The State of Utah selected our firm as the commissioning manager (CxM) for this project, with responsibility for developing, managing and overseeing the commissioning program through the design, construction, acceptance and occupancy phases of the new Utah State Correctional Facility.

Our team took charge of the commissioning process from the early design stages. With no existing facilities on-site, we maintained a continuous on-site presence to monitor progress of the design and construction from day one of groundbreaking. All required infrastructure was built from the ground up. Construction began with an extensive soil mitigation phase, with nearly 1 million cubic yards of fill materials deposited at this swampy site to compact the soil and raise the ground level immediately adjacent to the Great Salt Lake.

Our team assumed a hands-on role managing every aspect of the commissioning of the new campus, from conducting initial owner’s project requirement (OPR) meetings to developing specifications, reviewing contractor submittals, designating acceptance criteria and assisting with facility operations/maintenance training. Our team partnered with and managed the activities of four other local firms and over two dozen Cx contributors to accomplish the Cx scope of this project. All Cx work completed as part of this project was conducted in accordance with Utah’s rigorous High Performance Building Standard, which exceeds the standard LEED Enhanced Commissioning Requirements.

In addition to managing the commissioning of all 33 buildings on campus, our team was responsible for directly performing the acceptance testing for the campus critical power systems, including a 12.5-kV central electrical substation, backed up with a 10-MW emergency power generation plant capable of powering the campus for 72 hours via on-site bulk fuel storage and an intricate power load shedding system. This acceptance testing included a final emergency power sitewide blackout and power load shed test with over 100 participants contributing more than 1,000 work hours to perform more than 5,000 lines of test.

Other vital on-site systems include:

• On-campus pumping stations with a 1.5 million-gallon domestic and fire water storage and distribution system
• Pressurized natural gas distribution
• A cooling water distribution loop
• Networking for security, data and communication networks
• Fire suppression systems

The new campus was completed and turned over to the Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) in July of 2022.

Now that the facility is open, occupied and under continuous operation, our team continues to monitor the campus systems using the digital analytics-based commissioning software SkySpark. This ongoing monitoring and commissioning effort allows facilities staff to identify and resolve issues before challenges become serious problems, helping to provide continuous successful facilities operation. The process is also instrumental in improving energy efficiency and identifying warranty issues that require correction by the design-build joint venture contractors, bringing further value to the state of Utah.

During the early occupancy phase, we are also assisting the UDC operations staff with integration of operations and maintenance (O&M) manual data with their eMaint asset management system. This generates long-term value for maintenance, budgeting and procurement.

“We feel the entire commissioning team provided significant quality assurance on behalf of the state and UDC and helped to greatly minimize the number of problems encountered after facility turnover,” said Steve Turley, director of the UDC Clinical Services Bureau. “The commissioning team remained attentive, responsive, flexible and success-oriented throughout this demanding undertaking and provided valuable assistance through the most challenging interruptions.”