Shop Spotlight: Sheetmetal Workers

You want real power? Try stepping (safely!) into an air handling unit (AHU) running full bore in the bowels of the Beckman Institute.

The 1.46 inches of static pressure within the AHU is strong enough to knock you over when stepping through the doorway – if you’re close enough, it’ll try to drag you in. The small room features one thing: a giant fan whirring at top speed.

There, air is pressurized, conditioned, and distributed to all five stories of offices, public spaces, classrooms, and high-tech laboratories. Four giant fans do the ‘supply’ and four more do ‘return’, all of them original to the building’s 1986 birth. And they are key to the comfort and success of building occupants, including researchers and students. Each fan replaces 100,000 cubic feet of air per minute.

“These fans are going 24/7, 365 days a year. They never stop,” said Guy Grant, sheetmetal worker. He noted that especially during hot summer months, all four fans are going simultaneously to keep the institute cool. Grant and colleagues Matt Althaus, Joe George, and Shaun Chesnut work as a team on this project and other work at Beckman.

Needless to say, these fans need to be repaired every two to five years. One new supply fan has already been installed, and another will be done before the fall semester. The final two supply fans are likely to be replaced each of the next two years.

Sheetmetal workers are working on the project alongside other trades, including electricians, pipefitters, and the temperature control shop.