Goal of the project
This retrofit fully renovated the museum’s A Wing, replacing all mechanical systems to achieve Class A1 museum environmental standards — among the tightest tolerances in the industry for temperature and humidity control, driven by the preservation requirements of collections and archives. Five new air handling units were installed and connected to the building’s existing chilled water and hot water systems, supported by advanced control strategies and instrumentation. The goal was to deliver and verify an environment stable enough to meet A1 tolerances consistently, not just intermittently.
How did KCx achieve goal
KCx Engineering delivered commissioning for the project. Meeting Class A1 tolerances demands more than confirming equipment operates — it requires verifying that temperature and humidity remain within narrow bounds across changing internal and external conditions, which places heavy demands on control strategy and instrumentation accuracy. KCx commissioned the five new AHUs, their integration with the existing chilled water and hot water systems, and the advanced control sequences governing environmental stability.
Because A1 compliance is a matter of sustained performance rather than a single snapshot, KCx continues to support the project through a monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) process — using ongoing data to assess compliance against the standard, identify any deviations, and troubleshoot them as they arise. This continued engagement gives the museum evidence that its environmental conditions hold within tolerance over time, protecting the collections the facility exists to preserve.
