Building Commissioning

Bernhard (previously ETC Group) provided commissioning services to the Rice-Eccles Stadium South End Zone Renovation.  The stadium is home to the University of Utah football team, an NCAA – Division 1 college football venue, and site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The project was to enclose a existing horse-shoe shaped stadium to a full “bowl” to allow patrons to access to the full circumference of the stadium. The intent of the project was to tear down the existing structure, the Clark building, and build a new structure incorporating new team locker rooms, new concessions and amenities, and new VIP boxes.  It also involved moving the 2002 Olympic cauldron to a new pedestal and accompanying waterfall, served by a pool type heater and pumping system.

The project is targeting a LEED Silver certification design and took a Target Value Design approach to the design process, in which the Commissioning Provider was proactively involved during weekly progress meetings between design teams, contractors, and owners.  To meet the University of Utah’s carbon neutral goals for 2050, the facility was designed with water-to-water heat pumps to provide heating and cooling water to the new systems with heat rejection to a geothermal well.

For over two years, Bernhard has been involved from Design through Construction to help the Owners group and project team stay on time and on budget.  From the beginning this project had an immovable schedule as the stadium must have been ready to begin the 2021 football season.  Close coordination between the General Contractor and trades required quick responses between owners and design teams.

In accordance with LEED and Utah’s High Performance Building standards, we are also providing Monitoring-Based Commissioning for the stadium for two years after construction using SkySpark as a tool to access equipment trends and verify ongoing high-performance goals.

This project earned Building Commissioning association (BCxA)‘s 2021 Building Commissioning Excellence Award and Utah Construction & Design (UC&D)‘s 2021 Most Outstanding Projects: Project of the Year Award.