Featured Projects

Crow & Bulman Engineering has a history of accomplishing mechanical engineering services for unique, challenging, and/or difficult projects, for example:

SPARTANBURG HIGH SCHOOL 

Spartanburg District 7 was outgrowing it's High School campus and determined that a new school at a new site was the best solution.  A brand new, 431,000 sq. ft. main academic building was constructed, which included a 2000 seat state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center.  Additionally, the campus included a new football stadium and athletics complex.  The academic building was the first high school in South Carolina to earn a Green Globes Two certification.  The school was occupied a full semester before the scheduled date of Substantial Completion, in the Fall of 2019.  

Wallhalla High School (Oconee County School District)

When Oconee County School District began planning for a new high school, they looked to the engineering firm that had designed the county’s anchor high school (Seneca High) 26 years earlier, due to the reliability, energy efficiency, and innovation of their original design.  The new Walhalla school incorporated numerous innovative beneficial features:  1) condenser water reheat for “free” positive humidity control, 2) a high efficiency hybrid heating plant with condensing and conventional boilers, 3) snow melting at student entry areas, 4) energy recovery ventilation, 5) demand controlled ventilation, 6) waterside “free cooling” economizers, and 7) single zone variable air volume controls.  All of these features had to meet a strict preliminary budget, which was accomplished.  The school was occupied in 2015.

Spartanburg Community College / Downtown Campus (2013)

When the college decided to renovate and restore an historic 90 year old Spartanburg iconic building, they looked to the firm that had been their engineer of choice for 25 years, delivering energy efficient and innovative engineering.  The 108,000 sq. ft. building offered engineering challenges due to a budget that required integration of the components of the existing mechanical system, but also required a silver LEED rating.  The challenge was accepted and completed in budget and on time.

Geothermal HVAC Systems

Crow & Bulman Engineering was the first engineering firm to design a geothermal system for a school in South Carolina, with the completion of Anderson Mill Elementary School (Spartanburg School District #6), occupied in 1998. This school has subsequently received substantial publicity and awards for energy efficiency and innovation, including an ASHRAE First Place Award for “New Institutional Building” (southwest region). This school operates at two-thirds the energy cost of the S.C. state average for public schools and is designated as a “Showcase” school by the S.C. Energy Office.

Since the completion of Anderson Mill, ten more large geothermal projects have been designed by Crow & Bulman Engineering:

1. Spartanburg Day School (Spartanburg, S.C.) (2010)
2. Lyman Elementary School (Spartanburg School District #5), occupied 2008
3. Abner Creek Elementary School (Spartanburg School District #5), occupied 2008
4. D.R. Hill Middle School (Spartanburg District #5), occupied 2007
5. Florence Chapel Middle School (Spartanburg School District #5), occupied 2005
6. Midway Elementary School (Anderson District #5), occupied 2003
7. McLees Elementary School (Anderson District #5), occupied 2003
8. Floyds Greenlawn Chapel (Spartanburg, S.C.) (2003)
9. Berry Shoals Elementary School (Spartanburg School District #5), occupied 2001
10. Margaret Morrison Elementary School (Pickens County School District), occupied 2001

QS-1 Headquarters Building (2005)

The Spartanburg based computer software company took a progressive posture with the construction for their new headquarters building, with the mandate for the design team to produce a LEED certified building. The mechanical design contributed 43% of the required points to achieve the desired “silver” certification. The HVAC system design utilized 30% less operating energy than what ASHRAE Energy Code Standards required.

Spartanburg County Library (1997)

The new county library building committee wanted to invest in an innovative and cost effective HVAC system. Crow & Bulman Engineering designed and commissioned an ice storage system for the new headquarters library, one of the first large scale public buildings in the upstate with this distinction. The library subsequently has operated with very close temperate control at a constant 740F, relative humidity @ 47%, and an annually energy cost savings of 26%.

Wofford College Milliken Science Building (2000)

This flagship building on the Wofford campus was intended to symbolize the college’s academic successes and excellent reputation for preparing students to succeed as candidates in medical schools. The building’s design scope was a personal interest of Roger Milliken. The architect and owner chose Crow & Bulman Engineering to tackle the complex comfort, ventilation, energy demands, and safety concerns of a science educational laboratory. The resulting HVAC system design utilized high tech variable flow lab fume hoods to help resolve all of these issues.

Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium (occupied 1999)

The renovation of this fifty year old Spartanburg icon was a difficult challenge for the demands of current building codes, comfort expectations, and noise control. The building is unique with its 3,400 seat auditorium/theatre and attached 22,000 square foot performance arena. The new HVAC system met all challenges.

Dorman High School Campus (2002 & 2013)

Spartanburg School District Six had an ambitious $70 million plan to construct a completely new showcase campus for the relocated Dorman High School. The new campus would eventually encompass over 570,000 square feet and include a high school, ninth grade school, district administrative offices, and athletic complex. With a short construction schedule, strict budget concerns, demands for low operating cost, and long service life of a campus concept, the owner and architect chose Crow & Bulman Engineering. Budget, schedule, comfort, and energy usage all met or exceeded expectations.

In 2013, a 160,000 sq. ft. twelfth grade wing was added, including a 1500 seat performing arts theater/auditorium.  This brought the total campus occupied area to 730,000 sq. ft.

Spartanburg Community College / Energy Plant (1994-2009)

The facility director at this college campus struggled to maintain comfort due to multiple, old model, disconnected, and inconsistent mechanical systems. After study, surveys, and several design and construction phases, the entire campus was brought together under one new central energy chilled water plant (1500 tons capacity). The new plant incorporated a relocated 400 ton refrigeration machine, a new 400 ton machine, and a final 700 ton machine. The new energy plant and its variable flow pumping system, coupled with the conversion of the college’s old constant flow hydronic system to variable flow, had a substantial impact on the college’s operating cost. The S.C. Energy Office records of state-wide campus energy use had Spartanburg Community College’s electrical usage ranked No. 1 in the state (for non-resident colleges).

Spartanburg Animal Shelter (1997)

The design scope for a new animal shelter presented an amazing list of engineering challenges: 100% fresh air for odor control with people and animals in the same building, air conditioned kennels, and space pressurization control between zones for odor and disease containment. All of this was to be accomplished on a tight building budget. Crow & Bulman’s history with pharmaceutical clean room design provided the experience to tackle such a job. The building owners reported that all of their concerns were addressed and resolved.