The Richland County Public Works Committee voted to award the courthouse chiller and air-conditioning contract to ThermoDynamics after hearing technical presentations and a detailed discussion about redundancy and refrigerant safety. Committee members raised concerns about refrigerant quantities inside the building and whether the selected system would trigger required mitigation systems.

The committee’s decision followed a presentation by Paul Kruco of WHV, who described a modular Multistack proposal that would replace the courthouse’s existing 50 tons of cooling with two 30-ton modules, “which will give you a total of 60 tons cooling,” and emphasized staged circuits and redundancy so that a single circuit or module failure would not leave the building without cooling. Kruco noted the proposed control package would allow internal module controllers to maintain some cooling if the master controller fails.

A separate presenter outlined an alternate approach using two 30-ton package outdoor Carrier chillers tied to a stainless steel plate-frame heat exchanger and a glycol loop, arguing the field piping approach keeps refrigerant out of the occupied building. That presentation also highlighted that the project would require attention to load-pump redundancy; one contractor warned that if existing chilled-water load pumps fail the HVAC system would be unable to circulate chilled water even if new chillers are installed.

Committee members pressed on refrigerant types and mitigation thresholds, model-number clarifications, and whether to include dual pumps or spare pumps as alternates. One contractor estimated replacement load pumps would run roughly $2,500–$3,500 each; staff proposed adding at least one spare pump to inventory.

After the technical discussion and a motion, the committee approved awarding the bid to ThermoDynamics by voice vote. The committee directed staff to coordinate site electrical work and the concrete pad revisions needed for the selected equipment and to route any county-board approval items as required.

Next steps: staff will finalize contract documentation and coordinate required electrical and pad work with county buildings staff and the selected contractor; the committee noted they intend to include pump spares in the buildings maintenance budget.