HVAC Controls Upgrade at the Chicago History Museum

FAIN: PF-280748-21

Chicago History Museum (Chicago, IL 60614-6038)
John Yelen (Project Director: January 2021 to February 2022)
Terrance Lewis (Project Director: February 2022 to present)

An implementation project to replace the museum’s HVAC controls with a unified building automation system and install variable frequency drives on the supply and return fans in nine of the building’s ten air handling units.

The Chicago History Museum requests a Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections implementation grant to replace our obsolete and fragmented HVAC controls with a more unified building automation system (BAS) that serves our primary Clark Street facility. Funds would also be applied to variable frequency drives in air handling units to achieve improved efficiency for our HVAC operation. These upgrades are critical next steps in our strategy for preventive collection conservation and reduced energy consumption. They are necessary to preserve our unique and valuable holdings that provide expansive evidence of the development of a major American city.