator failure.
The project included a 1,200 ton chilled water pland and 250 HP boiler plant.The building is backed with a 350 KW diesel generator that provides power to critical equipment. The building is illuminated with indirect fluorescent light sources controlled with daylight sensors and dimming capabilities to take advantage of natural daylight. Task lighting fixtures are provided at each workstation.