Engineers advise restoring four-pipe HVAC at county complex; jail chillers flagged as priority

Ryan, a mechanical engineer, told the County Property Committee on July 11 that the county complex was converted from a four-pipe to a two-pipe HVAC system years ago and that returning the site to a four-pipe configuration would allow simultaneous heating and cooling year-round.

Why it matters: The two-pipe arrangement forces the facility to choose heating or cooling for broad areas at any given time, creating comfort problems in shoulder seasons and making it harder to meet modern ventilation and reheat code requirements after recent air-handler upgrades.

Ryan said the original complex had a four-pipe system but “at some point … part of those pipes had failures, … and the decision was made … to replace half of them and basically take the system from a 4 pipe to a 2 pipe,” a change he described as uncommon…